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More than core classes at Breitung schools

Our Town Kingsford

STUDENTS AT BREITUNG TOWNSHIP School District’s Woodland Elementary School in Kingsford ­— from left, Dominic Tatangelo, Piper Zellner and Cecilia Michna-Stiehm ­— use a computer to program a small robot as part of their STEM classes. (Breitung Township Schools photo)

KINGSFORD — Breitung Township Schools is putting special focus on classes and programs that go beyond the core classes.

The district has a comprehensive program of specials at the elementary school, exploratories at the middle school and electives at the high school, Superintendent Dave Holmes said.

“I feel we do a pretty good job of providing those opportunities and continuity from the bottom to the top for kids coming through our schools,” he said.

“One of the things that I think is really neat about the elementary is we really have a K-12 focus,” principal Darren Petschar said.

For example, elementary school art teacher Elizabeth Lorenzoni works with the middle and high school art teacher to build the concept of what they need from early kindergarten to grade 12.

TEACHER ERIK BERGLUND works with student Evelyn Brooks on a tech design lesson at Breitung Township Schools. The district works to extend what it can provide students beyond core courses, with a comprehensive program of specials at the elementary school, exploratories at the middle school and electives at the high school. (Breitung Township Schools photo)

Elementary school children are using programs to make an invitation or a poster. They have students write blogs for class, to work on writing and spelling skills, and this ties into programs that would be used in the middle and high school, Petschar said.

In their outdoor rec and gym program, students are learning different classes, health skills, how to work in a group and about handling their emotions, he said.

Music classes teach younger kids the basics of music. In fourth grade they learn to play the recorder as a way to get them interested in band and what other instruments they might want to try.

STEM classes introduce kids to science, math, technology and engineering. Kids were designing their own houses using Legos.

“They’re learning how to build a team, then they move on to Makerspace, and fab lab. Our art program and other themes are really a great project to get them learning as they go up — activities beyond the reading, writing and arithmetic,” Petschar said.

Fifth-grade students are considered part of the middle school, but they offer a lot of the same specials, said Jessica Garvaglia, middle school principal.

One difference is music classes in strings and the piano.

“The kids are learning to play the ukulele. One of the kids was learning a rift to a Metallica song. There’s a lot of personal choice on what they’re playing. They can play both instruments to inspire them if they want to join band in high school and maybe not in middle school,” she said.

The art program features individual classes as well as some “really cool” group collaborations, Garvaglia said. The teacher picks an artist and students learn about that artist’s style and technique before make something.

“One big project that I’ve watched them do, everyone get a panel and they do a painting together,” she said.

Students in seventh and eighth grade take tech design classes for half a year.

“They design all kinds of things in there — ornaments for the Kingsford Christmas Tree lighting ceremony. They made T-shirts that were given out at various events, trucker hats that they gave out in the fall, different mugs. They design the logos, learned how to engrave or do dye sublimation. They did all kinds of cool things in tech design,” Garvaglia said.

Bridging into high school, they have a careers class and a foods class that students enjoy.

“They have a cookie truck competition,” Garvaglia said. “They make their own recipe for a cookie, with a list of things they can use based on what is on a cake box, design the menu, the pricing, the cookie truck, display and Mrs. (Tamara) Nash and I get to be the people who vote, four times a year.”

“Once they develop that interest in the middle school, they develop their career educational development plan, which is a requirement,” Holmes said. “We do a really good job of incorporating that transitioning into high school and allow the kids to modify their career path or pursue their interests.”

Holmes added, “We really excel in those areas, having two full guidance counselors, one in the middle school and one in the high school.”

High School Principal David Lindbeck believes the district has a fantastic music program between the band, jazz band and vocal. The band is getting ready for a summer trip to Disney World and its members generally score high in solo and ensemble competitions.

They offer four years of arts and four years of band.

Kingsford also is among the only schools in the area that has four years of two foreign languages, Spanish and French. They also offer five different advanced placement classes.

Sarah Western teaches basic art classes, as well as pottery and photography. They have two years of woodshop classes, plus engineering CAD and other advanced computer classes, using computers to design real products.

A new class that has proved popular is weightlifting. Offered as an elective this year, it has more than 100 students and has five sessions. It appeals to more than just athletes, Lindbeck said.

“It’s definitely improved the self-confidence of our kids,” he said.

Holmes believes the specials and electives that are not core are pieces that help students determine their area of interest. They then are able to funnel students to Dickinson-Iron Technological Center if they’re leaning in that direction.

“We have a variety of career paths that can lead to the tech center. We do our best to get our kids into those classes if that’s the career path they want. And it’s not just the kids who want to work with their hands, those classes have all different potentials and all different career phases — health, sciences or marketing.”

Justin Cowen, director of learning technology, tries to help teachers incorporate new resources and tools into classes, along with being there for tech support. Students in kindergarten and first grade each use an iPad, while each student in second through 12th grade have a school-issued Chromebook.

In Woodland Elementary’s computer classes, they use a program called “21 Things for Students” that teaches topics such as online safety and how to handle yourself in the digital realm, Cowen said.

“You can teach them how to use words but how do you teach them how to behave is an important component,” he said.

Woodland also has STEM Night that introduces kids to a lot of different area businesses and what they do.

And even at the elementary level, students are learning the basics of programming for robots.

“It’s fun to watch all these kindergartners and first-graders break out all these little programming robots and learned what to do with them,” Cowen said.

In middle school, students can take a tech design class that has a commercial-grade engraving machine.

“I’ve seen kids come through that and create really cool engraved products,” he said, something that would not have been available to him in school.

In one class, students used an Oculus virtual reality device to dissect a frog. Another teacher had a virtual reality tour of the Grand Canyon.

Other classes have a community service component, Holmes said. The environment classes partner with groups to do things such as water testing. Students have also used the sewing class to make blankets and backpack bags.

Holmes said he appreciates the backing they receive from the board, parents and the public.

“District-wide, there is tremendous support from our booster clubs, PTO at Woodland, Parent Partnership at the middle school, academic, music and athletic booster clubs,” Holmes said.

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