Five young apple trees grow outside West Elementary School. They are the beginnings of the Beverly Bryan Community Orchard, which could someday flourish with pear, plum and chestnut trees, blueberry and raspberry bushes, and feature benches and mulch for beautification.
The eventual goal is to feed hungry students and offer fresh produce to neighbors. It also provides the opportunity to teach agriculture to students, who will tend, water and harvest the orchard, said Kent School Services Network coordinator Erika VanDyke, who works to connect West students and families with local resources.
The orchard is being developed through a partnership with the Wyoming Tree Commission, called The Tree Amigos. It is named after the late wife of Tree Commissioner Greg Bryan, who donated $5,000 to the project.
Students recently watered the dwarf heirloom trees, checking out the little apples hanging from the branches. “I find it exciting that we are going to have fresh apples,” said third-grader Lyric McPhee.
Habitat for Humanity donated the trees from a downtown lot it is developing. A crew of volunteers recently planted them at West.
Check out School News Network for more stories about students, schools, and faculty in West Michigan.
Other positions you have held in education (title, school, district, state):
Sixth-and-seventh-grade social studies teacher at Jackson Park Junior High School
9th and 10th-grade social studies teacher at Wyoming Park and Rogers High schools
Assistant principal at Wyoming Junior High
Assistant principal at Wyoming High School
Head varsity football coach at Wyoming Park High School
How about jobs outside education? My dad owned a roofing and siding business and I was the “cutter boy.” I would cut the siding and he would hang it. I also cut grass for my brother’s landscape company, worked part-time for a plumber, delivered products for Kent Rubber Supply, loaded trucks for East Jordan Iron Works, maintained grounds for South Kent Recreation Association and worked in a plastic molding factory.
Spouse/children: I married my high-school sweetheart, Melissa DeJarnatt. We went to West Elementary School together but we didn’t know each other then because she was two grades ahead of me. We have a daughter, Madisyn, 11; and a son, Kolten, 8.
West Elementary Principal Josh Baumbach was once a student there
Hobbies/Interests/Little-known talent: I love to hunt deer, rabbit and raccoon with my dad and brothers. I’ve coached football for the past 14 years. I enjoy reading books. My twin brother and I participate in Spartan Races. I can wiggle both ears or just one, and I can do a poor impersonation of Donald Duck.
What kind of kid were you at the age of students at this new school?
I was an active kid. I played outside all the time with my siblings (five brothers and a sister). We would catch salamanders, hunt for frogs and turtles in Buck Creek, build tree forts behind our house, ride snowmobiles, swim and play sports. We spent a lot of time at Buck Creek, and every time we left the house our parents would say, “Don’t come back wet!” Without fail, one of us would fall in the creek and we’d wait for hours before coming home so our clothes would dry.
The biggest lesson you have learned from students is… to forgive and forget and to laugh every day.
Finish this sentence: If I could go back to school I would go to grade… fifth grade, as a student in Ms. Donovan’s class. She challenged me to be a better student and person each and every day.
If you walked into your new school building to theme music every day, what would the song be?
“Happy,” by Pharrell Williams
Check out School News Network for more stories about students, schools, and faculty in West Michigan.
Kelloggsville Public Schools second-grade teacher Patrick Sokol is working to close gaps in achievement seen in students raised in poverty, and he’s zeroing in on helping students develop “working memory.”
In his West Elementary classroom on a Friday morning, Sokol drew a mixing bowl on a whiteboard in front of his students. He asked them to name ingredients needed to make pancakes. They eagerly answered: “eggs,” “baking powder,” “vanilla,” “flour,” “sugar,” as Sokol wrote the list on the bowl.
“If we get those all in the bowl, we are going to be able to do something with them. We are going to be able to make pancakes. But what if there are holes in the bowl?”
He told students to think of their brains like the bowl: They need to be able to use what they put inside. “If you can’t keep those things in your brain, are you going to be able to do anything with them?”
Isaiah Wiseman and Alivia Walber work together on remembering numbers.
Sokol’s mini-lesson was an introduction to activities aimed to improve students’ working memory. That’s the ability to store and manage information in one’s mind for a short period of time, like remembering a list of items or series of number long enough to apply them to what you need.
During a game called “If I Went,” students named items they would bring to the beach or camping. On their turns, they recalled items named before them in order. “If I went to the beach I would bring food, an air mattress, marshmallows and…,” said Myana Santiago-DeJesus, remembering the items named by her classmates and adding “shelter” to the list.
They also created a string of numbers, adding one at a time, and recalling them with a partner.
Students enjoyed the tasks, taking pride in remembering eight, nine, even 10 numbers in a row, and a list of camping items worthy of the Scouts, but Sokol’s purpose is larger than meets the eye. He is hoping to “fill the gap” in memory function caused by the stressors present in many of the lives of students who grow up poor.
Sokol’s work is part of an ongoing study by Kelloggsville staff, administrators and Board of Education members of Eric Jensen’s book, “Teaching with Poverty in Mind.” In Kelloggsville, about 78 percent of students are considered economically disadvantaged, qualifying for free or reduced lunch, and research shows students who grow up in poverty struggle with working memory.
That could be a factor in the stark correlation between poverty and student achievement. An analysis by School News Network as part of its series “The Burden of Poverty, a Backpack of Heartache,” shows a close correlation between poverty and performance in the 20 school districts in the Kent ISD. In almost all cases, the districts with the lowest family income levels also had the lowest scores on standardized tests.
In his book, Jensen, a former teacher who now presents on brain-based learning, explains that constant stressors affect the developing brain, “creating a devastating cumulative effect.”
“The prefrontal cortex and the hippocampus, crucial for learning, cognition and working memory, are the areas of the brain most affected by cortisol, the so-called ‘stress hormone,'” he writes, citing brain research from various sources.
“Experiments have demonstrated that exposure to chronic and acute stress actually shrinks neurons in the brain’s frontal lobes–– an area that includes the prefrontal cortex and is responsible for such functions as making judgements, planning and regulating impulsivity and can modify and impair the hippocampus in ways that reduce learning capacity.”
The Jensen book study – which started by reading and discussing chapters – is a long-term project involving ongoing district-wide training, Assistant Superintendent Tammy Savage said.
A Board of Education committee dedicated to poverty is gathering information this year. Administrators and staff members are studying and attending seminars on poverty, have watched a webinar by Jensen and attended a two-day Michigan Department of Education session in November with Jensen on his book. They hope to bring him to Kelloggsville to present.
Gianchrist Mendez-Jimenez and Yuleika Gonzalez-Morales work on remembering a series of numbers. “9, 0, 1, 8, 6, and 2,’” said Gianchrist.
The goal is to apply some of his strategies in the classroom and embed tools to boost student effort and engagement, Savage said. It’s also about developing empathy and understanding of living situations many teachers haven’t experienced.
The district has long been aware of the high level of need and has worked hard to address it, she said. This is about going deeper and examining poverty from different perspectives. “There are a lot of things we are already doing. That was an affirmation for the district. We are already doing a lot of things to connect with students and parents.”
More than just brain development, training involves developing strong bonds with students, which leads to better achievement. “We are focused on student engagement, and it goes back to building relationships with kids,” Savage said. “Research has always proven that student/teacher relationship is key.”
Teachers are doing fast-track relationship builders, recommended by Jensen, in the classroom. For example, they share something personal with students once a week.
“In order to build a relationship with somebody, it can’t be one-sided. It can’t be just the students sharing,” Savage said. “Teachers have to share about themselves too. The more we share about ourselves, the more students are going to feel connected with us.”
Jensen also recommends staff members provide a favor or a show of empathy so powerful that students remember it well; invest two minutes a day for 10 consecutive days with the student who needs it most; and discover three things other than a name about a student each day, every day of the year.
Check out School News Network for more stories about students, schools, and faculty in West Michigan.
Second-graders London Turner and Xavier Pegues read their books Photos from School News Network
The holiday season brought books, books and more books to Wyoming Public Schools elementary buildings. Oriole Park and Parkview elementary schools each has received a big delivery of enough copies for all students of the 2014 Michigan Reads! Book of the Year, “Acoustic Rooster and his Barnyard Band.” The schools were recently awarded the books through Michigan Department of Education’s Culture of Reading program.
Plus, books from the nonprofit children’s literacy organization Reading Is Fundamental, funded through a $10,000 grant from Macy’s department store corporation, has provided Wyoming Intermediate, Parkview, West and Gladiola elementary schools free books. Kindergarten through second-grade students are receiving three books each, and pre-kindergarten and third- through fifth-grade students two apiece, said Danielle Vigh, the district’s academic support manager. Districts qualifying for the RIF grant have free and reduced lunch populations of 80 percent or higher.
“This is very important so our students have access to quality reading materials and reading materials in general, and get into the habit of taking the time to read,” said Superintendent Tom Reeder, who hopes students learn to pick up a book for fun instead of always turning to other leisure activities. “Our community must continue to foster and develop good habits.”
Kevin Elliott turns the pages
Students in second-grade teacher Lori Schimmelmann’s class settled under the classroom Christmas tree with their books in hand. “I like it because Mrs. Schimmelmann thought it was going to be a paper book, but it’s a real (hard-covered) book,” said student London Turner.
“So many of these kids don’t have books at home and to get this nice hard-covered book is like, ‘wow,’” added Schimmelmann.
Source: Reading is Fundamental
Fostering a ‘Culture of Reading’
Other district efforts to promote reading include Little Free Library house-shaped boxes stationed outside schools, with free books inside for the community to grab. Students are keeping reading logs, working to reach a weekly goal of minutes spent reading for fun. A districtwide committee is focused on school and community reading projects.
The state’s Culture of Reading program is distributing 3,000 copies of this year’s chosen book to 115 Michigan elementary classrooms and early childhood programs. It is the first award allocated through the program. Approximately 740 elementary school and early childhood programs applied for the grant.
Awards were granted on the basis of meeting grant criteria, including a commitment to providing the children with evidence-based reading instruction and family engagement activities focused on literacy.
“Kids will be getting their own books and reading instruction to help them on their way to a lifetime of learning and reading for enjoyment,” State Superintendent Mike Flanagan said in a press release.
Parkview Elementary second-grade students Solymar Lopez-Argueta, Joselyn Sanchez-Rodriguez, Vanessa Matildez-Rodriguez and Juan Jimenez-Hernandez read their copies of the 2014 Michigan Reads! Book of the Year
“There are too many people, including children and adults, who cannot read,” Flanagan added. “We need that to change. To help build a culture of reading in Michigan, we need to get books in their hands and in their homes.”
