School Spotlight: Breck Students Help with Science Class at Neill Elementary
Third graders at Neill Elementary say they look forward to Wednesdays. That’s because they get to work on science experiments with students from Breck School.
One Neill student named Makario Fossati calls the Breck students “Breck buddies.”
On the day CCX News visited, Fossati was excited about science class.
“We’re doing science and we’re going to make a drinking straw roller coaster,” said Fossati.
“One of the most gratifying things I do at Breck is come here, bring these lessons and watch our high schoolers interact with the third graders,” said Breck School teacher Ben Lampe.
The collaboration started in 2017. Lampe said he brought one high school student and paired the student with several third graders. The result?
“It was a little overwhelming,” remembers Lampe.
So more students signed up to help. Today, there are about 40 Breck students involved.
“You have these really tall high schoolers that are sitting in our little teeny, tiny elementary chairs or around on the floor and everybody is just so engaged,” said Jen Smith, Neill Elementary principal. “They do a lot of hands-on science with our students. They go through the scientific method and write in science books.”
Lampe designs the experiments and brings the supplies. He tries to bring something in that doesn’t make too big of a mess. Students get involved bringing one-on-one attention to students.
“They really talk through their ideas and figure out what it is they want to build and how they will build it,” said Lampe.
And the students? There are smiles all around.
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