Sierra Bonita highlights its education programs at board meeting

r Staff and students from Sierra Bonita Elementary School in Spanish Fork visited a recent meeting of the Nebo School District Board of Education to tell the board about some of the educational programs and technology being utilized at the school.
Garrett Andersen, principal of Sierra Bonita, thanked the board for the opportunity to present some highlights of Sierra Bonita. He then introduced his staff and students.
Tatum Baker, of the Sierra Bonita School Community Council, discussed how the SCC uses School LAND Trust funds. “As a school community council, we put a lot of thought and effort into identifying needs at Sierra Bonita and in gathering input form the teachers and staff on how to best use the funds to help our amazing students,” she said.
The top three funding items include hiring technicians, purchasing technology and providing professional development for teachers.
Technicians facilitate the take-home library, math tutoring, small group instruction, the Imagine Learning Lab and small group enrichment.
Some of the technology purchased includes iPads and Chromebooks. Every classroom has at least five of these devices for student use.
The professional development continues to provide teachers with the latest information on quality teaching as well as help teachers embed the arts core into their everyday curriculum maps.
“Whether you are a student, teacher, staff member or parent, I think we agree that Sierra Bonita is a happy place to be. We have so many great students and adults working to make it such a happy, positive, enriching environment,” Baker said.
Sixth-grade teacher McKell Cope introduced the student council and explained how it functions at the school. She showed a short video clip illustrating what the student council does.
Sixth-grade teacher Jeff Loreen provided information how the school integrates arts into education. Loreen also showed a short video clip about Legislator Education Day.
The Sierra Bonita presentation was one of the highlights of the meeting.