John Gregg students gain enrichment thanks to learning project

BERGHOLZ -- Pupils and students at John Gregg Elementary School are starting to think outside the box through various enrichment activities, according to program leaders. And they are showing off what they've learned to top area education officials.

Those in grades three through six are taking part in a 21st Century Learning project consisting of "Project Lead the Way" activities. These activities come from a STEM-based curriculum which expands their minds.

Teachers Brooke Barker and Kelly Dopp lead the school's program and believe in the its ability to educate the children -- so much so, that pupils recently conducted presentations before their local school board. They also visited the Local Professional Development Committee at the Jefferson County Educational Service Center in April, performing activities they've been working on since fall.

"These fifth- and sixth-graders studied energy collisions and made cars out of VEX IQ kits," Barker explained. "They also had to come up with a passenger restraint to protect an egg."

"The third- and fourth-graders did one on life cycles and survival of bees and bee habitats," Barker continued. "Local beekeeper John Grafton spoke and took them through the process. They then had to build a bee habitat."

"They built backdrops, learned facts and gave a one-to-two-minute speech," Barker said, adding third-and fourth-grade pupils, respectively, focused on U.S. Presidents and famous Ohioans with pop bottle biographies.

Fun Fridays are held each week, with pupils playing thinking games with snap conduits and four-person chess matches. Barker said the goal is to exercise their minds.

"The purpose of enrichment is to give those kids who score higher in creative thinking, reading, math and science a chance to extend their knowledge outside the box and outside the norm of a regular curriculum," she Barker stated. "It's project-based learning."

The 33 children enrolled in these activities participated in various kindness projects in December, including third- and fourth-graders building bird feeders with recycled materials; fifth-graders reading the story, "Snowmen at Night" and making puppets for a preschool show; and sixth-graders crafting gnomes and writing holiday letters.

Higher grades took part in a wax museum during the school's art show in March; fifth-graders discussed explorers; and sixth-graders took on acting, focusing on people from an ancient world.

Many pupils and students have performed well on Terra Nova tests -- completed in the second and fifth grades. Officials explain these programs help children develop skills in the areas of problem solving, critical and creative thinking, collaboration and communication. These skill sets can then be applied and used throughout the remainder of the pupils' lives.