Science Olympiad with Chastain Middle School’s Team
I spent Friday at the Science Olympiad on USM’s campus with the Chastain Middle School team. Once again, our team members had a great time, shuttling between events, enjoying fascinating displays, playing soccer on the grounds, and visiting Starbucks, Barnes & Noble and the gameroom.
My third son became the second in the family to participate in the “tower” event. The big question was whether this original design would hold all the sand.
The sand went in at a steady pace.
Perspiration.
more sand!
Congrats! and Phew!
M.E., enjoying the static ball.
A cool part of the electronics display.
Julie and M.E. keep a fan blowing by keeping the electricity flowing by touching.
S., back from her first event, talking with J., who came along with her mom, Sherrye Biglow, the Chastain Science Olympiad Coach.
C. telling her Dad, Raymond, about the terrific job her team did in the Experimental Design event. Congrats to C., M.E., and R., for their third place medal.
Last minute adjustments to the bottle rocket. C. and A. made a good showing, especially with their spare rocket!
More duct tape.
S. having some downtime after two back-to-back events with J. Congrats to S. and J. for their third place medal in Rocks and Minerals.
C. and A. getting ready for launch.
T., S., and J. watching the bottle rocket competition.
The spare rocket outperformed the pretty one.
A bunch of the boys played soccer for a hour in the afternoon. Then, D had a round with J.
The day is done.
Julie took this of me with her phone. I was knitting the time away in the holding room.
Beginning a Fortnight of Competitions
‘Tis the season of school competitions. I drove to the Coast for the State Science Fair on Tuesday and spent much of today at Hardy Middle School for the semi-finals of the Middle School Challenge Bowl Competition.
Here is G, my eldest, a junior, with two Murrah teammates, both Seniors.
With their teacher/coach, Mr. Jeffrey Stokes.
The Chastain Middle School Challenge Bowl team on stage at Hardy Middle School after defeating Northwest Middle School in a second round match. My youngest, D, is at far left.
Full team, including alternates, with Mrs. Roberta Hagler, teacher and coach.
Kicking himself for a missed answer. Crater Lake, maybe? Mt. Hood?
Growing Patterns will be on Touch Tonight on Fox TV
Tonight is the re-premiere for Touch on Fox TV. In the episode which airs tonight, Arthur Teller (played by Danny Glover) uses Growing Patterns: Fibonacci Numbers in Nature to help Martin Bohm (Kiefer Sutherland) understand the complicated, number-based way his son Jake (David Mazouz) sees the world.
During the show, I’ll be on Twitter, answering questions about Fibonacci numbers. Follow me on @campsarah or follow @Highlights.
Visit to Saltillo Elementary
I spent two days last week at Saltillo Elementary School, visiting with all 4th grade students and leading a professional development session for teachers grades 3-5.
Everyone was very friendly and helped me work through a few technical glitches. Thank you, Maggie Dickson, fourth grade project director; Faye Bruce, librarian; Gena Yarbrough, district art specialist; Belinda McKinion, assistant principal; and Coke Magee, principal.
The students asked great questions, and were wonderful guides through the school as I made my way from classroom to classroom to sign books.
Once again, I brought along a wolfsnail and some prey snails. I also debuted the wolfsnail app in its trial format. The kids loved seeing the snail video.
Several teachers took the pictures I am posting here. Thank you.
Commission Sets Hearing for JPS to Make Case For Accreditation
Recent efforts to improve performance of the Jackson Public School‘s department of special education are beginning to bear fruit, according to Ms. Ann Moore, Associate Superintendent for Special Education for the Mississippi Department of Education.
Moore told members of the Mississippi Commission on School Accreditation that JPS had initially been resistant to the state department‘s technical support teams. “They are working with us now,” she said.
Moore credited Dr. Jayne Sargent, the interim superintendent of JPS, for the turnaround, saying the previous superintendent’s administration had been uncooperative.
When Ms. H. Ann Jones, a commission member and retired educator, asked about whether Moore’s department had had a recent follow-up visit, Ms. Moore said she is expecting a new report from JPS today and her office will schedule a visit after reviewing the report.
The commission voted today to set an April 26 hearing for Jackson Public Schools to present a case for keeping its accreditation.
The district has been out of compliance with federal rules regarding special education since November 2010. JPS also remains out of compliance in two other areas: financial reporting and compulsory school attendance. (These issues date to September 2011; if not cleared within 12 months, a hearing process could be triggered.)
Mr. Blake Wilson, a commission member and president of the Mississippi Economic Council, asked the state department of education staff to make public on the internet the information that the commission was given, including a timeline of letters of noncompliance, correspondence with JPS, follow-up visits, etc. The attorney advising the commission responded that the staff would do that, if it was legal and promised to check.
No JPS official spoke at the meeting. The only issue before the commission was whether to set a hearing date.
Madison Avenue Upper Elementary Visit
I had a lovely time on Friday at Madison Avenue Upper Elementary School, visiting with third and fourth graders. The star of the show was the wolfsnail I brought along. A few dozen students would have taken it home in a heartbeat.
Ansleigh Thornhill, the MAUE media specialist, took the photographs for this post. Thank you for inviting me, Ansleigh.
