Holy Family 研究生 and 校友 Association Board Member Meghan Rakus ’19, M’22 Hatches Award-Winning Lesson; Grows Love of Learning
晚上11点.m. 在2023年春天的一个晚上, 梅根·拉库斯(Meghan Rakus)的教师应用程序, 我的手机开始收到短信. “小鸡正在孵化!” 父母 of the 十大网络彩票平台大全 graduate’s first-grade students at Saint Mary Interparochial School (SMIPS), a 2023 and 2016 National Blue-Ribbon School of Excellence located in the historic district of 费城, were reaching out with the same excitement as their six-year-old children. 这要归功于一个直播，它是一种让家庭参与进来的方式, parents were able to share in the school’s annual egg hatching science lesson, 拉库斯在过去五年里一直支持的公司. 这一课, 事实上, recently earned the Northeast 费城 native recognition as one of five “outstanding teachers honored for their innovation, 创造力, 以及对他们所服务的学生的承诺, Nelnet学校管理公司. 乐烧的区别, 从全国100多名申请者中脱颖而出, 包括5美元,000酬金, a $1,向SMIPS捐赠了000英镑, 免费参加在亚特兰大举行的2024年Elevate大会, Ga., in June 2024, where she will present her innovative concept to the FACTS community.
每年，宾夕法尼亚州宾斯堡的奎维尔农场项目的农民们.参观费城地区的教室和公鸡
and hens and a dozen eggs so that students can receive a hands-on lesson on the lifecycle of a chicken and learn about caring for their eggs (turning them three times a day), 看着它们孵化, 并在将雏鸟送回农场之前对它们进行哺育. 为期两周的过程一直是备受期待的事件.
“当然, when I inherited the egg-hatching project as a new first-grade teacher, 这是在COVID期间,拉库斯回忆道. “I was concerned that the students would not be able to see the eggs and observe the normal hatching process in-person so I tried to get innovative. 我告诉了一直支持我的校长(Jayda Pugliese, 09届), M’14, who is completing her doctorate degree at Holy Family) that I wanted to livestream the hatching, 她立刻弄到了一个网络摄像头. 从那以后，我每年都在项目中保持直播. I have also incorporated a virtual reality component through an app called ‘merge,这让我的学生可以比较鸡蛋和松鸦蛋, 蛇蛋, 鱼蛋. 他们可以进行比较并选择他们最喜欢的. 现在对他们来说，这是一种完全沉浸式的体验.”
这一课 also has allowed Rakus to foster important conversations with kids when an egg doesn’t hatch or doesn’t survive. It also gives students a sense of responsibility of caring for the chicks.
“Watching my students holding a chick on the first day where they are trying to throw it across the room, 我说‘不’, no, no, no, no! 你必须超级小心，直到最后一天, 当他们拿着它，照顾它的时候, 太酷了,拉库斯说. “看着我的学生在两周的时间里成熟和成长, when the chick goes from looking like a little alien to a fluff ball, 太棒了.”
和有趣的! Because Miss Rakus’ magical class is all about fun, one that her students run into at 7:30 a.m. 并在下午3点离开.m. She has her students name the chicks and invite their “big buddies” in eighth-grade to join in. In 2023, the chicks were named after current Phillies’ players as a nod to Rakus’ diehard devotion to the Fightin’ Phils. 首发阵容包括“mvp哈珀”,“长着鸟嘴的鸟。,”“Schwarbs,《十大网络彩票平台大全》和《十大靠谱彩票平台送彩金》.她会用她的5美元中的一部分,000 prize to purchase a partial 2024 Phillies’ season-ticket plan and to plan a trip with several co-workers to see the team play in London in June. 她的学生们已经开始为开学日倒计时了.
As the school’s only first-grade teacher charged with the instruction and development of that many students, 而且没有助教, 你可能会觉得梅根·拉库斯想要, 说, 逃出鸡笼. 事实远非如此. She attributes her time at Holy Family with giving her the skills to so capably handle her craft.
“从我记事起，我就想成为一名教师，”她说. “I always heard growing up that Holy Family was the place to go if you wanted to be a good teacher. 我记得我上七年级的时候, and I knew I would be going to Holy Family because that’s where the good teachers go. 我记得我不知道我想去哪里读高中, 但我知道我想去圣家学校上大学. 事实证明我是对的. 我是圣家荣誉课程的第一届学生, and when they offered me the opportunity to be in the Honors program, 就像有人在说, “你有潜力在你的生活中做很多事情.“我想那是我第一次真正听到或感觉到. 这真的为我打开了很多大门. 我有像Fr这样的教授. 马克·亨特，他对自己的教学充满热情. And because of that, I want my students to know that I love what I’m teaching. 我有像博士这样的教授. 沙利文博士. Agnew who brought such a sense of peace and calmness to the classroom, 他们很关心他们. I wanted to take that, and I wanted to show my students that I cared. 我还有其他的教授，比如. Kim Heuschkel, who brought a sense of humor to her teaching, and so I wanted to emulate that. 他们都帮助我扩大了我的视野. They placed me in schools in 费城 and gave me a variety of experiences. 他们教我如何做观察, 学习有价值的课堂管理技巧, 如何教学生阅读. They taught me about the importance of research so I am now better equipped in researching for IEPs, 跟上最佳实践和研究结果的步伐, 并把它应用到我的课堂上. 他们说:‘现在轮到你了.’ It was cool to have those same professors, that I had taken bits of, right there supporting me. Winning this award and sharing the good news with my former professors was a full-circle moment for me. I was honored to tell them that the little 18-year-old that you gave a shot to, 照你说的做了吗. I credit Holy Family 100-percent with the reason why I am teacher today, 因为我看到他们都是很棒的老师.”
拉库斯也意识到她在圣玛丽登陆的好运气, a high-achieving small school with a big heart whose core message is treat everyone with a kind, 以上帝所希望的方式关怀他人.
“尽管我们的邻居很可爱, we all know you can witness hardships when you are living in 费城,拉库斯说. ‘We encourage our students to put their faith in God and each other, knowing that there is always going to be someone who is looking out for them. Letting our students know that when something goes wrong, we have something to lean on.
“When you are dealing with what you are dealing with and feeling like these lives are on your shoulders, 有很大的压力和很多的吸收,她接着说. “You are taking in all these emotions, and six-year-olds have a lot of them. 有很多键. 我看到我的一些年级伙伴比看到我的家人还多. 我告诉他们关于我的一切. 除了他们没人懂. St. 玛丽的 has given me something that I know isn’t out there in every school and every school community. 这就是为什么我对圣. 玛丽的. 当然，有时我也会感到精疲力竭或不堪重负. The piece of advice I have received and hold on to was from the eighth-grade teacher at my school, 朱迪Crossan-Sanicky, 谁在这里待了40年. ‘At the end of the day, you go into your classroom, close the door, and serve your students’.”