Lake County Gazette

Seventh-grade students at Zion Central Middle School (ZCMS) are using virtual reality headsets to enhance their classroom experience. Through immersive lessons, students can interact with educational content in a new way, making learning more hands-on.

The initiative is part of efforts within Zion Elementary School District 6, which serves Lake County and includes Beulah Park Elementary School, East Elementary School, Elmwood Elementary School, Lakeview School, Shiloh Park Elementary School, West Elementary School, and Zion Central Middle School. More information about the district’s schools can be found at https://www.illinoisreportcard.com/.

According to the Illinois State Board of Education, the district employs 164 teachers with an average salary of $58,629 before pension contributions. The teaching staff is comprised of 83.3 percent women and 16.7 percent men. The district also reports that none of its teachers have more than ten absences in a school year. These details are available at https://www.illinoisreportcard.com/.

Demographically, Zion Elementary School District 6 consists of approximately 4.9 percent White students, 36.6 percent Black students, 50.9 percent Hispanic students, and 0.2 percent Asian students (https://www.illinoisreportcard.com/).

In terms of spending, the district allocated $27,927 per student in 2020 for a total expenditure of $69,342,294 as reported by state data at https://www.illinoisreportcard.com/.

The use of virtual reality technology at ZCMS reflects ongoing efforts to introduce innovative teaching methods in local schools.