When students return to Rodgers Forge Elementary this August, they'll have two new learning spaces to explore — one, an indoor "makerspace" a place for hands-on building using a variety of materials, and the other, an outdoor classroom, where lessons are learned from the live environment behind the school.
Principal Missy Fanshaw, named Elementary Principal of the Year in April, is eager for the new spaces, she said Aug. 5. The school is also taking steps this year to be certified as a Maryland Green School, Fanshaw said.
The Maryland Green Schools Award Program challenges schools to integrate the environment into aspects of the school culture, including teacher development, curriculum, community involvement and celebration. Awards are non-competitive, according to the county, and "highlight activities over a two-year period."
Fanshaw, a Towson University graduate, is a second-generation educator raised in Baltimore County. She was drawn to teaching by a love of young people, and has taught at the high school, middle school, and elementary school level during her 26 years as an educator. Prior to becoming principal at Rodgers Forge, Fanshaw was the assistant principal at Sparks Elementary School.
"[The students] make me smile. I love to watch them learn — to watch their excitement in their eyes. To motivate them," she said. "I love to be a part of it."
She became an administrator because it allowed her to help that many more teachers, who could then impact more students, she said.
"I learn from the student, I learn from the teacher, I learn form my colleagues, I learn from the parents," Fanshaw said. "All those pieces continue to make me a very strong leader."
She is headed into her fifth school year in charge at Rodgers Forge Elementary. Fanshaw was recognized earlier in the year as an outstanding principal. During the ceremony in April, schools Superintendent Dallas Dance said "a school takes the personality of its leader," which is the case at Rodgers Forge with Fanshaw and her enthusiasm for the students, he said.
"Her personality is all over the Rodgers Forge community," Dance said.
On Fanshaw's door a pink "Principal of the Year 2016-17" sash hangs over a painting of a lighthouse. Rodgers Forge Elementary was one of the original 10 "Lighthouse" schools in Baltimore County. The Lighthouse schools were the first in the county to receive individual digital learning devices for each student — the schools were selected to "illustrate" a shift to "teaching and learning through the integration of technology," according to a 2014 Baltimore County Public Schools press release.
The county plans on expanding that effort to all schools, through a program called Students and Teacher Accessing Tomorrow.
Last school year Rodgers Forge completed that transition — all students now have a digital device, Fanshaw said.
Now the school is expanding in other ways with the makerspace and outdoor classroom. In those spaces, the focus will be "real-world problem solving," Fanshaw said.
Makerspace will allow students to use a variety of materials, like Lego robotics or clay to build projects, Fanshaw said. Students can also use recyclable materials — something that ties into the school's quest to become a Green School.
"Taking something old and reusing to build something new," Fanshaw said.
Things being built in the space will relate back to something students learn in other subjects — it could connect to a book or a particular science unit, Fanshaw said. Students can also use the space to explore their own ideas and interests, independent of curriculum. It gives students a chance to tap into different parts of their intellect, she said.
"Some students might not be the best writers, but they would be able to problem-solve or build something," Fanshaw said.
Her hope is that the different teaching technique will help the school reach every child.
The new outdoor learning classroom will be located behind the school and give students experience environmental education curriculum outdoors, rather than indoors, she said.
"I think the whole thing with our initiatives, we're just continuing to transform teaching and learning practices to help meet the needs of our students as they are gearing up for their future, to be globally competitive," Fanshaw said.
All Baltimore County Schools open on Aug. 24.