Hundreds of parents, community members, business owners, and local officials descended on Governor Mifflin High School on Wednesday evening for a firsthand look at what students in the district are learning at the inaugural Mustang Nation Learning Expo.
The event featured more than 70 student and teacher run exhibitions ranging from Pre-K through 12th grade covering topics in STEM, language arts, music, business management, history, family and consumer sciences, and more.
Participants shared their learning through presentations and a variety of interactive activities. Popular exhibits included a bottle rocket station demonstrating Newton’s Laws of Motion, a “wax museum” in which students emulated historical figures while delivering reports on their lives, a meet and greet with the district therapy dog, live musical performances, and a metal forging demonstration by high school tech ed students.
District administrators also provided residents with information on big-picture issues, such as ongoing construction, overarching curriculum, services available for district families, and guidance on student IEP’s and graduation pathways.
Since 2021, the district has partnered with Albright College Total Experience Learning to advance hands-on, student-led learning throughout the district, as well as opportunities to learn outside of the classroom by collaborating with local businesses and agencies.
Given the focus on these principles, the district said, giving the community an opportunity to experience student learning for themselves made perfect sense.
“Last night was a wonderful example of the student learning and instructional practices that we’re using daily in our schools,” said Bill McKay, Superintendent of Governor Mifflin School District, “we’re thrilled that our community came out to learn directly from our students and teachers what’s happening in our classrooms.”
District officials anticipate this to be a yearly event and hope to grow it larger in order to shed light on even more educational and classroom practices used across the district, which many in the community are excited to hear.
“I don’t see why every district doesn’t do this every year,” said Kevin Murphy, President of the Berks County Community Foundation, “It was impossible to leave that building without an incredibly positive feeling about what was going on in the schools, without being impressed by the dedication of the teachers and without a feeling that this was all money well spent.”
