Recently the Excelsior Springs School Board met and agreed to make updates for students regarding the district’s curriculum. Assistant Superintendent, Dr. Melissa Miller, proposed a new comprehensive literacy plan following Senate Bill 681 be implemented for the 2023-2024 school year. Senate Bill 681 section 161.241 was established in 2022 when the State Board of Education collaborated with the Coordinating Board for Higher Education and the Commissioner’s Literacy Advisory Council to devise a plan improving literacy for Missouri schools. Based on the legislation, Miller explained the new curriculum would consist of adding sound walls for classes kindergarten through second grade. Sound walls would consist of a wall with visual vowels and consonants for students to match sounds of words with letters and to practice reading out loud. “Phonics are the foundation of everything in literacy,” Miller said. “It’s no different from how some of us were taught how to read.” The new…