Superintendent’ Spotlight: Amberlynn Mowles
Kindergarten student Amberlynn Mowles has a creative knack for storytelling, which shows in her fantastic writing and illustrations. Amberlynn said her sister, Chelsea, gave her her first art lesson when she helped her learn to draw the sites of Paris, and added that both her sisters continue to help her develop her talents. At school, Amberlynn has class with Ms. Ingber and Ms. Caswell.
Amberlynn likes all her classes, but said her favorites are art and math. It is her writing and drawing that make her most happy, though.
“They’re my favorite things,” she said, but taking care to add that like she also likes numbers and enjoys the challenges of doing math problems.
Amberlynn is a big fan of the author Mo Willems, and particularly likes his Elephant & Piggie series. She also enjoys the Pete the Cat series. She is influenced by her favorite authors and by her mom, an educator, who has instilled the importance of education in all five of her children.
“Amberlynn has wonderful, creative ideas, and also has the great ability to think through her creative steps. That doesn’t always come easy for young writers,” said Ms. Ingber. “We’ve taught the students about mechanics – using good spacing and punctuation when they write – and Amberlynn has picked up and applied those lessons, too.”
While recently writing “How To” pieces in class, Amberlynn was asked to write descriptive compositions about how to make pizza and how to sketch a donut. The task of writing descriptively about everyday actions can be very difficult, but Amberlynn did a fantastic job breaking down the steps and communicating them clearly.
“Amberlynn keeps on taking it up a notch with her detail all the time,” said Ms. Caswell. “She has fun in class, but also takes her learning seriously and that shows in work.”
The Mowles are a military family that includes two sets of twins – Amberlynn’s two sisters and two brothers. At the end of April, they will be moving out of the district and down to Texas, where Mr. Mowles will be stationed.
“We’re sad to see Amberlynn and the rest of the Mowles family go,” said Ms. Ingber. “We taught Amberlynn’s twin sisters four years ago, and the whole family has been so kind to us.”
Much of Amberlynn’s writing is inspired by her family experiences. She has written illustrated pieces about trips to the beach, exploring the woods behind their home with her brothers, finding salamanders, building snowmen, and her “mostly true” story about getting ready for school. We hope Amberlynn has plenty more great adventures out west. Hopefully, we will hear about some of them once she settles into her new school.
