Our November NC Kids Care recipient, Bella Miller, was recognized by the Board of Education during its Nov. 21 meeting.
And it was for a “Dino-rific” reason. The SHS senior spent a lot of time this past summer with Mrs. Eick’s self-contained class in the extended school year program held at Shaker Middle School. But one day of her work, in particular, caught several adults’ attention.
In his nomination of Bella for this honor, SMS Principal Davis Chamberlain said: “Bella planned, prepped and implemented a day of activities for a younger group of students in a self-contained room. All activities were dinosaur themed and took significant planning to implement.”
Bella thought it would be fun to do a themed day, and ended up choosing dinosaurs (mostly because she loves them!), but did she ever overachieve in sticking to a theme! There was:
Dinosaur silhouette painting … A scavenger hunt … Dinosaur-themed snack …Volcano science … “Dino-tag” … “Tricera-toss” … and … Dinosaur-themed academics
Bella said that when she was developing the curriculum for the day, she took into consideration the importance of structure and routine for these students and followed their established schedule closely.
And her own words: “The time spent working on this project was well worth it; all of the students were engaged throughout the day and enjoyed the many activities we did! Having been in self-contained classrooms myself, I understand a lot of the struggles these kids face. I was able to use my experiences to plan a day that worked for them, and it went off without a hitch!
And she added: “We wouldn’t have had dino-day without Mrs. Eick, and the help of the aides in her room!
Bella also volunteers and donates her time to various local institutions such as the Colonie Youth Court and the Colonie Library. She will be attending Siena College with a major in psychology, then going to law school to eventually become a disability rights attorney.
Congratulations to Bella, our November NC Kids Care honoree!