This Specialist Created a “Whole-School” Model Using QuaverReady
Through the Darkness, Light.
Shhhhh.
Listen closely.
Stand in any classroom at Second Creek Elementary in Commerce City, Colorado— or even in the hallways! — and you’ll hear it loud and clear: The sound of learning being brought to life.
Just ask Sheri Olson, a Specialist at Second Creek who created the innovative “whole-school” model where all of the teachers utilize QuaverReady.
“I’m fortunate to oversee and coordinate the use of QuaverReady throughout the entire school,” says Olson, sounding enthusiastic, appreciative, and, yes — I’m certain I hear it in her voice — even joyous.
Today, Olson says, the entire school uses QuaverReady songs to get everyone geared up and feeling good.
But QuaverReady is far more than just a morning tool: Olson says that her teachers are thrilled to have quick and easy access to the resource at any time of day!
An Expansive Perspective
As I listen to Sheri speak, I realize that everything about this exceptional educator is expansive and far-reaching — whether it’s the way she’s designed this whole-school model at Second Creek Elementary or the trajectory of her multi-faceted career.
In addition to being a Specialist, she’s also a counselor, a social worker, and a highly-regarded leader in her field. (“I’m a social worker in a counselor’s job,” is the way she lovingly describes her role).
Several years ago, as a board member of the School Social Work Association of America (SSWAA), Olson led a group of fellow social workers through a pilot using QuaverReady so that they could experience the curriculum for themselves.
As soon as the pilot was complete, Olson says she knew exactly what she had to do … so she did it!
“I went right to my principal and told her that QuaverReady is an amazing resource and that everybody —the teachers and the kids — absolutely loved it!
The principal’s immediate reaction, Olson recalls, was resoundingly (and immediately) supportive.
She told me, “Great! If you’re sold on this new curriculum, then it must be wonderful … let’s do it!”
And so began their journey with QuaverReady.
“There are some very important predict abilities in the curriculum that our teachers have come to count on,” Olson says. “For all of us, standards and competencies play a very important role, and QuaverReady adheres to them all.”
The Best View of All
“When I do my classroom check-ins,” Olson says, “I’ll see teachers engaging their students with QuaverReady in many different ways.”
The Colorado educator recalls a recent classroom visit: “I looked in, and the students were enjoying the song Walk in Your Shoes,” she says. “All I saw were smiles!”
When our interview is finished, I realize I forgot to ask Sheri a question: Does her classroom have a view of the mountains, by any chance? It’s something I was genuinely curious about.
I smile to myself when I realize that the scene she’d just described – a classroom filled with smiling faces – is every bit as sweeping and majestic as the mountains themselves.
In fact, it’s the best view of all.
Want to bring more smiles into your classroom? Get QuaverReady! Visit QuaverEd.com/Ready
Kristin Clark Taylor is an author and a journalist.
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