Crane Governing Board Meeting at a Glance
The Crane School District governing board convened for its February meeting Tuesday evening, following its second day of in-person learning.
According to Superintendent Laurie Doering, 58% of the district’s student population returned to their campuses this week for teacher-led classroom instruction for the first time since reverting to remote learning on Nov. 30.
“The enthusiasm and positive energy in the schools was contagious,” Doering said, noting that remote learning remains an option for families who prefer that modality.
KINDNESS CONTINUES AT RONALD REAGAN
Ronald Reagan Elementary School has renewed its registration with the Tucson-based Ben’s Bells organization – an initiative that aims “to teach individuals and communities about the positive impacts of intentional kindness and to inspire people to practice kindness as a way of life,” according to BensBells.org.
As Feb. 17 is National Random Acts of Kindness Day, Reagan’s student council is organizing a spirit week centered around acts of kindness – a years-old tradition at the school, according to Doering.
STEM OPPORTUNITIES ABOUND AT H.L. SUVERKRUP
H.L Suverkrup Elementary School was recently accepted into the Amazon Future Engineer program, a comprehensive childhood-to-career serving underserved and underrepresented populations via increased access to computer science education.
Amazon will provide the curriculum, materials and professional development to expand the school’s existing computer science program.
COUNSELORS CONTRIBUTE TO SCHOOL SAFETY
A school safety grant acquired last year funded school counselor positions at Gary A. Knox, Pueblo and Salida del Sol elementary schools. Knox’s counselor Diana Geren – known as “the feelings teacher” at her site – and Pueblo’s counselor Dorothy Higuera are currently serving a caseload of 14 and 16 students, respectively. Since arriving to Salida, counselor Marla Castro has served over 300 students through a combination of individual sessions and classroom settings.
Through a referral process, the trio works to support students coping with anxiety, behavioral issues, family conflicts, academic struggles, grief and COVID-19 concerns while fostering social/emotional learning.
Higuera is in the process of providing classroom lessons tailored to support first-graders participating in remote learning.
“They’re experiencing some anxiety, maybe some behavior difficulties – the first-grade teachers approached me and asked if I could do something for them in the way of social/emotional lessons,” she said, noting she’s also working on providing artbased projects to support social/emotional learning and self-esteem for fourththrough sixth-graders.
According to Gary A. Knox Principal Laura Hurt, the grants were awarded for a three-year period; slated to expire in the 2021-2022 academic year, the schools were afforded an extension through the end of the 2022-2023 academic year.
“I’m hoping by that time we can creatively do something to keep a counselor in every school, because it’s been life-changing,” she said.