Stix Investigative Learning Center is a bit more colorful lately—both students and faculty are wearing bright T-shirts emblazoned with the school name. Another symbol of school pride is on prominent display in
Mrs. Reece’s office. It is a trophy awarded to the school by the Optimists Club for outstanding leadership and achievement. On March 31, Student Advisory Council (S.A.C.) officers, John Goldsby, president, and Julienne Creighton, secretary, accepted the award on behalf of the student body at a breakfast at Bel Air West.
Grade cards were given out at parent conferences on April 14, and at that time parents also received copies of Who’s Who at Stix. The booklet was a project of the S.A.C., and contains useful information for all dedicated Stix fans.
School pictures were taken on April 15, and plans are presently being made for the school picnic, and of course, graduation.
On May 21, Stix has been invited to participate with Shaw’s Garden in honoring Charles Lindbergh with a parade and float.
As usual, the first grade classes at Stix are busy doing fun things. Ms. Grade’s class explored the airport and boarded a DC 9. Although they didn’t actually fly, they did get a chance to see the cockpit. While at the airport, they saw The Spirit of St. Louis and some fighter planes. As a special Easter treat, the class went to the park for a traditional egg hunt. They have also recently visited the 4R Gallery and made kites (which really flew). A field trip the group especially enjoyed took them to Cathedral School where they saw a movie about the Wright Brothers. In class activities include singing, movies, writing, reading, and arithmetic (they’re doing plus and minus and using pictures to help visualize the problems). The class was fortuante to have Harry, the Mailman, as a recent visitor. He explained his job and showed the children how he avoids unfriendly dogs with a repellant spray. The students are learning responsibility by doing jobs in the classroom, and they just completed a unit on the Peoples of the World. As Ben Creighton so adeptly phrased it, “Every week it’s something different!”
Mrs. Sullivan’s first grade class has drawn the interest of the entire school with their “match the pictures” game. Each student brought a baby picture and a recent picture for the game, and it isn’t always easy to tell who’s who. The class enjoys bringing items for show and tell, and one of the best presentations was a Benjy Pona who visited in Florida and brought back shells for everyone. Even the teacher got in on the fun by using the materials and information from a recent trip to Hershey World to teach a unit on the making of chocolate and cocoa. The class planted cocoa beans and are waiting for the first green shoots. Field trips include, a whistle stop at the Zig Zag Railroad at the Learning Center on Westminster, a trip to the 4R Gallery to make kites, and a visit to the zoo to study mammals.
Mrs. Sullivan also proudly reports that her class is very good at math. They are already doing second grade work.
Thanks to Mrs. Suga from Springboard, Mrs. Moore’s third graders are learning about Japanese culture and doing origami. The class is studying drama now and hopes to present a play they have learned for another group of students. They will also be writing and performing an original skit as a part of a health unit on the four basic food groups.
The third graders in 113 have visited the zoo and made an animal mural to decorate their classroom…They have also visited Shaw’s Garden and the library. They are currently working on a project called “colored solutions”, and studying changes in molds by growing their own specimens. In May Mrs. Correll will take class to the Arboretum to study pond life.
In room 208 Mr. Steiferd’s students are sketching and learning about birds. In a program sponsored by the Globe-Democrat, the class has been using the newspaper as a supplementary text. Although you may not have known that a kangaroo is the size of a bee at birth, Mr. Steiferd’s class will know that and many other animal facts after a scavenger hunt at the zoo. The class will be divided into groups and given a list of 75 questions to be answered correctly in a specific amount of time.
Trees have been the subject of study in room 207 lately. To learn more, the students visited the park, checked books from the library, watched movies and did an art project. Ms. Mohrman’s class is studying consumer affairs, the water cycle, and making graphic maps. They have made a bulletin board display on predators and their prey, and as a special treat for working so hard, they will be allowed to play kickball outside while the rest of the school is in class.
Ms. Thigpen’s students are very excited about chess and challenged Crossroads School to a match on April 20. Presently, the class is studying the city of St. Louis. They have constructed a replica of the Arch and are working on a wooden model of Stix School. In addition to creating games dealing with different aspects of the city, they are setting up a kit of historical data.
Ms. Jones students in Room 210 have set up an aquarium to observe the development of frog’s eggs. Although some eggs did not hatch, there are presently at least three vigorous little tadpoles swimming around, but none have reached frog stage. Students took home river birch trees to plant in honor of Arbor Day, and they have a dove in residence which has not yet been named. The class is working on metrics and recently enjoyed a 100 meter relay race in the school yard.
In an alternative to the regular lesson, the students in room 206 are making their own books. These will eventually be bound and remain in the classroom as a resource. Recently, Ms House took her class to visit the old courthouse. While there Anthony McKnight tried on a 100 year old buckskin jacket and walked in the moccasins of a St. Louis fur trader. Billy Blevins experienced history by demonstrating the pioneer method of comb the wool. Laura Caboos, Rodney Malone and Bernard Turner used an old fashioned rug making loom. Other students took the parts of various participants in a trial, and Teresa Parker enjoyed being the judge. In the near future, the class hopes to return and stage their own mock trial.
Room 112, the special school for preprimary 5-7 year olds, has been busy learning the alphabet and numbers through the senses. They are also working on the days of the week and the use of prepositions to understand relationships between objects. They have been using the Peabody kit for language development. The teachers are working in a structured program to prepare the students to enter regular classes.
Mrs. Reece has been very pleased with the frequent visitors to Stix and extends an invitation to anyone interested in getting in on the fun and excitment to drop by and get acquainted.
Originally published in The Paper, May 1977.
Read this article in the original newspaper issue.
Archival transcription note: Printed fortuante, excitment and underlying historical animal-size claim retained.
Original source: SD_Times1977_05.pdf, printed page(s) 10; PDF page(s) 10.
