Kennedy Stantz of Dirigo Elementary School in Peru started his first day of class on Wednesday. From left, special education instructional technician Cathy McDonald, Title 1 instructional technician Tammy Averill, Stantz and librarian Cindy Petherbridge. Marianne Hutchinson/Rumford Falls Times
PERU — On the first day of class Wednesday, Dirigo Elementary teacher Angela Palmer encouraged her 14 first-graders to write their names on a large touchscreen board to indicate their lunch choice.
“We do this every morning,” she says, “and on the first day it takes a surprisingly long time because the kids have never used a board like this before.”
Palmer conducts most of his classes using a Promethean board, which projects lesson content and allows for student interaction.
“It's really amazing to watch,” she said of the interactive screen activities with her students.
Andrea Palmer, a first-grade teacher at Dirigo Elementary School in Peru, asked her students to write the names of their lunch options on a touchscreen board on Wednesday, the first day of classes for more than 300 students in kindergarten through fifth grade. Marianne Hutchinson/Rumford Falls Times
Before entering their classrooms, the students were greeted by Principal Charlie Swan, along with teachers and staff, who escorted them to their classrooms.
Meeters included librarian Cindy Petherbridge, Title 1 instructional technician Tammy Averill, special education instructional technician Cathy McDonald and occupational therapist Liz Heath.
Petherbridge said students will have 45 minutes of instruction each week in the school library to support classroom instruction. If they're learning letters, “the focus will be on learning the alphabet and then they'll learn sounds. As they get older, and they're in third, fourth and fifth grade, they'll learn a lot about computer skills, keyboarding and digital citizenship,” she said.
Online digital citizenship teaches students how to be good citizens, she said in an email late Wednesday. “Common Sense Media has created a comprehensive curriculum that can be used in grades K-12. The website helps parents and educators navigate the cyber world and current issues, skills and mental health related to internet and digital use,” she wrote.
This year's enrollment is about 330 students, Swann said.
Ava Webster gets off the bus at Dirigo Elementary School in Peru on Wednesday morning. Aubrey Hutchins gets off the bus as Principal Charlie Swan comes to pick her up on her first day of school. The school has about 330 students, Swan said. Marianne Hutchinson / Rumford Falls Times
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