Sangamon Sun

Staff at Ball Elementary School provided an update on current highlights and outlined goals during the Oct. 26 Ball-Chatham Board of Education meeting.

During the meeting, which was streamed on YouTube, Tricia Burke, principal at Ball Elementary School, presented the update and noted that the school staff was excited for the opportunity

“But we are excited to be here to just talk a little bit about who we are, because we are very proud of what we do here,” Burke said during the meeting. “And you'll see this a lot. You'll hear this said a lot by our students and by our staff. But we are Titans. And to us, that means we're belonging, encouraging, succeeding. That's our vision.”

Burke directed the spotlight on some of the Pre-K teachers who had accompanied her to the meeting, noting that they recently achieved the highest score possible on a recent Pre-K audit, a daunting task. She noted during the meeting that the audits occur with little notice other than a notice when the school year starts and during the year they are given a three-week window when officials could arrive.

Moreover, administrators at Ball explained how they spent the summer outlining their vision and goals for the school and zeroed in on how to instill leadership in their academic charges. They forged five key areas of leadership to teach the student body, including letting others shine, encouraging others, having grit, problem-solving, and inclusion. Each week, one area is selected and teachers discuss it with their students.

The staff noted during the meeting that the elementary school also broke its leadership instruction into a three-trimester plan, first focusing on teaching the five key areas during the first, practicing them through three classroom jobs during the second. These jobs include line leader, cheerleader and greeter in each class and grade. Students in the third and fourth grades are involved in a new program in which they apply and train for positions at the school, including reading coach, welcome crew or media center helper.