Uintah School District’s Maeser Elementary has embraced the new Friday schedule and made it an opportunity to provide the students with hands-on learning. Maeser Principal Denise Williams explains that they have devoted time and funding for enrichment activities to help students learn. “Monday through Thursday we have a heavy focus on reading, writing, speaking and listening while teaching our new Core Knowledge Language Arts (CKLA) curriculum,” shares Williams. “Rich classroom discussions happen on a daily basis focused on the content provided in CKLA. Fridays bring an opportunity for us to provide interventions and extension, as well as enriching the content taught during the week. We have many highly engaging activities each Friday. Students have enjoyed dissecting eyeballs, working with a team to build volcanos, making pinch pots, using playdough to create numbers, participating in a farmer’s market, and many other educational experiences.” Maeser Elementary has also created a student council that meets each Friday to plan activities and service projects. The community support so far has been greatly appreciated.
