School Highlights: Points of Pride:
Superintendent Allison asks for feedback from parents
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| Superintendent John Allison talks with parents during a parent engagement meeting at Heights. Photo by Susan Arensman |
Superintendent John Allison met with parents to ask for their feedback about the future of education in Wichita. Superintendent Allison hosted the first two of seven parent engagement meetings as part of his work to get to know important stakeholders in the community. The purpose of the engagement meetings is to gather feedback about issues that are important to parents and to give parents the opportunity to have an impact on the future of education in the Wichita Public Schools.
“One of the reasons why we’re a successful urban school district is our parent involvement,” Allison said.
Superintendent Allison asked parents to divide into small groups and discuss three questions: What does the Wichita Public Schools do well to educate your child; What needs to be changed in order to improve the quality of education for your child; and What do you believe the priorities should be for the Wichita Public Schools as we plan for the future?
The feedback gathered will help the district as it shapes its strategic plan for the future.
The meetings are organized by high school feeder patterns. Five parents from each school have been invited to participate in the conversation.
The remainder of the meetings will be held the end of November and beginning of December.
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High school students take part in healthy cooking show
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| Vicki Hoffman, Director of Nutrition Services, and Sarah Robertson, junior at Northwest High School, prepare a mixed berry cheesecake. Photo by Susan Arensman |
Some high school students are showing off their culinary skills by being a part of a new series of healthy meal cooking shows titled “Fit, Fast, On a Dime – Cooking with USD 259.” The shows are taped at each comprehensive high school involving students in the Family and Consumer Science classes, Gourmet Cooking or Culinary Careers classes. The students cook different healthy recipes and demonstrate cooking techniques. Students who are not on camera work behind the scenes chopping, mixing and preparing the food for the show.
“We came up with the recipes and we planned who would do the different jobs,” said Paige Murphy, junior at Northwest. Murphy demonstrated how to prepare strip steak with broiled asparagus for the show.
The shows will begin airing in December on the district’s WPS-TV cable channel on Cox 20 and AT&T U-Verse 99, and streamed on the district’s website and podcasts. The shows are being supported through a grant from the Sedgwick County Health and Wellness Coalition. The shows are to help combat increasing rates of obesity and related health problems for students, staff and community members.
“We want people to know that it’s not that difficult to prepare healthy meals even if some foods sound too fancy or expensive to prepare,” said Vicki Hoffman, Director of Nutrition Services and the show’s host. As students are demonstrating their recipes, Hoffman asks students about the food’s nutritional values, food safety, how long it takes to prepare the recipe and the cost of the ingredients.
The shows demonstrate that nutritional meals can be prepared quickly and can be an alternative to fast food.
“For many people, the biggest obstacle for cooking healthy meals at home is time,” said Shannon Krysl, Director of Employee Benefits, who helped secure the grant for the project. “The students demonstrate basic cooking techniques on how to prepare meals quickly and inexpensively.”
“The students are really enjoying being involved in this project,” Hoffman said. “Some students already want to have a career in the food industry, and this helps prepare them for the workforce. Others want to be the next Rachel Ray or Iron Chef.”
The shows are taped by the district’s Media Productions Department. At some high schools, the students enrolled in TV Production classes have helped with the taping. One show will be taped at each comprehensive high school during the fall semester and another show at each school will be taped during the spring semester.
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H1N1 vaccination clinics will be held at four schools
The Sedgwick County Health Department has notified the Wichita Public Schools it has 2,000 doses of the H1N1 vaccine for clinics at Benton, Kensler, McCollom and Peterson on Friday, November 13. The vaccine will be available to students and to staff who are pregnant at those schools only. Half of the doses available will be the mist and half will be by injection.
It will not be mandatory for any student to receive the H1N1 vaccine; the school clinics merely offer the vaccine in the most convenient place possible for one of the priority vaccine groups.
A packet of information, including the permission slip for students to be able to receive the vaccine, will be distributed to schools when they are notified of the clinic dates. A ParentLink message will also be sent out to families to remind them of the clinic dates.
Future dates for vaccination clinics at other schools have not been determined. Much will depend on when vaccines will be delivered to the Sedgwick County Health Department and the amount of vaccine that is received. Dates for the clinics will be provided to the schools as soon as the district receives notification.
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Employees donate more than $250,000 to United Way
The Wichita Public Schools’ employees continue to give to the United Way and the Friendship Fund. The total amount pledged for the 2009-20010 school year is $254,245, a pledge decrease of $9,729 from last year.
"We are down a bit from last year’s record-number of employee donations, but considering the economy and many employees’ financial situations, I am very pleased," said Eldon Chlumsky, coordinator of the district's United Way/Friendship Fund. "Our employees continue to show their support which is outstanding. I want to thank them all."
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Washington kids color with Miss America and Miss Kansas
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| Miss Kansas Becki Ronen talks with a Washington student about how she colored the book's cover. |
Kindergarten and first-grade students at Washington Elementary had two special guests visit them. Miss America Katie Stam and Miss Kansas Becki Ronen visited with students about their jobs, how much they travel and the importance of community service.
Ronen unveiled a coloring book she created titled "Sally and Sammy Enjoy the Arts," which will soon be available across the state. The money raised from her coloring book will be used to support the Miss Kansas scholarship program. One of Ronen's focuses as Miss Kansas is the importance of art programs in schools. The coloring book's theme shows how music and art help children learn and grow.
Each student received their own copy of the coloring book. Miss America and Miss Kansas colored with the students.
"One of my favorite things to do as a kid was to color," Ronen said. "To be able to hand out a coloring book that I wrote with a friend and to see children having fun coloring in it is really exciting for me."
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| Miss America Katie Stam gives a student a high-five. Photos by Susan Arensman |
Stam talked to students about the importance of recycling, which is one of the causes she supports as Miss America.
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West students have "White Out" for drunk driving
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| West students wear white on their faces to represent victims of drunk driving. Photo by Susan Arensman |
Some students in West High School's SADD club gave others a visual reminder about the dangers of driving under the influence of alcohol. West had a "White Out" day during Red Ribbon Week. Debbie Hinkel, counselor and SADD sponsor, dressed as the Grim Reaper and would walk into classes unannounced throughout the day and would take a student out of class. Once the student was chosen, they painted their faces white and didn't speak to anyone the rest of the day. The students wore a sign around their necks saying they represent one of 22,000 people who die each year by the hands of a drunk driver. At the end of the day, the students lined up outside by the bus loading area to show how many people are lost due to drinking and driving.
"It sends a very powerful message," Hinkel said. "This is especially emotional since we have two staff members and one student who have had family members killed by drunk drivers."
"We just want to remind our students to make good decisions. And they are very respectful of that."
Twenty-seven students and three staff members were involved. This is the third year West has had a White Out day.
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Open enrollment for employee benefits ends November 12
Online open enrollment for employee benefits goes until November 12. Every benefited employee must enroll online or will not receive coverage for 2010. Employees can enroll in the health plan or cash option, add or remove dependants, change beneficiaries, and enroll in Flex Spending. Employees who choose the cash option must also enroll to continue receiving cash option payments.
New this year, employees can enroll in the Health Plan – Wellness Credit, which will waive the health insurance premium if employees participate in four wellness activities between September 2008 and December 2009. Employees can also choose the Health Plan – Annual Premium ($240) if employees have not completed four wellness activities.
Click here to view highlights of the health care plan.
Employees can enroll from work or at home by going to Risk Management's website. Click here for step by step instructions on how to enroll.
Those who need help enrolling online can come to room 709 in the Alvin Morris Administrative Center, 201 N. Water, during the enrollment period.
For more information, contact Risk Management at riskmanagement@usd259.net.
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Koch mini-grant applications due Nov. 12
The deadline for applying for Koch Foundation mini-grants is approaching. The Koch Foundation’s special gift to the Education EDGE provides Focus Grants to be utilized on Economic Education, Environmental Education, and Social Studies/History Education, and also require partnerships with designated agencies listed in the Request for Application (RFA). The application package can be downloaded from the Grants & Development Services Portal site. Applications are due Thursday, November 12 at 4:45 p.m.
For additional information, please contact Russell Miller at 973-7945 or rmiller@usd259.net.
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Check Employee Directories for possible missing pages
There are concerns about possible missing pages in some employee directories. There was a problem with the printing and binding of some of the new employee directories and several employees received books that were missing pages or had pages double printed in the Active Employee section. A few other employees received books that were not fully bound.
Employees who received books with missing or double pages can send their directories via Interschool Mail to Marketing and Communications, AMAC 525, before Nov. 18 and receive a replacement.
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District taking donations for Turkey Drive
There’s a call for turkeys, at least the frozen ones. The Wichita Public Schools will again participate in the annual Open Door United Ministries’ and B98 FM Turkey Drive on Friday, November 20. The Alvin Morris Administrative Center, 201 N. Water, will be the drop off site for 6 – 9:30 a.m. District volunteers and JROTC cadets will be stationed along Water Street to take the donations of frozen turkeys or money.
The assistant superintendents have issued a friendly challenge among grade levels to see which schools can collect the most turkeys. High schools won the competition last year.
This is the fourth year the district will participate in the Turkey Drive. Last year, the district collected 1,169 turkeys, $9,012 in monetary donations, along with hundreds of canned goods.
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Four recognized for their support of P.E.
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| From left, Karla Stenzel, P.E. teaching specialist; David Hinton, Isely; Vicki Worrell, AAHPERD President and KAHPERD Executive Director; Kim Morrissey, Dodge and Brenda Bowman, Levy. Photo courtesy Karla Stenzel |
Four district employees were recognized by the Kansas Association of Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance during the Association's annual awards banquet on October 31 for their strong and continuous support of physical education.
Karla Stenzel, College Hill and P.E. teaching specialist, received the Vicki Worrell Service Award for her leadership with P.E. programs. David Hinton, Isely, received the Graduated Student of the Year, Research Award. Kim Morrissey, Dodge, received Elementary Teacher of the Year Award and Brenda Bowman, Levy, received the Adaptive Teacher of the Year Award for her work with students with special needs.
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Art teachers showcase their talents
Wichita Public Schools’ art teachers will showcase their talents during a special art exhibit titled “Sharing Visions.” The USD 259 Faculty Art Exhibit opening reception is Friday, Nov. 13, 5 – 8 p.m. at The Fiber Studio, 418 S. Commerce (south of the Intrust Bank Arena). There will also be a Final Friday reception on November 27, 7 – 10 p.m.
Artwork viewing between the two receptions can be made by appointment only. To schedule an appointment, contact Marilyn Grisham, gallery owner, at 303-1996.
For more information, email Tina Murano, art teaching specialist.
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