Latest / WIXN AM 1460 - Shaw Local Radio / Talk Line 10-07-2026: Principal Brooke Dir shares updates from Franklin Elementary in Sterling

Transcript

Talk Line 10-07-2026: Principal Brooke Dir shares updates from Franklin Elementary in Sterling · WIXN AM 1460 - Shaw Local Radio

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  Speaker 1: Hey there, Sauk Valley. Welcome back to The Waking Crew
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  Speaker 1: here on FM 95.1 and AM 1460 WIXN. It's 9.15
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  Speaker 1: on your Wednesday morning.
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  Speaker 2: Happy Hump Day.
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  Speaker 1: Sauk Valley. We're halfway through to the weekend and just
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  Speaker 1: about through the show, but we couldn't call it a
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  Speaker 1: show without talk line. At least I don't prefer to
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  Speaker 1: call it one. And I'm joined in the booth for
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  Speaker 1: my first time, and I'm assuming... You're speaking to my guest,
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  Speaker 1: of course, Brooke Durr, principal of Franklin Elementary School over
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  Speaker 1: in Sterling. Nice to have you in the studio this morning, Brooke.
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  Speaker 2: Thank you for having me. I'm excited to be here.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, great to have some Sterling voices, especially from the
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  Speaker 1: education side going on. A lot of our listeners out
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  Speaker 1: there have kids in Sterling School, so it's great to
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  Speaker 1: hear about what's going on over there. You know, in
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  Speaker 1: starting at elementary, the ground level up, you're getting those
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  Speaker 1: kiddos and at ground zero there, giving them that first
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  Speaker 1: introductory experience. And part of what I like hearing when
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  Speaker 1: we're talking off the air is the whole child design
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  Speaker 1: focus that you have over there. Can you explain to
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  Speaker 1: listeners what it is I'm talking about and how that
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  Speaker 1: applies to their kiddos?
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  Speaker 2: Sure.
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  Speaker 3: An initiative at Franklin School is to focus on the
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  Speaker 3: whole child, and that means balancing academics along with purposeful play,
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  Speaker 3: limiting technology, building those important relationships, providing hands-on experiences, and
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  Speaker 3: giving them time outdoors socializing with their peers.
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  Speaker 2: Okay.
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  Speaker 1: And how long has this been kind of a focus,
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  Speaker 1: and what was the start and the shift towards this? Sure.
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  Speaker 3: So I would say this has been a focus for
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  Speaker 3: about six years. We built our staff and we added
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  Speaker 3: social workers, counselors. We have a dean of students and
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  Speaker 3: our therapy dog, Chuli. He's very famous. And just needing
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  Speaker 3: that social emotional support because like you said, we're building
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  Speaker 3: the foundations with our littlest learners. We have pre-K through
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  Speaker 3: second grade at Franklin. So understanding that they need all
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  Speaker 3: of those socialization opportunities and they need modeling every day
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  Speaker 3: in different circumstances, the classroom along with the playground. Yeah.
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  Speaker 1: And I really like the, I suppose I guess I
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  Speaker 1: would call it, maybe I'm wrong, the evolution of education
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  Speaker 1: alongside everything else. And I think for so long, because
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  Speaker 1: this isn't something that gets talked about on the forefront
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  Speaker 1: the way that technology, something going into factories or whatever,
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  Speaker 1: industry you're thinking about it. And technologies has found its
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  Speaker 1: ways into our schools and in a great way helping
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  Speaker 1: our teachers. But just the whole approach to education itself,
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  Speaker 1: not just the supplement of technology, the way that it's
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  Speaker 1: evolved alongside, I think a lot of folks get this
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  Speaker 1: misconception that the education system isn't evolving along with everything else.
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  Speaker 1: And when I start to hear more of these stories,
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  Speaker 1: I'm like, no, it is. It just doesn't seem to
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  Speaker 1: get talked about as much.
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  Speaker 3: Right. So let me share a little bit about the
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  Speaker 3: technology in our building at Franklin. We have smart boards
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  Speaker 3: that definitely have improved engagement with our students. They're able
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  Speaker 3: to come up to the board and manipulate items. So
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  Speaker 3: if it's a math lesson, they can move apples into
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  Speaker 3: the basket while they're counting. It really has improved engagement
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  Speaker 3: with our students. I definitely think technology has a place
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  Speaker 3: and it's valuable, but I do think that limiting it
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  Speaker 3: is important. They're getting a lot of exposure outside of
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  Speaker 3: school as well. So we have started to incorporate purposeful play,
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  Speaker 3: and we just had a professional development session with Adam Peterson,
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  Speaker 3: and he was able to share with us opportunities to
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  Speaker 3: learn through play. So items like sensory bins with letters, numbers, equations,
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  Speaker 3: and the students can manipulate those things. Let me give
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  Speaker 3: you some examples of things that I've seen in the
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  Speaker 3: classroom that have been really exciting. In a kindergarten classroom,
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  Speaker 3: a teacher had a set of big deck of cards.
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  Speaker 3: And each student had a card and they were walking
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  Speaker 3: around interacting with their peers. Is my number greater than,
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  Speaker 3: less than, or equal to yours? So instead of sitting
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  Speaker 3: at their chair filling out a worksheet, they were up
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  Speaker 3: interacting with each other.
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  Speaker 1: I love that. I love that. That's got to grab
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  Speaker 1: their attention so much more than sitting there, like you said,
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  Speaker 1: either answering a sheet or maybe waiting or not waiting
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  Speaker 1: to put their hand up and be called on. So
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  Speaker 1: it's a lot more engaging. They're getting that social aspect,
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  Speaker 1: you know, being able to engage with their peers and
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  Speaker 1: problem solving and just makes it a lot more fun.
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  Speaker 2: Absolutely. It was so fun to watch them interact.
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  Speaker 3: And then that discussion behind that activity that they had.
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  Speaker 3: Another example was one day I was walking outside of Franklin.
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  Speaker 3: in the side parking lot and a teacher had her
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  Speaker 3: class out there and they were drawing their shadows and
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  Speaker 3: they were drawing them in the morning and then they
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  Speaker 3: went out in the afternoon and they stood in their
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  Speaker 3: area and they traced the shadow again. And then that
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  Speaker 3: was the science lesson behind why do shadows change throughout
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  Speaker 3: the day? And I just thought that was an awesome
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  Speaker 3: opportunity for our students instead of maybe a video or
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  Speaker 3: like we discussed before, book and worksheets. Let's get those
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  Speaker 3: kiddos engaged in hands-on activities. Yeah, yeah.
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  Speaker 1: Again, it just increases that engagement, which increases retention, right?
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  Speaker 1: But then it also gets that, you know, there's all
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  Speaker 1: different kinds of learners, you know, where, you know, you
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  Speaker 1: may do better, someone may do better paper and pencil,
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  Speaker 1: and that's fine. They're still going to get the hands-on.
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  Speaker 1: But this is something that's also, instead of just taking
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  Speaker 1: one approach, also has a way of getting that hands-on
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  Speaker 1: person who's maybe that's their preferred approach, the way they
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  Speaker 1: get the most out of it. And so it's just
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  Speaker 1: kind of cool to see that all-encompassing approach to the
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  Speaker 1: different types of kids.
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  Speaker 3: Yes, yes. I agree.
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  Speaker 1: I agree.
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  Speaker 3: Another fun item that I would like to talk about
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  Speaker 3: is we were able to add a preschool playground this
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  Speaker 3: school year. And playgrounds are always great fun, right? But
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  Speaker 3: it really helps our students learn that socialization piece because
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  Speaker 3: they're coming in at that foundational level. So along with
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  Speaker 3: being active and building healthy habits, they socialize with their peers.
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  Speaker 3: It builds confidence and it It helps problem solving. If
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  Speaker 3: they have a disagreement over a ball or a swing,
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  Speaker 3: they're able to work through that process with their peers.
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  Speaker 2: And of course, with modeling at times.
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  Speaker 1: Of course, that's why they're there. But yeah, you don't really,
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  Speaker 1: it's easy to overlook that learning aspect of the play
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  Speaker 1: time and why that's so important. I think sometimes play
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  Speaker 1: gets too non-serious of a connotation attached to it. But
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  Speaker 1: it really is about modeling behavior, about being in the
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  Speaker 1: kinds of scenarios you're going to find yourself in later.
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  Speaker 1: We're not going to work kids now. You think about
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  Speaker 1: where it is that you socialize as an adult. So
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  Speaker 1: being able to learn to be in settings with your peers,
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  Speaker 1: how to handle things as they come up, it's like
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  Speaker 1: you said, it's just a great opportunity. And then while
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  Speaker 1: they're getting out there, they're having fun, enjoying themselves, burning
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  Speaker 1: off some of the energy, which is great for parents.
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  Speaker 2: Yes. And teachers as well.
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  Speaker 3: Yes. A couple of programs that we have to help
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  Speaker 3: with gross motor skills, coordination, those I would like to
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  Speaker 3: talk about.
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  Speaker 2: We have the CATCH program, and we partner with the Y.
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  Speaker 3: And a representative comes in once a month, and they
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  Speaker 3: concentrate on physical activity and healthy food choices. Our students
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  Speaker 3: really enjoy that time. It's during our physical education class.
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  Speaker 3: And they incorporate games that the students can play. But
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  Speaker 3: like I said, really focusing on physical activity, the importance
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  Speaker 3: of it, and healthy food choices. So it's nice to
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  Speaker 3: partner with a community-based program to help out our students.
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  Speaker 1: Absolutely. So important to be moving around. Too many kids
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  Speaker 1: getting bogged down between their video games, their devices not
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  Speaker 1: getting out and moving. And they enjoy it even much
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  Speaker 1: more than they think they're going to.
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  Speaker 3: Yeah.
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  Speaker 2: And so a.
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  Speaker 1: Lot of times, yeah, you know.
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  Speaker 2: That is the truth.
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  Speaker 3: Yeah. Yeah.
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  Speaker 1: And once they get going, usually within a few minutes, it's,
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  Speaker 1: you know, all that complaint falls behind and they're just
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  Speaker 1: engaged and locked into it. So something like this can
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  Speaker 1: even help jumpstart for maybe later in the day. They've
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  Speaker 1: already been primed. You know, they've enjoyed this and hopefully
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  Speaker 1: that continues on, you know, once they're back home.
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  Speaker 2: Absolutely.
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  Speaker 3: And I always love to get messages from parents, you know, that,
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  Speaker 3: The students went home and they were talking about whoa
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  Speaker 3: foods and slow foods and, you know, the activities that
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  Speaker 3: they've done at school. Another program I'm really excited about
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  Speaker 3: at Franklin, and I have to give a shout out
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  Speaker 3: to Mrs.
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  Speaker 2: DeVries.
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  Speaker 3: She's our kindergarten teacher. Last year, she started our running club.
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  Speaker 3: And this is a club that meets after school. Last year,
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  Speaker 3: we had to cap the limit at 30 students. um,
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  Speaker 3: this year we're able to serve 60 students. So yes,
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  Speaker 3: 30 students participate on Tuesdays and then 30 more on Thursdays.
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  Speaker 3: And sometimes I feel like maybe the students didn't know
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  Speaker 3: what they were signing up for. Um, and it's not
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  Speaker 3: necessarily that they have to run, but it's about being
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  Speaker 3: purposeful and being active and setting goals for themselves.
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  Speaker 2: And, um, It's fun to watch them grow.
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  Speaker 3: We have a fall club and a spring club, so
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  Speaker 3: it's fun to watch how far they've come during that session.
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  Speaker 3: But students definitely have a lot of fun when they're
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  Speaker 3: doing it, and it tracks how many times they've run,
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  Speaker 3: and they're always impressed. when they meet their goal or
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  Speaker 3: exceed their goal and if they're part of the fall
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  Speaker 3: club and then they're lucky enough to be part of
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  Speaker 3: the spring club It was interesting to see if they
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  Speaker 3: left and they were doing seven laps, that was their
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  Speaker 3: starting goal for spring, and they didn't meet that. And
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  Speaker 3: then the discussion of, well, why didn't I meet that?
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  Speaker 3: And then, of course, they're competitive and they always just
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  Speaker 3: want the bigger number. Yeah.
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  Speaker 1: Catching them at a young age for something like this
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  Speaker 1: is fantastic. These kids could probably lap me, so that
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  Speaker 1: is awesome. That's really good. Getting them involved in something
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  Speaker 1: like this, the earlier the better, instills a lot of confidence,
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  Speaker 1: a love for physical activity. Yeah, no, I love hearing
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  Speaker 1: about that. And I'm not somebody who loves running, but
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  Speaker 1: if I could advocate it for kids at an early time. Yeah,
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  Speaker 1: had somebody had done something like this for me at
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  Speaker 1: an earlier age, maybe... These comments would probably be different.
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  Speaker 3: So when I think it's important to I'm not a
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  Speaker 3: runner either, so I will attend and walk. And I
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  Speaker 3: think it's important for them to know that that's OK, too.
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  Speaker 3: We're just building our stamina and building our confidence with exercising.
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  Speaker 1: I love that.
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  Speaker 3: Love that.
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  Speaker 1: Anything else you want to share this morning?
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  Speaker 3: So I just would like to end with we have
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  Speaker 3: a wonderful PTO. They have many events planned for us.
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  Speaker 3: We had Party on the Playground a couple of weeks ago.
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  Speaker 3: Thank you to all the parents that attended and students.
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  Speaker 3: It's always a great time. We'll have a second grade
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  Speaker 3: music concert in the spring for students, and that's always
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  Speaker 3: a wonderful time as well. And I really wanted to
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  Speaker 3: end with what we want at Franklin School, all students.
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  Speaker 3: We want them to love to come to school. We
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  Speaker 3: want them to, of course, understand reading, writing, and math.
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  Speaker 3: But we also want them to solve problems, learn to
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  Speaker 3: persevere when things are difficult. And we want every child
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  Speaker 3: to leave Franklin knowing that they are capable, they belong,
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  Speaker 3: they can learn, and they can do hard things.
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  Speaker 1: I love hearing that. Fantastic message. No surprise during my
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  Speaker 1: time getting to cover Sterling Public Schools. As a reporter,
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  Speaker 1: I just always loved hearing these kind of initiatives and
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  Speaker 1: these things. So I love hearing it. I love that
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  Speaker 1: these stories are going to get to continue. And everyone's
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  Speaker 1: going to get to know the great things going over there.
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  Speaker 1: So thank you so much for coming and sharing all
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  Speaker 1: this this morning, Brooke.
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  Speaker 3: Thank you for having me. It's a pleasure to share
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  Speaker 3: all of the great things happening at Franklin. We have
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  Speaker 3: amazing staff, amazing parents and students.
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  Speaker 1: And if anybody, you know, wants some more information about
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  Speaker 1: Sterling Public Schools, you know, or maybe Franklin in general,
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  Speaker 1: is there a best way to do it? Sure.
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  Speaker 3: We have an amazing website at sterlingschools.org slash Franklin. Also,
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  Speaker 3: you can always give me a call at Franklin School
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  Speaker 3: or send me an email, and my email is on
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  Speaker 3: that website.
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  Speaker 1: Go online, give them a call. Thank you, Brooke.
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  Speaker 2: Thank you.