Goleta educators continue to go above and beyond to support students!
Two teachers, Chad Smith and Iain Garcia, will be teaching ukulele to their classes. With grant funds to purchase class sets of ukuleles, sheet music, tuners, and more, these two are bringing instrumental music back to GUSD classrooms! Garcia, a 2nd and 3rd grade teacher at Goleta Family School, states the need for the ukuleles: “…many students in our community do not have the opportunity to learn an instrument due limited resources for music education in GUSD or personal financial constraints. At this time, there are few affordable options for families to teach elementary aged children how to play instruments in our community.” Garcia and Smith will have weekly lessons with their students and hope to see academic, social, and emotional growth through music education. Smith, a 5th-grade Foothill teachers, says, “music can be used as a tool to help students relax and feel included…Music is needed for so many reasons. Music, and playing musical instruments has made a positive impact in my life in so many ways.”
Three veteran teachers, Allison Mowers, Nora Zwhel Quintero, and Shannan Conklin, are now working as District Literacy TOSAs (Teachers on Special Assignment). Their job is to deliver professional development to classroom teachers, TK through 6th grade, on the Science of Reading. Their grant funds purchased materials from the LETRS program, which can be used with any existing reading curriculum. They will use their knowledge and experience to affect all teachers, and therefore students, in Goleta schools. “We believe that students have the right to knowledgeable teachers and excellent teaching of reading…We were placed in these roles to develop, educate, and coach teachers to put the most current understandings of how children learn to read into practice.”
We are excited to see how these educators grow and share their learning with students and with other educators.