Sikeston Junior High hosts open house during school hours

SIKESTON -- When Felecia Anderson, whose daughter Kelsie Anderson attends Sikeston Junior High, visits her daughter's school, it's usually when class isn't in session, such as an after-hours activity or parent-teacher conferences.

That's why on Wednesday, Anderson said she appreciated the school opening its doors to the community during school hours when the students were doing what they do best -- learning.

A handful of patrons turned out for the first community open house Wednesday at Sikeston Junior High School.

"I thought it was awesome," Anderson said following the two-hour tour of the school, where she and others observed four classrooms in progress, toured the entire school and discussed school programs and course offerings with administrators.

"I learned a lot," she added. "The opportunities they're giving the children are amazing."

While the administrators initially hoped for a higher turnout; they said the first open house was a great start.

"We plan to have more of these (open houses) because we want people to come in and see what we're doing here," said Junior High Academic Principal Jodi Glidewell.

"We invite the whole community not just the parents," Glidewell said. "This open house is for anyone who is curious about what we're doing."

"We have a lot of exciting things going on at SJHS and want the public to see that and feel like they are a part of that. We want them to see the awesome things our teachers and students are doing because there is exciting learning occurring here and we're doing new and innovative things."

Junior High Building Principal Frank Staple agreed.

"We're appreciative of the parents who came out and of our teachers and students," Staple said. "We believe it's going to grow."

During the two-hour tour, guests observed four classrooms in action, and they were shown some of the schools speciality areas as well as other programs in the school, such as its Positive Behavior Support and DRAFT, which stands for Developing Relationships And Focus Teaching.

With DRAFT, students are placed on one of three levels based on their grades: gold (students who have all As and Bs; silver (students who have all Bs and Cs) and bronze (students who have Ds and Fs).

Students who are at the gold level earn various privileges. For example, gold-level students recently visited with residents at a local nursing home. The levels are re-evaluated every three weeks, which means students have the chance to move up and down within the levels, Staple said.

Anderson said she was familiar with DRAFT through her daughter and other Junior High students.

"That's all the kids are talking about, it gives them something to work for, and I think that is awesome," Anderson said of DRAFT. "They think: 'I may be here (on this level) now, but if I work hard, I may get to go to a higher level.'"

Anderson said she loves Project iLearn, which is the district's 1:1 initiative to put an electronic device for learning in every student's hand. They saw several assignments students made using programs on the their iPads.

"It's revolutionizing the way we teach our kids, and when I think back to even four years ago, we didn't have so many things we're able to have now and the opportunities we're able to give give them in the world we live in," Glidewell said.

In the math class the group visited, students were doing projects on their iPads.

"The students are interpreting data and analyzing and synthesizing data instead of just kicking it out," Glidewell said.

Staple added a lot of critical thinking is involved in the classes.

"It's opening up the world to the kids and we're working to try some collaborative learning with other schools," he said.

The focus at Junior High is to prepare students for a career or college post their secondary education, Staple said.

"We're trying to give kids that great experience and getting them ready for high school and thinking about their futures. We want them thinking about college right now. We want them focusing on college or a career right now," he said.

Meanwhile, Anderson encouraged other members of the community to attend the next open house, which is tentatively scheduled for March 29, 2017.

She said: "They need to know what's going on in the schools and what are the kids learning."