By Stephen Smoot
At different times of the year, the Pendleton County Board of Education and Superintendent hit the road, so to speak. They travel to the different county schools to hear about achievements, but also about challenges and needs.
They have already met with Brandywine Elementary. North Fork Elementary was next.
The evening opened with “breakfast for dinner.” Not merely content to share what the school had been doing; attendees needed to smell and taste it as well.
Chris and Melissa Grimes of Mountain Cajun Getaways and Mountain Cajun Farm, also frequent volunteers at NFES, cooked pancakes and sausage. Syrup came not from Aunt Jemima or Mrs. Butterworth, but from last year’s fourth-grade class.
Annually, the Grimes share their love and knowledge of maple production with the fourth graders, who spend a week doing a maple unit. At the end, they take home samples of their own and leave the rest for fundraising and events.
Before the presentation even started, all there could taste the dedication of students, school employees, and volunteers to give the children such a unique experience.
After dinner, all filed into the school library for a presentation.
Lisa Roberson, principal of NFES, opened with thanks to the Grimes family, saying, “They help us to do so many things.” She also mentioned the school’s focus on positivity in attitudes and how people treat each other.
First, attendees heard more about the program that produced the maple syrup that they had just enjoyed. Future Generations University donated two taps last year for students to conduct experiments upon and report which worked better. Both functioned equally well, the students determined.
A few of the students shared their experiences, including how “Miss Melissa helped us” with the tapping of the trees. They learned the step-by-step process as the maple water gradually looked closer and closer to syrup. Roberson laughed and shared that “the whole school smells like a carnival” when the process has neared completion.
Another student described how “Mr. Chris came also to help.”
After the maple presentation, Roberson moved on to discussing different enrichment events for the students, such as when “Mr. Germ” came to teach kids about “the importance of washing hands” and keeping clean. On another occasion, the Seneca Rocks Volunteer Fire Department came to the school to demonstrate equipment.
“Fire trucks are always exciting!” explained Roberson.
On another occasion, Experience Learning welcomed the fourth through sixth grade to Spruce Knob to learn survival skills and how to respect the natural world.
All of the fun and educational excitement helps to promote more fundamental accomplishments. Roberson shared that “we’re doing very well with attendance” and “most days we’re only missing a handful of kids.”
Another innovation that has helped attendance is club day, where students get to explore different enrichment and fun activities during half days. Where more kids would miss before, they make an effort to attend now, responding well to “incentives to come.”
Other major events included a visit from the West Virginia Mountaineer and the annual pumpkin drop. Students try to engineer a way to safely protect a pumpkin dropped from the school roof. “This year we actually had a winner. We’d never had one that had survived!” Roberson said.
An update on academics followed.
Roberson shared that the school had a strategic plan to see 60 percent of students between second and sixth grade score at the 50th percentile or higher in reading. Currently, 59 percent meet that standard.
Also, the plan projects that at least half of the students between first and sixth grade will meet the same 50th percentile standard in math. Currently 46 percent do, but Roberson explained challenges with a new textbook and other issues.
She credited the work of Barbara Whitecotton with the central office for helping NFES see improvements.
Brandon Ours from the Local School Improvement Council shared safety and other needs. His experience in law enforcement is an asset in helping to set priorities for upgrades and improvements.
Representing the faculty senate, Rebecca Heavner shared that the faculty would like to see added support staff. She also played videos of children learning, including one of a pre-kindergarten class reciting the Pledge of Allegiance.
