Penguins are Outstanding at Pickle Elementary!

It was raining so hard this morning when we drove to Pickle Elementary that I thought we'd end up swimming there, but I was eager to meet the Pickle Penguins so we set out in a downpour. Penguins are good swimmers, so I knew the Pickle crew could rescue us if we made it to their neighborhood in the St. Johns community. Luckily, our car stay grounded — no swimming was required — and I had a wonderful time visiting the outstanding students and teachers at Pickle.

We were greeted by Principal Joel De La Garza, along with the school choir singing, The Future Begins with Us — an inspiring message for young people! Choir teacher Mary Karah has done a wonderful job in developing the musical talents of her third through fifth grade students. Next, I learned that "Pickle Pride is deep inside each one of us," as the youngsters sang the school song. An adorable group of cheerleaders (Have I ever mentioned that I love cheerleaders?) then revved up some Pickle spirit with a couple of cheers. It was a rousing welcome all around.

We walked to the fourth grade classroom of the Pickle Teacher of the Year,  Lori Coleman, who was reading aloud to her students the popular book, Holes. The kids followed along in their copies of the book, and every few sentences a new vocabulary word was introduced. Ms. Coleman effortlessly engaged the students in discussing the meaning of each word, and how it added information or description to the passage she was reading. All the students were fully engaged, and participation in the vocab discussions was high. I also enjoyed listening to Ms. Coleman and the students discuss the differences between books and their interpretation as films. (Holes was also a popular movie a few years ago.) Readers can use their own imaginations in picturing a story's characters and settings, they decided. Understanding that can be very powerful in helping students develop as committed readers.

Lucky me! With a TOP and a TOY!

I asked her students what it means that their teacher is the school's Teacher of the Year, and got some delightful responses. One little girl told me that it means Ms. Coleman, "is going to be in charge for the rest of the year," and proud young man said that she "was important." Well, she certainly IS important, and she WILL be in charge of her students' learning for the next few weeks. Being named a campus Teacher of the Year is an honor bestowed by colleagues and, as superintendent, I'm so very proud to meet these outstanding educators. We'll be recognizing all the AISD TOYS (as we call them) on May 18 at the annual SALUTE event at the Long Center.

Our next stop was also with an exemplary teacher, Manuela Villegas, who is Pickle's Teacher of Promise, or TOP. These are first-year teachers who demonstrate high standards of teaching excellence in what is the most difficult year of teaching. I chatted about schoolwork with her bilingual class of fourth graders. They're deep into multi-digit multiplication, are also reading Holes, and discussed very articulately the importance of being prepared for a global economy. Whew! They also explained to me the meaning of the "perseverance," which is a quality these kids, and Ms. Villegas, surely have.

Pickle is one of our Two-Way Dual Language pilot schools so I was eager to observe in a classroom of pre-kindergarten youngsters. In Two-Way DL, students learn in both English and Spanish. Skills in both languages are developed simultaneously, and I was impressed watching these little ones flow seamlessly between English and Spanish in a science lesson about sea life, and a math lesson in counting. Teacher Susana Guzman-Ortega interacted with students in both languages, and the children stayed right with her through both lessons. Two-Way Dual Language was begun this year in preK and kindergarten. Next year, it will "grow" into first grade, and be expanded from four schools to six. We also offer One-Way DL at all elementaries which offer bilingual services.

I also got to say hello to Dr. Judith Hutchinson who is a special education teacher and a newly National Board Certified teacher. This is a HUGE BIG DEAL for educators, and Austin has more NBCTs than any school district in Texas. How about that?! Dr. Hutchinson proudly showed me (through a window because it was still raining) the gardens that her students have planted and tended. They'll be harvesting the vegetables soon.

My time at Pickle flew by and I had to say goodbye. Thanks, Penguins, big and small, for a great time. Stay dry today!