School Highlights: Points of Pride:
Schools chip in to help the people of Haiti
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| From left, OK Principal Stacey Hall, Larry and Sherry Cunningham, Huber Maintenance Supply present a check for $1,400 to Marci Hawks from the American Red Cross. |
Students and staff across the district donated their spare change and their spare time to help support earthquake relief efforts in Haiti. Many schools held penny drives to be donated to the Red Cross. At OK Elementary, the school held a "Coins from Kansas" drive during the last week of January and collected $746. OK's partner, Huber Maintenance Supply, also contributed to the school's amount. OK and Huber Maintenance presented a $1,400 check to the Red Cross.
Irving Elementary's Caring Coins drive asked students to donate their change. Students could also donate $1 to not wear their school uniform for a day. Irving collected $1,923.56 for the Red Cross. Tamera Wedel's second-grade class collected the most money, $157, and won a pizza party.
Riverside Leadership Magnet had a "Hundred for Haiti" collection during the last week of January. The goal was to have each class raise one hundred dollars. The students raised $2,216.80 for the American Red Cross in one week.
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| Language Arts teacher Brian Horn and some Mead Middle School students who participated in "I Heart Haiti" day. |
Throughout February, Harry Street Elementary is collecting Box Tops for Education. The proceeds will be donated to the Red Cross at the end of the month.
On February 1, Mead Middle School held an "I Heart Haiti" day. The school sold I "heart" Haiti buttons for students and staff to wear. Students who made donations were able to dress out of uniform during the day. The school raised $1,146, exceeding the school's $1,000 goal.
"We hope this activity will inspire our students to act the next time something like this happens in the world where people need our help," said Brian Horn, Language Arts teacher and one of the event's organizers.
Mead's student council will research different organizations to decide where to donate the money.
Many Mead teachers had lessons that centered on Haiti, including comparing different poems written about Haiti in Language Arts classes, studying earthquakes in science and learning about the Haitian culture in social studies.
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Allison Traditional Magnet students put together health kits to help the people of Haiti. Photos by Susan Arensman |
Students and staff also donated their time to assist in relief efforts. Staff at Enterprise Elementary helped package food for Numana at the Kansas Coliseum. The staff wore their school shirts to show their school spirit and the school's desire to help. Twenty-seven students at Jackson Elementary helped with Numana's one million meals goal by packaging food at Wichita State University's Metroplex. The students and teachers packaged 5,216 meals in an hour.
At Allison Traditional Magnet, students assembled health kits to be delivered to people in Haiti. Students and staff donated items including washcloths, combs, soap, toothbrushes and bandages to be placed in the kits. Science teacher Lorrie Donham worked with students volunteers to put the kits together during their lunch recess. The school donated 60 kits and $62.50 to the United Methodist Commission on Relief (UMCOR).
"I feel it's important to help others," said Hailey Person, eighth-grade student at Allison. "If I was in a situation like that, I'd want others to help me."
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Future educators participate in College Career Fair
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| Photo by Shelly Martin |
High school students who are interested in becoming teachers participated in the third Future Educators of America College Career Fair, held February 1 at the Instructional Support Center. Fourteen colleges of education were represented. Students were able to get information about their post-secondary options and arrange campus visits.
Superintendent John Allison was the keynote speaker to talk to students about the importance of becoming a teacher.
Future Educators of America has clubs at all seven comprehensive high schools and Northeast Magnet. The district has received a grant to allow all comprehensive high schools to offer a class called Training Tomorrow’s Teachers Today. With more teachers nearing retirement age, the district wants future teachers to think about the profession early.
The colleges and universities represented were Baker University, Butler Community College, Cowley College, Emporia State University, Ft. Hays State University, Friends University, Hesston College, Hutchinson Community College, Kansas State University, Newman University, Pittsburg State University, Southwestern College, Sterling College and Wichita State University.
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Purchase software and computers at a discount
Wichita Public Schools' students and staff have the opportunity to purchase Microsoft software and staff can purchase Dell computers at a discount.
With a special license agreement with Microsoft, the Wichita Public Schools is able to offer its students, teachers, and staff a selected number of Microsoft software titles at significant discounts. To purchase the software, go to the software center website. Choose either the student or faculty tab at the top of the page. Register for an account using your district email address or student ID or report card. To go to the software center, click here.
Employees can purchase Dell Dimension desktops and Inspiron notebook systems for up to 6% off. The Wichita Public Schools has teamed up with Dell to provide the discount to employees. More information on how to purchase the computers is on the Marketing and Communications portal site.
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Mayberry students test robots against ESU students
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| Mayberry students compete in a robotics contest against students at Emporia State University. Photo courtesy Mayberry |
Students in John Loos' physics class at Mayberry Cultural and Fine Arts Magnet participated in a robotics competition against students at Emporia State University. The project, titled "Mission to Mars," had Mayberry students and elementary education majors at Emporia State develop their own remote-controlled robots similar to the Mars Rover. The teams competed to capture billiard balls on an obstacle course. The students had to communicate with their teammates in different ways in order to move the robots to where they needed to go.
The Emporia State students designed and developed the curriculum that was used in the competition.
The students who participated in the event are Grant Apsley, Imani Baker, Mariah Barnes, Briniya Bleier, Stephanie Bock, Cody Brooks, Dessire Doyle, Zachary Drinkwater, Pierre Fabela, Cale Gubitz, Dominic Hoheisel, Rain Jeffery, Harrison Koppenhaver, Robert Loos, Daniel Mathiasen, Nicholas Miller, Zachary Mitchell, Zacariah Moeller, Zachary Myrtle, Sarah Penix, Jacklyn Raymond, Ryan Sinness, and Ashija Washington.
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Horace Mann families enjoy math and reading games
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| Horace Mann students participate in computer math games. Photo courtesy Horace Mann |
Students and parents enjoyed playing many different games during the school's Family Activity Night. Families played math games using decks of cards and math packets provided by the school. They also took the games home to reinforce their math skills after school. Families had opportunities to play language arts activities. The students enjoyed the Cookie Monster Challenge Taste Test, where they tried cookies and voted on which one tasted the best.
The school had its highest turnout so far for one of its family activities.
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Last Health Fair date is February 13
The last date of the district's Health Fair is February 13, 7 – 11 a.m. at South High School. Blood tests will be offered for free for benefited employees, spouses and retirees who participate in the district's self-funded health plan. Employees not on the health plan may participate for $30.
The Health Fair will include a blood draw which checks for HDL and LDL cholesterol, triglycerides and glucose. Employees are asked not to eat anything after midnight the day before. There will also be wellness vendors and activities for children.
For additional information, please contact Risk Management at 973-4581 or riskmanagement@usd259.net.
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School Heart activities count as wellness credit
Employees can earn a wellness credit if they participate in Jump Rope for Heart or Hoops For Heart at their school or child's school. Employees can talk to their school's P.E. teachers about helping with the activity. If your school is not holding an event, talk to the principal about becoming an event coordinator. Besides raising money for the American Heart Association, the school receives P.E. equipment and educational resources about health physical activity.
To learn more about how you can assist or participate, click here.
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Education EDGE mini-grant applications available
Applications for the spring Education EDGE Classroom Mini-Grants are now being accepted. Teachers can be awarded up to $1,500 for a classroom mini-grant and teams can apply for up to $5,000. The Request for Application (RFA) package can be downloaded from the Grants & Development Services Portal site or from the district website.
To assist with developing a fundable proposal, Grants and Development Services are offering two workshops to give assistance. Workshops will be held at Focht Instructional Support Center, February 11 and February 23 in room 200N from 4:30-6 p.m. Teachers can sign up on MyLearningPlan.
Applications are due by 4:45 p.m. on Tuesday, March 23. Announcement of awards will be made in May for implementation in the 2010-11 school year.
For more information, or for assistance downloading the RFA, contact Grants & Development Services Office at 973-7945.
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Students receive Scholastic Art Awards
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| "Bethany" by Bethany McCoy, Jardine, Gold Key |
Several high school and middle school students throughout the district were recognized for their artistic abilities with the 2010 Scholastic Art Awards.
The highest award is the American Vision Award, which represents Best in Show. Thomas Murillo, Northeast Magnet, was one of five students across the state to receive the award.
Gold Key winners are: Jocelyne Garcia, Brooks; Bethany McCoy, Jardine; Jessica Rodriguez-Garza, Heights; Cynthia Barragan, North; Thomas Murillo, Jackie Nguyen, Jamie Fuller, Minh-Tri Vo, Ricardo Flores, and TJ Waterman, Northeast; Kaitlyn Meyer, Northwest; and Garret Douglas and Kayla Clark, West. Nguyen, Murillo, Flores and Waterman received multiple Gold Key Awards for different pieces of work.
The Silver Key winners are: Benjamin Arevalo and Naomi Banta, Allison; Ricardo Flores, Thomas Murillo, Thuy Dinh, Northeast; Elizabeth Fanning, Kaycee Anderson, Elizabeth Ringgold, Devon Gibbons and Emily Morgan, Northwest; and Jesse Alome, South.
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| "Circular Teapot" by Jessica Rodriguez-Garza, Heights, Gold Key |
Those receiving Honorable Mention are: Cristin Vitkus, Brooks; Chelsey Erskin, Minh-Tri Vo, Thuy Dinh, Olivia Orozco and TJ Waterman, Northeast; Kia Lipps, Northwest; Ava Woody, South; and Cassandra Boggs, West.
General accepted entries are: Dylan Gates and Emily Goulette, Allison; Jefry Ramirez, Lucinda Nguyen, Victoria Arzola, Brooks; Juan Macias, Jardine; Hanna Tritschler and Kayte Monk, Heights; Carlee Hicks, Jenna Evans, Lydia Harris, Allison Schmidt, North; Ricardo Flores, Riley Cleary, TJ Waterman, Thomas Murillo, Alex Downey, Olivia Orozco and Thuy Dinh, Northeast; Kaycee Anderson, Elizabeth Ringgold, Eythan Rodgers and Shelby Huxtable, Northwest; Coleton Stitt and Sierra Hickey, South; Nancy Seang, Southeast; Josue Rios, and Cassandra Boggs, West.
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| "Bukett" by Thomas Murillo, Northeast Magnet, Gold Key. Photos by Phyllis Rowley |
They are students of art teachers Janet VanEpps, Allison; Jaelyn Briggs, Brooks; Julie Bogner, Jardine; David Self, Heights; Don Smith and Tara Walker, North; Cheryl Lindstrom, Jenny Long and Veronica Remaly, Northeast; Andrea Corcoran, Tiffany Johnson and Craig Klinedinst, Northwest; Mathew Buckingham, Jennifer Regier and Gwen Saville, South; Gina Gieser, Southeast; and Kevin Kelly, West.
The Scholastic Art and Writing Awards is the oldest, and most prestigious recognition program for creative teenagers in the United States. Each work is reviewed by a panel of arts professionals for originality, technical skill, and an emergence of professional vision and voice.
The students’ artwork is on display at the Wichita Center for the Arts, 9112 E. Central, until February 21. Gallery hours are Tuesday through Sunday, 1-5 p.m. For tour scheduling or more information, please call 634-2787 ext. 18 or visit the Wichita Center for the Arts website.
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Beech receives gift from McConnell
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| Laquita Lugrand, Beech Elementary principal, accepts Cambells labels from Joan Countee, Store Director at McConnell. Photo courtesy Beech |
Students at Beech Elementary received a nice gift from the McConnell Air Force Base Commissary. It donated five 5,000-point certificates from the Cambell's Labels for Education Program to assist with obtaining free educational items to be used in classrooms. The gift totals 25,000 points.
The Commissary Store Director presented the label points to Beech's principal, Laquita Lugrand, during a special presentation on the base.
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