A lot of things have happened since I last updated my blog, so I’ll start with a post about my first Saint Louis Public School District internship.
January 11, 2011 was the first day of my internship with the principal at one of our district’s elementary schools, which was in its first year under the turn-around model; with a new principal, new staff, and a lot of new money. The internship was a requirement for my Advanced Business Management class at my high school, and I chose Columbia because I was eager to learn from their new principal (one of my former teachers). Columbia is located in North Saint Louis, near the intersection of Grand and St. Louis Avenue, the school had around 200 students, and class was in session from 8:05am until 3:02pm. I was to report to Columbia every Tuesday and Thursday, along with one additional intern (that later turned into two additional interns).
During my time at Columbia I assisted with student discipline, managing the main office, classroom observations, redesigning the school’s website, monitoring students, problem solving, organized and set up a new math lab, created parent surveys, researched fundraising ideas, constantly updated bulletin boards, attended staff meetings, along with many other addition duties assigned by the principal and requested by the staff.
Although we didn’t always see eye-to-eye on everything, I’m grateful to have been able to work under Principal Gale. She’s really working hard to make sure the children are given a great education. I’ve been back to visit at Columbia several times this school year, and it is obvious that she (along with the rest of the staff) is really turning Columbia around. I will continue to visit Columbia, because I really care about the students and the staff members. Hopefully I’ll be able to join the team, as a first grade or second grade teacher in a couple years. 🙂
My experience as an intern at Columbia Elementary School is one that I will not ever forget, and I know that it will help make me a better teacher, principal, and superintendent in the future.
Some of the ideas that I had/have to help improve Columbia Elementary School are:
1. Adjust the school’s calendar to make it a year-round school, or at least lengthen the school day.
2. Enforce the uniform policy.
3. Build partnerships with the community around the school. The key to improving the community is improving the schools, so why not get the business leaders and community members involved.
4. Start a “Parent Academy”, to provide information and training on a variety of topics, for the parents, grandparents, and family members that care for our students.
5. Open a pantry in the school for students and families, with items like granola bars, peanut butter, tuna, crackers, mac & cheese, cereal, juice boxes, etc.
6. Work with the Police Athletic League, to get them to come coach/mentor students. This would create a positive relationship between the students, parents, and police officers; while also helping eliminate the idea that police are bad people.
7. Create a Facebook page for the school. This would help spread information to parents, community members, and individuals that are interested in helping the school. I would also make sure the school’s webpage is updated at least once a week. (This should be done for every school in the district)
8. Hire a Musical Therapist in addition to or instead of a music teacher. I think this would be a great alternative to the traditional music class, and we could hire graduates from Maryville University’s Certified Music Therapy program.
9. Add more structure to the In School Suspension room. We need to make sure the students are learning from the mistake’s they make to end up in I.S.S.
Darion Robinson: Future Teacher, Principal, and Superintendent 