This week, we’re showing our #CPSDPride by giving a #SuperSchoolShoutout to Dower Elementary School with multilingual learning (MLL) teacher Liz Fassnacht and fifth grader Austin Rice.
Liz, known by her fellow staff for her love of Disney, has taught at CPSD for more than 20 years. She’s always wanted to teach MLL and now works with a third of the Dower population who speak 12 different languages. “I love meeting kids from different cultures and getting to learn their stories,” she said.
Liz works one-on-one with students who are new to the country and also joins the classroom to work with students who aren’t newcomers but need additional support. “We focus on reading, writing, listening and speaking, but I also support students and families in learning how to navigate school in American,” she said.
Liz is proud to be a lifelong learner and enjoys exploring the ways culture can impact learning techniques and how students participate in the classroom. “It’s valuable to learn about different experiences to make sure each student succeeds,” she said.
Austin has been a Dower Dragon since kindergarten and impressed his principal with the progress he’s made to become a standout student. “I think the teachers here like my honesty,” he said. “People know they can trust me to be truthful.”
Austin likes fifth grade because students get new opportunities and responsibilities. “In art and PE, you get to try new things which makes it a lot more interesting,” he said. “But some other subjects like math become a little challenging since we’re learning things like decimals and fractions.”
Reading is Austin’s favorite subject, and he favors fiction over nonfiction. He loves playing soccer at PE and is thinking of joining a team. Recently, he and his friend started a YouTube Channel to flex his technology skills.
Go Dragons!