Lee named Kiwanis Teacher of the Month for April

Published 3:22 pm Thursday, April 12, 2018

Pell City Kiwanis Club’s Teacher of the Month works to give students an advantage when it comes to technological changes.

“Our children are totally immersed in technology,” Coosa Valley Elementary School teacher Kayla Lee addressed the Pell City Kiwanis Club. “Everything has some coding attached. Being able to expose kids to [coding] at an early age and the rapid pace of technological changes gives them an advantage. If they aren’t exposed to coding, they’ll be behind.”

Kayla Lee is a second grade teacher and Tech Coordinator at Coosa Valley Elementary School. She was named the Kiwanis Teacher of the Month for April, where she received recognition and a check for $100 for classroom supplies. She is also the Coding Club sponsor, code.org Certified, Google Certified Educator Level 1, and Slide Certified by The Ron Clark Academy. Lee was recently named the Coosa Valley Elementary School 2017 Teacher of the Year.

“Our job is to prepare students for jobs that haven’t been thought of yet,” said CVES Principal Jennifer Hannah. “By the time seven year olds are in the workforce we don’t know what jobs are going to look like. We want them to be prepared and comfortable, and build a strong foundation to figure it out.”

Hannah has been in the education system for 22 years and she has seen many changes during that time. She has also seen the growth of CVES, telling of its origins in Coosa Valley before the building of Logan Martin Dam and the flooding of the area. Coosa Valley Baptist Church, the graveyard, and Coosa Valley Elementary were all built in the same area in 1964. Since then, there have been additions to the school in 1993 and 2000.

The school has also seen growth in the number of students, with 411 children in attendance this year, making it the second largest elementary school in Pell City. They have also added a pre-k classroom for four year olds.

“This year we were able to write a grant to establish our first pre-k class,” Hannah said. “It was a joint funding between the state and Pell City School System for a classroom, supplies, a teacher, and teacher assistant.”

Hannah hopes to receive a grant this year for a second pre-k classroom. She stated that 55 people have signed up and each classroom only has 16 students.

CVES also recently received a $1000 grant from Wal-Mart, which they will use to purchase Chromebooks and HP Stream computers for students. They are working on a one-to-one initiative: one device per student. Fourth graders currently use Chromebook and third graders use HP Stream for instruction and testing. They are working to get computers for each student in the second grade.

In addition to the technological aspects like Coding Club, Hannah spoke of different student activities such as Jr. Beta Club, choir, Safety Patrol, library helpers, and Art Club.

“I love the people and the students,” Hannah said. “It’s a great place to be.”

Hannah also spoke of how the faculty and students pull together to help each other. One of their teachers lost their home in Jacksonville during the recent tornado. Teachers and parents raised over $2000 and several hundred dollars in gift cards to assist the teacher.

“We love each other and take care of each other,” stated Hannah.