Principal loves preparing students for the future
Principal Trampus Pierson of Cloudcroft Elementary and Middle Schools in Cloudcroft, New Mexico, is pleased that he’s able to carry on the tradition of using Nancy Larson Science in his elementary school. Cloudcroft Elementary and Middle Schools are two of the highest performing schools in the state of New Mexico.
He recently took the reins from Principal Robyn Cook and is a supporter of this program that prepares students for the future. Former Principal Cook, who is now an educational consultant for Region 9, chose Nancy Larson Science for the school when searching for a stronger science program several years ago. “I taught science in high school for 20 years so I was very excited when I saw the Nancy Larson Science program,” said Cook. “I could tell from the content that my elementary teachers were going to be sending their students on to the other grades with a deeper, more well-rounded knowledge base in science.”
Children are engaged and love science
“The interactive pieces of the program really get the kids excited about science,” said third grade teacher Yvonne Barnes. “This is the first time I’m hearing kids say, ‘I love science. Science is my favorite subject. Are we doing science today?’ They never want to miss it. I’m excited to see how engaged they are in learning.”
Kindergarten teacher Sarah Lee commented, “We really see our kids talking and thinking about being scientists and using the vocabulary. My son says he wants to be a physicist! The kids love the science terminology. This is really wonderful!”
Irene Brabson, who teaches Special Education, appreciates the organization and how appropriate the program is for all students. “I find this program to be well organized with step-by-step procedures that make it teacher and kid friendly. The student booklets are wonderfully interactive. Kids are so excited about it.”
Favorite features
Kristi Burt, second grade teacher, pointed out a few features that are favorites. “Besides being easy to teach, other important features are the science word wall, finding text evidence, and the student vocabulary. We really focus on developing science vocabulary. It is also great that the students are learning to find text evidence in their booklets.”
Yvonne Barnes commented, “I like the whole program, but a few of my favorites are the tool kit for the interactive hands-on activities, the online resources slideshows and videos-and being able to project the lesson charts. All of these things keep the children involved and engaged. In addition, the highlighting and the questioning strategies are great and the scripted lesson just makes it so easy to teach.”
Yvonne Barnes also said, “I love that everything you need for the lesson activity is already there. I love that the lesson reviews are printed for you and all the booklets are printed as well.”
Kristi Burt agreed that having everything ready is great. “I don’t have to make copies, and it is easy to use. If I have a substitute teacher, they can just keep going with the curriculum. No time is lost,” said Burt. “Also the hands-on activities are engaging-we love those.”
Parents love it
Yvonne Barnes commented, “I have parents who tell me that their kids are so positive about what they are learning in science. They are able to teach their parents what they learned. In fact, I have one student who told his mother every day what phase the moon was in.”
Kristi Burt added that the parents of her second graders share how excited they are about what their children are learning in science. “Students talk with their parents about science and they go find things in nature that they are learning about so that is great.” Burt said, ” I have my son in my class this year and I’ve noticed at home he talks about science more than he ever has because of this program.”