ECS, Alabama teachers attend Laying The Foundation training

About 150 teachers from five school systems, including Enterprise City Schools, took part in a four-day Laying The Foundation (LTF) training session through the A+ College Ready program, which started on Tuesday, June 7.

"(EHS) is hosting one of five training sessions held across the state this week," Assistant Principal Karen Mills said. "Teachers are learning content specific lessons, teaching strategies and participating in hands-on labs. Last summer several Enterprise City School teachers attended other training in other areas in the state, and most of those teachers are participating in Year 2 training at other sites. We are proud to be able to host this at EHS for Year 1 this year."

The A+ College Ready program began in 2008 "as an AP initiative," Chief Program Officer for A+ College Ready Teri Thompson said. She said the program was originally funded by $13 million National Math and Science Initiative (NMSI) grants, and focused only on AP courses and improvement.

Today, the program is funded through the Alabama State Department of Education and had developed curricula for sixth through 12th grades, Thompson said.

"What we have done is move from being a strictly an AP, Advanced Placement, initiative," Thompson said. "We now work with sixth through 12th grade. Over the last few years, we have developed curricula in math, science and English. This year, 2015-16, we have introduced social studies."

Thompson said the social studies part of the program is still in the beginning stages of formation.

Thompson said the training program is "teachers teaching teachers."

Jeana Gilbert, a former AP biology teacher and an A+ College Ready trainer, said the curriculum may be provided, but the teachers use it the way they want in the classroom.

"They go home and make the content come to life," Gilbert said. "They get to go home and apply it to their classroom as they see fit."

Gilbert said that there has been an increase of over 150 percent in AP scores since 2008 because of the A+ College Ready training.

In 2015, Alabama was first in the nation in percent increase of AP scores beginning in 2008.

Teachers from across Alabama experienced "(LTF)-infused curricular training," while studying "student-centered" lesson plans and strategies developed by teachers, Thompson said.

"It's great for the teacher, and it's especially great for the student," Thompson said. "That's what it's all about."

Melissa Forsythe, a math teacher at Dauphin Junior High School, said she chose to attend LTF training because of how it would help her students.

"I chose to take this training in hopes of making it stick with our students so that they get a better, stronger understanding," Forsythe said. "(I chose LTF training) to make them algebra ready, to make them high school ready, to make them career ready and future ready."

Sylvia Robinson, a sixth-grade English teacher at D.A. Smith Elementary School in Ozark, said that laying the foundation for students, especially in English, could help them be more successful in their future careers.

"There was an article in the newspaper that said that corporations are losing business because of the inability of people to be able to write," Robinson said. "When you lay that foundation, then it's easier to be a full-rounded person and a get a good-paying job."