Fred Elementary students deliver

Students in Sherri Alderman’s fifth-grade class at Fred Elementary. CHRIS EDWARDS | TCB

By Chris Edwards
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FRED – Students in Sherri Alderman’s fifth grade class at Fred Elementary have parlayed hard work and selflessness into an achievement that Alderman said could “put Fred Elementary on the map.”

The students in the class have utilized the instructional aide “Learning A-Z,” which is an interactive, computer-based series of programs that help learners with literacy skills.

Within Learning A-Z’s games, users not only learn the meaning of words, but the etymology of them.

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Alderman, who is experienced with a variety of prorgrams to assist students toward mastering grade-level skills and TEKS assessments, said that Learning A-Z is “the only program I’ve found that keeps them engaged.”

Not only is the program fun for the students, and educational, it allows the users to collect “stars” as rewards, and they can either keep them and build a game with them, or they can choose to donate the stars back to a philantrophic organization, UNICEF, in order to be used to help provide clothing, shelter, water and school supplies to underprivileged children in communities, globally.

The Fred Elementary students using the program chose the approach of selflessness and service, and donated all of their stars. This feat, which Alderman said she had no role in encouraging, only to inform them of the option, resulted in the class donating the most stars from the program in the entire state of Texas, and won them a first-place designation from the program.

Fred Elementary students in the class will be featured in Learning A-Z’s blog, and will receive a prize from the company behind the platform, A Cambium Learning.

Alderman said she was proud of the students’ perserverance, hard work and values. All of the students reported that it made them feel good to be able to do some good in the world.