The 6th grade teachers, Mrs. Leah and Mr. Genzlinger, have been introduced to a new class: Tiger Time. Tiger Time is an intervention and enrichment time that is dedicated towards both math and English skills for 6th grade students only.
For the 2025-2026 school year, the Federal Way School District has implemented a new mandatory class called Level Up. Level Up is to help students that have holes in their math and reading skills and provides increased academic support, or offers above-grade-level enrichment opportunities. In other middle schools, all grades from 6th-8th grade take this Level Up class three times a week. Meanwhile at FWPA, this new class is only in the 6th grade schedule and occurs on Tuesdays and Wednesdays.
“We are seeing trends that levels from one grade to the next are getting lower, lower and lower,” Mr. Genzlinger mentions. “So we are trying to do this methodically to try and minimize that and make it a lesser gap.”
For Mrs. Leah’s English class, she assigns her students to read texts aloud to help build the skills needed for reading fluency and phonics. Mrs. Leah gives her students assignments to practice comprehension and vocabulary, such as Lexia PowerUp and other skill-targeted assignments. PowerUp is specifically for adolescents who may struggle with reading proficiency. It aims to bridge the gap for students transitioning from learning to read to reading to learn. Mrs. Leah also gives extra time to work on tests and assignments that students are struggling with, and encourages her students to correct and learn from their mistakes.
“I think Tiger Time will help in the long run for my kiddos who have holes,” Ms. Leah confesses. “Due to the pandemic, they have holes in phonics. My kids work on fluency to sound out words and they work on Powerup, as Powerup is shown to improve reading skills.”
For Mr. Genzlinger’s math class, he assigns his students to work on skill packets, tests or content that they’re struggling with, and specific skills on MyPath. The MyPath program is designed for middle school students and offers personalized and adaptive learning paths in reading and math. Skill packets are practice packets that students work on throughout the class. After you finish each skill packet, you level up to the next skill and learn the next skill. “For math, a lot of it is for skills that are essential for what you need to be at for grade level,” Mr. Genzlinger adds.
“I like when I see students that are taking ownership of their own learning and they’re not doing it for a grade,” Mr. Genzlinger admits. “They’re doing it because they know it’s gonna make them stronger in math.”
Adelina Kiseleva and Angelina Ivanova. Both 6th graders confess their enjoyment of the new class, Tiger Time.
Adelina admits that she really enjoys Tiger Time in Mrs. Leah’s classroom, especially when they work on PowerUp and tests. “I love it when Mrs. Leah encourages us to do better on tests,” expressed Adelina. “I also love it when she makes us do PowerUp, because on PowerUp there’s lots of funny videos.”
Angelina describes her experience in the new class, “I like that it’s not hard and that it’s more chill than other periods.” Angelina continued to hint at how much she enjoys how laidback both her English and math Tiger Time classes are, even when she works on her Powerup and skills packets.
Although this is the first year of having Tiger Time, the 6th grade teachers have high expectations that this class will have an impact on iReady scores and general reading and math skills. Meanwhile, the 6th grade students have been sharing their positive opinions about Tiger Time.
