Carol Nicholson knows it’s going to be an interesting day when she hears students in her classroom talking about their latest reading passage on “schmeat”. Their laughter and teasing over the mystery meat is music to her ears, as it means they are actively engaged in their learning. Nicholson’s literacy intervention program at Spotsylvania’s Battlefield Middle School has students interacting with literature, learning reflectively, and experiencing real success in a subject that has long seemed incomprehensible to them.

Andi Gabor: The Art of Playing Skillfully

June 17, 2015 in Front Porch Features

Front Porch Magazine
January 2014 (pg. 8)

The first thing Andi Gabor does when her students bolt toward her classroom door is ask for the password; then she turns them around and reminds them to make eye contact with their families as they say goodbye for the morning. The energy may be ramped in Gabor’s junior kindergarten class at the Ron Rosner YMCA in Spotsylvania, but respect remains front and center while she is working with Spotsy’s youngest pupils.