Florence, South Carolina
Row 2 (L to R): Luke Matthews, Kristie Bridger, Carol Schweitz (Principal), Amanda Bailey, Carrie Connor, Eddie Thomas
Moore Intermediate’s Math Night at IGA
This school of 5th and 6th grade students partnered with IGA—a local grocery store. Parents could, simultaneously, shop and practice math skills with their children. The Math Coach and Team collaborated with the manager of IGA to develop academic activities based on math standards that parents could do with their children both during the event and on future trips to the store. For example, students found the volume of a cereal box, figured out the cost effectiveness of different brands, and calculated the cost of purchasing cookies for their whole class. Parents and students were given a pencil, clipboard, and calculator to use as they shopped and answered the questions.
Teachers encouraged families to work together to solve the problems and offered support as needed. The team also collaborated with the local high school. Several high school students earned community service hours as they joined the Moore staff to assist parents and students. A follow-up survey showed that parents said that they learned or practiced topics such as bulk prices, saving money, reading labels, comparing costs, and price per pound. They reported that they enjoyed the activity and looked forward to building on these skills with their children at home and on future shopping trips.
The KICK Team
The Keeping It Classy Kids (KICK) team consists of two girls per classroom from grades 5 and 6 (about 80 students). The girls were nominated by their teachers as having leadership potential, but not yet meeting that potential. KICK emphasized leadership through good attendance, good behavior, friendship, and kindness toward others. The 15-week program was supported by a small grant from Francis Marion University—a partner on family and community engagement projects.
School counselors who facilitated KICK met with eight girls at a time during the students´ scheduled recess period for about 15 minutes per meeting. Topics included friendship, goal setting, family commitment, etiquette/manners, teamwork, healthy choices, community involvement, college, careers, and hygiene. The topics were organized by four themes: Knowledge (I can discover and explore new things); Respect (I am loved and can love others); Forgiveness (I will not stay angry); and Humility (I don’t have to be first). Students were supported by parents, community volunteers, and guest speakers, including two news reporters, a city councilwoman, a police officer, an athlete and coach, a teacher, a college-age entrepreneur, and a pageant queen. At the end of each meeting, the girls responded to a prompt about the topic in their reflection booklets. They shared their reflections at home with a parent. Parents reacted to their daughters’ reports and noted a positive change in students´ leadership and attitudes toward school.
The KICK Team is featured in Promising Partnership Practices 2017.
