This Week the Spotlight Shines on Columbia Teachers and Staff!

This past week has been packed with athletic events, televised on multiple stations focusing on every detail.  If you were to listen and watch, you could have become acquainted with all of the Kentucky Derby horses, their owners and jockeys.  Although only slightly more than 170,000 attended the Derby, millions more watched from the comfort of their homes.  In addition, over the past week there was immense attention paid to the Mayweather  versus Pacquao fight, the NBA finals and the NFL draft.

These superstars of sports are in the spotlight and we can’t seem to get enough of them.  In the Columbia School District this week our spotlight is shining on our superstar staff members this week!  May 4^th – May 8^th is Teacher & Staff Appreciation Week!  This is the week for us to honor and appreciate our teachers for all they do each and every day for our students.

Our Columbia teachers work and plan terrific educational learning activities for our students.  In her

anatomy class Mrs. VanWagnen offers her students incredible opportunities to delve into their subject through dissection of various animal parts.  Recently she introduced her students to the anatomy of an eye by dissecting a cow’s eye, then last week they experienced dissecting a fetal pig.  The students were not only very interested in comparing the anatomy of a pig to that of a human, but it gave them an experience they will never forget!

Mrs. Dagenais is the new counselor for our junior high students in their new area at Columbia Central.  In her role as counselor, she is also teaching a leadership class.  Her enthusiasm for increasing self-esteem and building leadership skills has motivated her students to not only learn more about themselves, but produce posters with positive quotes for all the students to view. 

Our sixth grade teachers, Ms. White, Mr. Williams, Mr. Luppo, Mr. Meschke, Mr. Moore and elementary counselor Mrs. Schatzle gave our students the opportunity to learn in an experiential hands-on way at Kimball Camp last week.  The students learned about physics through the Pendulum Physics activity on the Giant’s Swing, experienced the aging of a lake during their canoe explorers class and found the courage and tenacity to take one more step as they conquered Goliath, the forty-foot climbing tower. 

Our Columbia Central Elementary kindergarten teachers, Ms. Uhl, Mrs. Hotchkins, Mrs. Sexton and Mrs. Bernstein work together with their students to take our youngsters from their A, B, C’s to reading a book!  Their patience and nurturing spirits supports their students as they become acquainted with school and the awesome learning opportunities we offer.

As I visit each school there are many opportunities for me to applaud the great things teachers are accomplishing on a daily basis.  Please take some time this week to email, snail mail or stop by and thank one of our great teachers or staff members for all they do each and every day for the children of our Columbia School District Family!

If you are interested in learning more about Columbia School District or our programs, call me at 5175926641 or email me at pamela.campbell@myeagles.org .