Linden Hill Elementary

The old saying goes, “How do you get to Carnegie Hall?” and the answer is “practice”. However, the Linden Hill Elementary Odyssey of the Mind (OM) students know practice is just one part of the blueprint that leads to success. The design entails a heavy dose of hard work, creativity, patience, guidance, preparation, and time,… lots and lots of time. Still, a solid foundation comes from an innovative architect and pragmatic engineer. At Linden Hill, teacher, Janet Huckleberry is a master builder.

From early October, children file through the school halls after hours writing, building, painting, rehearsing, and learning. During furlough days, in-service days, and snow days, the children meet to develop their solution to the OM problems. During all of these practices, scheduled or impromptu, Huckleberry is somewhere in the school offering support and guidance.

To fourth grade teacher, Christine Lim, it is the commitment that Huckleberry models for her students that stands out. Lim notes that what she finds, “impressive is the five months of hard work that they put into prior to the competition.” Lim continues, “I witnessed students here night after night, for weeks, working together to create the final product – that effort deserves recognition, beyond medals or trophies.” This same sentiment is echoed by students, teachers, administrators, and alumni at Linden Hill and around the Red Clay school district.

OM coach and former Linden Hill parent, Beth Engler, remembers Huckleberry’s influence when she was a first year coach with her own children. “As a new coach, she [Huckleberry] held my hand, she gave me guidance,…she was a teacher like none other.” Engler comments that Huckleberry’s legacy transcends the elementary school experience to middle school and high school. “I moved up with my daughters to HB du Pont [middle school] where it was a different ballgame. There was no Janet Huckleberry there, but all the coaches at HB were once guided by Janet’s influence, we had many of the same kids from Linden Hill so the family continued.”

A sense of family has kept some Linden Hill OM teams for years. Former Linden Hill student, Elizabeth Dougherty found OM to be the beginning of friendships. “OM is all about teamwork.  If it wasn’t for OM, I might not be friends with the people in my group.  We’re all really different, but we’re all really tight,” explains Dougherty. To Elizabeth’s brother, Connor, the Linden Hill OM experience resonates with the same sense of family and closeness. Now fifth graders, five out of the seven members on Connor’s team were teammates as second graders. While the coaches may change, the students have learned and developed their craft as OM problem solvers.

The OM mission statement touts offering a lifelong skill set to participants. Linden Hill Principal, Mary Bradley sees OM as a way to teach children problem solving skills. “As educators our role is to help students identify the problem give them the tools to solve the problem and then give them the freedom to do just that,” explains Bradley. Giving students time is Huckleberry’s gift to Linden Hill’s success. Parent and third grade teacher, Carol Dougherty, recognizes how Huckleberry absorbs a great deal of the day-to-day minutia involved in the OM commitment. “Before my kids participated in OM, I had no idea what a huge deal it was and the level of commitment it required.  We’ve had a lot of success, but it hasn’t come easily,” remarks Dougherty. “Janet Huckleberry takes care of all the thankless administrative work–paperwork, fund-raising, spontaneous practices, skills workshops.  She stays late almost daily to accommodate the diverse schedules of 6 teams and is always willing to help alums on teams at Skyline, HB and Cab,” continues Dougherty.

Last Saturday, Linden Hill journeyed to the University of Delaware to test this blueprint for success again. True to her dedication through the season, Huckleberry hustled, crisscrossing the University of Delaware campus, to cheer on her students in different divisions. Teacher and Linden Hill parent, Maureen Murphy, points out how the students’ notice the arrival of their biggest fan. “The love the children have for her is evident in their reaction when they see Mrs. Huckleberry arrive to cheer them on come competition day,” remarks Murphy. She continues explaining that, “In 25 years of teaching, my recent experience as a coach for a Linden Hill Odyssey of the Mind Team has to top my long list of wonderful memories.”

And again, the program that Huckleberry has forged through years of effort and experience, held strong this Saturday. Linden Hill brought home first place honors in four of the five competitive divisions, one fourth place finish, as well as a strong showing in the non-competitive, primary division. For a couple weeks, the Linden Hill Omer’s can rest but Huckleberry will be planning how to get her team to the world tournament in Michigan. The architect’s work is never done.

At the 2009-1010 Competition

On Saturday, January 9th, Linden Hill Elementary School students will compete in the First State Lego League competition. Since the fall, students have been designing and building ways to move more efficiently using Legos to make “Smart Moves” – the title of this year’s challenge.

Each year’s competition asks students to use Legos to solve a real-world issue. In the past, children explored how issues surrounding climate change affect our planet. They have also investigated the technological and scientific potential of nano-technology as well as alternate forms of energy. Children from kindergarten through college explore the annual theme all over the world. This is the third year Linden Hill has entered the competition representing the First Lego (ages 9 – 14) and First Lego Junior (ages 6 – 9) division. The First Lego division uses Lego’s Mindstorm robotics where the Junior First Lego use Legos with a few moving parts. As the children get older the “toys” they use to solve the challenge requirements become more complex. The Lego League ideals hope to promote a love of learning through inquiry and exploration

In 2006, Linden Hill parent, Pam Stazesky, wanted to have her son participate in the program and proposed the idea to Principal, Dr. Mary Bradley. After careful planning and tireless work, Stazesky secured corporate sponsorship as well as an army of Lego building fans. Since then, the Stazesky family has moved on to Boston but their love of Legos is firmly rooted at Linden Hill. Now, the direction and administration of the teams falls to three parents: Mark Drezja, Linda Brinker, and Ellen England. Linden Hill fields 5 teams with 34 students participating.

Drejza feels, “that Lego League was one way young students start “building their future.”

Parent, Lorraine Horner, sees Lego League as, “a great way to have children collaborate to solve a real world problem.” Horner explains that, “Children are given a chance to build something together. They have to think, plan, and work together. These are invaluable skills for their future.”

Administrator, Debbie Brady, takes an organic and pragmatic approach to interacting through Legos. “We play with Legos since we are little. It is a great way to learn: bringing curriculum and inquiry into play.”

As far as the children, what could be more fun than playing with Lego while learning? Leksie Fetrow, learned that engineering sometimes takes planning. “We are building a monorail and we needed a piece. The piece has not come yet so we may need to add different pieces.” Team mate, Dru Montalvo states that the best part of Lego League, “Playing and building things.”

From: http://www.redclay.k12.de.us/news0910/0915lindenhill.shtml

As part of a technology class project called “I Can Change the World,” Linden Hill Elementary School fifth graders tackled such problems as global warming and regularly scheduling cleaning their rooms. 

On Monday, Sept. 14, school and district officials gathered with parents and students to “unveil” another project, a freshly painted shed on school property that had been the target of frequent vandalism.

“This project was started with the firm belief that children can change the world,” said Teacher Yanaka Bernal. “We challenged 4th and 5th graders to find a problem, find a solution and then make it happen.” 

The yearlong project began last school year with Linden Hill students, Maddie and Ellie researching the project and asking fellow students to submit artwork that would be considered for the shed. 

Two final designs were merged into one, and the girls, their families and other Linden Hill families and friends painted the shed over the summer, finishing just in time for school.

At the ceremony on Monday, the final touches were added when guests were asked to place their painted hand prints – part of the design – on the shed. 

“The girls had a real world problem they wanted to solve,” said Dr. Mary Bradley, principal of Linden Hill. “They solicited input from everyone in the school and came up with a solution…It was a full community effort and we are very pleased with their work and pleased with the final project.” 

Two other students selected global warming as their “problem,” said Ms. Bernal, who plans to assign the project again this year. 

Equipped with $10 from their parents, they collected Maple leaves, made 100 small plantings for the younger kids to plant and distributed them.  “Maybe 10 trees got planted,” she said. “That’s 10 new trees. That’s a direct impact.”