I have never had a class of 32 kindergarteners cleaned up, ready, and lined up faster than when we might be late for enrichment classes. Teachers love this time because it\u2019s our opportunity to plan, prepare for any lessons, and have one more sip of that iced coffee from the morning that is no longer iced. Students love these special classes because it\u2019s an opportunity to change the learning environment and engage with an activity that they don\u2019t experience every day. I mean who wouldn\u2019t love coding in robotics or painting in visual arts?<\/p>\n
However, the reality is that enrichment classes are always the first block that gets cut whenever something comes up. If funding is at risk, creativity is generally on the line. A national pandemic hits and the country moves to virtual teaching, and somehow specials seem to just be a memory of in-person teaching. The problem is that access to enrichment is one way that schools provide opportunities for equity to our kids.<\/p>\n
Enrichment classes are how we integrate content into our students\u2019 days that they normally wouldn\u2019t have. Affluent schools often offer music, art, science, engineering, drama, dance, foreign languages, and the list goes on. If we don\u2019t offer these experiences to our students, will they have access to them somewhere else? Our students deserve these expanded learning opportunities, and it\u2019s up to us to ensure they have them!<\/p>\n
When we made the decision to go virtual this year, we turned our enrichments into what we now call Special Interest Clubs. Every day at 1 p.m. our students can log on to Zoom and join their favorite club. We currently offer Spanish, poetry, chess, yoga, American sign language, Actor’s Studio, cooking, coding, art, multimedia, science, Folklorico dancing, and line dancing! And wow, you’d be surprised how dear these clubs are to our students’ hearts.<\/p>\n
In this video, you\u2019ll see a clip from our students learning a phrase in sign language. Next up, get your goggles and lab coat ready because our very own Bill Nye, aka Ms. Watts, teaches students about electricity. You can read her reflection on her science club below and then check out the Q&A to learn how to start your own Special Interest Club.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen you think of science you may think of space, atoms, protons, chemistry, etc. Well, science is so much more than just those scientific terms. Science can be a mode of communication by exploring and learning. Children from all backgrounds can come together and explore the world through the lens of science. Learning how the world is created, how it functions, and the beauty that it holds becomes a shared experience and all it takes is a science class! The world is a beautiful creation and science allows all learners to explore it beyond their home environment. It\u2019s an escape from their everyday usual and opens their mind to a world of imagination and truth! So, for just an hour out of their day, kids can see the world and all it has to offer their young minds.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n