Joe Frey talked to several Numa classes about water retention in soil.
Compiled by Kaitlin Ritchie
Wednesday, October 5, 2022
Churchill County Middle School
Students entered a contest to design this year's kindness T-shirt.
“Advisory teachers were given a sheet with a T-shirt outline on it and asked their students to design a shirt,” said teacher Kailyn Mann.
Students voted for their favorite shirt in their advisory class and that shirt went on to be one of the 31 finalists.
“We started with 408 shirts, as some students chose not to do it, and then we did a school-wide poll on which one of the 31 finalists was the overall favorite,” she said. PBIS wanted to let students show their creativity and have a part in their learning for kindness. Each year, Gerka Great students get shirts, but this year staff wanted the shirt to be something the students designed and voted on.
“Our goal is to have students have agency over their learning, both academic and emotionally. It was cool that so many students entered and wanted to create a kindness shirt for the whole student body,” Mann said.
Rhonda Maynes' class at Northside Early Learning Center danced to “If Your Happy and You Know It.” They talked about their feelings.
Joe Frey, with the help of his daughter Emily, taught Dominque Johnson’s and Vanessa Burch-Urquhart’s classes about water retention in soil as part of their science unit on physical weathering. Frey reached out to Burch-Urquhart when his daughter told him what they were studying, and offered to teach about the soil around Fallon.
“He put the lesson together and even touched on plant adaptations which we'll study in the spring,” Burch-Urquhart said.
Going into schools is not something Frey typically does, but his daughter really wanted him to come into her class.
“I loved seeing their interest in soil health and helping them realize that everything comes from the soil and how we need to care for it,” Frey said. “Soil health is my greatest passion, so I was delighted to be able to share with the kids.”
Frey loves sending his kids to school where they are around positive staff and loves being in a community where there are opportunities like this. Burch-Urquhart said having someone else come in to teach this lesson helped her students understand that what they are learning is important.
“Learning from community members who work with this every day really helps them see the value in their education,” she added.
Jenny Young’s first-class class at Lahontan learned the meaning behind Pjammin for Kids With Cancer Day.
Third grade students in Stacy Stults’ class read “How to Eat Fried Worms” and then they had the opportunity to eat worms.
“We used this book to cover story elements, character traits, point of view, and context clues,” Stults said. The characters are perfect for studying character traits and there are fun vocabulary words to define using context clues such as indignant, jostled, and antidote.
“Students do not believe me when I say they can eat worms, technically mealworms, when we are done reading it,” Stults said.
Students choose between barbecue, Mexican spice, and cheddar cheese or can try them all. Student Cash Craig said they were disgusting and tasted bad. Student Shia Downs said, “Oh heck no I did not eat a worm but I had fun gluing them together.”
The reviews were not all bad. Student Ansel Rowe said they were delicious and Cole Fearn agreed, “they were amazing. I loved all the flavors.” Stults loves making these memories with her students, “having them eat worms is an unforgettable experience and always a fun story to tell.”
Stacey Stults’ class at E.C. Best read the book “How to Eat Fried Worms.”
Students raised $1,394.93 for kids with cancer on “Pjammin for Kids With Cancer Day.” Students and staff members were allowed to wear their pajamas by making a donation, of an amount, to the Northern Nevada Children’s Cancer Foundation.
Jenny Young took this as an opportunity to teach her first grade students why they were wearing pajamas and the importance of what they were raising money for.
“I explained that I had a former student who had to go be an angel, and how her parents want to help other kids by raising money to help them and their families,” she said.
Northside
Students in Rhonda Maynes' class danced to “If Your Happy and You Know It.” They talked about their feelings and then got to sing the song and follow the actions.
“It always helps solidify whatever concept we are talking about when we add music and movement to our lesson,” Maynes said.
