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2016 EDUCATION MAGAZINE
LINCOLN DAILY
NEWS.COMMarch 1, 2016 Page 23
In addition, every ‘School improvement day’
and ‘Teacher institute day’ was devoted to the
implementation of this program. We also held faculty
meetings before and after school for our book studies
and discussions.
Curriculum consultant Christy’s commitment was
vital for the buy-in by the staff. The monthly visits
were varied and had a different focus each time. No
one played the blame-game and the direction was on
improving student achievement. The vision of higher
student achievement was supported by the Board of
Education and the Administration.
To make the program ours, we came up with a name -
“HARTEM LIFE” - How Authentic Reading Touches
Every Mind and Literacy Is For Everyone.
HARTEM LIFE has been a big part of transitioning
our students to a culture of reaching their full
potential.
Implementing a solid plan
As a follow-up to the implementation of our
new Authentic Literacy Program, after one year
Hartsburg-Emden was named in the “Top Ten
Most Improved Schools” for Grade Schools, Junior
High Schools, and High Schools in the state of
Illinois. This was announced on the same website,
schooldigger.com,that had ranked us so low the
previous year. The teachers’, staff, and students’
hard-work and commitment to the new Hartem Life
Authentic Literacy Program has really shown some
great results.
We have more to do. When compared to several local
schools, we had moved to the middle the group. Our
goal was to move to the top. Christy Moore and our
staff continue to work to define Readers Workshop
skills, while implementing the Writers Workshop
skills.
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