Schools

Upper Elementary Teacher Says Bond Would Bring Critical Improvements

Warner Upper Elementary teacher Tera Shamey says furniture replacement is about supporting students' education, not decoration.

Tera Shamey's Warner Upper Elementary School students often take quite a bit of time putting desks together for cooperative projects. And it's not because they don't want to do the work.

"We don't have a single classroom where all the desks are the same," said Shamey, who teaches sixth grade. "If desks are not at the same level, you can't put a project on top of them."

Over the last school year, three chairs in her classroom broke and several tables lost the screws holding them together. Desks are from the 1970s and are showing their age. 

"It doesn't feel right," Shamey said. "It feels like nobody values the space. And kids spend eight hours a day in that space." 

A passionate advocate for the Aug. 6 bond referendum, Shamey has volunteered her time to talk with voters about how the $222 million would be spent. About five percent would go into classroom furnishings, which she said need to be replaced no matter what.

Bringing in new furnishings that support today's best practices in teaching just makes sense, she added. 

As an example, Shamey said, she will often teach a "mini-lesson", then work with kids who need more instruction to understand the material. She has purchased bean bags and "comfy chairs" so her students have a more comfortable place to sit in those small groups.

"It's small bursts of instruction, and then independent work in groups," she explained. That's necessary because Shamey has students who work below, at and above grade level. Kids who get the material quickly can move on to enrichments, while she helps those who need additional instruction. 

Nearly 20 percent of the $222 million would be spent on enhanced technology, including one-to-one computing that will equalize access in the classroom, Shamey said. 

"My students are already reading using (personal electronic) devices," she said. "Kids who wouldn't normally be excited about reading love it. That's the language they speak." 

Shamey has been using her personal iPad in the classroom for three years and said it "changes kids' expressions and their perspective and gets them involved." She uses educational programs to teach lessons, but doesn't hand out assignments that require access to a computer, because not every kid has a home computer, and school-owned laptops are few and far between. 

Based on what she has seen and read, Shamey believes opposition to the bond seems more based in anger at school officials than it does with what goes on in the classroom. And she feels that anger is just getting in the way of progress. 

"When you walk into a school and you see old furniture and old technology, that puts a value on kids," she said. "Furniture has absolutely nothing to do with decoration. It has everything to do with students being comfortable and valuing the space where they're learning." 


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