Engaging Young Minds in Summer Learning through STEM: Jonel Leger
Jonel Leger
Supervisor of Math and Science – St. Landry Parish School Board, LA
The world of education has been totally transformed! Teachers, school leaders and district administrators have had to get creative with how they approach learning. As Jonel Leger, AKA GrlPwr, and her team were thinking about how to best approach summer learning in St. Landry Parish, they brainstormed ideas about how to boost student participation while also building a strong classroom community.
St. Landry decided to take a new twist on what summer learning could look like by leveraging game-based learning in their science classes because as GrlPwr states, “students will persevere through the learning process when it is game-based.” Inspired “to increase student engagement and excitement about learning and practicing math and science”, St. Landry’s team, spearheaded by GrlPwr, created Camp Accelerate. This summer learning opportunity empowered students to improve their scientific inquiry skills with Legends of Learning’s 5E lesson plans. Throughout the summer, students in Camp Accelerate explored concepts related to physical science such as forces, motion, electricity, and magnetism.
As GrlPwr can attest, “Students were super excited about engaging in science games; they wanted to practice math and learn about science.” Superintendent Jenkins even shared with GrlPwr that the science classes “stole the show” this summer! In fact, students were so excited about learning in this way with Legends of Learning that one kid jumped out of his chair with excitement at doing well in a game! Now, that is the kind of excitement we want to see all of our students bring to their learning!
