Community

Webster students showcase reading skills

ESCANABA -- During their regular board meeting Monday, the Escanaba Area Public Schools (EAPS) Board of Education observed significant strides the district’s young 'Mos have taken in their early literacy education.

Students from Lisa Willis’ classroom at Webster Kindergarten Center who are considered "rock star readers" were asked to perform a literacy demonstration for board members, practicing skills they have learned through the center's new system of learning from the University of Florida Literacy Institute (UFLI).

According to the center's principal, Krista Johnson, teams from Lemmer Elementary and Webster Kindergarten Center trained in UFLI in June 2024 and agreed to participate in their pilot program for the 2025-26 school year.

In February 2025, $219,746 was awarded to Webster as part of a $35 million grant through the 2025 State School Aid Act for literacy materials. The grant was to be divided between workshops, conferences, teaching supplies and materials to promote and improve literacy education.

This April, Webster staff participated in UFLI Foundations Implementation training for each grade level of teachers, assistants, special education teachers and more. Further training and coaching lessons were completed this month.

On Monday, Laim Hayes, Holson Lewis, Oliver Meek, Willow Murray and River Way -- all students at Webster -- participated in the literacy demonstration by spelling after listening to Willis sound out various words.

The group of rock star readers then wrote full sentences on whiteboards as Willis said each individual word.

"It amazes me that my kindergartners are reading (by) mid-October. That is an incredible thing," Willis told board members. "There are times -- my aide is here, Laura -- that we do this and we both have tears in our eyes, because it is so amazing what these kids can do."

UFLI's literacy system was further praised by Johnson.

"It’s a clear, systematic way to teach those foundational skills to our early readers," Johnson said. "They’re connecting those sounds to letters. They’re blending those sounds to form words, the words into sentences and ultimately eliciting some comprehension and meaning from those sentences."

While Willis said herself and other teachers were slightly hesitant to the new UFLI system last year, she said she has come to love it and has fully adapted it into her teaching.

"I will tell you that I am blessed, so blessed to be a teacher here. Every day I go to work and I love my job, but I will tell you this -- this UFLI is fantastic," and you can tell," Willis added.

Students who are excelling in their studies, such as the rock star readers, are eligible to get their name entered into a drawing each month and win a prize. Prizes include getting a book from the center's book vending machine, participating in a leader lunch or riding a firetruck to school.

After the students' demonstration, Johnson presented various updates from Webster and what the center has been working on, including The Little 'Mo Unplug & Play Challenge.

According to the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry (AACAP), on average, children ages eight to 18 in the United States spend seven and a half hours a day watching or using screens.

Johnson said last January, Webster used lessons to introduce a screen-free activity challenge, where students were encouraged to limit their screen time to 30 minutes a day. Families were also challenged to go completely screen-free.

"The timing after Christmas was perfect," Johnson said. "Many of our children received -- unbelievably at the Kindergarten level -- phones for Christmas presents. They've got iPads, they've got gaming systems. So, we supplied lots of ideas and things that families could do together."

Students also received gift cards or passes to various screen-free activities at local businesses, like a $100 Meijer gift card to purchase crafts, games and puzzles; indoor gym passes at We Rock the Spectrum -- Up North; a one-month family membership to the YMCA; gift cards to The Family Inn; open skate passes to the Wells Sports Complex; and more.

"We received great feedback from families. Some of them said that they had spent more quality time together, had more interaction between siblings, improved behavior, less talking back to their family members, better attitudes, good sleep quality and energy were better," Johnson added.

Additionally, Webster has implemented more individualized learning opportunities in classes and different subjects where students may require more one-on-one attention with an instructor. For example, select students in art class focus on building fine-motor skills and bilateral coordination.

In other business, the board:

-- Awarded October's "Lead the Way Award" to Nikki Martin, EAPS' athletic secretary. This month's award was meant for an EAPS staff member who stepped up in a difficult situation, covered for others or solved a problem nobody else could. According to those who nominated Martin for the award, Martin "stepped up and took charge when the athletic program needed her to" and "has transformed our athletics, and it shows." One of Martin’s nominations also said, "She is personable, ambitious and has a get-it-done attitude that is perfect for her position."

-- Approved a contingent resolution approving the Amended 2026 Tax Rate Request (L 4029) upon passage of the Headlee Restoration Proposal Amended L-4029. In late June, the district decided to place a Headlee Override, or what some refer to as a Headlee "hedge" on the November ballot. EAPS is currently authorized to levy 18 mills, but a Headlee Rollback will reduce the maximum levy to 17.3939 mills. Failing to restore the millage to 18 mills on non-homestead property could cost the district nearly $1 million over the remaining six years of its current 15-year operating term.

-- Approved the 2026/2027 Student Safety Funding Resolution, which is a formal statement of EAPS’ intent to accept 31aa School Safety funds. According to EAPS Superintendent Coby Fletcher, some districts choose not to accept these funds due to what they consider restrictive language that requires the district to allow the state to do an independent investigation in the event of a mass casualty incident. Fletcher said EAPS supports full transparency, and he believes area taxpayers want the district to use all the resources at their disposal to ensure EAPS remain safe and secure. The board passed a similar resolution last year to declare their intent to accept the funds.

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Sophie Vogelmann can be reached at 906-786-2021 or svogelmann@dailypress.net.