October 5, 2018 – The Education Fellows visited the Piedmont School which provides a unique education to children with learning disabilities who find it difficult to learn in an ordinary classroom. While there, there were able to observe how the school caters to different learning styles. Upon arrival they were able to see a perfect example of this. They were able to watch a teacher with his class playing a group game outside. The game was very simple and only required each child to throw a ball to their partner. The catch was that there were other teams doing the same thing at the same time. The whole point of the game was to work on their ability to focus. This is just one innovative way the Piedmont teachers provide their students with the proper tools to succeed.
The school itself is a small building with a handful of classrooms and a trailer for high school classes. The classrooms house anywhere from 6 to 12 students depending on grade. The school also has a library and multipurpose arts room that the students use for music, art, and theater classes. Fellows students were able to look around different rooms and talk to different teachers. Fellows student Madison Parks stated “I, as a future literacy major asked the Piedmont reading specialist what kind of methods she used in order to teach so many children with different abilities and learning styles. She explained to me that she actually pulled from many different resources in order to find the best way to teach each child.”
By the end of the tour, students were all able to take something away from this amazing place. The ingenuity of the teachers and their dedication to these amazing students is very inspiring! This school has left a lasting imprint and showed students that every child encountered has amazing potential!