Freshmen revisit elementary
High school English classes read to Aquila students
November 25, 2015
English teacher Rebekah Noble’s freshmen took a field trip back to their roots at Aquila Elementary School Nov. 20 and listened to students in teacher Nicole Ludens’ class read their favorite books.
Noble said she wanted the field trip to show her students how they can contribute and mentor others even if they’ve never had the chance before.
“My ninth graders have mentors that are seniors and I wanted them to have people they could also mentor,” Noble said. “(My students) really do have a lot to offer, and sometimes they don’t have the opportunities to mentor or offer guidance. It’s also a nice break from the school day.”
Freshman Sean Davenport said even though he originally was not excited for the trip, he enjoyed having time to read with the younger students.
“I thought it was going to be boring, but it’s fun to help out the younger kids and see what they know,” Davenport said. “It’s fun seeing how much they know, how many words they know, because they’re so young.”
Ludens said she thinks the field trip created a sense of community between the elementary school and the high school.
“It’s really important for the community, so the students who are in elementary school know that they are connected with the high school students,” Ludens said. “It’s great to have that school connection.”
Noble said she knows many of the elementary school teachers from graduate school and plans to have field trips at other schools during the year.
“It was a fun idea stemming from being able to see how students begin to learn how to read and how that journey follows them through high school,” Noble said. “We would really like to visit all the elementary schools throughout the year so that all my students will have a chance to revisit the school they went to.”
Freshman Latrell Thornton said he liked being with the students and thinks reading at a young age will help them when they’re older.
“(Reading) inspires them to stay in school and keep reading. It gets them somewhere in life,” Thornton said.
