POINTS of PRIDE: Denison

In my travels around the state, one very special visit for me was to Broadway Elementary in Denison where I reconnected with a teacher from whom I learned great organizational skills and learned what quality collaboration looks like, someone who taught me what it feels like to be a contributing member of a team. 

Jayne Lyons is a fourth grade teacher in Denison.  She and I spent time teaching collaboratively in a fourth grade classroom at Cardinal Elementary in Maquoketa.  She was the the classroom teacher, and I was the special needs teacher.  Together with the media specialist and the Title I teacher we created an atmosphere dedicated to enhancing the love of literacy in our students.  Jayne was super organized and from her I learned the importance of writing clear units with learning targets organized within endless white binders and clear plastic pages.  We were a team recognized for our Uncommon Teaching Practices with a special award presented to us from our principal.  I can only smile when I think about the time we spent at Cardinal dedicated to doing our best for our students. 

Jayne continues to create that atmosphere for her students.  Broadway Elementary has the motto - "All students can learn."  It is a place with a safe and positive learning environment using cognitively guided instruction, Chromebooks, and Mac Lab carts.  70% of the students are Latino and a SIOP model (Sheltered Instructional Observation Protocol) is used with help from Drake University to meet the needs of students.  In 2008 Broadway Elementary was recognized as an Iowa School of Character.

How fortunate for the students of Broadway that Jayne continues to show the care and dedication to quality teaching that I saw many years ago at Cardinal Elementary in Maquoketa.  Jayne was known as the "fancy Jayne" and I was known as the "plain Jane" but together these Janes put forth great energy and effort as we continued to develop a love of literacy in our students, and as we learned from one another what it meant to be a team.  What an honor it was to work with Jayne!  Everyone should have an experience like I had with Jayne where collaboration is strong and dedication to excellence is the focus.  Thanks, Jayne, for the difference you have made for so many students in their learning journey!