Tabernacle Superintendent Glenn Robbins looks forward to the new school year

Robbins expects to bring more fun into the learning environment.

As the Tabernacle School District nears the beginning of the 2017–2018 school year, Superintendent Glenn Robbins says students and parents can expect a few changes. Curriculum-wise, the district plans to implement more projects into students’ learning endeavors.

“One of the big pushes that we’re going to have this year will be design thinking,” Robbins said.

“Think Elon Musk.”

It means “more empathetic, human-centered based projects on how they can better the world or somebody else’s life, and we’re going to fuse that into all the different curriculums. So to put it into a more educational term, we’re going to beef up on project-based learning,” Robbins said.

Furthermore, the district plans to implement an increased use of ISTEAM, a method that promotes the integrated use of science, technology, arts, engineering and mathematics.

An example of this thinking is that “maybe you can draw the character you just read about,” in English class, according to Robbins. “Maybe you could do 3D design for the character you just read about. Things like that [can] expand your horizons instead of just [learning about] English.”

“In a social studies lesson, not only would they (students) be learning about the bridges across the United States and of the world, but they would be finding out how they design the bridges, the dimensions of the bridges, they’d be reading about the architecture,” added Kenneth R. Olsen Middle School Principal Sue Grosser.

Robbins also wants to make school a more fun environment. How so? Well, how about a Lego wall in the lunchroom?

“Have you ever seen the inside of Google?” Robbins asked, referring to the laid back atmosphere of the company’s offices, which are complete with slides, hammocks and pool tables. “Why can’t our school be like that? So we’re going to have our Lego board here, Sue’s putting up some whiteboards in the hallway the kids will be able to write on during the day, [and] lessons can be out in the hallway as well. So it’s learning anywhere at anytime. Make it fun, even for the staff. If they can come over here and do demographic studies of the Rockies versus the Andes? Awesome! Could they do a design just [with] Legos or mathematics [with] the Legos? Go for it. Or you just need a stress break after eating lunch? Go for it.”

On the construction front, the district redid the floors in the middle school gymnasium and upgraded the library with newly painted walls and furniture.

Robbins highlighted three new hires for the district: Aleng Phommathep, Nanci Moore and Barry Saide. Phommathep is the middle school’s new IT director; Moore is the new director of special education; and Saide is the new director of curriculum and instruction.

More information can be found on the school district’s website.