LEAD Shades Cahaba
Shades Cahaba students participate in team activities in LEAD class.
Jennifer Cassity has no idea what the world her elementary students will live in will look like, but she designs lessons for that time.
“We do know that careers in the future will require employees to be skilled in team work, technology and problem solving,” the Shades Cahaba Elementary School LEAD teacher said. “Our LEAD program is designed to help our children be ready.”
LEAD, or Learning Enhancement through Academic Design, provides an opportunity for all elementary students in Homewood City Schools to experience learning enhanced by discovery and creativity.
Using activities full of science, math and engineering problems, the students explore, research and build. These activities encourage each child to discover their own learning strengths, as well as those of their classmates.
“There are lots of conversations among the children about their learning strengths and how they can be successful as a group if they use what each individual does well,” Cassity said.
As they design and build roller coasters or program robots to move, each child begins to understand how the math and science concepts they learn in class make sense in the real world.
