A Day in the Life of Dena Spickard recap

Wednesday, March 11, 2015, was a busy day for INC. Magnet science teacher Dena Spickard. She began the day before sunrise greeting Kelly Mill Middle School students as they arrived in the car rider line. After the brief homeroom period, Ms. Spickard was off to the multipurpose room for AVID interviews. Kelly Mill is an AVID National Demonstration School. AVID is an in-school academic support program for seventh and eighth graders that prepares students for college eligibility and success.

Students waited patiently until they were called to one of the many long tables where teachers and administrators, prepared with short questionnaires on their Chromebooks, conducted the interviews.

"Where do you see yourself in 10 years?" Ms. Spickard asked a prospective student.

"Owning my own business," the student replied.

"What steps do you need to take to make that happen?"

"I need to finish college," the student said.

After interviews ended, Ms. Spickard stopped to collaborate with Ms. Hipp, whose students are participating in  the Economic Poster Contest, sponsored by SC Economics. Last year, one of Ms. Spickard's students earned a spot in the Economics Concepts Calendar. Next, Ms. Spickard and her student teacher Ms. Hiers began setting up for the motors and generators lab. Soon they had six stations set up around the classroom where students could discover the different kinds of energy in use and explore the impact it made.

Next, Ms. Spickard helped the intern tweak the questions she had written for the lab, "I would ask, 'What happens when you turn the crank faster or slower?' And then ask, 'Why do you think that is?'" she advised.

"What's the first thing that comes to mind when you hear the word motor?" she asked students when they arrived, sending hands in the air. As the groups of either all girls or all boys (INC math and science classes are single-gender) circulated through the stations, Ms. Spickard challenged them to determine the type of energy in use at each stage. "It's flowing," she said to one student prompting the correct answer of "electrical!" INC. is a district-wide magnet program, geared towards honors and advanced students with an emphasis on business and economics.

Soon, it was 2:25 p.m., and the end of the school day. With her students gone, Ms. Spickard, who helps coach the Kelly Mill girls soccer team, grabbed an armful of team pictures and headed to the soccer fields. It's all in a Day in the Life!

Below is Ms. Spickard's day in photos. Visit our A Day in the Life album on Flickr to see more of Ms. Spickard's day.