Teacher of the Month: Wendy Eastman!

“My daughter’s favorite teacher!” “She cultivates an environment of academic success.”  These statements are in praise of Wendy Eastman, a fabulous Columbia Central Junior High School math teacher.  This past year, she was nominated and voted “Teacher of the Year” by her fellow junior high school teachers.

Mrs. Eastman is consistently working to advance her students to higher levels of academic achievement through careful planning and focus on increasing her student’s educational excellence.  She works to motivate her students by encouraging them to exceed their expectations and their past mathematics performance.  Her caring and nurturing spirit supports her students both academically and socially.

Mrs. Eastman loves being a teacher because of the junior high school learners who walk into her classroom each day.  Each one of her students inspire her daily with their hard work, perseverance, and joy for learning. Mrs. Eastman’s students also encourage her with their curiosity, excitement for learning and passion for accomplishing difficult tasks.  Mrs. Eastman says she is so blessed to have a job in which every day is diverse, and is so privileged to work in the satisfying, life-changing career of teaching.

Columbia teachers recognize Mrs. Eastman for her leadership in the classroom and as an important part of the school improvement efforts.  For several years she coached the junior high school robotics teams and has served the district by teaching robotics during the summer to elementary students.  Her enthusiasm for learning in various settings is illustrated by her ability to demonstrate creativity and innovation in her lesson plans and using teaching methods that inspire students to learn.

The Columbia School District appreciates the hard work and excellence in education provided to our students in Mrs. Eastman’s classes.  The students benefit from her tenacity, educational enthusiasm, and positive ethical spirit.  Mrs. Eastman is an extraordinary dedicated teacher, blessed by her various teaching gifts. She is an exemplary teacher who fosters a collaborative environment for her students through her deep passion for learning.

Fun Ideas with Your Children!

Columbia School District parents and teachers often work collaboratively to support our young Golden Eagle students.  Here are some ideas to help show your children that you care by giving them attention while playing fun learning games at home.  You may want to establish a family fun time and try one of these creative activities. 

Play the thesaurus game.  Choose a word and let your child(ren) use their thesaurus, dictionary, or phone to look of the word.  The winner is the one who can find the most synonyms.  You could also go around the group of family or friends and have each person take turns adding a synonym that hasn’t been mentioned.  A slight twist on the game is to let your children take turns announcing the words.

Plan a scavenger hunt!  Make up your own list or download a scavenger hunt list from the internet and send your children on a scavenger hunt.  The list may be as intricate or as basic as need be for the ages of children playing the scavenger hunt game.  You could have them find something green, something square or other basic shape.  If it is nice outside you could broaden the list to search for to include leaves, bugs, or pine cones.

The observation game!  Look at a picture with your child(ren) and then put it aside.  Have your child(ren) write down all of the items they saw in the picture.

Play the newspaper match game!  After you are finished reading the newspaper, cut out the stories and separate them from the headlines.  Match the headlines to the stories.  A twist on this game: Take the headlines and try to write a short story to go with the headline.  Another option, write your own headlines.  If you want to talk to your children about the difference between facts and opinions, you could have them underline facts in one color and opinions in another color.  If you are interested in learning more about Columbia School District, call 5175926641 or email me at Pamela.Campbell@myeagles.org.