CROTHERSVILLE
By the time the last week of school rolled around, the 12 freshmen in Sherry Settle’s biology and earth sciences classes had completed all of their required work.
Since they also had taken the ILEARN test, she thought it would be good for the students to spend some time outside the classroom.
Being able to help the community in the process was a bonus.
The freshmen worked at Bard Street Park one day, planting flowers and pulling weeds. Another day, they cleaned and straightened gravestones at Crothersville Cemetery.
For Settle, it not only was a good way for the kids to end the school year, it was a good way for her to end her 33-year teaching career, as she is now retired.
“I wanted to leave them with something other than just curriculum because there’s so much more to school than curriculum,” she said. “They’ve just been so teachable. I told Dr. (Doug) Ballinger, I said, ‘I want to reward them because they really have gone above and beyond for me this year.'”
Settle called Crothersville Clerk-Treasurer Staci Peters one day and asked if there were any projects around town with which her students could help. Bard Street Park, which is behind the school, was mentioned.
After finishing their work there, Settled asked the students if any of them hadn’t planted flowers before. None of them raised their hand. They had either done it at school through horticulture class or FFA, in a garden at their home or through Boy Scouts.
When the cemetery was brought up, Settle and her students walked there from the school one day and found many of the gravestones were dirty or had been moved out of place. While there, they also reviewed what they learned about limestone, marble and granite and why they would pick one type over the other.
Returning to the cemetery last week, the students did some cleaning and straightening up of the gravestones.
One day at school, freshman Elijah Plasse said he liked Settle’s class because she taught them more than just curriculum.
“She has taught us a lot of life skills about you need to get your stuff done on time and listen to people,” he said. “This type of stuff definitely reaches us out to work with other people better and listen to instructions.”
Being involved in Boy Scouts, Plasse is no stranger to community service projects.
“It’s just good for the community,” he said. “It makes it look better, and if we’re not doing anything in school (during the last week), we might as well be helping out.”
Settle said she always pushed the freshmen, and they always met the challenge.
While they may not remember what she taught them about DNA or sedimentary rocks, Settle said they will remember the community service projects and other ways she taught them skills that will help them as they move forward in life.
“It’s the more personal things that kids remember,” she said.