Thinking Maps & Patriot Elementary in the News

Patriot Elementary School from Lee County Public Schools in Cape Coral, FL was featured last week in a local news segment entitled “Schools that Rule.” The segment highlights what local schools are doing that is innovative and engaging for students. Patriot’s Thinking Maps implementation caught their eye and became the focal point for this segment.

NBC-2.com WBBH News for Fort Myers, Cape Coral
 

David Burgess is the principal for Patriot Elementary and has brought Thinking Maps implementation to his third successive school. In each case, his mission is to establish a Thinking Maps team consisting of multiple Trained Trainers. For Patriot Elementary there are six Trained Trainers, including Michelina Edwards, Vanessa Clarke, Amber Farnham, Rebecca Walter, Christina Thielman, and Jennifer Crew. This team put together the theme We’re Digging It! that just happened to coincide with some construction work happening in a lot neighboring their school. Since this was their initial implementation, they felt that the digging theme would support digging deeper into critical thinking. Hard hats and T-shirts capture the theme, and the level of engagement and enthusiasm is contagious.

The local news crew has also asked to come back for a follow-up visit since this segment featured more students, parents, and teachers than they have ever had before.

For Patriot Elementary, plans are already in place to move into Write from the Beginning and Beyond for Response to Literature. In addition, they have had many requests from their local district for site visits to SEE the work that is going on.