When Oklahoma School Report Cards were released by the state in December 2019, the news for Kingfisher wasn’t great.

The most glaring grade was a “D” earned by the high school for academic achievement. That grade is based solely on how the previous year’s junior class scored on a required ACT test in April.

When KPS administrators delved into the data, they determined the biggest factor in scoring well on the ACT is reading comprehension and fluency, no matter the subject matter.

That was the genesis of a plan that set out to remediate students beginning in the younger grades to have them better prepared as they advanced through the district.

“The big question is: How do we remediate these students?” said Shane Hood as he addressed the board of education that December night. Hood, at the time, was the principal at Heritage Elementary. He’s now also principal at Kingfi sher Upper Elementary.

Part of the plan put in place by administrators was hiring a districtwide reading specialist.

That task eventually fell to longtime KPS teacher Sheila Redwine, who is now in her third year serving in that role.

The fruits of her labor - and as she points out, so many others are already quite evident.

Kingfisher Public Schools last month was presented the 2022 Reading Champions award by The Reading League Oklahoma (TRLOK).

Created in 2019, Reading League Oklahoma supports the advancement of the science of reading. Its stated mission is advancing the awareness, understanding and use of evidence- based literacy practices across the state so all students can learn to read.

TRLOK recently presented awards, which were based on results from the 2021-22 school year.

It presented awards at three levels: Site (school), administrator or coach, and teacher.

School districts are eligible to apply in multiple categories. Kingfisher only applied for - and won - the site award, which is presented to just one district in the state.

It’s easy to see why with the results.

Redwine explained that TRLOK views student reading data from the district’s screeners given each August, January and April. Those screenings identify the number of students reading below the benchmark at each point in the school year.

At the beginning of last school year, Gilmour Elementary had 16% of students in kindergarten, first and second grades reading below the benchmark.

By the middle of the year, the number dropped dramatically to just 5%.

Then, in the spring, it was just 4%.

Redwine said it’s truly a group effort, which was why the district only applied for the site award.

“Winning this award was not the accomplishment of one administrator or one teacher, rather the entire staff at Gilmour,” Redwine said. “Custodians, cafeteria workers, secretaries, aides, paraprofessionals along with the district superintendent, school board and community support each played a vital part in winning the award.”

But how did they make it happen?

Concerning test scores weren’t the only factor to kickstart Kingfisher’s push for reading remediation.

The need was amplified just a few months after the release of those test scores when COVID-19 forced schools to shut down for the remainder of the 2019-20 school year.

Students didn’t get the sometimes necessary oneon- one instruction, which further set some of them back.

Also, House Bill 2804 was signed into law in May 2020.

Authored by then-House Majority Leader Mike Sanders of Kingfisher as well as Sen. Stephanie Bice, it required dyslexia screening for students in kindergarten through third grade who aren’t reading at grade level.

The implementation of that law was set for this school year.

However, Kingfisher got the ball rolling early with the hiring of Redwine in her new role.

Before taking on the new challenge, Redwine had more than two dozen years of teaching experience at KPS. She had taught reading, American history, English and science at the seventh and eighth grade levels.

Her work as a reading specialist began at Gilmour in 2020-21, then expanded to Heritage students.

Redwine and others began to identify and implement procedures and curriculum “to provide all students a solid, science of reading foundation.”

That work intensified beginning in the summer of 2021 with the following implementations:

• Through GO for Public Schools (a district fund that’s contributed to by individuals or businesses that receive tax credits for doing so), funding was provided for three teachers to be trained in a two-year dyslexia program called Take Flight, which pays for students workbooks. Nikki Young, Kayla Voth and Lacey Kuehn took part in the program.

• Funds from the district and GO were used to implement an eight-week summer reading program that included purchasing new library books at Gilmour. In the past, the program was four weeks, “but with the effects of COVID, we changed it to eight weeks for that summer,” Redwine said.

• Funds from a Communities Foundation of Oklahoma grant - which Redwine helped secure - helped implement the “Summer Lantern” family reading program in the summer of 2021. The program was held on the front lawn of Gilmour each week as local “heroes” such as policemen, firemen, game warden and meteorologist read to the students. Students were then allowed to take a book home to read and then exchange it at the next event. New library books were also purchased for Gilmour through this grant.

• Funds from the Kingfi sher Educational Foundation provided reading materials and books for the past three years that are available for teachers to use through a check-out program.

• The district purchased Lexia, SLB, Heggerty and Wonders curriculums to be implemented in classrooms. These programs are phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency and comprehension based. “All are key components in the ability to read,” Redwine said.

The results of those programs and that work became evident throughout the school year and were legitimized by the TRLOK award.

“It is wonderful to highlight educators coming together as a team and working hard to ensure their students receive the support they need in the classroom,” said Tiffany Jenkins, a TRLOK board member. “It is an honor to work alongside the staff in Kingfisher and I hope they can be an inspiration to other districts across the state.”

Hood has watched firsthand how the work of Redwine and others have affected students.

He served as principal at Heritage and Gilmour for much of the 2020-21 school year and the first half of last school year.

“Sheila has a huge heart for students. She recognized learning gaps in our students and came up with great ideas to maximize student growth and achievement,” he said.

“We implemented a comprehensive plan at Gilmour and have seen drastic drops in students who were struggling with reading across the board. On top of changes in the classroom, Sheila’s one-onone work with students has made us a leader in reading instruction and comprehension.”

Makylah Tollefson was hired as a reading specialist prior to the 2021-22 school year, then was hired as Gilmour’s principal midway through the year.

“We have a fantastic team of elementary staff who have helped lead the way to improve our students’ reading scores,” she said.

Tollefson noted that Gilmour teachers in the summer of 2021 attended specialized training to teach Energizing Readiness, Navigate Kindergarten and Structured Learning Basics (SLB).

“That is all multi-sensory reading curriculum that meets the needs of all students,” Tollefson said. “The focus within this curriculum is to build on pre-reading skills of oral language to phonological awareness, phonics, oral reading fluency, vocabulary and comprehension.”

In addition, students also received daily explicit, whole classroom instruction through the curriculum Redwine noted was purchased by the district.

“Progress was monitored closely through Sheila and the classroom teacher to determine intervention needs for each student,” Tollefson said. “All of the plans in place for our early childhood and elementary students have helped to bridge the learning gap and will have a lasting, positive impact on student success.”

Like Redwine, Tollefson said it’s a group effort.

“Sheila, all classroom teachers and students worked hard to achieve this award,” she said.

Sanders said his pride swells on multiple fronts in seeing the successes.

“It absolutely makes me proud the fact that my hometown was to receive this great award,” he said.

Sanders said it was important to note that the educators as well as past superintendents (Jason Sternberger and Daniel Craig) and current Superintendent David Glover support the initiative.

“Most importantly, the real winners are the students who are the struggling readers. That’s what I’m most proud about. I was honored to carry such legislation to train our teachers on signs of dyslexia and to screen our students. This will make such a difference and I am glad I played a small role here.”

Redwine said she’s been invigorated by her new role, a sentiment that’s solidified even more when her students succeed. “To see all the hard work that everyone has contributed pay off by the increase in students’ reading abilities has been so moving and appreciative at the same time,” Redwine said.

“The best gift a school district can give a child is the ability to read and having the opportunity to have a small role gives me great joy.”

Along with the recognition of the TRLOK award came $1,000 for the district, a gift certificate and membership opportunities for teachers to continue their learning in the science of reading.

Redwine said the entire community deserves to be recognized for the success.

“I have been fortunate that the district and community organizations saw a need, hired staff, purchased curriculums and materials to address the need,” she said.

“We are blessed to have dedicated teachers that have endured hours of training on how to implement each program. I’m so appreciative to live and work in a community that values the school district and students.”