Kearny and Geo Kids

Last year our Kearny kids participated in the program established within our partnership with the Wagner Free Institute of Science. What a cool place!

Click to visit.

From the Wagner website here is some information on the program: Geo Kids is a partnership between the Wagner Free Institute of Science and four local schools: Meade Elementary School, Kearny Academics Plus, Reynolds Elementary School and Gesu School. It was founded in 1992 on the belief that children have a natural curiosity about many topics in the earth and life sciences and that study of these subjects at an early age can be an effective vehicle for increasing student interest in science as well as learning in general. The program brings authentic science learning to hundreds of elementary students each year. Led by Institute Children’s Educators, GeoKids classes participate in yearlong natural science units that are hands-on and content rich. In 2002, the Institute began a partnership with the Biology Department at Saint Joseph’s University to enhance and expand the GeoKids program. Funded by a GK-12 grant from the National Science Foundation, the GeoKids LINKS collaboration brings undergraduate and graduate students in biology and environmental science into GeoKids classes to help develop and implement curriculum. Additionally, Saint Joseph’s professors are part of the LINKS team, contributing to the development and delivery of real-life science experiences for GeoKids classes. The partnership has enabled the Wagner to bring the program to many more students each year. In 2005, the National Science Foundation awarded the GeoKids LINKS program a five-year renewal to continue this successful collaboration.




Last year, Action News Channel 6 visited the Wagner for the Geo Kids end of the year Scavenger Hunt Party. Kearny children are featured prominently in the newscast. Here is a link from Action News Channel 6 from this newscast.

President Bush must have heard about Kearny...

...because he came to visit!

Yesterday our school was THE place to be in town.

President Bush along with his wife, Laura Bush, and many other dignitaries, (lots of important people that care about education), came to see what we do at Kearny. The children behaved amazingly well. They wore their school uniforms with pride, they had to go through scanners on their way into the building, and then they stayed in their classrooms the entire morning.

The president visited some of the classes. He answered some questions the children posed. Some questions were really funny: How many bathrooms in the White House or where did he and Mrs. Bush get married?.

NO! Not our Ms. Bush, his Mrs. Laura Bush!








President Bush collected letters the children wrote and then gave a speech in our auditorium. The auditorium looked beautiful! In fact, the entire school looked beautiful. We really need to thank our Kearny crew who worked so hard to make everything spic and span.

So much more happened but we'll let some of the students tell us more.

Here is what Kenae wrote:


President Bush came to our school and gave a very influential speech. I could relate to what he was saying as it related to No Child Left Behind. During his speech he said that teachers should determine where children should be placed according to their reading level. He also said that testing is very important in finding out students' reading levels, and in areas where they are struggling.

President Bush thanked Dr. Ackerman for taking a stand and supporting the idea of No Child Left Behind. He also thanked Ms. Spagnola, all of the skilled teachers that teach us, and the students for coming down to hear his speech.

By
Kenae Willoughby
7th Grade Rm 305