Marsh officials share latest news

Dear Editor:

As we enter the winter season, we are delighted to share some unique things that are happening at The Marsh Foundation. This season, we are incredibly proud of our students and staff and their unwavering commitment to making The Marsh a place for growth, opportunity, and innovation.

Student Council: Paving the Way for Excellence in the School

Last year, teachers Mandy Looser and Joy Caldwell revamped our student council to form a group of student leaders who were willing to step up and address school issues, promote positive change and enhance school spirit. Since then, Kevin Longstreth and Lauren Calvert joined their colleagues to help foster this change, attending weekly meetings and assisting in student led activities. This year, the council has successfully executed multiple coffee bars, a fall spirit week and a building-wide door decorating competition. “Watching our students walk around with a strong sense of pride and seeing that pride turn into positive results has been rewarding for our team,” says Looser. “The difference this group of young men are making in the school right now is truly incredible.” For their efforts, this group was rewarded in October with a field trip to the zoo. We are looking forward to watching the continued growth of the student council for the remainder of the school year.

Classroom: Engaging Activities

The beginning of the school year has had some challenges. Despite those challenges our teachers show up every day with new and fun activities for our students to engage them in learning. A few highlights have been research on the Black Swamp, Candy Corn Catapults, a Game Feed, Math Scavenger Hunts, Greedy Probability, Fitness Friday Competitions and of course our creative art projects. Another area of pride is our Title 1 program. We utilize this time daily to meet the individual needs of our students through remediation, credit recovery and goal setting. We continue to see improved reading and math scores as a result of this program.

Equine Assisted Learning

The Marsh Foundation has used horses as part of our summer program for many years. This program has always consisted of learning about horses, caring for them, and practicing horsemanship skills. Throughout these years, it was evident that many of our students were connecting to our horses on a deeper level. Seeing this connection led us to research equine therapy and the positive effects on children that have experienced trauma. Currently, we have a team of employees conducting a feasibility study for a Marsh Foundation equine assisted learning program. The team is optimistic about the possibilities of building this program to better meet the needs of our students and other children in our community. We hope to share more exciting news about this venture in the near future.

In closing, we are excited to see continued growth and look forward to sharing successes along the way. Thank you for being supportive as we strive to fulfill our mission. On behalf of The Marsh Foundation, we would like to wish you a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.

Sincerely,

Robbie Breese, Jeff Grothouse and Kim Mullins