With the end of Spring Break comes Testing Season in the K-12 world. This usually coincides with sunnier days and antsy students looking forward to summer vacations. High stakes testing and kids suffering from spring fever can be a lethal mix.
This Spring Break I got to tour Numa Elementary, a grade 4-5 school in Fallon, Nevada. The Home of the Mighty Ducks educates 477 students under the supervision of Principal Shawn Purrell. In addition to academics, Numa teachers have prepared their flocks of mighty ducks for testing with loads of color and inspirational words across campus. Student art plays a prominent role here. Many of the ideas found on Numa’s walls came from Pinterest, I’m told.
Here are photographs from a few of the displays that caught my eye.
Student projects, including homemade toys replicating those used in the Colonial Era, and paper airplanes line a classroom shelf in Colleen Tutty’s room.
Boy Scout Troop 441 painted this map of Nevada on the pavement outside the school library. The colored sections represent Nevada’s counties.
A visitor walks past the exterior of Numa Elementary School, home of the Mighty Ducks, in Fallon, Nevada.
Many of the doors shared tips for doing well on tests, but also reminded students that Numa Elementary also values kindness and other qualities.
These butterflies were created using tissue paper for the colorful wings. The black sections were cut from construction paper.
Students made these butterflies by painting on wet paper towels, then created the body and antennae using colorful pipe cleaners.