Before she assumed principal duties at Sioux Falls Lutheran School three years ago, Brenda Bernard worked as an elementary special education teacher and administrator for Sioux Falls Public Schools, including nine years as an early childhood administrator at Hawthorne Elementary School. She grew up on a farm south of Canton and attended the University of South Dakota. “Pretty much I have been a South Dakota girl all my life,” says Bernard. Bernard has been partnering with SDPB’s Early Learning Initiative to incorporate Sesame Street in Communities (SSIC) into Sioux Falls Lutheran’s curriculum. “I was really excited to get connected
with Sesame Street in Communities. I noticed early on that we had very common goals in serving families, and the top three focus on helping families stay healthy and stay connected, and helping our teachers have access to high quality materials that are developmentally appropriate for the ages of kids we serve.” Bernard explains why Sesame Street in Communities is so impactful. “In our program, we spend a lot of time talking about brain development. Research tells us that learning is more likely to be stored in long-term memory when it’s paired with a high level of excitement or emotion, be it happy or sad. And who else has higher emotions than Elmo? And is so excited about learning? Part of why Sesame Street works so well is that we can intentionally insert a high level of emotion while we’re helping our kids learn or helping them to overcome something. We can be assured it will stick in their learning.” Kids respond to Sesame Street characters for multiple reasons, says Bernard, and Sioux Falls Lutheran plans to more fully integrate SSIC and SDPB’s early learning resources into their family nights and learning events this fall. “They really speak on a child’s level. There’s a level of trust that the kids have with these characters and a level of stability. We’re excited for our families to get connected and feel supported in helping their children. And it doesn’t take a purchased program that costs a lot of money.” “Sesame Street engages in what’s going on in current times and connects with families by paying attention to what is going on right now in the world. As I’ve worked in special education, I was thrilled to see the character Julia who has autism come to life to acknowledge and validate our families who have special needs. My daughter is 25 and has cerebral palsy and uses a wheelchair. My personal connection is the characters who have a disability. When she was young, it was important for her to see other kids like her.”
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