Today we woke up early to go back to KIPP! We met with the principal, Mrs. Barford, in the morning, and asked some important questions about the KIPP model and her experience working with KIPP. She was very honest and firm in her beliefs about the strengths of KIPP. She feels that KIPP is different from public schools because of the focus on collaboration between teachers to improve their individual teaching skills. She highlighted the importance of college as a concrete goal for students to attain after they leave KIPP. Mrs. Barford also stressed the need for more funding for rural education and for higher teacher retention rates. She feels that she will leave her mark on KIPP by higher student achievement, and emphasizing planning and assessment.
After the meeting, we split up to work in the middle and high schools. We worked on bulletin boards, graded, filed papers, and met with teachers to discuss lesson plans. Many of us have the opportunity to teach a class in the middle or high school tomorrow. Elma is teaching Comparative Politics, Bridget and Kelly are teaching AP Psychology, Tim, Rachel, and Ariel are teaching different high school English classes, and I am teaching 5th grade reading. We all had a productive day and had a great time getting to know the kids even better.
At the end of the day, we took the vans to Roanoke Rapids Amphitheater for Parent Pride Night. Parent Pride Night is a chance for the students to express themselves through music, dance, and poetry to show off what they have learned at KIPP and appreciate their parent’s continued support of their education. The students worked hard to earn their spot on the stage, and their practice truly paid off. We were amazed at their performance tonight! Each class, or “Pride”, performed a song/dance to express their classes’ motto and what it means to them. The middle school and high school’s band and chorus, the AcoustiCats, and the Gospel Choir performed their best numbers. The audience, family and teachers, was very supportive and participated in the performance as well. Parent Pride Night was a great way for us to share in the students’ success and remember the week we’ve spent with the kids.
-Jess and Jonathan
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