EDUCATION CORNER
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Franklin students participate in TVA Water Monitoring Program
ear the close of January, some Franklin County students participated in the Tennessee Valley Association’s Science Kids World Water Monitoring Project, sponsored by TVA and EarthEco.org. Jess Wykoff, TVA Science Kids program director, reached out to me offering this free science program to our students, and I immediately informed schools of this wonderful STEM opportunity. The program is aligned with the fifth-grade science course of study; however, some of our fourth-grade science teachers were interested in having fourth-grade classes participate as well. More than 200 fourth- and fifth-graders from Vina High School, Red Bay Elementary School, Tharptown Elementary School, Belgreen High School and Phil Campbell Elementary School participated in the program. Samples of water were collected from local lakes, and with water testing kits provided by TVA, students tested those samples to determine pH levels, among many other components. Students were educated on how people can have an effect on the quality of our natural resource of water. They also learned ways to protect the environment.
The school system received $800 in supplies, including classroom sets of test kits with instructional materials. Jess Wykoff said as students begin to dive into science and engineering practices, it is the TVA’s hope that the water quality lab will encourage students to learn in a handson and fun way. She also said all teachers and principals were accommodating and wonderful to work with, and the students were engaged and excited to participate in the experiments. Franklin County Schools are grateful for this fun learning opportunity for our students, and we appreciate TVA’s Science Kids Program manager for inviting us to be a part of this educational experience. The program received rave reviews from participating teachers and students. It was a very engaging way to get our students involved in preserving our natural resources and making sure they are doing their part to protect our lakes. Greg Hamilton is superintendent of Franklin County Schools. He and his wife Jessica have four children: Taylor, Carolyna, Dakota and Ty.
RCS looks to future with purchase of Mars Hill
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n a field like education where things are ever-changing and evolving, it is so important to focus on forward thinking and looking to the future, whether it’s for the district as a whole, for curriculum, for technology – or for things like accommodating extra students and offering them better opportunities. Russellville City Schools did this recently by coming to an agreement with Mars Hill Bible School to purchase the building where the existing Mars Hill Preschool is housed in Russellville. After Mars Hill officials made it known they were planning to close this facility at the end of this school year, several of us at RCS saw this as an opportunity to expand our current Pre-K program and offer twice the amount of space we have now. Ever since its inception, our Pre-K program has been limited in the number of Pre-K classes we could offer because of the space issues we have at West Elementary. Purchasing this building and moving all Pre-K classes here, however, allows the chance for expansion of the Pre-K program while also freeing up much-needed space at WES. And thanks in large part to Rep. Jamie Kiel and his forward thinking, we were able to make this happen. Rep. Kiel knows the importance of Pre-K and the quality of Alabama’s First Class Pre-K Program, which we utilize at RCS. He even arranged a meeting at the building with Alabama’s Secretary of Early Childhood Education, Jeanna Ross. His efforts, along with the support
Franklin Living
of Russellville Mayor David Grissom and City Councilman Jamie Harris, were instrumental in this acquisition that will allow us to go from three Pre-K classes to six to serve a total of 108 students. This is great news for the people of our community with children who are Pre-K age. The educational foundation children receive is vitally important to how the rest of their educational careers will go. Having this opportunity available to our students sets them up for success, and that is our goal for all of our students: to give them all the tools we can to help them succeed, both now and in the future. Pre-K is also a great way for our impoverished students and English Language Learning students to get a better start on learning the prerequisites they need for kindergarten and beyond. With RCS having a higher-than-normal percentage of both these student populations, we know expanding the Pre-K program will be beneficial for everyone involved. I am so thankful to work at a district and with a school board that is committed to forward thinking and that invests in our students and their futures, and I am thankful to have city leaders and a state representative who are forward thinkers as well. With everyone working together, we can continue to offer a high level of education here at RCS. Heath Grimes is the superintendent of Russellville City Schools. He and his wife Amy have three daughters: Leah, Halle and Erin.
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