Learning to Read, Write – and Cheer for Ole Miss
Inspired by teacher's fandom, Tennessee kindergarteners write letters and tackle math problems
OXFORD, Miss. – The Ole Miss Rebels making history by hosting a first-round College Football Playoff game has made it into a kindergarten classroom in Goodlettsville, Tennessee.
Millersville Elementary School kindergarteners in Jennifer Batte's class have been practicing new skills in writing and math with the University of Mississippi's student-athletes as the stars.
The 23 5-year-olds wrote letters and practiced addition and subtraction.
Students in Jennifer Batte's kindergarten class have learned to write sentences by penning letters to members of the Ole Miss football team. Submitted photo
"We have learned all the letters and their sounds and are to the point we are sounding out words, and really constructing sentences," Batte said. "So, I thought it (writing letters to the team) would be a good way to practice that was different from answering the questions in our reading curriculum."
The students recently learned how to sound out words, put spaces between words and capitalize the first word in a sentence.
"I thought that that would be a good way for them to practice writing sentences."
Filled with excitement at the thought of Ole Miss football players reading their letters and seeing their drawings, the students wrote sentences such as:
- "Hav a good gam."
- "Good luck on your game!"
- "Good luc on the game."
- "I beleev you can do it"; and (of course)
- "Hotty Toddy!"
Writing practice turned into football and math lessons.
"Some of my students don't know a whole lot about football or what it is," she said. "So we stopped and we talked about it; they learned what was going on right now (making the playoffs) and why the team really needed their support."
They also learned that a touchdown is worth six points, and an extra point is one point, which fit perfectly into their math story problems.
"What we're doing in math right now is 'one more' and 'one less,'" she said. "Our word problems became, 'When you score a touchdown, and they kicked the extra point, that's one more.'"
Jennifer Batte (left) attends the 2016 Ole Miss vs. Vanderbilt football game in Nashville with her dad, John Batte Sr. Submitted photo
Millersville Elementary School is a public school that comprises kindergarten through fifth grades and has just under 300 students. It is classified as a Title I school, which means it receives federal funding under Title I of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act because it serves a high percentage of children from low-income families.
"A lot of them have never been to a movie theater or a sporting event," Batte said. "When we take them to the zoo in the spring, it's the first time that they've been and it's just a huge, huge deal."
Being able to cheer on the Rebels while learning is special for the students and their teacher.
Everyone in the school knows that Batte is a huge Rebels fan since she wears her Ole Miss gear during spirit days on Fridays, despite graduating from Belmont University, where she played softball.
A lifelong Ole Miss fan, Batte enjoyed a childhood that revolved around attending Ole Miss games with her dad and brother because her dad and uncle are alumni.
"We grew up cheering for and going to the home games," she said.
Messages of support from Jennifer Batte's students include 'I beleev you can do it! Go Rebs Go!' Submitted photo
The ritual and the time spent with family shaped her love for Ole Miss. From their home in Huntsville, the trip to Vaught-Hemingway was three and a half hours.
"We would stop at the same mom-and-pop gas station on the way and get a biscuit from them," she said. "And sitting and eating cloverleaf sandwiches (more commonly known as fried bologna sandwiches) mom made on the back of the tailgate and then walking down to the stadium and watching the games and listening to my brother talk stats to the people around us – that just became a part of our childhood."
Her support for the Rebs this season continues not only in the classroom, but also at home.
"It is super special to me to be able to get to go home because my boyfriend of 20 years is an absolute, huge Tennessee fan," she said. "To spend the season razzing him about the fact that we have a better record and we are going to the playoffs and they're just going to Music City Bowl across town has been fun."
The fun and love all go back to childhood and how that made Batte feel.
Some call it Hotty Toddy.
"To me, Hotty Toddy means childhood," Batte said. "It means togetherness. It means time with family.
"Now, it may look more like family group texts with fist bump emojis when the Rebels score or traveling together to go see bowl games. We're passing this on to our children, and these are memories I wouldn't trade for anything."
She hopes to help her students create special memories of their own.
"I try to do as much of that kind of stuff as I can for them," Batte said. "I like to be able to provide these opportunities because a lot of those things were key aspects of my childhood, and they don't get to have those opportunities."
Top: Jennifer Batte's kindergarten class at Millersville Elementary School in Goodlettsville, Tennessee, have been busy learning to write sentences and solve simple math problems this fall, using the Ole Miss Rebels as inspiration. Batte is a lifelong Ole Miss fan who frequently wears her Ole Miss attire to school. Submitted photo