Intervention Specialist Team Aims To Improve Academics

Educator Dezi Adams has moved from a fourth-grade classroom to become the intervention specialist at Northside this year with the goal of improving students’ reading and math abilities.

Northside Elementary School Principal Georgie Gourneau noted that the school district had intervention specialists in the past and are using the more individualized instruction again this year. A goal is creating fluency in both reading and math for the students.

Others working on Northside’s invention team include paraprofessional Kalen Stump, librarian Helen Welte, physical education teacher Masonia Siasun and music instructor Bridget Drummond.

“I like the team that I’m working with. They are catching on quickly,” Adams said.

The instruction includes about 90 students or about 30 per grade level. Some of them are close to reaching grade level proficiency with just some extra help. Students attend the instruction at least twice a week.

Segments of the reading portion include informational, literacy and vocabulary.

Adams, who was a fourthgrade teacher for about 10 years in Wolf Point, notes that each students’ data folders sets a goal line for them to stay above.

She feels it’s a positive that all the students have their own collection data to keep so they can see how they are improving each day or week. The classroom also features a data wall for each class level.