FIERCE: Teaching kids science and math aren’t boring
NOKOMIS — Since she was a young kid, Kim Schenke knew she wanted to teach. Growing up in her grandmother’s Ohio basement playing “school” with her aunt, who was already pursuing education, Schenke felt a. . .
NOKOMIS — Since she was a young kid, Kim Schenke knew she wanted to teach. Growing up in her grandmother’s Ohio basement playing “school” with her aunt, who was already pursuing education, Schenke felt a calling. Growing up in the Sarasota County School system, she decided she wanted to teach there, too. “It has gone full circle,” Schenke said. Starting as a long term substitute at Wilkinson Elementary and working her way to being an elementary STEM teacher at Laurel-Nokomis School, Schenke has racked up more than 40 years of service, helping bridge the technology gap in education. As part of the school improvement plan group, she helped start the first science lab at Wilkinson and helped bring a state-funded program to integrate students with computer-assisted instruction at Laurel-Nokomis. Her love of math and science pushes her to bring the magic of the real world to her students to experience and learn from, from adding tropical fish tanks to her classroom and grant writing to pay for a hoverboard building exercise to partnering with Sarasota County to design their education room at a county recycle plant for local student visits. Each year, Schenke aims to make or do something different. “My class, I would hope, is not boring,” she said. While she is set to officially retire at the end of this school year, Schenke plans on sticking around to help out any way she can in education. “ I'm looking forward to it, but at the same time, I'm not looking forward to it, because I still love what I'm doing,” she said. Five ways Schenke embodies FIERCE:Helping all students. One the first assignments Schenke took was not a full-time teaching job. At a time the district was on a hiring freeze, she opted to be a long term sub for a self-contained classroom, when a small group of students with disabilities stay with one teacher for the day to meet learning needs. The assignment helped prepare Schenke for a similar class she runs now with nonverbal, special education students. “It was a learning experience, because those boys were kind and respectful, and they just needed help. ”Leading a new age of learning. In the 90s, Schenke helped lead the charge on Project CHILD, a state initiative designed to integrate technology in the classroom, at Wilkinson. The project was such a success, Schenke was asked to replicate it when she transferred to Laurel-Nokomis. “I like change, I like resources,” she said. “I feel like what we have in our community to offer for our students is hands down the best way to teach and share. ”Real-world in the classroom. Schenke believes pencil and paper is not enough to learn. She crafts partnerships with community leaders to teach her students how STEM is all around them, bringing in the Suncoast Blood Bank to do presentations on the circulatory system, hosting the county’s mosquito management and taking them on field trips to Oscar Scherer Park and Lemon Bay. “ My biggest thing that I like to do is to expose them to what we have in our community because that’s how I started. ”Influencing the next gen. While she taught at Laurel-Nokomis, Schenke chose to put her son through there, the pair . When he graduated high school, he had the most volunteer hours of his class. Schenke was proud to see that her son, who is now a first responder, has a passion for a community-oriented career like her. “When you're doing a profession that you love, that's, in my opinion, way more important than necessarily doing something you hate with more money. ”Including parents. Schenke is a big believer in volunteering, especially when it comes to families. The teacher said a helping hand motivates her to go the extra mile for her students with fun projects, like submitting a grant request that earned her class funding to build Hoverboard vehicles for a day. “You can't do everything,” she said. “So, the more you can have people helping you, the more I feel like you can get done. ”