By Maci Hodgins, Class of 2020

As a high school girl who loves solving math equations, learning about the human body, and understanding the laws of the universe, I naturally looked into the STEM – Science, Technology, Engineering, Math – field for my future career. What I found was surprising. I knew the field was generally male-dominated, but I didn’t know that one of the reasons so few women pursue a career in STEM was a result of their high school experience and the lack of encouragement they received. The second reason nagged at me the most. A lack of encouragement has no excuses.

When my science teacher, Mrs. Santucci, approached me last year and asked my opinion on creating a club at King’s for girls interested in STEM, I was enlivened. She explained to me that she had been in communication with the STEMettes program in the United Kingdom and they were interested in expanding internationally.  We would be the first international STEMette club outside of U.K and hopefully the first of many.

STEMettes exists to equip the minds of young high school girls interested in the STEM field and to inspire girls that might not have considered a career in the field otherwise. It’s now November and the club had its first official meeting with over 40 girls attending. STEMettes provide a global perspective and sheds light on what other women are doing in the STEM field around the world. Once a week, members can gather to learn about prominent female leaders in the fields of STEM and then use the skills they acquire in their own lives. Over the course of the year, members will also be able to communicate directly with other STEMettes clubs in the U.K.

People often underestimate the importance of a global perspective because it’s easier to focus on local and national events. A global perspective forces us to see what people around the world are accomplishing outside our own bubble. I’m excited to be a part of a global STEM movement here at King’s High School.

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by Tech Teacher Rhonda McRae

In technology class throughout the month of March, our 2^nd, 3^rd, and 4^th grade classes did hands on activities to learn about the engineering process. In 2^nd grade, the students were given supplies to design and build their own “marker-bot” – a self-drawing robot powered by hex bug robots. Our 3^rd and 4^th grade students designed and built mazes for hex bugs.

We started these lessons by talking about engineering and what it means to be an engineer. Using an engineer who builds bridges as an example, we walked through the engineering process: define the problem, learn, plan, build, test, and iterate (make changes and keep testing as needed). After defining our engineering tasks, the students got a chance to learn by using some existing marker-bots and mazes. They learned what works well (and what doesn’t!), then went to work in small groups to plan and design their own.

The students worked in small groups of 3-4 students to implement their designs. Once they were finished building, we talked about testing their designs. Testing is a vital part of the process as it’s designed to find any problems. With the marker-bots, our 2nd grade students found problems as they tried to draw and made changes to have a successful test of their marker-bot. Our 3rd and 4th grade students had a worksheet full of test cases they had to execute to test the robustness of their maze. As they found problems, they made changes and kept testing until their hex bug was successful.

Our last step was to combine our mazes. This was exciting for all of the students! They had fun cheering for the different hex bugs as they raced from one end to the other.

Our King’s Elementary students came away from these projects with a new appreciation for the steps involved in building and had fun creating their own engineering projects!

Rhonda McRae is the technology teacher at King’s Elementary. She has a passion for teaching students learn how to create technology and not just be consumers of technology. 

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by Learning Environment Coordinator Juanita Thompson

Finding innovative ways to support teachers is essential in designing the best possible learning environment for student engagement. To ensure that we make this happen each and every day in our preschool through 12^th grade classrooms, King’s Schools has added a new position, Learning Environment Coordinator, which has become my new role.

The work of the Learning Environment Coordinator is three-fold: First, provide on-going support to teachers in curriculum design and mapping process; second, provide feedback on student engagement in learning through classroom visits; and third, facilitate the collaborative nature of teaching and learning between teachers, students and administrators. The focus is on:

• positive student engagement in learning in and outside the classroom;
• Biblical worldview integration into each content area;
• curriculum design through Understanding by Design unit planning;
• Professional Learning Communities where teachers collaborate on best practices;
• understanding and applying standards so our students learn beyond expectations;
• use of assessments to inform student learning;
• differentiated instruction to create a variety of opportunities to help students learn;
• utilizing the most current technology tools that prepare our students for college readiness and beyond.

King’s Schools’ focus on intentionally creating a positive and engaging learning environment for students is also my calling as an educator. Every day, I see students and teachers engaged in amazing learning environments. One day, I am collaborating with teachers on integrating Biblical worldview themes in their math courses. Another day, I’m seeing how students are engaged in social justice and marketing simulation, digitally designing senior yearbook pages, splicing jellyfish DNA or pitching their ideas for digital school newspaper. Still another, I might observe students risk-taking in drama improv or programming to develop web pages and online games. Each student is thinking and collaborating to problem-solve in current, real-world discussions.

Students at King’s are daily immersed in learning environments with loving, caring teachers where they engage in what it means to live out his or her calling to impact our world. It is a win-win for everyone with an excellent impact on our students!

Juanita Thompson has taught for 19 years; 15 years at King’s Schools. During this time, she served as Elementary Teacher, Grade Level Mentor Teacher, K-6 Curriculum Coordinator, School Improvement Leadership Team, K-6 Robotics Director, and Director of King’s Kids Club and Special Programs. Juanita earned from Seattle Pacific University a BA in English/Language Arts, K-8 certification, 4-12 endorsement and an MA in Educational Leadership with P-12 Administrator certification.

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Three years ago at King’s High School, Health & Fitness Teacher Jamie Lyon had an idea that inspired a string of innovative changes to the way students at King’s learn health and fitness.

King’s freshmen had traditionally been offered one semester of coed health and one of gender-separate physical education. Lyon initially decided to change Girl’s PE so that rather than meeting 5 days in the gym, the class would meet in the gym on Monday/Wednesday/Friday for physical activities and in the classroom on Tuesday/Thursday, where they would focus on female health (nutrition, body image, relationships, sex-education, etc.).

The new program was well received, inspiring additional changes this year. Lyon is now team teaching with Health & Fitness Teacher Jordan Gage. Now, both male and female students take one full year of Healthy Living Fitness, rather than one semester of health and one of PE. The new class follows this model: Mondays and Wednesdays are gender-separate in the gym focusing on lifelong fitness. Tuesdays and Thursdays are co-ed in the classroom presenting a cutting edge, new health curriculum. Fridays are flexible days designed to enhance whatever students are learning.

Fitness

On gym days, transitioned the focus from to overall fitness. Research shows that less than 4% of adults stay physically fit and healthy from team sports. The new goal is to provide students with experiences in a wide variety of exercises in hopes that they will find a few that they enjoy and are motivated to continue doing later in life. King’s students do weight training, circuit training, agility training, long runs, power walks, yoga, Pilates, Zumba, badminton and yes, they still do a few “game days” for fun!

Healthy Living

In the classroom, Lyon and Gage adapted curriculum from two new health books and then added a Christian perspective. Some of the highlights from this year were nutrition, identity and body image, eating disorders, first aid and CPR, mental health, emotional health, personality development and relationships.

On Fridays, a speaker might be invited to share his/her expertise in a certain area. The class might do a “Taste of Health” cooking class in which students get to create and eat healthy meals. Sometimes students meet in the gym for “game day” and students work together in team activities.

“We decided to structure Healthy Living Fitness in this way for a number of reasons,” said Lyon. “First, it was important to us that our students are getting exercise all year long and not just for half of the year. We want it to model real life. Research shows the effects of exercise reach far beyond physical fitness and have an effect on our learning, focus, self-esteem and mood. Second, we liked the idea of having students be able to flow in and out of gender separate learning. Mr. Gage and myself team teach, so on gym days I take the ladies and he takes the gentlemen. Most classroom days are coed, but our structure allows us to switch back to gender separate for topics that we feel would be better taught in that environment. Lastly, the year-long structure allows our class to become a comfortable and safe place. For example, we are just currently teaching our relationship unit and since students have been together all year, we see them opening up, sharing and being vulnerable with one another.”

Family & student feedback on the changes

Students and parents seem to be responding well to the new curriculum and layout. “I absolutely love that class!” said Alyssa Culberson, the parent of a freshman girl at King’s. “I love the teachers. I love what the students are learning and how relevant it is to their lives!” Student Callie Wright said, “Health class is amazing, but the thing that makes it so amazing is definitely our teachers. It’s obvious they love what they do and want us to love it, too… It’s an absolute joy to come to class every day and learn about how to better my physical and spiritual health!” Lyon added that many students are excited about the progress they’re making from the fitness days.

Of course, with change comes some push back. Things like more rigorous homework and tests have prompted a few parent questions, but overall the freshman class is excited about the changes. Gage said, “At parent night, we emphasize how this might just be one of the most valuable and life applicable classes that students will take. In our class, students learn about things they will experience every day as adults. The challenging work represents how important this material is.”

Additionally, the relationships that Lyon and Gage build with their students allow them to be friends and mentors to students throughout their high school experience. “After their freshman year, students are only required to take one more semester of PE and that can be waived if they are varsity athletes,” said Lyon. “Our goal is to add more health and fitness classes in the future, but we hope that the skills and lessons they learn in Healthy Living Fitness will help them to make healthy choices for the rest of their lives.”

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Do you remember your foreign language class in high school? Maybe you chose a name from the language you were studying – Collette, Pablo or Fredrick. You probably learned the alphabet, counted to 20, and practiced a few phrases that still come to you now and then. But if we’re honest, few of us mastered the language.

Times have changed. Kindergarten students are now learning a foreign language by immersion, a method in which the entire class is taught is in a non-native language and fluency is happening by 4^th or 5^th grade. Wow!

Now, this exciting immersion into another language is happening at King’s Schools. This fall, King’s will add to its elementary program a Spanish immersion option. This distinctive approach allows young children to acquire fluency in a second language in the same way they learned English. Our Spanish Immersion class gives elementary students an opportunity to complete the curriculum in a nontraditional way – by immersing themselves in the Spanish language from kindergarten through sixth grade. Students become proficient in both Spanish and English, while learning the same curriculum content as their peers in the traditional English classrooms.

Although it seems new, immersion programs have existed in the United States for over 40 years, although the most dramatic growth in the number of programs has occurred over the past 15 years.  Research indicates that by the end of 5^th grade, students generally score noticeably higher in math and literacy on standardized tests than students in traditional programs.

Just look what the studies show!

• Positive effects in cognitive development and intellectual growth
• Fosters cross-cultural understanding and encourages engagement in global conversations
• Proficiency and depth in the Spanish language
• Acquisition of a native-like pronunciation when learning a language at an early age
• Produces successful learners who perform well on standardized tests
• Increased career opportunities where communication skills in Spanish are an asset

The world is getting smaller and King’s students will be ready for it! Learn more by visiting /elementary/spanish-immersion-faqs/.

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