Troy Students See Many Changes at School this Year

Several changes have been put into practice at Troy School District 30-C this school year, including more technology choices for students.

According to Educational Technology Coordinator Jenna Woodland, each of the district’s five elementary schools now hosts its own iLab. Last year, Troy Shorewood Elementary School debuted the district’s iLab prototype. The labs consist of colorful, engaging spaces that classes can use when learning and applying new technology.

New to William B. Orenic Intermediate School and Troy Middle School math classrooms this year are 15 iPads per class, allowing students to “scribe” calculations and graphs on the screens of the devices that teachers monitor in real time.

Troy Middle School students will see 15 Chromebooks in each of their core class classrooms, on which students can write papers and collaborate with their teachers and peers, among many other uses.

Kindergarten through fourth grade science classes this year will introduce STEMScopes, an online, hands-on supplemental science curriculum that teachers feel will nurture students’ curiosity as they learn important concepts of science. Grades 5-8 used the software last year and had great success with it.

And to help integrate the technology into the classrooms, Troy created the position of District-wide Technology Coach. Theresa Oberding was hired to fill that position over the summer.

“The Troy district differentiates instruction to meet the needs of our students,” according to Superintendent Dr. Todd Koehl. “As such, we set a clear goal of deepening our integration of technology into daily instructional practices.”

In addition, summer construction projects on Troy’s schools included new HVAC units, boilers, fire suppression systems and panels at Troy Crossroads Elementary School; four new classrooms made from former team centers at Troy Hofer Elementary School; and improvements of the baseball, soccer and softball fields.

Photo: Theresa Oberding was appointed to fill the new position of District-wide Technology Coach at Troy Community School District 30-C. (Courtesy of Troy School District)

Submitted by Troy School District 30-C