Here at Olympia, two committed teachers, Mrs. Kimberly Krawczyk and Mrs. Eaddy Staci introduced an idea to the school called Magical Mondays. This event aims to facilitate partnerships and enhancements within the school. Once a month they host a morning breakfast meet up where all the teachers and staff come together, not solely just to enjoy the food but to exchange ideas, propose new innovative ideas, and reflect on the current ideals and practices of the school. This idea of Magical Mondays serves the teachers not only as a place to talk about what the school is going through but also a space to further build the community.
“One monday every month we invite them [teachers & staff] to the coaches office to have coffee, snack and a little bit of collegiality or professional discourse with each other. We try to pick out specific topics to give the teachers a little bit of help on what they haven’t seen before and give them tips, tricks, and tools that they can use in the classroom. Tools such as, Canva, slides for their kids, beginning of the year check-in, and Canvas quizzes,” Mrs. Krawczyk said.
The event adds another avenue of innovation. In these monthly gatherings, teachers are able to “come in to focus on [classroom tool], to learn about, and do. Of course, to come in and have coffee, have snacks, but let us present something to them….” said Mrs. Eaddy
Brainstorming and solving challenges encourage the teachers to face the issues they may encounter in the classroom or school as a whole. The teachers who took initiative to create these Magical Meetings allowed these meetings to serve as a think tank for solutions and ideas to further our school in development.
“We really want to help the teachers to alleviate, engage, and organize the students a little bit better. We want the teachers to be able to look around and see how many things are out here- the resources available to us now that they can interact with,” Mrs. Krawczyk said.
Students are benefiting from Magical Mondays the most indirectly. Learners such as ourselves thrive from being instructed under a more motivated and connected staff, determined to help the school grow. The fresh thoughts teachers bring from Magical Mondays into the classroom impacts the practices for the better here at Olympia.
