Students getting it all together

Suzie Harrison

Thurston Middle School teacher Jason Babiar is helping students

achieve positive results through organizational strategies.

Babiar’s class is designed to get the students back on track and

allow them to enjoy their school experience.

According to Babiar, getting organized is key, and the focus on

reading comprehension and language arts will benefit students in all

their classes.

“We’ve done a unit on taking Cornell notes and how to read and

pull out the important information,” Babiar said. “We’re trying to be

all-encompassing, helping with math, language review, the nuts and

bolts of spelling, punctuation and vocabulary.”

Each student has different needs that are attended to.

Ricky Zona, 13, said the class has helped him sharpen important

skills.

“If you have problems in a class, he helps you with it,” Ricky

said. “It’s a class where you can catch up on homework and study for

tests.”

Ricky said it has helped him a lot because he is not the most

organized person.

“It’s helped me how to be more organized ... not just at school

but also at home,” Ricky said. “It’s making a big difference in my

grades.”

Curtis Luster II, 13, also lauds the class.

“He makes it fun for us, but he’s also hard,” Curtis said. “He’s a

teacher you can really rely on a lot. He’s always there and helps

make school and homework a lot easier.”

Curtis said he feels free to ask questions because Babiar is

straightforward and has taught that no questions are dumb.

Curtis’ grades have improved from a D-plus to an A in math, a D to

a B in social studies and each class has improved at least one grade.

“Before I came to this class, I wasn’t looking forward to school

at all,” Curtis said. “It’s helped me take responsibility in

everything and I’m using my time right. Homework comes first now.”