Schools showcase successes with public
Schools throughout Shelby County shared some of the exciting things they are doing with stakeholders, community leaders and parents at the Shelby County Schools Education Foundation’s Showcase of Schools on Feb. 13 at the Shelby County Instructional Services Center in Alabaster.
Guests were welcomed into the newly redone Shelby Room, which was the former gym that had just been completed shortly before the showcase. This was the first event that was held in the new room.
The event began in 2014 as the State of Our Schools and has evolved to be more of a student-led event. The date has moved earlier in the year and also changed from a luncheon to a breakfast event.
The standing room only crowd was welcomed by Superintendent Dr. Lewis Brooks who noted the county’s theme of “together” and said they couldn’t do what they do without partnerships.
“We are here to share a portion of things students and teachers are doing in our classrooms,” he said.
Spread throughout nine breakout rooms, featured subjects included social studies, science, math, English/language arts along with college/ career transitions, student leadership, social and emotional learning, career tech and STEAM.
Kendall Williams, director of the Shelby County Schools Education Foundation, said all 30 schools in the county were represented in some fashion at the event.
“Each category gives people a glimpse into how instruction looks from early elementary, to elementary, to middle and high school,” Williams said. “This is a way we can bring our schools to them.”
She said the word interactive is important in engaging students to tell how they learn.
“School looks different these days,” she said. “These students will become our workforce one day and this is one way we are showing how that's working.”
To find the featured subjects for each school, Williams started with the principals and asked them to identify teachers doing great things in their subject areas and to choose their top three subjects they’d like to showcase for their school.
Schools in the 280 Living coverage area included:
► English/Language Arts: Forest Oaks Elementary and Oak Mountain Middle
► Math: Inverness Elementary and Oak Mountain Middle
► Science: Chelsea Park
► Social Studies: Chelsea High
► Career Technical Education: Chelsea High and Oak Mountain High
► STEAM: Chelsea Park Elementary, Oak Mountain Elementary, Oak Mountain Middle and Chelsea High
► Student Leadership: Chelsea Middle and Oak Mountain Intermediate
► Social and Emotional Learning: Mt Laurel Elementary
Ryan Adams, who teaches AP and U.S. History at Chelsea High School, takes a group of students to Washington, D.C., each year with a goal to break down stereotypes and meet with other students from around the country to give them an opportunity to be connected.
Fourth-grade Chelsea Park Elementary students in Mrs. Riggins science class showed their science stream table project they had created along with their PowerPoint presentations.
Mt Laurel Elementary was featured in Social and Emotional Learning and shared about their houses. All the students, faculty and staff are separated into five houses and each month, the classes get together to discuss the “7 Habits of Happy Kids” and build community and relationships among different ages.
In the math room, Inverness Elementary students were solving math problems using beebots and Oak Mountain Middle School demonstrated skills they learn in Algebra I that helps them analyze word problems and provides problem solving skills they can use later in life.
For student leadership, Peer Helper representatives from Chelsea Middle School shared how they help younger students transition to middle school and other things they do to help in the community.
Second-graders from Forest Oaks Elementary were dressed up as characters to match the fairy tale stories they had been working on. Also representing English/Language Arts was Oak Mountain Middle School who has been doing a Hunger Games unit in their English class.
STEAM included Chelsea Park Elementary, Chelsea High School, Oak Mountain Elementary and Chelsea Middle School.