What’s Right With Our Schools: Howard Connect Mini Week

CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. (WDEF) – It can be a real challenge to keep students interested during the last week of school. Howard Connect came up with a creative way to make sure kids are engaged and learning new things. What they came up with is a good example of what’s right with our schools.

Mardee Miller is the principal at Howard Connect Academy.

Miller explains, “It’s up to them. They’ve got to offer 4 hours of courses.  I’ve got one staff member who’s doing two different sections of rock climbing. So, we take kids to Lookout Mountain Conservancy to rock climb. We’ve got whiffle ball. We’ve got cooking classes. We’ve got bike riding classes. We have got endless number of classes.”

Elijah Brooks-Davis teaches Science.

He says, “So this is one of my comic book students. So, Mini Week, I’m actually teaching an art class; drawing your own comic books. I’m teaching an athletics class, ultimate Frisbee, and I’m teaching kind of a cultural immersion class of watching anime.”

8th grade teacher Chris Cummings adds, “I like being able to share passions and interests and knowledge that I have that are outside of my content area with students, and especially students that I don’t normally get to interact with in my 8th grade classes.”

Principal Miller says, “This one, teachers get to do things that they’re interested in.”

Joel Garver teaches Social Studies.

He says, “This is card games. So, learning a new card game every day. They’re trying it out and then playing whatever game they want after that. We’ve got Uno cards. We’ve got playing cards, so lots of different options for them.”

Principal Miller lays it all out, “So, we put together what we call our Mini Week course catalog, and it is done by blocks. So, the kids, on registration day, get their course catalog, and they have to go through the catalog, and they build their schedule for the next five days of school.”

8th grader Malachi Mack chips in, “I wanted to learn cooking first of all, because I really enjoy cooking. I like food, so I wanted to learn how to cook, and this class helps me with that.”

Principal Miller concludes, “We have been open at Howard Connect. This is our fourth year. We’ve done Mini Week all four years, and it’s something that we’re super proud of. It’s an experience that the kids love, the adults love, and it’s a great way to end the year here at Howard Connect.”