Back to school for Sen. Waggoner

In October, faculty and students at Vestavia Hills Elementary West welcomed Sen. J.T. “Jabo” Waggoner and Superintendent Dr. Jamie Blair for Alabama’s Learning with Legislators Day. Waggoner, who serves as Alabama’s senate majority leader, toured the school with Ms. Kim Hauser, principal at VHEW.

In West’s computer lab, Waggoner saw one of the state’s two Promethean ActivTables in action. The ActivTable, which was purchased by the VHEW PTO, resembles a large touch-screen tablet, offers student activities that are aligned with national and state standards in education and can be used by up to six students at one time. 

Every student in the school has access to it during weekly sessions in the computer lab. With the help of grants received through Waggoner’s support, VHEW recently purchased a second ActivTable for the school’s exceptional education classes. 

Throughout the school, Waggoner visited classrooms to see how technology is being used in every area of instruction as well as how the Common Core Standards are being implemented. Alabama’s Common Core Standards are a set of academic benchmarks that define the skills all students should master by the end of each school year. The senator witnessed how VHEW teachers are focused on helping their students meet these yearly benchmarks, which are meant to keep students on track for success in college and, ultimately, in their careers.

“The goal of Learning with Legislators Day’is to give our elected officials a clear picture of what is going on in Alabama’s classrooms so that they can make informed decisions about education during the upcoming legislative session,” said State Superintendent Dr. Tommy Bice. “An excellent way to help them learn is a school visit.”