By Rhys Baker
USD 379’s Garfield Parent Educator Partnership, or PEP, recently had its best turnout for its bi-annual scramble meal, with chances for participants to win prizes. Principal Stephanie Lane says the funding is used in various ways throughout Garfield School, “Bengal Innovators is one of our biggest priorities. We use the money to help fund that group that meets twice weekly. Also, there are supplies that our teachers need to make their classroom successful, as well as just classroom needs, such as light covers, flexible seating, or classroom supplies. This year, we’re looking into more STEM-related items for our school that we learned more about from our STARBASE field trips. So we’re excited about that.
Besides technology needs, we need many things in our classroom to help support our learners. And so PEP has been vital to support us in that.”
Bengal Innovators is a club where students have a choice and voice. They get to decide on what kind of club they would like to try. This club could include anything from Perler beads, where they get to design a key chain, to skills like photography, to learning a new language like Spanish, and then also skills like advertising, where students get to be in a club and design all of the posters and advertising for Garfield School.
There are also some Bengal Innovator clubs that are student-led. Students propose their idea for a class to Principal Lane, design a two—to three-week planning guide, and list the supplies needed. They also have to find a teacher to partner with for the club.
The funds also give back to the USD 379 Clay County Schools community. Lane reports that students and PEP members love getting involved in community projects, which teach them about business, interpersonal communication, math, and writing. She says PEP benefits all students at Garfield and their grown-ups,
“We hosted Donuts with Grown Ups in April, which allows grown-ups from our community, our mentors, our coaches, our firefighters, and different groups to come in and meet with our students. And then we have two Garfield movie nights a year. And then, we have our two scrambles each year. The scramble in the spring is a young entrepreneurial scramble. We celebrate our students and all of their successes in their young businesses. And then, our last thing that PEP puts a lot of money into is, during state testing, they provide food and snacks for all of our students so that they’re ready and willing when it’s time to test that their bodies and brains are nourished.”
Lane says Leadership is a big part of being a Garfield student. Every student is responsible for bringing their likeness and uniqueness to our building in a celebrated way.
