Blake Elementary students and staff share classroom projects with school board

MEDINA — H.G. Blake Elementary School students and teachers showed the Medina Board of Education on Tuesday how kindergartners brought stories to life on video and first graders learned about goods and services by visiting local businesses and city officials.

Principal Eldora Lavdas opened the presentation by describing what the school calls deeper learning and how its youngest students took to the lessons.

“When we first began our deeper learning journey, some speculated that our youngest learners would struggle to acquire technical and content-specific vocabulary and really wondered how deeply they could take that learning,” Lavdas said. “However, what we’ve learned is our students have mastered concepts, knowledge and vocabulary beyond our expectations.”

Kindergarten teacher Jessica White said teachers took a course in project-based learning and planned experiences around topics their students were studying. Kindergartners explored storytelling and life in colonial towns, while first graders studied goods and services and Earth's history.

White and fellow kindergarten teachers Melanie Batdorff and Julia Jones presented a project that brought their storytelling unit to the Medina Library. Students acted out stories they had studied, and the performances were recorded. Library visitors can scan QR codes to watch the videos and learn about the books the students acted out. The project was designed to encourage visitors to read those books.

First-grade teachers Wendi Podolak, Rachael Gibbons, Julie Linson and Judy Nightingale shared how their students explored goods and services during a field trip called “Medina Yes Day.”

Students met with Mayor Jim Shields and learned about his work and the services police officers and firefighters provide. At the Medina Library, they made buttons and learned how the books available to borrow and the help librarians provide illustrated the difference between goods and services.

The trip also included a visit to Huntington Bank and stops at Courthouse Pizza and Cool Beans, where students learned what it takes to run a small business in Medina. At Cups Collective, they saw how the organization provides food and clothing to community members.

Contact reporter Kellyn Flohr at 330-591-5392 or kflohr@medina-gazette.com .

Blake Elementary students and staff share classroom projects with school board

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