East Iredell Elementary students showcase leadership during Academic Day (Photos)

Posted on by Mike Fuhrman
Hundreds of parents, family and community members attended Iredell Elementary School’s annual Academic Day. Guests learned more about what students are learning in the classroom and also participated in a holiday activity.

BY KARISSA MILLER

East Iredell Elementary School recently hosted Academic Day which allows students to spotlight what they have learned so far this school year.

“It makes me proud that they are showcasing their leadership skills. They get to show their families and the community the wonderful things they’ve done throughout the year,” said Principal Jennifer Ribbeck.

Academic Day is hld each year year right before the holiday break. Parents meet with their child and see their child’s leadership notebook, which has their goals and tracks their learning progress.

East is a Leader in Me Lighthouse School, and students learn and practice the Seven Habits of Effective Leaders. The Seven Habits are being proactive, begin with the end in mind, put first things first, think win-win, seek first to understand and then to be understood, synergize and sharpen the saw.

“It’s a fun time to bring your parent into the school. They get to rotate to different groups, and we get to teach them what we’re learning,” said student Eduardo Rosas, 10.

Eduardo is a student in Shary Mosquera’s fourth-grade classroom. Mosquera said she likes that the students are the ones who are the leaders, and it’s nice for parents to see their child in action.

“At the end it, they will get to share their thoughts about the whole experience,” Mosquera said.

In teacher Madison Davis’ classroom, students showed their parents their reading and writing skills, math problems and participated in Holidays around the World escape room activities that featured different puzzles they had to solve.

Davis, who works in the Dual Immersion Spanish Language Program, said she has four students who only speak Spanish. Her classroom is “really close knit and they take care of each other.”

“I love the acceptance of all cultures. I love that we have the Dual Immersion program, where we are showcasing that love of a different language, but also it helps them with their reading comprehension, community connection and helps build them as good leaders,” Davis said.

In kindergarten, the students in the DI program sang holiday songs like Jingle Bells in Spanish and then met with their parents to show them their leadership notebooks.

“I like my school because it’s a friendly place. Everything we do has a place and time. I like that all of the teachers here are very comforting,” said student Emely Flores.

Photos