SEM: Developing World-Class Talent: Empowering Our Students

I believe in the Schoolwide Enrichment Model for several reasons. I could go on and on (and if you have been with me on a tour of the school or listened to one of my SEM presentations, you know I can), but just a few reasons would be:

SEM gives our students the opportunity to explore areas of interest during the school day.
SEM is not an exclusive program, everyone participates and receives the benefits.
SEM develops our children's talents through areas of their interest.
SEM empowers our students to be problem solvers.

This last point has been illustrated at LME more and more often over the years. In Schoolwide Enrichment Model lingo, we call this a "Type 3" activity. Basically, a child is passionate about an interest, sees a problem within that interest and then on his/her own does something to solve that problem.

This happened recently with a pair of 4th grade students. ZoeJane and Miriam had been studying persuasive writing in class. Their teacher, Mr. Brinkman, used zoos as the topic in class. The girls decided to some research on their own about the Austin Zoo. They decided they needed to write a letter detailing their concerns about the Austin Zoo and give it to someone who could a difference, Mayor Adler. Miriam's mother took the girls to City Hall to personally hand the letter to Mayor Adler.

Here is an excerpt from the letter the girls wrote:

Dear Steve Adler,

We are fourth grade students at Laurel Mountain Elementary and we were reading an article about] Zoo behavior towards animals and wildlife. After reading it we all got to say our opinions and share our thinking. Most people were all for most Zoo’s but not the Austin Zoo. We wondered why but soon learned more about it with a little research and apparently the animals and people were having a bad experience. We wondered why no one was doing anything about this and realized we could make this change! We wanted to let the person “with power” know this.

We think if you want a zoo, you need to:
1. Give the animals space,dens and toys.

2. You need to have good management and staff.

3. You need to make sure the animals stay healthy by having a person to check on them every now and then.

We are not trying to do your job but give some advice about the animals in Austin. Also, we are okay with rescuing the animals, however we want them to be glad that they are rescued!! So please help!!

The girls were learning about writing using the topic of animals, which is a top interest area for our entire school. But the girls became passionate about their local zoo once they did some research on the topic. They took that passion and did something to make a difference. Even though these are small steps, they make a HUGE impact on our students. Teaching our students to stand up for what they believe in and make a difference is a priceless gift that we are giving our children through SEM. And this is another way Laurel Mountain develops world-class talent.

Mayor Adler with the girls

On a totally different note, our kindergarten and first grade students LOVE their enrichment clusters. My proof is an awesome book I received last Friday from a group of first grade girls (Ella, Grace, Heidi and Isabelle) in Mrs. Clements' class. The book is so wonderfully amazing, I just had to share. Out of the mouths of babes...