Inside his fourth-grade classroom, Tanner Okerson knelt on his
desk, eyes down, looking with concentration into a bucket filled
with a sandy substance.
Inside his fourth-grade classroom, Tanner Okerson knelt on his desk, eyes down, looking with concentration into a bucket filled with a sandy substance.
“Two cubes for the lunch area, one cube for the playground,” Tanner, said, glancing at his groupmates for confirmation.
The 9-year-old boy had dirt covering his shorts and hands and wiped across his nose. The three other kids in his group, also seated on their desks, were similarly covered.
While it initially could have looked like a kindergarten-level art project, the students – part of the Accelerated Achievement Academy at Calaveras School – were working on three-dimensional maps of their school’s campus.
The students were given little instruction, just reminded to use what they had learned during their geography lessons the previous days, and told to work together cooperatively.
“I don’t want to give you too much instruction because I don’t want to squelch your creativity,” said their teacher, Kim Gaither.
Thursday morning’s lesson, a mix of creativity and critical thinking, is typical of the Accelerated Achievement Academy classes. The academy is one of two new magnet schools offered by the Hollister School District. This one emphasizes challenging students who are more academically advanced and inclined.
“This is an opportunity (for the students) to do a lot of hands-on, high-intensity learning,” Gaither said. “The kids are eager to learn.”
The school, on Calaveras’ campus, has 66 students enrolled: 17 third-graders, 26 fourth-graders and 23 fifth-graders. Students, who came from schools throughout the Hollister School District as well as a few private schools, must qualify to get in the program. They do so through state-standardized test scores, teacher recommendations, report cards and a non-verbal intelligence test.
Calaveras’ Vice Principal Laurie Forrest, who runs the academy, said the main purpose of the school is to challenge the students and offer parents alternatives in their child’s education.
“This just gives parents another choice,” Forrest said.
Angie Manzo, whose daughter, Kylee Cortez, is in Gaither’s class, said she was drawn to the program immediately and hoped it would help prepare her daughter for her academic future.
“I think (Kylee) needed something challenging,” Cortez said. “Once I heard they were going to be offering this, it really attracted my attention.”
The academy is aimed at challenging the students, some of whom were not always pushed in a normal academic environment.
“I think it’s a better opportunity,” said 9-year-old Melina Perez. “Last year all the things, I already knew them, but now I’m learning more things.”
This was echoed by her classmate Emma Wittry, 9.
“I feel that it’s challenging,” she said of her new class. “But I feel like it’s challenging but possible to do.”
Each teacher will continue to alter their curriculum to continually challenge the students, Gaither said.
“The goal of the program is to meet the kids’ needs,” she said. “This program is a unique opportunity to do some teaching that is outside of the box.”
Gaither said developing curriculum and enrichment to challenge the students can become its own challenge.
“I think everyone’s learning curve – including mine – is straight up right now,” Gaither said.
