of Elgin Elementary School
As the school year begins on August 4, Elgin Elementary School welcomes 118 students, two new teachers—math teacher Manuel Gatica and Angela Brown, who will teach the fourth grade—and a new principal. Christopher Bonn has a double assignment as superintendent of the Sonoita School District and principal of Elgin Elementary School.
After years as an educator at high schools in Tucson, Bonn is excited about the challenges of working with young children in their formative years. He says he is impressed with the caliber of students at Elgin School and wants to “prepare the students to be the next generation of great leaders by teaching them critical thinking, accountability, problem solving, and research.”
Bonn wants to engage kids to read, both on the computer and through books. In this age of computers, he believes the students can learn through current technology, not as an end in itself but as a tool for greater learning. He would like to see every child have internet access at home and at school, with a one-to-one ratio of students to computers, and to have laptops for every student in grades six through eight—which he says can be achieved with G5 grants from the state. Bonn also would like to pass down the Ipads already at the school to the primary grade students.
“Text books cost hundreds of dollars and have to be updated often, while laptops can last a lot longer,” he says.
Another technology Bonn would like to see at Elgin School is interactive white boards in all classrooms. With the appropriate software, the school curriculum can be projected onto the board, and students can learn and even interact and change the lesson plan. Some classes already have the board installed and are learning to use it by playing Jeopardy and Family Feud.
Bonn, his wife, and their three children now live in Vail but hope to find a home in Sonoita. When Bonn has free time, he enjoys hunting, fishing, biking and cooking.
You can follow the activities of the school and interact with the teachers on their website, www.Elgink12.com.