Under the leadership of principal George Llewellyn, Lamar Middle School has undergone a transformation over the past two years. I had a “we were there when” moment when Lamar welcomed 733 students this year, an increase of 150 students over last year’s enrollment. Students come from some 40 elementary schools throughout the city.
Many are drawn by the Lamar Fine Arts Academy, which lays the foundation for students who want to continue on to the fine arts program at nearby McCallum High School. In its second year, the Lamar Fine Arts Academy is one way the school has attracted the community back to the school. A few years ago, only a handful of sixth grade students from nearby Highland Park Elementary attended Lamar. This year, 55 sixth grade students came from Highland Park.
Close cooperation between Lamar and McCallum has strengthened programming throughout the school. For example, a McCallum robotics teacher spent a year at Lamar, training staff and introducing programming, and enrollment in robotics increased from 40 students to 150. McCallum teachers participate in joint planning meetings with Lamar teachers to make sure courses are aligned from middle school to high school.
At one of the school's four outdoor classrooms, Principal Llewellyn, in perfect Socratic method while donning some crazy patterned and colored socks, educated us on the Lamar story. He showed us an outdoor lunch area, which has outdoor speakers and features regular performances by the school's jazz band and other musical groups.
Then, we toured the campus, where I drank from one of the high-tech drinking fountains, which provides highly filtered water that tastes much better than the bottled kind (I know, I tried it!), and has a special spout for filling water bottles too. Thanks to the CATCH foundation for providing grants to fund the water fountains.
The fine arts were front and center, even on the first day of school. As we entered the building, we saw a hanging sculpture, made from plastic bottles, that imitate the popular Chuily sculptures--and sell for at least $50!
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| The sculpture made from hanging bottles. |
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| Sitting in on Mrs. Reed's dance class. |
Thanks to $200,000 in community grants, the school has been able to update its arts facilities, and we visited the improved areas, along with the jazz band and piano rooms.
As part of a partnership with the University of Texas, Lamar has adopted drama-based instruction throughout the curriculum. We got to see it in action, even on the first day. I participated in a getting to know you activity in Mrs. Natalie Reed's intermediate dance class where one person stood in the middle of a circle and told the others one thing she enjoys doing. Other members of the group would switch spots with their classmates in the circle if they shared that interest. During this activity, I learned that Chief Schools Officer Paul Cruz loves middle school, and Chief Academic Officer Pauline Dow loves flying in airplanes.
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| Here I am, taking a quick break in "The Retreat." |
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| Principal Llewellyn shows off his socks. |
Next we visited Mrs. Debbie Walker's culinary arts math class. She uses cooking to teach a variety of skills-- from measuring ingredients to balancing a budget when purchasing groceries for recipes. Guess what is the most interesting meal the students have prepared---Spaghetti tacos! Apparently they were quite good. Next time I'll swing by when cookies are on the menu!
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| Mrs. Debbie Walker, who teaches a culinary arts math class. |
Bonjour to the students in Mrs. Williams' French class. She grew up in Bolivia and France – bringing much enthusiasm to her teaching! The classroom is painted light purple and features posters illustrating cultures and languages around the world, including a poster featuring a young Ricky Martin in Menudo...and I will admit I LOVED Menudo when I was in middle school.
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| Thank you for your service to Lamar, Mrs. Castillo! |
It was great to meet 29-year veteran Mrs. Castillo, who teaches sixth grade and has been teaching at Lamar since she was 24 years old. She said the campus is like home to her!
After only an hour, it feels like home to me, too!