Madison City Schools recognizes several new National Board Certified Teachers

MADISON — The Madison City Board of Education saw a packed room at their Jan. 24 board meeting as several groups gave special presentations, one of which included the recognition of the school system’s 16 newest National Board Certified Teachers.

With the 16 certifications—which included one re-certification, according to math specialist Diona Cozzolini—Madison City Schools now has 58 National Board Certified Teachers currently teaching in the school system.

Cozzolino said the 16 certifications gave MCS the highest number of newly certified teachers in the state for the second year in a row.

The following certified teachers were recognized at the meeting: Sara Baragona, Stephanie Coker, Kylie Henriksen, Jane Herndon, Michael Merritt, Noel Newquist, Patrice O’Donnell, Amy Patel, Jessica Pinegar, Kerri Scroggins, Sarah Stewart, Tosha Swearingen, Elizabeth Vaughn, Kathleen Wade and Rebecca Wilson.

“As a district, we recognize the value of National Board certification and are committed to supporting teachers through this process,” Cozzolino said.

One way they have done this is by providing a support network since spring 2015 for teachers pursuing this certification. In 2016, they were also able to secure a grant to provide monetary support to these teachers as well. After securing the grant, Cozzolino said the number of certified teachers more than doubled.

“All of this, of course, is possible because of the countless hours spent by these dedicated teachers in addition to a phenomenal support network,” Cozzolino said. “… We are so proud of each one of you. Thank you for your hard work and the tremendous impact you are making in the lives of students each and every day.”

SCHOOL BOARD APPRECIATION

January also happens to be School Board Recognition Month, so the principals of Madison City Schools had something special in store for the board. Many gave out special gifts to each board member, and Discovery Middle School Principal Kim Stewart presented the board with a large art piece created by the school’s advanced art students. Stewart said the piece will be hung on the wall at DMS with a plaque. Liberty Middle School Principal Shannon Brown said they will be donating several new books to LMS in the board’s honor.

Principals and students also expressed their appreciation for the board in a humorous and heartfelt video shown at the meeting. Board members later in the meeting expressed their own gratitude to the district.

INSTRUCTION COMMITTEE REPORT

Chief Academic Officer Dr. Heather Donaldson gave the instruction committee report, during which she explained a few changes, additions and clarifications to middle school and high school course catalogs for the 2019-2020 school year.

“We are preparing them for the next level,” Donaldson said. “We are doing our very best to stay up to date with workforce development needs and giving our students what they have a desire to take in middle and high school.”

For middle school, a few of these changes include expanding the STEM Academy and world language offerings, as well as adding a dual enrollment math elective course for eight-graders. For high school, the proposed changes would include the expansion of the computer science and business academies, as well as three new AP courses.

Donaldson also presented the board with changes and clarifications to endorsements for high schoolers. These changes would go into effect for this year’s rising freshman class, who will be graduating in 2023.

For the Advanced Academic Endorsement, students will need one fine arts course credit and 25 hours of community service in addition to the current requirements. To earn the Seal of Academic Distinction, students will need to meet the following requirements: three world language course credits of the same language or two world language credits of the same language and two credits of another language; two fine arts credits; a pre-calculus credit; three AP course credits; 50 hours of community service; and a senior project/digital portfolio.

The Seal of Biliteracy is proposed as an additional opportunity for this year’s graduating senior class.

BLACKBOARD CLASSROOM

Daniel Whitt, MCS’ coordinator of instructional technology, explained the benefits of using Blackboard Classroom as the primary software for online classes throughout the district.

Whitt explained that while Google Classroom is free and liked by teachers, it has presented challenges for both students and educators that Blackboard Classroom could solve.

“We’re not recommending in any way that we get rid of [Google Classroom],” Whitt said. “We think that all teachers should have access to it at all times. However, for our online classes, we’re looking for something more robust.”

On students’ side of things, they must obtain a class code from their teacher in order to have access to the online class, a sometimes painful extra step in the process for both students and teachers. For student-athletes, Whitt said Google Classroom is not recognized by the NCAA for eligibility, which can cause problems down the road.

“We’ve got student athletes that are taking online classes and getting to college, and certain credits are not serving them toward their eligibility to play sports,” he added. Blackboard, on the other hand, is used as the main platform for online classes at several colleges and universities. The program is not only for college courses, though. It has software specifically for K-12.

For teachers, Blackboard offers a bidirectional grade book and integrates “100 percent” with Google Drive, which would make the transition from Google Classroom largely seamless.

Whitt added that all teachers of online classes in the district were given a survey after a session with Blackboard personnel to rate their confidence on a scale from one to five that Blackboard would provide solutions to their current problems. Whitt said they gave unanimous fives.

Whitt said there will be a one-time $15,000 implementation fee, a $4,500 face-to-face onsite training fee and a prorated annual fee for the first term of about $1,200. It would cost about $5,000 per year to sustain. There are optional add-on programs available as well.

If the board approves the expenditure at the Feb. 7 meeting, Whitt said training and integration will take place over the following months with the goal of piloting the program for summer online classes and launching it for fall 2019.

COLUMBIA ELEMENTARY DRAMA CLUB

Several Madison City students also attended the meeting as part of other presentations about special programs in the school system.

First up were members of Columbia Elementary School’s Drama Club, who will be performing “Annie Jr.” Feb. 8-9. The drama club consists of more than 80 students from kindergarten up to fifth grade who are part of the play. A few of the young cast members and their principal, Jamie Hill, explained how the program benefits students.

For Abby, who plays Lily in “Annie Jr.,” drama club has taught her three things: how to project, how to act a part and that everyone is different.

“In drama, there might be one thing that we can all agree on is that we love drama,” she said. “I love drama because of the people that are in it. … I have made many friends in drama.”

Hill praised the many parents who have served in leadership roles for the school’s production of “Annie Jr.” “They don’t receive a dime,” he said. “They are wonderful at what they do. They spend countless hours at Columbia, and they began this process.”

MADISON ELEMENTARY’S BUZZ BUDDIES

Madison Elementary Principal Jamie Golliver said the school’s “Buzz Buddies” program has helped to “really nurture and spread positivity and relationships” throughout the school.

“We have students from upper grades that get together with students from lower grades, structured once a month, and they talk and do different activities and just get to learn more about each other and get to know each other better,” Golliver explained.

Since implementing the program, counselor Stefanie Cook said some students have requested spending time with their buzz buddy when they are struggling at school.

A few students expressed their support of the program and talked about what they have gained from having a buzz buddy. They all expressed an appreciation for the real-life connections made through the program and talked about how much they enjoy spending time with each other.

Board member Connie Spears expressed her support of the program, calling it “awesome.”

BEAST ACADEMY

Thanks to a math teacher and two students at Bob Jones High School, MCS has a program helping younger students learn how math can be fun.

Aditi Limaye, a senior at Bob Jones, said she was inspired to start the program after a conversation with math teacher Kimberly Cox. Aditi and her sister Maanasi, a freshman at Bob Jones, have helped implement and run the student-led “Beast Academy” not just at Bob Jones, but also at James Clemens to serve students at every elementary school in Madison.

Cox called the program “one of the most inspiring things I’ve actually seen in education.” Aditi said her love of math began in about the third grade when she joined math team.

“Along the years there are so many different things you can get involved in, but I’ve constantly picked math over other things because I just loved it so much,” she said. “We see really often the decline of math team from middle school to high school, and we see that the movement of sixth grade to middle school pretty recently cut down math team pretty significantly.”

Aditi said Beast Academy aims to help keep kids interested in math and participating in competitive math beyond elementary school. She described it as “a community of students teaching students” that benefits everyone. “I absolutely love this program, and every week I look forward to it every Tuesday when we come,” Maanasi said.

Beast Academy gets their curriculum from Art of Problem Solving (AoPS), and after hearing about the success of the program, Aditi said the director of outreach for AoPS approached them about letting them use the new online software for free, which would lower dues for participating students.

“Looking forward, we want to try and cut costs so that Beast Academy will be more affordable for all students,” Maanasi said.

OTHER ITEMS

The board approved all actions items up for approval on the agenda.

For business actions, the board approved the following:

• Jan. 10 meeting minutes
• an addition to policy section 5.1, employee qualifications and duties
• elementary summer camps at Columbia, Heritage and Mill Creek elementary schools
• change order no. 1 for Discovery Middle School, which entails about $13,000 more for painting the the STEM building and a portable in addition to the gymnasium
• The 2018-2023 strategic plan
• zoning maps for the school district
• contracts for supplemental work in the school district
• an Esports program in the school district

As of now, the board has said they are not planning or foreseeing a need to rezone any students to different schools anytime soon. Zoning maps shown at the Jan. 24 meeting showed future zoning plans for Town Madison, which is planned to be zoned for Horizon Elementary School, Discovery Middle School and Bob Jones High School. Some areas on the zoning map for elementary schools showed striped areas that are “subject to change” based on available space.

MCS Assistant Superintendent Eric Terrell presented the board with information on the new Esports program, which is recognized by the Alabama High School Athletic Association (AHSAA). The nationwide phenomenon has already been implemented in other Alabama school districts, including Morgan County and Hoover City.

Terrell said Esports provides an opportunity for students to participate in sports and learn a few valuable lessons in a nontraditional way. Board member Travis Cummings noted that it also incorporates verbal communication with other team members. Esports has a supervising coach and will have spring and fall seasons.

Terrell and members of the board expressed their excitement for the program. Spears said her son has participated in a similar program at college.

“It’s an opportunity for kids that don’t fit a traditional sports mold [the opportunity] to become part of a team,” she said. “Team building and teamwork is one of the skills that we need to work on, so I think that’s great.”

The board also approved personnel actions, which included adding Brewer Mitchell, a product of Madison City Schools, as a new counselor at Mill Creek Elementary School.

The next board meeting will take place Feb. 7 at 5 p.m. in the board room at central office. The address is 211 Celtic Drive in Madison.