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Pamela Stample
Elm City Elementary School

Julia Schnegg
Barnes Elementary School

Snapshot of life in third grade

By Stephanie Creech | Times Managing Editor


Second grade seems like a world away.

But it was only last school year when this year’s third-graders were still learning to read and relying upon their parents to keep up with their school assignments and to help with their homework.

Making friends was easier because cliques hadn’t yet formed.

But that was second grade.

Third grade is a whole new world, a world where students and their parents hear teachers talk about talking responsibility and suffering consequences, reading independently and building stamina for testing.

The Times will spend this school year following two third-grade classrooms of students enrolled in Wilson County Schools. In this series, “Following Our Future,” we’ll tell you what students are learning. We’ll show you the innovative approaches teachers are trying. We’ll talk about the challenges these students and teachers run into along the way.

Pam Stample, a veteran third-grade teacher at Elm City Elementary, and Julia Schnegg, a fourth-year teacher at Barnes Elementary, have opened up their classrooms to us. They were selected by the administration.

This Times staffer will spend one full day each grading period in each class. I will also be volunteering in their classrooms every other week for shorter periods of time in hopes of gaining a clearer picture of their day-to-day experiences.

In addition, we’ll also pop into other third-grade classes across the school district to highlight some of the work happening. Parents and school administrators won’t be left out. We’ll talk to parents about homework, state testing and handling social changes. Hopefully, parents will share their experiences and offer up ideas other parents might find useful. Principals and administrators will discuss the importance of students being successful in third grade.

Elementary school is an exciting place.

Join us on this adventure as we give you a snapshot of life in the third grade.


creech@wilsontimes.com | 265-7822