BCMS honors its teachers for going above and beyond

With just over one month left in this school year, it is time to recognize what our teachers do for the students of this district. After all, this week is teacher appreciation week so feel free to support our teachers and help them feel appreciated during the remainder of the week by doing something special for them.

Boundary County Middle School teachers spend a lot of their time extending learning opportunities for our students so learning is not confined to the classroom. Carefully planned experiences meant to engage all the students’ senses are used when possible and when time and resources allow. A few examples:

Brenda Kerttu designed a great field trip for her agricultural science class recently. They visited several agricultural businesses in the area and reported they had a great time. Kerttu’s Agricultural Science class also hosted Ken English and his owl so that Valley View second graders could come over and spend some time learning about owls. It was a great educational opportunity to learn about these great birds.

Dawn Wagner also designed a wonderful field trip for her Art 2/3 class. Students received hands on demonstrations at many local art studios. Gina, from the Pottery Bug in Sandpoint demonstrated glazing techniques and the crew at Idaho Granite Works demonstrated how artwork is taken from the computer, masked off on granite, and finally sand blasted and painted. Students also visited Skeleton Key Art Glass, where Sara demonstrated soldering techniques used for creating Stained Glass. This was a great opportunity for students to see careers and business opportunities using art.

Jessica Hanna created an extended opportunity for her band members who enjoyed the city of Seattle from Wednesday, April 13 to April 17 for the Heritage Festival Competition where students had a unique and educational experience and competed against bands from across the country. It sounded like it went well and a great time was had by all.

Mrs. Hanna and Mrs. Wagner have also spent time trying to grow their programs and offer more opportunity within their program. Both of them have applied for and been selected to receive technology grants for our school. Both programs will have an opportunity to expand the technology side of their programs which will no doubt benefit kids in our community.

Many of our teachers also put in extra time to help coach the very active students we have at Boundary County Middle School. Andy Rice, Kelly Hinthorn, Paul Bonnell, Travis Hinthorn, Jasmine Robertson, and Clint Arthur have all put time in coaching one sport or another along with their regular duties. They are trying to create well rounded students and give them opportunities to grow beyond the classroom. The efforts are clearly successful as we always have large numbers of students participating in our extracurricular activities.

Still more teachers are providing services to our students beyond the classroom that is not in the realm of coaching. Jaak Sanders, Cynthia Sanders, and Jacob Garrison all provide opportunity for our students to complete in Lego League. Jessica Hanna and David Carpenter organize after school drama and music programs. Sue Stolley organizes all home concessions. Terese Luikens takes time to eat lunch with her students every day. Judy Johnson just finished organizing the 8th grade trip to Silverwood which will occur on May 19th. Many others are doing even more things behind the scenes, so much that I’m certain I have forgotten to mention some activities or events our teachers are involved in.

Teachers aren’t the only reason our school is successful, our schools run in large part due to our secretaries and other support staff, so please tell them thank you when you get a chance.

Of course, a lot of the efforts of our teachers go towards preparing our students for the required state testing, which is currently taking place and will continue through May 12th. We are excited to see if our efforts are working for our students and what changes, if any, we need to make to further the academic growth of our community’s children.

So, tell a teacher “thank you” every chance you get. It will keep them motivated to do great things for your children.