Panther Creek High Students Take Part in SMART Lunch
April 7, 2010 - Students at Panther Creek High take part in SMART lunch, a tool that strengthens student academic success. During Panther Creek High's SMART lunch, students meet for study group. |
Audio Pocasts Principal Rodney Nelson talks about the creation of SMART lunch and the way it benefits Panther Creek High students. Panther Creek High teachers talk about SMART lunch and the way it provides academic support for students. |
School Connection Video Story Panther Creek High and the EOCs: Principal Rodney Nelson and his teachers and staff have developed ways such as "SMART lunches" to help students stay on top of their studies and prepare for the End-of-Course exams. |
“The demands of education today require more than what is available during the class time,” said Panther Creek High Principal Rodney Nelson. “We committed early on in the beginning of our school to work with students both inside and outside of the classroom. And offering SMART lunch especially gives all students access to their teachers, both those students who are struggling to achieve in class as well as those students who are even excelling. They have another opportunity that they can go by and see a teacher.”
Panther Creek High operates on the block schedule. There are two class sessions, then the bell rings at 10:28 a.m. for SMART lunch. Over the course of the next hour, students will have time to eat. They can also go to classrooms for enrichment activities, make-up work, one-on-one time with teachers, peer tutoring, study groups, media center access and intramural activities.
“I was in a study group with my friends and we’re studying for my AP US History test, which is going to be fourth period after lunch,” said Sruti, a student. “We talked about it earlier and decided to meet up at SMART lunch in Mr. Merrill’s classroom. So then we just get all our notes together, friends together, lunches ready and we just kind of go.”
“At SMART lunch, you can get extra credit like a homework grade or something if you want to come in for smart lunches,” said Colleen, a student. “They’ll give you extra credit to encourage you to come and once you come, you can get your help. It can make your grade higher.”
The acronym SMART in SMART lunch stands for Students Maximizing Achievement, Relationships,
Time. Teachers Gail Barkes, Karen Oviatt and Caroline Richardson are teacher leaders at Panther Creek High who have been instrumental in designing SMART lunch opportunities for success.
“I think the great thing about SMART lunch is that you can have access to everybody,” said Karen Oviatt, leader of the English Department. “In my former school when we didn’t have SMART lunch, I would have a number of kids, both at the lower level and the higher level, that couldn’t come to after school tutoring because they didn’t have transportation or they were involved in athletics and other activities – they weren’t available. So I think the great thing about SMART lunch is that we have a block period of time where everybody can have access. So we’re trying to reach those kids who are struggling, but we’re also trying to provide some enrichment and reach those kids at higher levels.”
“I think in science we try to more efficiently use our time and resources and try to develop schedules where we can offer students different opportunities during SMART lunch,” said Gail Barkes, a teacher leader in the Science Department. “So we’re grouping them based on their needs, more so than by the teacher that they have during the day.”
“Well, after looking at our data we decided that we had to find a way to meet some of the needs for the kids more one on one, instead of just group sessions,” said Caroline Richardson, leader of the Math Department. “So we’ve just begun our Math Assistance Learning Lab or the MALL. The teachers have been working with the kids one-on-one. We’ve been working in groups with them, but now what we’ve done is we’ve brought in some peer tutors. We’ve brought in kids who have been successful in Algebra II or in Pre-calculus to come work with Algebra I kids and the Pre-algebra kids.”
The SMART lunch period is making a difference for students at Panther Creek High.
“SMART lunch probably has its greatest strengths around relationships, and we believe as a school and as a leadership team that when teachers and students have built effective, positive, meaningful relationships, learning is enhanced,” said Nelson. “I think if we were to trace anything about SMART lunch to achievement, it would be that opportunity for students and teachers to know each other more personally and to be able to spend quality time outside of the large classroom setting. I would list relationship building as the key to the SMART lunch and the impact it has on student achievement.”
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