Six teachers from Baden Academy Charter School were recently honored for the completion of year-long Distinguished Educator Research Fellowships through Grow a Generation.
Meghan Holl 3-D printed representations of mathematical numbers and symbols to use in her kindergarten classroom. Using the 3-D printed numbers and symbols, her students were able to compare/contrast and recognize the structural features of each numeral to reach mastery. She demonstrated how student’s visual pattern recognition and visual placement associated with these numbers helped her children learn sequencing and make predictions. The printed 3-D numbers created a hands-on approach for helping her students decipher numbers based on their shape and physical attributes. Visit meghansmath.weebly.com for more information.
Johnny Gallagher, the Director of Theater Arts and Shakespearean Performance, initiated an enrichment program for 5th and 6th graders in which they were the playwrights, directors, set designers, customers and actors of an original theatrical piece performed for a live audience on the stage of the Baden Auditorium. Visit playsthething.weebly.com for more information.
Emily Sable, part of the 3rd grade teaching team, expanded and experimented on project based building projects to encompass the next generation science standards of the Engineering Design Process and the topic of sustainability. Special thanks are extended to Dr. Angela Fishman, the Penn State Beaver professor and SCC campus program coordinator for the Penn State’s Sustainability Institute. Emily also pulled information from the Pittsburgh Green Workplace Challenge from Sustainable Pittsburgh. She was assisted by two amazing third grade students, Matthew Minnitte and Noah Schweikert. You can visit “Emily Sable and the Sustainable Tree Houses” on YouTube for some great highlights of this year!
Hannah Kimmick followed up last years 3-D printed alphabets by asking her class to focus in on just one letter, the letter A, in a book project. The Amazing Letter A was published with the help of the entire class and chronicles the history, artistry, and phonetics of just one letter. We sometimes forget how complex and rich written language is. You can buy the book through a link on her website and discover more about her great work with letter recognition in kindergarten at Kimmickscharacters.weebly.com. Profits from the book are donated to We Charity.
Karie Walaan spent the year evaluating the acceleration programs at multiple schools, seeking out the best recommendations for curriculum, and consulting with gifted education leaders at the Berin Blank Center. The result is a comprehensive acceleration program and an outline of additional services to the Baden Academy gifted and talented students at bacsgifted.weebly.com/.
Kelli Keriotis published her third book this year, partnering with her kindergarten class to explain for kids Goethe’s Theory of Color. Visit her website keriotiscolors.weebly.com/ to view how this amazing teacher introduces her young students to the kaleidoscope of learning about the science, technology, and investigations into color science. Her book, How Colors Make Us Feel: Goethe’s Theory, is available through Lulu and Amazon. Profits are donated to We Charities.
About Baden Academy
This public charter school in Western PA works to inspire personal excellence. They cultivate the inherent gifts and talents present in all children by providing a curriculum which integrates the arts and sciences in a highly interactive, hands-on environment.
