Regent Park Scholars’ kinder promotion ceremony for the 2022-23 school year was an especially memorable one for Kenya Gilbert. She has always strived to help their young minds grow, but in five years at the school she had never had that many students leave her class being able to read.
By implementing From Phonics to Reading, a foundational skills program, into the curriculum, Regent Park Scholars kindergartners reached new heights. It’s part of a foundation that has helped the school outperform the district for seven years.
“I always grow my kids, but I had never had that many,” she said. “I think it really helped the kids pick up those phonics skills to become those fluent oral readers.”
It all made for a learning environment that students looked forward to being part of each day. For her efforts, Gilbert was honored as an Excellence in Teaching winner as part of the National Heritage Academies (NHA) Excellence Awards for the 2022-23 school year.
“I feel like they wanted to be at school,” she said. “They wanted to learn; they were so excited. They were soaking up everything that I was saying. I could not say anything, and they knew what the routine was, what I was going to say, what the expectations were and everything.”
Gilbert previously worked in daycare as a director, coaching teachers, and one of her favorite parts was working in the classroom with children by modeling routines and practices they could implement.
Becoming a teacher herself has been immensely rewarding, and it drives Gilbert to make the commute from Pontiac each day to be part of an atmosphere at Regent Park that feels like family. She has served as a content leader for the city of Detroit for three years, which has honed her curriculum development, strategic planning, and her approach in the classroom. Moral Focus virtues are what she stresses most with students, and for good reason; they are the bedrock of their education.
“I don’t mind sitting in traffic for an hour and a half after work because of the people I work with,” she said. “It’s a family feel and they’re very supportive, too.
“We talk about being a family in the classroom. Getting the kids to understand that it’s not just teaching but being a well-rounded individual. We’re learning socially, we’re learning how to be a team, be a family, how to respect each other. My biggest thing for them is instill in the Moral Focus virtues, making sure that they understand them, and they use those in their life.”
Keep up the excellent work, Mrs. Gilbert!
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About Regent Park Scholars
Regent Park Scholars is a tuition-free, public charter school in Detroit, Michigan, serving students in kindergarten through eighth grade. It is part of the National Heritage Academies network, which includes more than 100 tuition-free, public charter schools serving more than 65,000 students in kindergarten through 12th grade across nine states. For more information, visit nhaschools.com.
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