District to Spend $250,000 on Podcast Players for Elementary Students

At the March 28th board meeting, it was released that there was a project with pending board approval in which all rising 2nd, 3rd and 4th grade students would go home this summer with WalkKits, which are portable podcast players. This will be the first universal opportunities for students to extend their learning into the summer. For 8 weeks starting on June 1, 2022 to July 29, 2022, each week, the summer walking classroom teacher will select specific podcasts for the week that students will listen to and respond to a discussion via Google classroom. Students are highly encouraged, but not required to participate.

The district will spend around $255,000 of the funds in the American Rescue Plan, part of which are used to support learning loss such as after school, summer and extended day programs. Students can use their Walking Classroom WalkKit to play anywhere, anytime – no internet or Wi-Fi needed (only a AAA battery and earbuds). This plan ecompasses all subjects from science to social studies with SEL built in - health literacy (sunscreen, healthy snacks, and good hygiene) and character value components (confidence and kindness etc.)