Hope features students, academics

SANDPOINT — As this year’s advanced math team, three Hope Elementary students took on the task of running the school’s annual Christmas food drive in partnership with Hope Memorial Community Center.

“They really added a lot to our community in that whole ‘giving’ idea and helping families out — maybe their Christmas was a little bit bleak, or it was stressful or it was a hardship — they helped our school make a difference in our community,” said Hope Elementary Principal Sherri Hatley.

The three students, Sarah Bopp, Jamie Herrick and Garrett Konsbruck, were recognized for their achievements by Lake Pend Oreille School District trustees during Tuesday’s board meeting.

Throughout the school year, principals from each school in the district have presented to the board, answering two main questions: What is unique or special about your school? And what strategies are taking place this year that are different that the school is instituting to get more students learning more?” For each presentation, students such as the Hope trio have been chosen for recognition for various achievements.

Hatley chose the sixth-graders because they ran the entire food drive for the school with their advisor Cindy Kiebert. Each day, the students would go around to the classes and make announcements; they decided what the contest would look like, how they would collect all the information and how to present the data, Hatley said. Ultimately, they chose to present the data in graph form, she said, and they also calculated per capita, because every classroom had a different number of students — and it was a schoolwide competition after all. The class that gathered the most food, per capita, was rewarded with an ice cream party.

Hatley said she asked one of the students when they were running the drive why they chose to do per capita, they answered “that way we know exactly, on average, how many items each person brought for every single classroom.”

“The reason as to why that was important is a class of 28 could bring a lot of food, whereas a class of maybe 16 would have a harder challenge, so they really learned the importance of knowing how to calculate per capita.”

After collecting all the food, their mission continued as the trio took a field trip to the community center to help get the items ready to distribute to families.

Hatley continued her presentation moving into what is “uniquely Hope.” The school is a “little bit famous,” she said, for its family and community activities. The “Out of this World” family STEAM night in November brought 186 people through the doors of the school, she said. With 112 students enrolled at Hope, Hatley estimated 50 out of 80 families attended the event. The community and Clark Fork High School students helped out as well, with a total 32 volunteers.

The school’s four-day, #GeoSplash summer math camp was successful as well, Hatley said, with 43 K-6 students. With a geometry focus, every activity focused on shapes. For example, what happens if you blow bubbles with a cube? The bubbles come out round no matter what shape you use, Hatley said. Creating and flying kites was another highlight of the math camp.

Another thing that makes Hope unique, she said, is that it is one of the first schools in the district to offer full-day kindergarten, supported by several grants the first year with the district making up the difference.

“We were really excited to pilot that and, ever since then, we have been able to offer that to our community,” Hatley said.

As for the what the school is doing to get more students learning more, Hatley said Hope is making strides in academic achievement and individual student growth. Every student in K-6 is setting individual academic goals depending on their grade level, she said, and some are setting social-emotional goals as well.

“Students are taking ownership of their learning and they are looking at their data,” Hatley said. “... Because they set goals and they look at those numbers, there is a student focus and there is a teacher focus. The students have a relationship with what those numbers mean and what it can mean as they progress through their education.”

Mary Malone can be reached by email at mmalone@bonnercountydailybee.com and follow her on Twitter @MaryDailyBee.