CULLMAN — East Elementary School principal David Wiggins wants every student who comes through the doors to have a top-quality education.

“East Elementary School is dedicated to developing citizens who will flourish in the 21st century,” Wiggins said.

The school was recently honored with a Banner School award from the Council for Leaders in Alabama Schools (CLAS). The award recognizes schools that serve as outstanding educational models for other schools in Alabama.

“This award is another validation for the excellence in teaching done by our faculty and staff,” Wiggins said. “Integration of technology into core academics as well as gifted curriculum provides instruction and experiences for all children.”

The school has an abundance of technology, which teachers include in everything from reading to physical education.

Each classroom is equipped with many resources, including SMART Interactive Whiteboards, ELMO or SMART document cameras, LCD digital projectors, Internet accessible teacher and students computers and classroom printers.

Wiggins said the most noticeable technology at East are the SMART boards. The school introduced SMART boards into every classroom as well as the library and the music room.

“It became a driving force,” he said. “I cannot say enough about the technology.”

Wiggins said without the help of the superintendent, school board and community stakeholders, this award would not have been possible.

“Parents donated to ensure every classroom would have a SMART board,” he said.

Each grade level has a set of laptops available for classroom use.

East Elementary does not receive any Title 1 government funding, so it is the teachers’ and reading coaches’ responsibility to teach those core subjects to the students.

“We are not a Title 1 school, therefore we do not receive federal funding for reading programs,” he said. “It is solely the classroom teachers’ responsibility for core instruction, as well as intervention and enrichment.”

Teachers use supplementary resources which provide all students with the opportunity to improve both fluency and comprehension by using many available Web-based programs.

Wiggins said 95 percent of the students are proficient readers.

Resources like Ticket to Read and the laptops have enabled the students to learn more efficiently.

“Programs are used to fill that void,” he said. “Some students don’t love to read, so what teachers can be for some students is a motivating factor.”

Each classroom is equipped with computers that assist the teacher with reading programs designed to help the student excel.

Science classrooms now have Mighty Scopes, which are small, handheld microscopes that connect to any computer and display the image under magnification, allowing the user to freeze or record the image. The image can then be displayed on the SMART boards.

With the school going green and becoming paperless in March, teachers and students are helping out by recording their lunch orders by computer and sending them to the lunchroom every morning.

“More efficiency and better access allows us to save on copies and helps us go green,” Wiggins said. “It’s not our parents’ school.”

Wiggins said he wants to be able to teach every student, no matter their learning ability.

“We have a saying here: ‘If a student can’t learn the way you teach, change the way you teach,’” he said. “We are dedicated to make a quality education for all our students.”

Even though technology is replacing many textbooks, by moving them to the computer, Wiggins still knows the value of a good book.

“Technology can never replace the quality of a good book,” he said.

A fitness lab was recently introduced at the school. The physical education classes now have a Wii system with interactive games as well as other machines.

“This is the new, non-competitive, untraditional approach to exercise that offers four Wii systems projected on large screens,” Wiggins said. “The Fitness Lab also offers four PlayStation Cat-eye Bicycles connected to two PlayStation 2 consoles.”

He said with heart disease and childhood diabetes on the rise, schools must find creative ways to incorporate exercise into the curriculum.

“The faster a child pedals, the faster their vehicle travels,” he said.

Wiggins makes it a point to learn every student’s name and something about them.

“It’s a sign of respect for the students,” he said. “If they know my name, I should know them as well. The most important thing in education is to know a student. It’s important for a child to feel important and respected.”

Wiggins has been in education for 17 years, both as a teacher and a principal.

Each year, a committee of school administrators and teachers select CLAS Banner School recipients based upon their superintendents’ nomination for providing outstanding educational programs.

This year, 12 Alabama schools were chosen from 174 school nominations. East Elementary was one of three elementary schools recognized.

East Elementary was also recently named a Blue Ribbon School of Excellence.



Tiffany Green can be reached by e-mail at tgreen@cullmantimes.com or by telephone at 734-2131, ext. 220.