School Highlights: Points of Pride:
Two teachers receive Kansas Horizon Award
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| Leslianne Craft |
Leslianne Craft, math teacher at Stucky Middle School, and Kara Maxwell, third-grade teacher at Gardiner Elementary, received the 2007 Kansas Horizon Award from the Kansas Department of Education. The Kansas Horizon Award recognizes teachers who do an exemplary job their first year of teaching. To be eligible, teachers must have successfully completed their first year of teaching and have distinguished themselves as outstanding.
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| Kara Maxwell |
As a recipient of the Kansas Horizon Award, they have been invited to join the Kansas Exemplary Educators Network (KEEN). KEEN is a network of educators from across the state, allowing teachers to share ideas with other teachers and to participate in a number of professional development programs.
Craft and Maxwell were also selected in the Wichita Public Schools 2006 Distinguished Classroom Teacher Awards in the New Teacher, secondary and elementary categories this past spring.
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Northeast student receives Gore Scholarship
Rami Zayed, senior at Northeast Magnet High School, is the recipient of the Harry Gore Memorial Scholarship from Wichita State University. The scholarship is given to students who show outstanding potential for leadership and recognizes academic skills. The $48,000 scholarship is the largest undergraduate scholarship in Kansas. The announcement was made Dec. 7.
Zayed is Vice President of the school's National Honors Society, on Northeast's Executive Council, on the Superintendent's Student Advisory Council, and is active with Science Olympiad. He also works with Big Brothers and Big Sisters and is a coach for Biddy Basketball.
During the scholarship announcement, Zayed thanked his family for their support and recognized science teacher Alan Schmidt. Zayed said Schmidt is his favorite teacher and has inspired and challenged him throughout high school.
Zayed wants to study biology and pre-med and his goal is to pursue a career in the medical field.
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Fall Good Apple recipients recognized
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| Good Apple recipients walk into Stucky Middle School's auditorium to be recognized at the Good Apple Awards ceremony on December 4. Northeast Magnet High School JROTC Cadets raised sabers in their honor. Photo by Susan Arensman |
More than 300 people, representing 60 schools, support centers and business partners were recognized on December 4 for receiving the Good Apple Award. The Board of Education recognized the recipients during a special ceremony at Stucky Middle School. This was the largest participation by buildings for the winter recognition ever. The Good Apple Awards program allows schools and administrative support centers to recognize employees, volunteers and school partners who go the extra step in helping the school district and its students to succeed.
A list of the Good Apple recipients and photos of the event can be viewed by clicking here.
The spring Good Apple Awards recognition will be April 16 at Northwest High School.
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Students and staff selected for All-City Teams
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| All-City Football – First Team Offensive |
High school student athletes and coaches have been selected for the Greater Wichita Athletic League All-City Team in their respective sports. The members of the All-City Teams are selected by the head coaches based upon the players and performances throughout the recently completed season.
GWAL All-City Football – First Team Offensive
Front row from left: Zach Steffen, Bishop Carroll; Frank Delarune, Kapaun; Doug White, Southeast; Bryce Brown, East
Second row from left: Dexter Carr, Northwest; Bayley Scott, Heights; Jared Hart, Southeast; Daley Gunter, Heights; Ryan Wilken, Northwest
Back row from left: Coach Rick Wheeler, Heights; Cameron Kasel, Heights; Malik Jaradat, Heights; Rico Huggins,
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| All-City Football – First Team Defensive |
East; Chaz Butler, West; Chris Harper, Northwest
GWAL All-City Football – First Team Defensive
Front row from left: Mitch Arnold, Bishop Carroll; Matt Truman, Kapaun
Second row from left: Tyler Goering, Northwest; Justin Hicks, East; Kevin Rohleder, Bishop Carroll; Garian Thomas, Heights; Wilbert Hutton, Southeast
Back row from left: Coach Rick Wheeler, Heights; Anthony Naylor, Bishop Carroll; Garret Seiler, Bishop Carroll; Tysyn Hartman, Kapaun; Andy Jonas, Bishop Carroll; Armand Woodard, East; Arthur Brown, East
Not pictured: TJ Shine, South
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| All City Volleyball – First Team |
GWAL All City Volleyball – First Team
Front row from left: Chelsey Schumacher, Kapaun; Kylie Deneen, Heights; Missy Troilo, Bishop Carroll; Coach Rita Mernagh, Bishop Carroll
Back row from left: Chelsie Bonds, Southeast; Abby Gruenbacher, Bishop Carroll; Jenna Kaiser, Kapaun; Victoria Green, Bishop Carroll
GWAL All City Soccer – First Team
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All City Soccer – First Team
Photos by Lacey Cruse |
Front row from left: Mitch Welty, Northwest; Zach Watkins, Northwest; Nick Jacks, Northwest; David Dao, Southeast; Clay Crandon, Heights; Nick Palmer, Kapun
Back row from left: Kyle Smith, Heights; Scott Rethorst, Southeast; Alex Clark, Kapaun; John McGreevy, Kapaun; Anthony Cantele, Kapaun; Coach Jack Geist, Kapaun
To see rosters, team photos and individual photos of the All-City athletes, click here.
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Middle school students collect thousands of toys
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| Students at Pleasant Valley, Hamilton and Mead Middle Schools unload a semi-trailer full of toys they collected for Toys for Tots. Photo by Susan Arensman |
Students from five middle schools collected more than 8,000 toys for Toys for Tots. Students from Pleasant Valley, Hamilton, Truesdell, Mead and Wells donated 8,473 toys. The toys were delivered by a large moving van to the drop-off site at 21st and Maize Road on Dec. 1. Students from Pleasant Valley, Hamilton and Mead helped with the delivery.
Pleasant Valley Middle School students kicked off their annual Toys for Tots drive on Oct. 26. The drive was conducted by the school's Leadership and AVID programs. This year, the students worked with Leadership programs from other middle schools to collect toys. Pleasant Valley collected 6,010 toys, Hamilton collected 1,001 toys, Truesdell collected 1,200 toys, Mead collected 234 toys and Wells collected 32 toys.
This is the sixth year for Pleasant Valley's toy drive, which was organized by Pleasant Valley Middle School paraeducator Sharon Hazelwood, Leadership Instructor Capt. Andy Trager and Wichita Police Officer Kevin Hazelwood.
Choices Fair is January 9
The 18th annual Wichita Public Schools' Choices Fair will be held January 9, 2007, 5 – 8 p.m. at Century II Exhibition Hall. Representatives from magnet schools, elementary, middle and high schools, special programs and a variety of district offices will be available to visit with parents about the educational options they have for their children. The Choices Fair gives parents and students the opportunity for “one-stop shopping” to see which school or program best meets their child’s education needs.
An additional mini fair is scheduled for parents who cannot attend the Choices Fair at Century II:
Little Early Childhood Center
1613 Piatt
Monday, December 18
9 – 11:30 a.m., 12:30 – 2:30 p.m.
More information about the Choices Fair and the magnet schools can be found here.
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GYOT helps others become teachers
High school students and Wichita Public Schools employees who are interested in pursuing teaching careers are encouraged to apply for the Grow Your Own Teacher (GYOT) scholarship program. The application deadline is Jan. 31, 2007 at 4:45 p.m.
The GYOT program provides financial assistance in the form of forgivable loans to outstanding high school graduates or Wichita district employees who want to become teachers. Students in the GYOT program can work toward a teaching degree either at Wichita State University, Friends University, Newman University or Southwestern College. The program also includes mentor support, work experiences and assistance with job placement after becoming certified.
High school teachers, counselors and principals can encourage students, paraeducators and tutors to get involved in the GYOT program.
For more information or for a scholarship application, call 973-4620 or click here.
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Retirement Seminar and Financial Fair is January 23
Employees are invited to learn about different ways to save for their retirement during the district’s Retirement Seminar and Financial Fair, Jan. 23, 5 – 7 p.m., at North High School. The presentation is for all district employees.
Representatives from KPERS and Social Security will be present and information will also be shared about the district's bridge. There will also be representatives present from the 457 Plan and the 403(b) Plans to answer investment questions.
For more information, contact Risk Management at 973-4581 or riskmanagement@usd259.net.
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District information moves to one cable channel
The programming on Wichita Public Schools’ three cable channels will be moved to one channel, Schoolhouse 20, beginning Dec. 12. Cox Communications and the district agreed to the change to help Cox make the best use of their available cable TV programming bandwidth. All local school district TV programs that were on channels 17 and 21 will shift to Schoolhouse 20. The weekly programming schedule can be found at www.usd259.com/news/cable.
Programs on Schoolhouse 20 will remain the same, including School News, High School Games of the Week, Googolplex, Board of Education Meetings and Battle of the Books. Selected programming from Channels 17 and 21 programming will also be found on Schoolhouse 20. Between the Lions airs weekdays except Wednesday at 5:00 pm. Sesame Street airs weekdays at 5:30 pm. Classic Arts Showcase will air on Fridays 5 – 7 a.m. and Sundays at 1 – 5 a.m. Annenberg programming can be viewed online at www.learner.org.
Many of the district’s original programs can be viewed from the district’s website www.usd259.com/news/streaming.
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Buckner nominated for 2007 Blue Ribbon
Buckner Performing Arts Magnet has been nominated for the 2006-2007 National No Child Left Behind – Blue Ribbon Schools Program by the Kansas Department of Education. The nomination letter was given to the U.S. Department of Education last week. The final selection of Blue Ribbon Schools for 2007 will be made in September 2007.
The Blue Ribbon Schools Program selects schools in two categories: schools that show dramatic improvement in test scores in the past three years with at least 40 percent of their students from disadvantaged backgrounds, and schools whose students achieve in the top 10 percent. Buckner qualified for the nomination in both categories, qualifiying in the top 10 percent of the state with at least 40 percent disadvantaged students.
Horace Mann Dual Language Magnet and Earhart Enviornmental Magnet have received the Blue Ribbon recognition in the past.
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Two principals honored for support of P.E.
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| Photo courtesy Rhonda Holt |
Pam Klos, principal at Lawrence Elementary, and Keith Wilson, principal at Curtis Middle School, were recognized by the Kansas Association of Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance during the Association's annual awards banquet on Nov. 2. Both were named KAHPERD Administrator of the Year for their strong and continuous support of physical education.
According to Blake Taylor, physical education teacher at Lawrence, Klos has been instrumental in supporting activities that promote physical activity during the school day. She uses physical activity to reward students for their academic success every nine weeks, has implemented intramural programs during lunch recess and continues to look for ways to give her students time to play, exercise and have fun.
Curtis' physical education teachers, say Wilson has always been willing to help promote physical education by coming into the gym when possible for activities such as Hoops for Heart, Step It Up, National Physical Education and Sports Week.
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Nine teachers receive grants from Credit Union of America
Nine teachers have received grants from Credit Union of America, ranging from $350 to $500 to support them with their classroom projects. The recipients are Michelle Wilkes, Park; Sandy Peer, Northwest; Kelly Mackey, Washington; Teralyn Cohn, Southeast; Kathleen Hanley, North; Jewel Murdock, College Hill; Julia Duggin, Colvin; Kelli Miller, Buckner and Holly Taylor, Emerson.
The grants are part of CUA’s Teachers Grants…Ideas Financed (TGIF) program. Grant requests can be submitted by mail or by completing the application at www.cuofamerica.com. These grant requests detail how the funds will be applied, how many students will be reached and what results the teacher anticipates from the program.
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