the PTA, the money was raised through sales of
doughnuts, trash bags, and anything else they
could come up with. Teachers used their own time
for the event and covered their own travel and
lodging expenses.
“It’s expensive, but worth it,” said Ms. Roeder.
Many of the school’s recent innovations started
with Model Schools sessions and ideas. The
conference also has provided an opportunity for
Andersonville to learn from other schools, a practice that the school continues throughout the year.
Teachers participate in weekly planned learning
communities (PLCs) during a weekly early dismissal time for students, and those PLCs regularly meet
to cross-plan and share ideas with teachers at
other nearby elementary schools, including 2011
SCORE Prize winner Fairview Elementary.
The positive environment at Andersonville extends
beyond the staff. Fourth-grade student Eberle
Mayes says her teachers make Andersonville
Elementary is a great place to learn.
“If I’ve struggled, they’ve just gone right back and
helped me understand it,” Eberle said. “You need
teachers that understand your problems if you
have any problems, and our teachers are really
like that. If you don’t feel good, people will know,
because they just know all their kids.”
And according to Ms. Holdaway, her school really shines when the empowering confidence felt by
teachers is directed toward families.
An upcoming session has Andersonville and
Fairview teachers working together to discuss
classroom preparations for TNReady assessments.
Rather than working with a strict agenda set by
administrators, teachers play a large role in determining material to cover.
“Those PLCs have definitely correlated to a lot of
our success,” said Ms. Holdaway. “We love to
find out about what works in other schools, which
we don’t often get to do as teachers. Teaching
can be very isolating at times. Even though you’re
in a whole school of educators, the time you actually spend with them is very limited.”
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“When people walk in this building, they immediately feel welcome. Once you get your parents
feeling safe and welcome, something very magical happens,” Ms. Holdaway said. “We find
our parents and exploit their talents, so to speak,
because everyone has something to give.”