Christenberry Elementary School is a neighborhood school, a community school, a point of pride in the Oakwood Lincoln Park neighborhood and “home” to a diverse bunch of 550 kindergarten through fifth graders. Eleven languages are spoken there.
On Tuesday after school, the Cardinals got gussied up and welcomed guests to their first-ever “Tour de Christenberry” celebration.
Susie Hix and Kristen Jaggers
Susie Hix with UT Extension and Christenberry Community School site coordinator Kristen Jaggers promoted their upcoming weekly classes on cooking on a budget. Hix whipped up a fruit salad for Tour de Christenberry visitors as an example of healthy, tasty economical cuisine.
There was a food truck at the front walk and cheerleaders just inside the front door. Guests were escorted to the school’s Little Theater to meet principal Melissa Johnson and to get a guided tour guide around the building.
One of the guides, social worker Jennifer Vaught, has been assigned to Christenberry for 16 years and is also assigned to Belle Morris and Beaumont Magnet elementary schools. She is proud of the school’s status as a Positive Behavior Intervention and Supports (PBIS) school, and she posed for a picture at Christenberry’s “Proud of my Selfie” board for kids who get sent to the office for doing something good.
Christenberry has a full-time staffer from Helen Ross McNabb Center and is able to assist children in need of dental work with the help of the Elgin Foundation.