Arizona superintendent visits San Luis schools
SAN LUIS, Ariz. (KYMA, KECY) - Arizona Superintendent of Public Instruction, Kathy Hoffman, visited several schools in San Luis on Monday.
The former speech pathologist got to hear from students and teachers about what they’re doing to improve math and science classes at one of the middle schools.
Hoffman’s last visit to San Luis Middle School was before COVID-19 in 2020.
Teachers and students thanked Hoffman for keeping the district in mind as they advance towards building in self-exploration courses.
The self-exploration courses are to help guide students to find their career goals, allowing students to pick two extracurricular courses that interest them the most.
This was made possible through a partnership with the Arizona Business and Education Coalition funded by the department of education.
“That's an organization that’s helping the middle school students here with their career exploration. So, I think that’s really exciting, that the department is supporting partnerships between districts and the business community," said Hoffman.
A school tour allowed Hoffman to see changes made inside the classroom since her last visit.
The superintendent of Gadsden School District #32, Lizeth Esparza, says they added smart board TVs inside of eight classes.
“With the extra funds we were able to get those for our new 8 classrooms. Our new S.T.E.A.M. And S.T.E.M. classrooms," said Esparza.
Hoffman says she’s glad to see more classrooms were added to the middle school.
“It's beautiful to see they have new school buildings, so having a bit more classrooms that can help with classroom sizes. Seeing the new technology, I heard from a student they have laptops they can use," said Hoffman.
Arizona’s superintendent made her way through San Luis visiting different schools including the high school, San Luis pre-school and Arizona Desert Elementary.
Hoffman says although the need for more Arizona educators is nothing new, she wants to find better ways to hire and retain teachers at our rural schools.
She is running for re-election in the General Elections in November against the former Arizona attorney general, republican Tom Horne.
