DIS for the 'WIN'

School Resource Officer Pat Foye shows a student how to lift a fingerprint.

Every Wednesday, Dover Intermediate School students kick off their day working on academic interventions, addressing social/emotional needs or participating in enrichment activities like yoga and music during WIN (What I Need) Day.

DIS Principal Nick Miller said the purpose of the program is intervention and enrichment.

“Flexible grouping changes each week, so students are exposed to a number of different activities,” Miller said. “The goal is to give each student what they need each week.”

Teachers and administrators organize students into groups, depending on each student’s particular needs. Some need extra academic support, others need to be challenged through enrichment program, including STEM and coding that teaches problem solving, collaboration and teamwork.

WIN days can support students in the following areas:

  • Social/emotional skills and support (anxiety, self-esteem, social skills, perfectionism, friendship, executive functioning, ADHD, stress management
  • Academic support for math & English language arts
  • World language enrichment/intervention
  • Yoga/mindfulness/relaxation
  • Communication, collaboration, creativity & critical thinking
  • Behavior intervention & supportMusic enrichment/intervention
  • STEM orienteering & fingerprinting
  • Coding & typing
  • Team-building/cooperative learning
  • Organization skills

On the enrichment side, School Resource Officers Pat Foye and Ted Morley spent October to January teaching a fingerprinting class to small groups of students to teach problem solving.

“We covered the basics of crime scene investigation, the collection of fingerprints and the basic identification patterns,” Foye said. “We had the students do practical exercises where they would lift their own fingerprint, identify it and then take the print home with them.”

During the classes, the officers also gave students an anti-vaping message, reminding them of the dangers of vaping and drugs.

More recently, the officers engaged students in friendly games of chess – something Assistant Principal Mackenzie Hall jumped in on as well. During their matches, students were offered apples as snacks and learned about the importance of sleep in their daily schedules.

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Volume 12, Issue 5, Posted 10:02 AM, 03.03.2020