Killeen ISD Celebrates the 100th Day of School!

Serious learning collided on Friday with silly fun when Killeen ISD’s youngest students celebrated the 100th day of school.
Many kindergarten and first grade classes made a day of it, collecting 100 carefully hidden candies to fill out a numbered board, writing or speaking about what they would buy with $100, stacking 100 cups and even dressing up like someone who is 100 years old.
Few teachers went to the extremes of Shanay Cordova, a third-grade teacher at Pat Carney Elementary School.
She arrived at school with gray-colored hair and wearing her late grandmother’s jewelry. She even introduced herself to her class as Miss Hattie, a substitute teacher for the day.
“She’s been acting like an old lady all day,” said Seraphina Faniku as the third-grader quickly covered the smile on her face.
“I knew it wasn’t true,” said the student, who was dressed similarly. “It was funny.”
“The day is important,” said Cordova, who abandoned a concocted southern accent momentarily to explain the day’s events. “They need to know they are 100 days smarter.”
Understanding how special it is to learn throughout the year is part of the teacher’s motivation to make the day memorable. She also wants her 8- and 9-year-old students to understand that age does not limit one’s ability to keep learning.
Miss Hattie is the name of Cordova’s late grandmother, who she said is a huge inspiration in her life. She wears her pearls as tribute.
At all the kindergarten classes at Harker Heights Elementary School, students completed a wide range of 100-based activities.
In one class, kindergarten dual language teacher Beatriz Molina’s students dressed like their grandparents, something she said parents enjoy getting into.
“It’s the cutest thing ever,” she said. “They love it.”
There are numerous academic connections, too.
“They are 100 days smarter, and we learn to count to 100 in kindergarten,” she pointed out. “We count day by day. We’re one day smarter, two days smarter … we count up (to 100) and then we count down.”
Harker Heights kindergarten teacher Shawnette Simmons displayed 10 large, inflated balloons marked with numbers from 10 to 100 by 10. She invited students to pop one balloon at a time.
“Counting is important, number sense, the concept of knowing 100 is 10 groups of 10,” Simmons explained.
Carney Elementary School third-grader Audrianna Moore pondered the implications of 100 days.
“It seems like a long year,” she said, “but it’s been really fun. This is the best grade I’ve been in.”
The satisfied student said she likes her teachers, who are always helpful and kind.
Teacher Michelle Key walked around the classroom getting students to show her their posters showing what they have learned so far this year.
“I’ve learned about the solar system, division, most of the multiplication tables, place values,” said Moore, continuing to list elements of writing and other skills.
“Some of them say it’s been a long time,” said Key. “Some say, ‘it’s been 100 already?’”
Part of her teaching goal, she said, is to help students grasp that concept of 100. They look at pictures with 100 items and doubt whether there are that many until they count.
The learning concepts are important as the third-graders will soon take the state STAAR test for the first time, which includes a writing prompt.
“They still love to draw and color,” the teacher said. “I want them to enjoy coming to class.”
For those keeping count, there are 70 more school days to go.
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