Brewbaker Intermediate School began its school year with an assembly for over 500 students and staff to prepare for upcoming state testing.. During the event, veteran educator Catrina McGhee was honored with the WSFA 12 News Class Act Award for her career-long dedication to the school community.
The WSFA 12 News Class Act Award and 500 cheering students
The first day of school at Brewbaker Intermediate School served as both a welcome event and a strategic launch for the academic year. According to the report, the assembly gathered more than five hundred students,teachers, and staff in the gym to align on curriculum objectives and academic rigor. The leadership team used the gathering to recognize every member of the support staff, ensuring that the collective effort of the faculty was acknowledged before the students began their coursework.
The emotional peak of the event occurred when Catrina McGhee was announced as the recipient of the WSFA 12 News Class Act Award. This statewide honor is reserved for individuals who demonstrate exceptional dedication to their students and the broader educational environment. As the report says, the auditorium erupted in applause,marking a public validation of McGhee's influence on the Brewbaker Intermediate School community.
Moving beyond the textbook for 3rd-through-5th graders
Catrina McGhee has specifically focused her efforts on inspiring students in the third-through-fifth grade brackets. Rather than relying on rote memorization, McGhee has integrated manipulatives, cooperative speaking activities, and peer-learning strategies into her coaching. By encouraging students to talk through problem-solving sessions, she has shifted the classroom culture at Brewbaker Intermediate School to value collaboration over competition.
This pedagogical shift reflects a broader trend in STEM education toward "active learning ," where students engage with physical objects and peer dialogue to grasp abstract concepts. By moving away from a lecture-heavy model, McGhee's approach aligns with modern educational theories that suggest students retain mathematical concepts more effectively when they can visualize and discuss the logic behind the solution.
Catrina McGhee's 26-year evolution from classroom to coach
Now in her twenty-sixth year of teaching, Catrina McGhee recently transitioned from a traditional classroom teacher to a math coach.. This transition allows her to exert a wider influence across Brewbaker Intermediate School, supporting not only the students but also the teachers who implement the curriculum. Her commitment to continuous professional development, including attending workshops to gather the latest instructional techniques, has made her a primary resource for the school's faculty.
The transition from teacher to coach is a critical move for many veteran educators, as it allows them to scale their expertise. By applying new concepts to enhance student engagement, McGhee has transformed her role from a direct instructor to a strategic mentor,ensuring that innovative teaching methods are standardized across multiple grade levels at Brewbaker Intermediate School.
The Arizona Cognitive Academic Performance test and the gap in performance data
A central theme of the Brewbaker Intermediate School assembly was the upcoming Arizona Cognitive Academic Performance test. The school's leadership emphasized the need for teamwork and rigor to ensure students are prepared for this statewide assessment. While the report notes that many students now show greater confidence and improved performance in math due to McGhee's methods, it does not provide specific data or score increases linked to these interventions.
Several questions remain regarding the measurable impact of these coaching strategies.. it is unclear how Brewbaker Intermediate School specifically tracks the "improved performance" mentioned in the report, or how the school intends to benchmark its success on the Arizona Cognitive Academic Performance test compared to previous years. Furthermore, the report focuses exclusively on the school's internal celebration; it remains to be seen if McGhee's collaborative model will be adopted by other schools within the district.
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