Kids say the darndest things, but they often can say the very best things about their favorite teachers in school. At Anita White Carson Middle School, students had an opportunity to meet and talk about their experiences learning at the school and what made their favorite teacher special in the classroom. The middle school offers a student-centered education that focuses on individual needs throughout fourth to seventh grade.
Sixth grade students Kaden Ferrell and Oriona Harris, both having been Students of the Month at the school, especially like the attention to their work.
“I enjoy science. My teachers have been helpful with my work,” Harris said. “They want me to think about the answer but to know how and why my answer is right. This was in my soil test during the science fair.”
Oriona has high aspirations like many of the students and would like to become both an engineer and space astronaut after attending Harvard.
“It is my dream school,” she said.
Most of the students said the teachers make learning fun with special activities in the classroom and worksheets. Carlaysia Mohone, a fourth grader, especially likes math and enjoys her classroom time in the mornings with Ms. Monford.
Kodell Thorton, also a fourth grader, likes involvement with fellow students in recreational time designed to engage learning different from formal books and pencils. A tug of war game was used to learn the concepts of force and motion.
Kodell especially enjoys reading and is active in the school’s accelerated reading program in the media center. He receives points for each book read toward his individually set goal. Last week, the school planned a unique “Accelerated Rewards Day,” which brought a specially designed fun bus to the school with games for the children to play.
Fifth grader Emily Mize has taken notice of the posters up in the school which promote positive messaging of encouragement. She credits her school success thus far with creative teachers who are “nice and pay attention to me.” Melissa Brown is one of her favorite teachers, and she says she helps her with assignments throughout the school year in English and Language Arts.
Abbigial Webb, a seventh grader, enjoys working on science fairs, plays flute in the school band and enjoys her language arts classes with Ms. Richardson.
Isabella Camacho Garcia, a fellow seventh grader, is also in the school band playing the clarinet and hopes to attend Band Camp at the school, which partners with the high school.
Abbigail’s family recently moved to Greensboro from Wisconsin.
“The teachers here are more encouraging and energetic,” she said. “I like coming to school with my friends here.”
The middle school has worked hard to incorporate many measures that instill early confidence building, study skills, comprehensive reading and student accountability. Positive messaging posters adorn the walls encouraging students to do their best and respect others. Each student was provided with new Chromebooks after the first of the year and are provided with an individualized coursework plan. Additionally, every nine weeks the school offers a rotating elective for the student to take, such as specialized art courses, languages and art options.
A key change at the school has been the change of a routine parent teacher conference. Instead, it is the student’s responsibility to lead the conference with both their parents and teacher. This gives the student accountability for grades and action to be taken.
Anita White Carson Middle School currently has 405 students enrolled in grades 4 through 7 with a student teacher ratio of 10-1. Over 70 total staff are employed at the school, along with one counselor, two instructional coaches, Principal DeAndra Lanier and Assistant Principal Tanisha Wright.