Ryan Cherry » Mr. Cherry Bio

Mr. Cherry Bio

Ryan Cherry is from Brooklyn, Michigan and attended Wheaton College in Wheaton, Illinois. He is a highly qualified educator who spent the last 15 years working in various educational settings around the Midwest.  After seeing his high school soccer coach be an influential role model in the lives of his elementary students, he studied elementary education in college as he sought to also positively impact the lives of students. This is his 8th year at Decatur. He did his student teaching in 5th grade at Cleveland School in Chicago.  He taught Language Arts and Math in a 5th grade classroom in Brookfield, IL,  all subjects in a 4th through 6th grade room at a public Montessori school in Indiana and at Hibbard Elementary in CPS before coming to Decatur in 2017.

Mr. Cherry is inquisitive and curious about the people and world around him. He enjoys reading as it a great avenue to better understand people and our world. He agrees with Dr. Seuss that "the more you read, the more things you will know. The more you learn, the more places you'll go." Mr. Cherry is filled with immense excitement about the chance to teach physical education, as it combines his passion for physical activity and sports with the joy of engaging with students and supporting them enthusiastically. He is fascinated by neuroscience and its intersection with physical activity and is grateful for the chance to have students four days each week to encourage their physical activity.

 

He is passionate about seeing students gain confidence in their abilities to be successful in both the classroom and the world and become well rounded individuals who care for others as they care for themselves.  In his free time, Mr. Cherry enjoys playing sports, spending time with friends and family and enjoying a delicious slice of pie with some strong coffee.

 
 

Posts

5th Grade Science Freshwater Collection Devices

Students designed and created their own freshwater collection system using a set list of possible materials as they think through how to solve the water shortage problems of East Ferris in our science unit on the Earth System.

5th grade Math Scavenger Hunt

Students engaged in a scavenger hunt to review the key concepts of our math unit on area and surface area.
Here is a screenshot of the student Simulation from the Vision and Light Unit that helps students to see how light can reach an animal's eyes.
Students using droppers to investigate whether water vapor can come from a single drop of water.
Earlier this year, students created Survivor Tree leaves with message of hope connected with our learning about 9/11 and the amazing story of the Survivor Tree at Ground Zero.  We used the leaves student created to make our own Survivor Tree to remind us about how important resilience is when facing difficult situations. 
Students are creating their own strategies in order to find the area of a polygon.  Check out this interesting approach of one of the students.

4th grade Mystery Box

Students used a mystery box this week to think about what an animal's eyes need to see.