
November 11, 2025
This fall, our 8th-grade science class took on an exciting challenge to better understand the forces of gravity and kinetic energy. We began by learning how gravity pulls obj...

November 6, 2025
Engagement is key to successful learning, particularly with an emphasis on vocabulary in the English classroom. This fall, freshmen took a deep dive into mastering vocabulary words...

November 5, 2025
What are Secret Stories? Secret Stories® is a supplemental phonics program designed to fast-track phonics mastery by aligning instruction with how the brain naturally learns. Unli...

November 4, 2025
Kindergarten through 3rd grade special education teachers and associates are doing more than helping students learn reading and math—they’re also laying the groundwork for executi...

October 31, 2025
Reading in 6th grade is extremely important because it helps students build the skills they need to succeed in all subjects. As texts become more complex, students must learn to th...

October 30, 2025
A simple read-aloud sparked a movement for kindness and character-building in our first-grade classroom. After reading Henry & Ella’s Big Jar of Kindness by Audrey Lane to wrap u...

October 29, 2025
We started the Halloween festivities a little early in Sophomore English with our Monstrum Poetica Blackout Poetry Unit! Students were tasked with exploring the eerie world of mo...

October 28, 2025
This summer, members of the Benton Spanish Club embarked on an unforgettable educational journey across Spain and Germany. Our group began their travels in Germany, where we visite...

October 23, 2025
This season, the Benton Theatre department invites audiences to experience SpongeBob the Musical — a colorful, high-energy production that’s not only entertaining but also an inc...

October 22, 2025
In our 2nd grade classroom, science has been extra exciting this month! We are using our FOSS Science Kit to study plants and animals, and students have been working...

October 21, 2025
Although it may seem deceiving, what looks like kids “just playing” in this photo is actually a prime example of our philosophy in early childhood education: self-selected explorat...

October 16, 2025
On Friday, October 3, first grade students at Atkins Elementary celebrated Apple Discovery Day—a fun-filled event packed with hands-on learning, outdoor exploration, and, of course...

October 15, 2025
As a Physical Education teacher and Coach in the Benton Community School District, the weight room and its complementary locations are extremely important to me. As such, this summ...

October 14, 2025
One of the areas of focus in our curriculum at Benton Community is social emotional learning. The past few years we have been using a program called Character Strong. This curricu...

October 9, 2025
As part of the Farm Bureau’s “Ag in the Classroom” through the Iowa Agriculture Literacy Foundation, Taylor visited the kindergartners at Atkins to teach students how the ingredien...

October 8, 2025
Since 2015, the state of Iowa has required children entering kindergarten and third grade to have a vision screening completed. Benton Community School District is fortunate to hav...

October 7, 2025
Benton Community’s World History class serves as a graduation requirement, and is generally the social studies class taken by students during their sophomore year of high school. I...

October 2, 2025
Homecoming buttons, murals around the school and community, props and backdrops for the Band, Musical and Play, staff appreciation mugs, and the annual Blood Drive, all events, act...

October 1, 2025
This fall, Norway Intermediate’s 6th graders took learning outside the classroom during a four-day adventure called School of the Wild. Norway Intermediate is the only school in Be...

September 30, 2025
The Atkins Elementary school doors opened again this past August to many returning children and many new faces. Thirty of those faces were students who are only three years old an...
