Bibb teachers share goals for new school year

MACON, Georgia (41NBC/WMGT) – The Bibb County School District is ready to kick off the new school year.

Students head back to school Monday, August 3. While they’re picking out the perfect backpack to pair with their new notebooks, teachers are putting their classrooms together to create the perfect learning environment. Tape and scissors are a teacher’s best friend the week before school starts.

“It’s going to be really colorful. I just really want it to be inviting and show students that learning can be fun, exciting, and positive,” said 3rd grade teacher of Burdell-Hunt Elementary, Sarah Woods.

The Bibb County School District kicked off its 2015 school year Tuesday morning with a high energy convocation.

“We would like to get to a 90% graduation rate by the year 2015. That’s a bold, audacious goal, but we think we can do it,” explained Dr. Curtis Jones, the Superintendent for the district.

Achieving that goal starts with setting up a healthy learning environment.

“I want a really cozy reading area because I really want to instill in students the love to read,” said Woods.

Discipline will be a top priority this year. The third grade teachers at Burdell-Hunt Elementary have strategies in place to help their students.

“Each day the kids start off with four pride points and then throughout the day if they happen to make a mistake in their behavior, they lose one point,” explained Kimberly Barkemeyer.

Barkemeyer believes it’s important for her students to be able to reflect on these actions.

“At the end of the day, they write down how many points they had and why they lost them. We’ll go back in your agenda, look at it, figure out what happened and what can you do next time,” continued Barkemeyer.

Woods wants to prepare her third graders for the Georgia Milestones test.

“I know a lot of students with their first year taking it, they get real scared and have that test anxiety so I really want to make sure I get those skills instilled in them,” explained Woods.

Those aren’t the only lessons she hopes her students take with them to fourth grade.

“They are all going to be amazing leaders. Not just at school, but through life,” said Woods.

Most of the district’s training this summer has been learning how to create a positive learning environment.