Lindsey Larsen

Larsen’s innovative idea, “Escape Rooms,” is a creative approach to assessing the English Language Arts (ELA) proficiency levels of the lowest readers in the school. It includes creating escape room activities and puzzles using content from the textbook as a creative and innovative way to measure students’ knowledge and help them commit more of the information to memory. Larsen believes this approach will also teach them problem-solving skills, conflict resolution, spatial awareness, and will promote outside-the-box thinking. The Voya Unsung Heroes grant will help provide financial resources to further specialize puzzle creation based on class unit content to help students, including English Language Learners and those with individualized education plans (IEPs), retain the content and put it to use in real life to solve problems they face.