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ALABAMA SCHOOL JOURNAL OCTOBER 2021

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ENTRY CARDS AND PHOTO SUBMISSIONS FOR THE BULLETIN BOARD CONTEST ARE DUE OCTOBER 29, 2021.

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Montgomery principal increases reading scores using Amira

Jaclyn Brown Wright jokingly

considers herself one of the "pandemic

principals." As an educator for over 19 years, she became principal of Brewbaker Primary School (BPS) in July 2020 - a time when Alabama

schools were grappling to adjust during

the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.

Before accepting the role of Brewbaker Primary's principal, Wright previously worked as a district-level supervisor in

Conecuh, Dallas, and Montgomery

counties. "I knew my first year would be met with great trepidation because of the pandemic, but I used my leadership skills from prior positions and wanted

to come in with an open mind to innovation and being accessible for

parents and my staff," Wright said. She began to meet with staff to understand

their needs and concerns. "I didn't

want to come in telling them what to

do," Wright said. "I wanted to hear

what was amazing about them and how

I could help them be successful. For

the students to be amazing and excel,

it has to start with their teachers and

everyone at BPS."

Wright also asked staff about the

school's parental involvement and met

with parents. "From the surveys and meetings, teachers were concerned

about how to connect with parents and the parents were concerned about how their kids will be able to learn," Wright said. As a result, she created "Brilliance Blocks," a 36-week program of aligned reading and math lessons for parents to use as an additional resource. Wright said the program was well received by

parents and that it caused a shift in

the community's perception regarding

how things operate at the school. Parental involvement also increased

tremendously.

Wright has also been successful in

improving literacy rates at her school. "When I started at Brewbaker Primary, which is a pre-K through second-grade school, the literacy rates were low," she said. "I knew I had to figure out a way to boost reading scores - considering Alabama now has in place that students

can be held back if they are not at a certain reading level by third grade." Wright then took an unconventional

approach. She introduced an artificial

intelligence (AI) reading program

called Amira - which aims to improve

a child's reading ability by providing

them with a personal literacy assistant

and tutor. Only a handful of schools

in Alabama use Amira, and Brewbaker

Primary is the first in Montgomery Public Schools to use it. The AI

program listens to children as they read

short stories aloud and tracks several

literacy skills, including how well they recognize sight words, their ability to

decode words and their vocabulary. Students are then given practice

activities that target skills they need to work on. The program also encourages children to try re-reading certain parts

of sentences, sounds out challenging

words, provides directions for practice tasks, and congratulates children when they finish. Within two months of using Amira,

Brewbaker Primary's second-grade students doubled the number of words they could correctly read aloud per minute. "When we started using Amira in January of 2020, our

reading proficiency was 18%," Wright

stated. "By March, not even a year,

our reading scores increased by 15%.

I have never seen reading gains like

that, and we were able to achieve this during a pandemic." Wright credits the involvement of parents and her staff for the accomplishment. "The only thing

I did was make sure teachers saw the

usage data, and if there was a student not participating or having trouble, we

would contact the parent," she said. "We make sure to have an ongoing

connection with the parents of all 700 students."

With an increase in parent participation, reading scores, and other accomplishments, Wright feels

confident that her staff and school will continue to excel like they have in the past two years. "I always tell everyone

that Brewbaker Primary is the school 'where amazing happens for kids',"

she said. "This is what this community believes us to be and we want to make sure we live up to their expectation."

Jaclyn Brown Wright, Brewbaker Primary School Principal Montgomery Public Schools

Gadsden High School Special Olympics coach

Behind every child who believes in

themselves is a teacher who believed

in them first.

For 29 years, Christine Lowery, a

Gadsden High School paraprofessional,

has coached kids with disabilities

through the Special Olympics program.

According to Alabama's Special Olympics website, the Special Olympics provides year-round sports training and athletic competition in a variety of Olympic-type sports for children and adults with intellectual

disabilities. Those activities give them

continuing opportunities to develop

physical fitness, demonstrate courage,

experience joy and participate in a

sharing of gifts, skills and friendship.

Lowery began working with the Special Olympics at Emma Samson High School before the school was

combined with Gadsden High School. "The love for the kids and wanting

to see them succeed made me get involved," Lowery says. "Once I got in the water with the kids [coaching

swimming] and saw they enjoyed it, I just wanted to keep going."

As a Special Olympics coach,

Lowery helps students with disabilities

overcome and build confidence

through sports. Five years ago, Anthony Bell started

at Gadsden High School. When he

first came to school his learning ability was low, he didn't like school and his

attendance was poor. After getting involved in the Special Olympics

program led by Lowery and receiving

one-on-one academic help Anthony

made major improvement in multiple facets of his life.

"In the five years I had him, he went from not knowing how to read

to reading basic words, wanting to be at school, wanting to be clean, and his attendance improved," says Lowery.

Anthony's hard work and

commitment to improve his academic,

athletic and life skills made Lowery want to recognize him for his

accomplishments. She said, "I always

recommend a graduating senior [for

state Athlete of the Year for the Special Olympics], if I feel like they are worthy of it. I recommended him because of where he had been and how far he had come."

A surprise small school assembly

was held to honor Anthony for being named the state Athlete of the Year for the Special Olympics. At the assembly,

he received his award, a plaque with

gold, silver and bronze medals.

While the state Special Olympics

have not been held in two years because

of COVID, Gadsden High School Special Olympics played basketball

games in house this year. "The kids felt like they were a part of the school and a part of a team. They aren't just sitting in a classroom, but are a part of an activity," Lowery remarked. Lowery continues to work to get the state competitions back off the ground so the kids can continue to benefit from

the experiences gained by attending

the state games. In 2007, Lowery was named Special Olympics Coach of the Year and served as assistant coach at the 2008 National

Special Olympic Games in Iowa.

Wherever Lowery goes former students

still greet her with, "Hey Coach!" As

the saying goes - once a coach, always a coach.

Christine Lowery and Anthony Bell after Bell received the state Athlete of the Year Award. Anthony Bell playing basketball.