Back in the day, attending “Saturday School” was typically a tactic used as punishment; a disciplinary measure to correct misbehavior that happened throughout the school week. But students within the East Noble School Corporation who attend Avilla Elementary School in Avilla, Indiana, actually want to attend school on the weekends. Why? Well, with a zoo, a market, a construction site, and dinosaurs all under one roof, what child wouldn’t?
East Noble School Corporation saw our work with the Dr. Sarah Jandrucko Academy for Early Learners and were interested in reproducing the experiential education spaces for their school. Completed in January of 2021, East Noble’s Avilla Elementary School now has six experiential classrooms and hallway murals throughout.
“Their level of excitement to be at school is definitely a major change with our student population. We’ve had parents talking about how kids don’t want to stay home on Saturdays.”
The six classrooms provide an immersive, experiential education environment for students to learn about various topics through hands-on activities and engagements.
Not only are these classrooms fun for the students, but they offer endless curriculum and programming possibilities pertaining to each theme. Superintendent Ann Linson shared, “…that’s what was important to us, exposing our kids to new vocabularies and the world around them that they may not normally have exposure to through a normal, traditional program.” The rooms and corresponding programming have already proven to have done so. According to Principal Jeff Harper, the level of vocabulary used has increased across the board.
Watch the video above to see what the East Noble School Corporation had to say about their experience working with Exhibit Concepts on this incredible project.
