It’s that time of year when we are excited about summer break and warm weather. Pool days and sleeping in are finally here. For 180 days, students and staff have been busy making sure students are learning and growing. Backpacks are coming home filled to the brim with old papers, used up pencils, broken crayons, and folders that have seen better days. This is such a contrast to when they arrived in August all sparkly and new. There are fantastic stories to be told about what happens in the classroom day in and day out. Now is the perfect time to look back on some great moments.
Suncrest Preschool: Day to day life in preschool is especially hoppin’ in classrooms with our youngest learners! Strong instructional strategies in preschool play a crucial role in developing early literacy skills, setting the foundation for lifelong learning. These strategies, such as interactive storytelling, phonemic awareness activities, and structured reading sessions, engage young learners and foster their curiosity about language in Mrs. Miller’s Preschool classroom. By creating a rich literacy environment, educators can encourage children to explore letters, sounds, and words in meaningful contexts. This early exposure not only enhances vocabulary and comprehension but also builds confidence in communication. As children develop these foundational skills, they are better prepared for future academic challenges, paving the way for success in reading and writing throughout their educational journey. Way to go, Mrs. Miller!
Blue Ridge Language Learners: This is a perfect time of year to really bring reading to life as Mrs. Britt’s multilingual learners did a fairy tale reader’s theater. The scripts that were chosen had challenging pieces as well as repeating portions to help our students struggling with language gain additional practice. Parts were assigned based on the reading abilities of students and their language proficiency level. Students split into two groups and practiced respectively, and then performed for one another. One thing that students did on their own in preparation of their performance was circling words that they were apprehensive of and the teacher and MLL para worked with them to familiarize them with the word(s) and increase their confidence prior to performing. Students designed hats with their character on it and wore them during their performances. They then went on to perform for some of our other second grade students. Our students were so very excited to have been given the opportunity to perform and they loved the two fairy tales done: The Three Little Pigs and Goldilocks and the Three Bears.
Frankfort Middle School Readers: Just when you think some kids think they are too cool to read, teachers are there to turn around that mindset! Ms. Keitt has inspired readers through a recent novel unit on the book, The Outsiders, by S.E. Hinton. I’ve personally witnessed this with my own daughter who talks about it nonstop and recently told her teacher that it changed the way she sees the world. Keitt choses this novel because the topics and themes are relevant to middle school readers and helps them connect to the many personalities in the story. The ultimate purpose of this unit is to synthesize everything we have learned with our English standards into one final, engaging unit. Ms. Keitt has designed this unit well. “First, we spend time building background and discovering the world of Tulsa, Oklahoma in the 1960’s so that the students have a good understanding of the time and culture in which our story takes place. Then we read the novel, focusing on character development as we go to create Body Biography posters of the characters at the end. These posters make sure the students focus on specific character traits, how the characters are impacted by the story, and how the characters change over time. The end goal is to raise engaged readers who can focus on the world of the stories they read to help deepen their understanding of both the story and the world around them.”
Frankfort High School Culinary Students: Students spent their last couple weeks of school preparing for finals by completing study guides and presenting culminating projects. It is safe to say that one of the most exciting projects involved baking! The culinary program created their own version of Cupcake Wars. Second Year Culinary Pathway students learned about different types of cakes and frosting techniques and then were challenged to incorporate specific flavors and themes into the layout and display for their cupcakes. Guest judges (pictured below) came to the competition and presented a trophy for the winner. While it wasn’t an easy project, that final sounds like a piece of cake!
As we close another excellent school year, it is important to take a minute and think about our students’ experiences with learning. As new graduates walk across the stage and receive their diploma, we know it is such an accomplishment. They are handed a piece of paper stating they have graduated high school, yet there have been 13 years of great instructional experiences like the ones described here. That is 2,340 school days where students were reading, writing, experimenting, discussing, and discovering about new topics that have developed them into the citizens of our world.
That is roughly 14,000 hours of effort they have put into shaping their future. This is no small feat. The teachers and staff of the Community Schools of Frankfort are proud to be part of this story and wish all of our students a happy and relaxing summer. See you next year!