Aurora Public Schools Superintendent Rico Munn challenged every staff member at the start of the 2022-23 school year with a question to reflect on: What's your urgency?
"We want to be focused on knowing who we serve and what our students need," Munn said in his back-to-school message. "The way we do that this year is going to be backed by an increased sense of urgency."
This urgency is a central theme in April Evans' first-grade classroom at Vista PEAK Exploratory.
"(Literacy) is a priority," Evans said. "We know that without reading, we can't do any of the other subject areas."
When Evans talks about literacy, her passion shines. Recently named as a 2022-23 Goyen Literacy Fellow, her teaching techniques will be highlighted as the gold standard of literacy instruction. Over the next year, she will share her methods with teachers across the country. Aurora Public Schools is proud to see that Evans has elevated a districtwide urgency onto a national platform.
"It's exciting to think that change can be made," Evans said. "I have big dreams for Vista PEAK and Aurora Public Schools overall."
So how are Evans and her colleagues raising the reading bar? By getting students excited about literacy through a new curriculum that Vista PEAK Exploratory started using in 2018: Wit and Wisdom.
"This new curriculum… opened our eyes to what kids need and to the science of reading," Evans said.
Teachers use targeted phonics instruction and knowledge building so that students can not only learn how to read, but also absorb the information that is in the text itself. According to Vista PEAK Exploratory Principal Amy Kolquist, students are proving how much they love to read and learn every day.
"We already are seeing our students succeed," said Kolquist. "We are seeing increases in both our formative and summative test scores, along with seeing deep and meaningful engagement from all students."
When you ask Evans about her students' breakthroughs, she gets emotional knowing that she has helped spark a lifetime love for reading.
"There's been a couple of times where I've gotten choked up," Evans said. "It's those kids where it's a real struggle and then they make that leap… It just puts a smile on your face."