Triggering Lightbulb Moments

One of the most exciting parts of being an educator is seeing a "lightbulb moment" flash across a learner's face; it's that moment of sudden understanding, realization, or inspiration that you can see sparkling in the learner's eyes.  Our dedicated Pleasantdale staff members strive day in and day out to provide students with opportunities for these moments in school.  Active, engaging, and collaborative learning activities tend to yield such moments, making educators revel in the amazing potential we have to inspire our students.

Students make a carrot keyboard in 3M Club.

However, we know these lightbulb moments are not confined within the walls of our schools.  Quite the opposite, in fact.  Rich learning occurs on a regular basis outside the classroom setting as learners explore new interests, meet new people, and encounter new situations.  District 107's goal is "to create a community of inspired learners."  This goal is not restricted to 8:20 AM - 3:22 PM, nor to mid-August through early June.  We want to trigger these lightbulb moments before school, after school, and all year round.  This is why we encourage students to take part in our many before and after-school clubs and athletics.  Likewise, we provide community resources for parents/guardians to help them continue to learn about interacting with their child, and we provide professional development to our staff members to help them further their learning as well.

As we continuously look to provide our students with educational opportunities outside of school, we are most excited about the revisions we have made to this year's Summer Academy (aka "summer school").  Although we are a small school district, we felt the absence of exciting enrichment classes in our Summer Academy program was a deficit area deserving attention.  After looking at other districts' summer school programs and talking to our dedicated Pleasantdale staff members about their own passions, we were able to create a Summer Academy program which includes a rich offering of enrichment classes for students currently in grades PreK - 7.

Students can explore their interests in crafting, sewing, reading Rebecca Caudill books, and creative writing through this summer's enrichment course options.  Classes like cooking, woodworking, coding, and photography may trigger new passions!  These exciting courses and more are available in the Summer Academy program book, which is also posted on our district and school website.  Registration for these Summer Academy enrichment classes is open now through March 24 (spring break), and we hope to have many of our students participate!

As this blog post points out, the opportunities for learning nowadays are limitless if we take the initiative to pursue our interests and passions.  It is time to "start learning from [our] own mistakes, adventures, achievements, and bold actions."  Let's give our learners more opportunities to engage in experiences that will trigger lightbulb moments!

What: Pleasantdale District 107 Summer Academy
Who: Pleasantdale 107 students currently in grades PreK - 7
Where: all classes held at Pleasantdale Middle School
When:  June 12 - July 7 (no class July 3 or 4 in observance of Independence Day); courses offered between 8:30 - 11:45 AM
Why: "To create a community of inspired learners"... Let's trigger more lightbulb moments!