Tracy Howse

Diverse Communities

Diversity at Phelps Luck

My first internship placement is Phelps Luck Elementary School in Howard County

Public School System. Phelps Luck is a tight-knit community with great diversity, but also

increased poverty levels compared to many other HCPSS schools. According to the 2017-2018

school year statistics, 62.6% of Phelps Luck’s students received free/reduced lunch (Fact Sheet,

HCPSS.) These students are in lower socioeconomic classes and therefore often struggle, due to

those engagement factors. In addition, 17.7% of students at Phelps Luck have limited English

proficiency. Similarly, their vocabulary, and often the parents’ vocabulary, is affecting their

engagement and learning experiences.

Addressing Diversity

At PLES, the media center works diligently to support students and the larger community

through an understanding of the poverty levels and families with limited English. First and

foremost, the in the library, we do not issue fines for lost books. Students in K-2nd may only have

one book out at a time, whereas 3rd-5th can have two books out at a time. If students have not

returned a book, they will not be able to exceed their checkout list until they have returned it;

they are given “overdue” slips to bring home. However, if students are unable to return their

books after an extended period of time and therefore missed book checkout for over a month,

these students are granted “another chance.” The thought behind this is that students may live in

dysfunctional households or have problems with money for replacement.

Regarding our larger population of ELL students, we have a Spanish section and ensure

our lessons have appropriate differentiation. Oftentimes, new students enter our classroom with

less than a day, let alone an hour, of notice. The transient nature of students in the area means
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that we must always have options for Spanish-speaking students. Fortunately, many of our

students speak English and Spanish; these individuals do translate for new students.

To support students and the ever-changing community, Phelps Luck has incorporated

healing circles into a daily general-education classroom routine. I have utilized these within my

classes and seen the incredible engagement during this timeframe. Additionally, the media center

is working to promote this through an increased collection on social/emotional well-being. This

is a place where students are able to access information they may not otherwise see.

Communication and Collaboration

The poverty which many of our students face is often discussed and PLES has

implemented a year-long collection of PDs that focus on the book Engaging Students with

Poverty in Mind. At our first meeting, the agenda was as follows:

2:00-2:30 Review previous text. Discuss engagement.

2:30-2:55 Group sessions reading chapters 1 & 2; posters

3:00-3:30 Gallery walk and closure

As I stated in the daily journal, this was a wonderful environment for open communication.

Although I would have preferred to read the text prior or to read a specific section, this did give

us all a basis for discussing a new topic. There was opportunities for educators to collaborate on

ways they address this in their classroom and to understand the larger implications of home life

on student engagement.

The role of the media specialist regarding engagement and poverty revolves around

equitable access to resources. We are responsible for aiding students in their access to resources

as well as teaching them info literacy skills. The seven engagement factors, which we discussed

during this meeting, are health and nutrition, vocabulary, effort and energy, mind-set, cognitive
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capacity, relationships, and stress level. These are strongly connected to socioeconomic status

and are prevalent throughout the student population at PLES.