Third-graders at Castle Hills Elementary School couldn’t believe their eyes when they walked into the class recently.
Parents and teachers transformed every third-grade classroom into operating rooms.
“It all started over a month ago when we introduced the students to word problems,” said Castle Hills teacher Cheryl Cuevas. “We discussed how the only ‘operations’ they know how to perform at this point in math are addition and subtraction. And as you know, sometimes we have to do both operations within a math word problem. Thus, the vision began.”
Each classroom became six operating rooms that covered reading skills. In the afternoon, they got a new round of operating procedures focused on math concepts.
Thanks to the help of an army of room moms, no detail was skipped.
Students got clipboards, medical IDs and scrubs.
One room mom personally embroidered the names of every student into their scrubs.
“When I heard about this, I was so excited,” said Castle Hills parent Emily Verrett. “I was all in to go overboard with the teachers. These teachers here are special human beings. It’s so much fun. I love it. They turned learning into something exciting.”
Students got pens and highlighters that looked like syringes.
They started checking their heartbeats with toy stethoscopes.
They started calling each other “doctor.”
“It’s like we are in the future,” said one student.
Castle Hills teachers are helping make learning fun and shape the future #theNEISDway.
Castle Hills is NEISD’s only year-round elementary school magnet school. This fun lesson was the last one before students headed off on their two-week break this month. That unique schedule is just one of the things parents love about Castle Hills.
