FEEF awards $5000 to FES for laptops

Thanks to a grant from the Fairhope Educational Enrichment Foundation, any classroom at Fairhope Elementary School can be transformed into a fully functional computer lab where every child can work on reading comprehension and writing skills on a personal laptop.

Called NEO2 Laptops, these high-tech computers are made specifically for classroom use. Teachers at Fairhope Elementary have been using them in their classroom since the beginning of the school year, but only had a couple of laptops per classroom for students to share. Although some teachers have been able to purchase more with donations from parents, the FEEF grant of $5,000 allowed the school to purchase a “mobile lab” that contains 30 laptops and can be moved from room to room.

“Reading and reading comprehension have been very important to our overall curriculum at Fairhope Elementary for many, many years,” Terry Beasley, principal, said.  “The NEO2s help us take it to the next level, allowing students to work at a faster pace with their reading and comprehension, while improving other skills such as writing, critical thinking, expression and grammar.”

Beasley said every classroom has shown improvements in their reading and comprehension scores, and he expects those scores to improve even more with the addition of the mobile lab.

Benefits of the NEO2 laptop include the following: reduces the possibility of students guessing the correct answer; deepens critical-thinking skills; requires students to answer questions with concise, highly-focused responses; keeps students motivated and engaged in learning; improves expression, writing, fluency and grammar; encourages daily writing practice; and, they are designed with students in mind.

“One of FEEF’s initiatives from years back is improving technology in our schools,” Jack Burrell, president of the FEEF board of directors said. “This grant was right in line with that initiative. One of the most compelling arguments for the grant was in the data. Since they introduced the NEO2s at Fairhope Elementary, they have seen a direct correlation between the classes that are using the NEO2s to their fullest benefit and higher scores in reading comprehension and amount of books being read.”

FEEF supports professional development

It is widely known that the more resources and training we provide for our teachers, the better the results for our students. Therefore, it was a great decision recently to provide a two-day workshop, in Fairhope, for nearly 100 Fairhope teachers and administrators.

At a fraction of the cost to send that number of teachers to out-of-town conferences, FEEF and the Fairhope principals, using their own local resources, were able to provide extensive training in Building Common Assessments. During the workshop, led by a national leader in the subject, Nicole Vagle of Solution Tree, teachers identified target learning concepts in which students need assistance, they gained skills in writing common assessments that provide valid, reliable data, and they gained real understanding of how to use assessment data to formulate instruction.

Pictured during conference registration are: (l-r) Trina Jackson, teacher, Fairhope Intermediate, Rachel Broadhead, AMSTI, Hendon Brunson, assistant principal, J. Larry Newton School, and Suellen Brazil, principal, Newton School.

A fifth-grade teacher from J. Larry Newton School gave this assessment following the workshop, summarizing well the positives results and effectiveness of the training.

"I wanted to let you know how much I enjoyed Nicole Vagle's training. I was able to begin applying what I learned immediately. Thursday morning, I made a short formative assessment on simplifying fractions and mixed numbers. I gave it to my students and I was able to identify who had the concepts and therefore did not need any more instruction. I was also able to pinpoint weaknesses in other's learning and review with them before the summative. I divided the students into groups depending on which objectives they missed. Many were able to independently work and show me their learning. That gave me time to work with six students who were completely lost. I felt so much more productive. In the past, I would give all of my students review problems and spend the entire class period running from student to student to make sure they got it all correct. I never had much time to spend with any one student. I truly believe this will lead to better teaching and learning. Thanks again for the opportunity!"

FEEF welcomes new board members

New board members are Robin Coleman, Marsha Foster, Elizabeth Hammock, Jason Tickle, Amanda VanDerHeyden and Sherri Williams.

Pictured at the January meeting of the FEEF Board of Directors are (seated, l-r) Jack Burrell, Katherine Allen, Elizabeth Phyfer, Miranda Schrubbe, Elizabeth Hammock, Monteigne Brown, Amanda VanDerHeyden, Ann Miller; (standing, l-r) Ashley Baker, Jason Tickle, Dahlia Davis, Margaret Davis, Ginger Taylor, Traci Watson, Lori Hutchinson, Sherri Williams, Marsha Foster, Ken Cole and Matt White. Not pictured are: Mark Breslin, Robin Coleman, Beth Dotson, Laura Gamard, Kim Melton, Gail Tart, Conan Terrell, and Gina Walcott.