BOWLING GREEN, Ky. — Jennings Creek Elementary School hosted an open house Monday, and teachers showed how they prepared their classroom for the upcoming school year.

Many teachers showcased the extensive planning and decorating they did for their classroom. 

One way fourth-grade teacher Alicia Frizzell did this is by making sure she placed a birthday wall that had all of her students’ birthday on it, as well as creating friendly expectations for her students.

“I like to make sure that students know that they’re welcome,” Frizzell said.

Frizzell also structures her class to teach certain life lessons to her students by setting up cubbies to educate them about organizing

“I think it’s important that they learn responsibility,” Frizzell said. “So keeping cubbies organized, keeping track of their school supplies, it’ll help them later on too, like when they have a house, or if they have drawers at home. If they can be organized at school, they can be organized at home as well.”

Mrs. Frizzell not only wants to teach her students subjects, but she also wants to teach them how to be a leader. 

So, how does she do this? She has her students apply to certain roles, such as the “police chief,” “peer leader” or the “electrician.”

“The police chief will help monitor voice levels in the classroom or outside, so if I’m busy working with a student I might say: ‘Police chief help,’” Frizzell explained. “And they’ll go around to make sure students are on task. So that way it’s not all kids tattling, it’s one person’s role to make sure that kids are on track.”

Some teachers have even taken the initiative of redesigning their entire room.

“During my second-grade year, my theme was llamas,” fourth-grade teacher Sarah Henderson said. “At the end of the year, I had the kids fill out a paper on what I should do differently, what I should work on, and one of the kids said the llamas was very scary, and that I needed to get a new theme. So, I did!”

According to Jennings Creek Elementary School Principal Cody Rich, Warren County teachers have a tendency to always put in their best effort for their students

“Our teachers take it to the next level, they nurture students. They are there for them at all times,” Principal Cody Rich said. “Nights, mornings, summers, breaks, so it’s great to see teachers aren’t just here to teach content. They’re here to teach students how to behave, how to act, how to be good people.”

“I want all kids to know that they’re able, and I can help them get to where they want to go,” Frizzell said. “My job is to make you want to learn. It’s to help you with your learning. I want all kids to be the best they can be.”

The first day of school for warren county begins on Wednesday, Aug. 9.