Teamwork Makes the Dream Work at HBRES!
This past Sunday the Super Bowl was watched by
millions of people all over the world. Although we often see superstar Tom
Brady taking center stage, it takes an entire team pulling together to win a championship.
Here at Hinckley-Big Rock Elementary we see the same thing. We have many superstars throughout the building, but it takes a team to meet all of the needs of the students. In a normal year, we have the teachers, paraprofessionals, special education teachers, social worker, speech language therapists, occupational therapist, school psychologist, principal, office staff, building staff, and technology staff all working as a team to provide the quality education the students deserve.
Mrs. Slater - 2020-2021 2nd Grade In-Person Teacher,
3rd Grade Remote Support Teacher, Music Teacher, Math Interventionist
The pandemic has created even more challenges.
Like any good team, the elementary staff has had to adapt, make adjustments and
even scramble a little bit. One such example is the second grade team. When the
school year started Mrs. Lauer and Ms. Kaus had morning and afternoon students
in the building. Mrs. Bish saw students in the morning and had the remote
learning students in the afternoon. Then in October, Mrs. Bish went on
maternity leave and that left a hole in the lineup that needed to be filled.
Mrs. Melnyk did an extensive search to find a long term substitute but the
pandemic has made them impossible to find. So the entire elementary school team
put their heads together and came up with a solution. Mr. Phillips, Mrs. Madden
and Mrs. Slater would split the teaching assignment. Mr. Phillips with his
background as a classroom teacher would take the afternoon remote learning,
Mrs. Madden as the reading specialist would handle the in-school language arts
and Mrs. Slater would use her experience as a math interventionist to teach the in-school math lessons.
Mr. Phillips - 2020-2021 2nd Grade Remote Teacher,
Kindergarten Remote Support Teacher, P.E. Teacher
While there have been some challenges, such as
sharing one room and one computer, we feel that we have met many challenges by
having all five second grade teachers working together as one team. Whether
it’s sharing ideas, creating lessons, making copies for each other or just
being there for support, our team has come together to help the students learn
and thrive in these tough times.
Mrs. Madden - 2020-2021 2nd Grade In-Personal Teacher,
1st Grade Remote Support Teacher, Reading Specialist
But we don’t feel we are special. We see this
same teamwork throughout our district every single day, in good times and bad.
The teachers and staff in every building pull together to meet the needs of our
students. It’s what teachers do. We are just proud to be a small part of that
effort.
Brad Phillips
Jen Slater
Sandy Madden