Spring Lake Elementary Presents to Nebo School Board of Education

Submitted by lana.hiskey on

Spring Lake Principal, Mrs. Teresa Jordan, thanked the Nebo School Board of Education for the opportunity to present to the board. She mentioned that she had been the principal at Spring Lake for the past two years, and the school had accomplished a lot with big dreams and tall ambitions for the future.

Principal Jordan said, “Spring Lake Elementary’s mission is: ‘Empowering Students to Soar to Success’.

“At Spring Lake Elementary, the students and teachers are empowered to learn and grow toward their maximum potential:
In a safe, positive, supportive learning environment.
By providing engaging, relevant, individualized instruction.
By holding high expectations and providing high levels of support.
By fostering respect and building meaningful partnerships with parents.
By relying on synergy - or the collective power of the whole -knowing what we can accomplish together is more powerful than anything that can be accomplished individually or in isolation. 

“We are empowered to learn, grow, succeed and soar in a positive, supportive learning environment,” stated Principal Jordan. 

Student Leaders – Caleb Atkin & Valerie Solorazano
After introducing themselves, students leaders Caleb Atkin and Valerie Solorazano gave the following report:

“We’re student council representatives from Spring Lake Elementary.  As part of student council, we are leaders and we have a job to be kind and help improve our school. We want to share some of the things we are doing at Spring Lake:

“Student Council members do morning announcements. We share lunch and birthday information. Every Tuesday we have ‘Tickle Your Funny Bone Tuesday’ where students tell jokes and riddles. This year we have helped with: the school carnival, the Turkey Trot & Gobble Off, the Veteran’s assembly, Red Ribbon Week, White Ribbon Week, Seuss-a-palooza, and our Monthly S.O.A.R. Assembies.

“During S.O.A.R assemblies each month we help the principal teach the SOAR Motto to students which is: Speak Kindly, Obey the Rules, Act Responsibly, and Respect Yourself & Others.

“Some student council members even dress up as HERO, our school mascot! He flies in during the school year to help us learn about positive character traits. At our final assembly, he flies north for the summer. 
  
“The Spring Lake staff members couldn’t be better. The secretaries help students with their needs and the students and staff at Spring Lake are kind, respectful and very helpful. And the teachers are unforgettable. When we leave Spring Lake, we’ll remember and want to give a shout out to all our teachers.  We Love Spring Lake!“

PTA Representative – Emily Bennett
Emily Bennett, PTA Representative gave the following information: “We have a vibrant and active PTA at Spring Lake. Whenever we need volunteers for anything at the school, parents willingly step forward.  In addition to all the regular things that the PTA helps out with at the school, Spring Lake PTA is proud of the following:  

“This year the PTA has enhanced Red Ribbon Week and White Ribbon Week by inviting students from Payson High School to participate in activities with students.  The football team, boys and girls basketball team, soccer team, golf team, debate team and student council have all spent time volunteering.  Our students have LOVED having these high school students as role models and we appreciate our partnership with PHS.  
“This year the PTA started a volunteer campaign called "Recess Dads".  Similar to a "Room Mother", dads are encouraged to come hang out at the school on their lunch break from work (1 hour).  They come in and have lunch with the students and then go outside to play organized games with kids during lunch recess.  Afterward, they may visit their child's class to read a story or help out.  This has been really successful and the students love seeing their dads at school.  Many of the dads come for the first time and then keep coming back because they've enjoyed it so much.

“Our PTA worked hard last year to raise a large sum of money ($8,000) to go toward a marquee.  This has been a great addition to our school and the PTA thanked the district for matching the funds and paying extra for us to get a marquee.

“Our BoxTop committee goes above and beyond to create fun events for students to encourage them to turn in Box Tops.  They have raised hundreds of dollars for the school.  At Christmas time, the Box Top Committee created a "Maze of Lights" light show in the gym that was unbelievable.  It was like the festival of lights in Spanish Fork except inside the gym with students walking through.”

Emily ended by thanking the PTA board and committee and all the parents for their support of Spring Lake.  

SCC Representative – Stacey Durfee 
Stacey Durfee, a representative on the School Community Council reported some of the following:

“Our school goals over the past two years have focused on improvement in growth scores in reading and mathematics. 

“We are pleased that we have reached and even exceeded our goals of a 2% increase in growth scores in reading and math both in 2018 and are on track to meet the goals for 2019.

“I have been asked to share how the Trustlands funds have been used to meet the goals of the school improvement plan.

“In the past two years we have added 4 chromebook carts as well as dedicated chromebooks for each classroom. We have replaced outdated chromebooks and purchased ipads, headphones and other computer equipment.

“We have hired aides to work with individuals and small groups to provide reading interventions for students reading below grade level. Aides also help with math interventions, math reteach and enrich cycles, and to provide gifted math instruction for upper grades through a program called Mathletes.

“We have added several hundred titles to our Take Home Library to improve home reading for students in the lower grades.  

“We have also used the funds for staff development and training for teachers.  This includes monthly literacy collaborations, attending conferences and workshops and doing focused observations.

“This year, grade level teams chose an instructional goal they wanted to work on with either the district instructional coaches, math specialists or technology specialists. Substitutes were provided for teachers to work directly with the specialists for planning, preparing and implementing goals related to the improvement of Tier 1 instruction.

“This year we have been working hard to make sure that our students are doing Imagine Learning, which is the state approved reading intervention software with consistency and fidelity. 

“In the coming school year, we would like to add additional focus to improving support for student’s social and emotional well-being.  Also, improving intervention and support for our English Language Learners.”  

Stacey ended by saying, “I have been an aide, a parent and a PTA volunteer.  I am amazed at how hard the teachers and the administration work to help children.  They truly care.”

The choir students delighted the Nebo School Board of Education with a couple of musical selections.

#nebohero #NeboSchoolDistrict #studentsuccess #empowerstudents #engagestudents #focusonstudents #loveUTpublicschools #utpol #uted #ThankATeacher #LoveTeaching

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Lana Hiskey
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