Superintendent Dr. Jo Ann Fey Sits Down With Killeen Elementary Students

Maybe it’s predictable that fourth and fifth grade students would like a larger playground and more time to play on it, as well as more of their favorite foods in the cafeteria, more active learning and another field trip or two.
During an hour-long sit-down discussion Monday with Killeen ISD Superintendent Jo Ann Fey, a group of Killeen Elementary School students expressed a wide variety of likes, made thoughtful suggestions and asked searching questions of the district’s top administrator.
Fey sat in a circle with 13 students who are connected to the Communities in Schools program at Killeen Elementary School.
She asked and answered questions, took notes and several times polled the group to give each a chance to respond. Near the end, she wanted to know what each would do if they were superintendent for a day.
Now in her second year as KISD superintendent, Fey shared that the CIS group at Killeen Elementary School extended the very first invitation to her to visit a school when she arrived a year ago. She was excited to be back.
Everyone seems to like to play and would prefer to do more of it, even have athletic teams. “I would want to play all the time,” Fey told the group.
The four-year-old school on Rancier Avenue is three levels and has about 1,000 students. It consolidated two smaller elementary schools, and the property limits the size of the play area.
When asked their favorite part of learning aside from play and food, students responded pretty evenly with math, science and art, with a little social studies thrown in. One praised a boys’ club that taught him the proper way to wear a necktie and also the protocols of “eating fancy.”
The superintendent also wanted to know about students’ thoughts on the social contracts that are new this year with the Capturing Kids’ Hearts curriculum KISD uses.
Students appreciate their contribution, said they agreed with their teachers on the importance of respect and friendliness in the classroom, but said not all their peers are on board and some still cause disruption.
Kristofer Miller, a fifth-grader, said he likes math and science and aspires to be an astronaut.
“It was cool,” he said of the visit with Fey. “We got to talk about our favorite subjects and how we want the school to change. It made me feel special.”
Miller said that he used to struggle in math, but that his teachers kept challenging him and that the subject became easier. “I like that it’s hard,” he said. “It was a challenge, and it got easier.”
“I like that she took time out to talk to us,” said fifth-grader Zyniaha Shelley. “She’s amazing because she went all around and asked our names and listened to our ideas.”
Shelley told the superintendent she would like for food trucks to be provided outside the school every Friday.
Fey said that might be the best idea she’s heard in her 29-year education career.
“What impresses me most is that they really care about what happens during their school day,” she said following the event.
“For a young group of students to acknowledge that they love math and science, especially science when they get to do labs and be engaged in the content is really powerful when you couple that with the fun things you do in school, which is play,” she said.
“I’m a big advocate for having student voice in what we do,” she said. “This is the kids’ experience. It’s not ours as adults and our job is to make their experience worthwhile, fun, engaging, but something that will impact their life long-term.”
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