San Antonio – Several schools have done various things to prepare their students to score big on the STAAR test, and one elementary school celebrated their hard work with a ton of school spirit.
I had the honor and privilege of joining Schenck and Foster Elementary Schools Friday afternoon for one heck of a hallway parade and pep rally.
Speaking with Principal Virginia Parker gave me insight into her confidence that her 811 students will do well on the test.
“The kids have been working so hard, and the teachers have been working their buns off to get them ready,” she said. “We have instructional coaches, and we have some certified retired teachers that came in to help us. And the classroom teachers and special education teachers have been working so hard tutoring after school, staying to after 5 p.m. some nights. They are just incredible.”
She said that before the merger of both elementary schools happened last year, they had scored a bit low on the test.
“So Schenck in the past has gotten all the way up to a B and an A at one point, but last year they dropped down to a D. And Foster has been either a D or an F. But with all of the hard work they have been doing, I am confident that we can score a C+ or a B.”
Parker said there is a reason why they have adopted another animal as a ‘mascot’ this year.
“Our mascot is, of course, the Owl, but we have adopted the Phoenix,” Parker said. “Our theme this year was ‘Together, we rise,’ and we know that with bringing all these amazing teachers together, we have the talent here. It’s just putting in the work, and we did that. I know the students are going to do really well. I am very confident in their abilities.”
After our talk, it was time for the celebration.
“These kids have worked so hard,” Parker said. “They need a party.”
It was joy leading the school parade down hallways full of chanting children all the way to the school’s gym where we danced to the roar of a drum line and the tunes of the school band.
The school officials even created a fun dance to a personalized rap song based on Kendrick Lamar’s “They Not Like Us.”
My prayer is that all of these students do the very best they can do, and I believe that with all of their passion, they have to be their best, and they can score as big as their awesome celebration. I would grade that as an A+.
