Documentation: Top in State
• blue ribbon schools all levels K-12:
elementary, middle, high school
• level 5, highest performance rating in the state 5+ years in a row
• 63% free and reduced lunch
• accredited by AdvancED
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Beth John - Current Superintendent
Beth John interview (2013)
Stories from Mississippi: Results from College to Kindergarten
Student Successes with Thinking Maps®
Chapter 14 by Marjann Kalehoff Ball, Ed.D.
Editors: David Hyerle, Larry Alper
The Chapter includes research
and significant reading test score results at the community college level; Thinking Maps® as a common language from preschool to college throughout Mississippi• download the complete chapter (pdf)
• order the book
• read more about the book
The Effects of Thinking Maps on Reading Scores
Doctoral Dissertation Summary: A highly significant correlation was found between the use of Thinking Maps and reading comprehension scores of college students using the Stanford Diagnostic Reading Test.....
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David Hyerle, Ed.D
David is the developer of the Thinking Maps model and author of the primary training resources for implementing Thinking Maps®. He is a frequent keynote speaker, author of two Corwin Press books focused on visual tools, editor of Student Successes with Thinking Maps, a book on Leadership on Solution Tree Press, and developer of a new online course: Visual Tools for Literacy. David is also co-author with Larry Alper of the new leadership guide and training ... Thinking Maps: A Language for Leadership.
Visual Tools for Transforming
Information Into Knowledge
This is the most comprehensive book on graphic organizers, Thinking Maps, and graphic software programs. Find out why visual tools and mapping are the key tools for 21st century learning. Look at student and teacher work and review test results from around the country.
• read more...
Documentary Film - 2013 Release
Minds of Mississippi
The Pass Christian Public Schools received a grant from Thinking Foundation to document their incredible story. The story of 'The Pass' captured on film traces the efforts of the educators and community there to improve the achievement levels of their students through a focus on thinking, something they accomplished by becoming the top performing school district in the state of Mississippi and continue to sustain today at the highest level long after the devastating impact of Hurricane Katrina...
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Minds of Mississippi documentary film (30 min). If you are unable to see the film above, click here to view the film.
Film Handbook to Initiate Whole School Change
See the film Minds of Mississippi (2013), and then use the accompanying Handbook as a guide to initiate change with your whole school community.
Download the Minds of Mississippi handbook
Why Does Whole School Change Matter?
The greatest impact on student learning and achievement occurs not simply in a moment in time but through the integrity of the learner's experience over time. Learner-focused schools and school leaders recognize the importance of creating a coherent experience for their students whereby learning deepens and becomes consolidated across many years. Regardless of the setting or student population, whole-school change is a critical factor in supporting student growth and achievement. This was dramatically demonstrated in Pass Christian, Mississippi where the devastating effects of Hurricane Katrina could not wipe away the deeply rooted learning that students had experienced and the thinking skills they had developed over time, and which remain intact today and thrive long after the flood waters have receded.
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"We look at elementary school students for integration into middle school. Students develop a strong foundation by using Thinking Maps, then they have the opportunity to build upon it."
Joe Nelson - Middle School Principal
Blue Ribbon School
What are Thinking Maps®?
Thinking Maps are eight fundamental thinking skills defined and animated by maps, and introduced as a common visual language for thinking and learning across whole learning communities. From the beginning, the focus of the work using Thinking Maps has been on all teachers 
immediately training all of their students across their whole school to become fluent with the tools. For more information go to:
• Thinking Maps as a Language for Learning (PDF file)
• Thinking Maps website
• Thinking Maps in a Mississippi classroom
"The Thinking Maps® program takes full advantage of the natural proclivity of the brain to see and think visually."
Pat Wolfe, Author, Building the Reading Brain
• read more...
Watch the video above on Thinking Maps and brain research with Pat Wolfe known for her work with the translation of brain research to classroom practice.
How Can You Help Us?
Thinking Foundation is seeking a funding partner to support the distribution of the Minds of Mississippi film with an accompanying handbook to guide whole school and whole district transformational change. Please contact Thinking Foundation founder David Hyerle.
Thinking IS the Foundation for Learning
The Story, The People
...Faced with a major natural disaster (Hurricane Katrina) the district was faced with
what could have appeared to be an insurmountable task—the task of rebuilding a learning community when virtually all was lost. Students and staff came together with the common thread of what was left to them to continue their pursuit of excellence: Thinking Maps...
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"Thinking Maps were there before the storm and were there after the storm... They are a part of the dialogue for learning. They provided the continuity we needed after the storm..."
Dr. Sue Matheson - Previous Superintendent
The Return
Poem by Pass Christian Teacher
Suzanne M. Ishee
These bricks and mortar rise from
where the tangled rubble lay,
Standing strong, on battered ground,
Hope’s guardians, holding sway.
Proud old oaks still raise their limbs
In a silent victory dance.
It’s faith, it’s hope, and the love of many
that brought us back-not chance!
As you enter into these sacred halls
never forget the past.
Remember true treasure was never lost.
It was forged from things that last.
You will see it in the children’s smiles,
and in their teachers’ care.
Knowledge, challenge, joy, and strength-
You will find these everywhere.
As you look upon these stalwart walls
This message you will learn-
It matters not that we were gone-
What matters is our return!
Suzanne Ishee interview (2013)
21st Century Life Long Thinking Skills
Listen to a former Mississippi superintendent and student on video share their insights about life long thinking skills using Thinking Maps to organize students' thinking.
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Thinking Maps Consultant Marjann Ball interview (2013)
"The most heartfelt part of the film is the resilience of the Pass Christian School District... This documentary shows after using the Thinking Maps the district did go from being average to excelling to the number one school district in the state..."Marjann Kalehoff Ball, Ed.D.
email marjannball@hotmail.com
phone (601) 577-7059
The Filmmakers
Keith DeCristo, director and producer of the documentary Minds of Mississippi, is a documentary filmmaker based in the community of Los Angeles.
