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Students in Mrs. Wren and Miss Jackman’s kindergarten class at Coal City Early Childhood Center held an ABC Fashion Show on September 26 to demonstrate their progress in learning the alphabet.
At the start of the school year, students were introduced to each letter, its sound, and vocabulary words that begin with that letter. To display their understanding, each student created a paper bag vest decorated with items representing their assigned letter. Examples included alligators, giraffes, cats, monkeys, and Santa Claus.
The event featured students walking a red carpet while sharing their letter and its sound with guests seated along the runway. After presenting all letters from A to Z, the group sang the ABC song together.
The teachers explained that kindergarten instruction focuses on identifying both upper and lowercase letters as well as recognizing sounds associated with each one to support early reading and writing skills. "In kindergarten we work with the students on identifying upper and lowercase letters and the sounds each letter makes as this helps the kids become amazing readers and writers," they said.
Coal City Early Childhood Center is part of Coal City Community Unit School District 1, which includes schools across Grundy and Will counties such as Coal City Elementary School, Coal City High School, Coal City Intermediate School, and Coal City Middle School (https://www.illinoisreportcard.com/). According to data from the Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE), the district employs 153 teachers who earn an average salary of $69,297 before pension contributions; nearly 78 percent are women (https://www.illinoisreportcard.com/). The district's student population is predominantly White at nearly 87 percent but also includes Hispanic, Black, and Asian students (https://www.illinoisreportcard.com/). In 2020, spending per student was $21,619 for a total budget of just over $47 million (https://www.illinoisreportcard.com/).
