 The D-Link
An E-Newsletter for the DASD Community
December 9, 2011- Vol 4, Issue 9 |
This issue of the D-Link is brought to you by i9Sports
i9 Sports is proud to support the Downingtown Area School District
Spring Flyer....More Information below! |
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| A Message from Superintendent Mussoline | |
 On Tuesday, December 13, 2012, a delegation from the Hebei Province in China will arrive for a two-day visit to the Downingtown Area School District. Eight educators, representing four schools in the Province will meet with teachers and principals at Springton Manor Elementary School, Downingtown Middle School, Lionville Middle School and the Downingtown STEM Academy. I will be escorting my counterpart, Li Chang, an officer from the Provincial education department, on a tour of the district.
Heibei has a population of 70 million and over 4,000 high schools. While the central government oversees the implementation, policies and financial budgets of each school district, individual schools and principals have a high level of autonomy in interpreting the government's policy.
The Chinese guests will visit four of our Downingtown schools where they will have the opportunity to sit in on classes, ask questions of both teachers and students and meet informally with the staff during the lunch hour. The delegation will also attend the Downingtown Middle School Holiday Concert in the evening.
This is the first visit in what is hoped to be a continuing partnership between Downingtown Schools and schools in the Heibei Province. The purpose of the visit is to show the visiting teachers a variety of instructional processes that foster creativity. Future goals include an an exchange of teachers - sending a group pf DASD educators to teach a semester in Heibei while offering Heibei teachers the opportunity to spend a term with our students.
Dr. Lawrence Mussoline
Superintendent |
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| Community Bulletin Board | |
 Many nonprofit, charitable organizations provide important opportunities for district students to learn and grow through events, classes and other programs. Since our students are in school a limited number of hours each week we wamted to provide our families with information about some of these great activities.
The district's new online community bulletin board will provide a place for non-profit organizations to provide information for parents and students on available, local opportunities. The bulletin board is provided as a service to the community: Organizations must qualify as non-profit, charitable or civic organization. Materials submitted should be of educational, civic or cultural value and must be approved by the DASD Communications Department.
Click here to view our online community bulletin board! |
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Welcome New Board Members |
 | | Back row left to right: Suzanne Simonelli, Tom Ost-Prisco, Bob Yorczyk, Carl Croft, Colleen Cranney, Superintendent Larry Mussoline. Front row left to right: Jane Bertone, Jackie Fenn, Barbara Hurt-Simmons and Jaime Mehler |
Five members of the Downingtown School Board were sworn into office by Judge Jeffrey Valocchi on December 7, 2011. Reelected to the board were Jane Bertone and Jackie Fenn. New members Jaime Mehler, Colleen Cranney and Carl Croft took their seats for their first meeting on Wednesday. Jackie Fenn was elected President of the Board and Barbara Hurt-Simmons was elected Vice President.
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| Board Discussion - Shamona Creek School Building Project | |
For the past 5 years, the Downingtown School Board has been looking at a variety of options to alleviate overcrowding at the middle school level. On Monday, December 12, 2011, the Board will convene a "Committee of the Whole" to discuss the proposed new school to be built beside Shamona Creek Elementary School. A "Committee of the Whole" meeting gives board members the opportunity to have a long discussion in public about important items.
The meeting on December 12, 2011 will primarily focus on what grade level (s) the proposed building will house. Several months ago, the Board hired Hayes Large Architects to look at the district and prepare a report looking at future enrollment, overcrowding, and other important issues. Hayes Largewill make a brief presentation on Monday evening outlining their recommendations for the proposed Shamona Creek building. The Board will then hear more about those options from the administration.
The Board holds these meetings to give the public ample opportunity to listen to proposals and to participate in the discussion. The public is invited to the meeting on December 12th, and at all board committee meetings. Committees currently meet on the first and fourth Wednesday of each month. Full Board meetings are held on the second Wednesday of each month.
The "Committee of the Whole" meeting will be held at 6:30 p.m. in the Staff Development room onf the Administration Building, 540 Trestle Place, Downingtown. |
Downingtown Community Education Foundation News
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Downingtown Loves the Phillies!
Mark your calendars because you won't want to miss being a part of the action on Friday, April 13, 2012 as the Philadelphia Phillies take on the New York Mets. The Foundation has reserved 500 tickets for DASD baseball fans. The seats are $30 each and are located in sections 427 - 429. The Phillies will donate $4.00 of each ticket we sell to the Downingtown Community Education Foundation to support innovative classroom projects.
Tickets will be sent to us in early 2010, but certificates will be sent to those wishing to give tickets as holiday gifts.
Tickets may be purchased online by clicking here.
Business Leaders Luncheon!
How can a local business or corporation help grow their business, watch their property values go up and make sure that a well trained workforce is being prepared for them? By getting involved with their local public schools, of course! On January 9, 2012 the Downingtown Community Education Foundation will be hosting a luncheon for local business leaders who are interested in becomming a part of the Downingtown Area School District push toward "greatness". The event begins at 11:00 and will be held in the Central Administration Office Building at 540 Trestle Place, Downingtown.
The Business Leader luncheon will feature a welcome by Superintendent Larry Mussoline, a video highlighting the businesses already involved with our schools and an enlightening session about the EITC (Education Innovation Tax Credit) from tax expert Helen Semus of Edward Jones. The event is free to all interested Downingtown Area School District business leaders. A light luncheon will be served. There are a variety of ways for businesses to partner with the Foundation's mission to inspire and support our 11,800 students. Take this first step ....and join us on January 9, 2012.
Jersey Boys Musical
The Foundation has four tickets left for the 2:00 p.m. matinee on December 28, 2011 in the Forrest Theater, Philadelphia. This Tony winning musical is sold out - so if you want to see it, you have the opportunity to purchase Orchestra level tickets from the Foundation. Thank you to all who purchased theater tickets from the DCEF. Click here to purchase tickets. |
What's Happening!
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Upcoming Holiday Concerts in the District
December 12, 2011
BC: Winter Concert
STEM: Winter Recital
LMS: 6th Grade Band Concert
December 13, 2011
DMS and LMS: 7th grade Band Concert
December 14, 2011
WB: Winter Concert
BH: Winter Concert
December 15, 2011
UH: Winter Concert
DMS: 6th Grade Band Concert
December 16, 2011
DE: Winter Concert
DW: Band Concert
December 20, 2011
EW: Holiday Concert
Senior Volunteers are needed!
The Downingtown Area School District offers a Senior Citizen Tax Rebate Volunteer Program designed to assist senior citizens with the burden of real estate taxes. Seniors may volunteer their services jointly through the Chester County Family Services RSVP program and the Downingtown Area School District Senior Citizen Tax Rebate Volunteer program. In return for their services, senior citizens may be entitled to a rebate of property taxes. Click here for more information!
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| School News | |
Beaver Creek
Last weekend several students from Beaver's Creeks band and small group chorus performed at Barnes and Noble. The holiday tunes were enjoyable and the songs were precious. Thank you to Mrs. Otto and Miss Molan for preparing our students for this event as well as taking time out of their weekend to showcase our talents. Miss Fahnestock, one of our kindergarten teachers, read a Christmas book to the children. Many other teachers and Mrs. Lawless were in the audience enjoying the show and supporting our students. Also thank you to the parents who worked the table handing out "homework passes." We are looking forward to the concert this Monday night.
Thursday night was our PTO's Holiday Shop, Pajama Story Time, and Holiday Sing-Along. Light snacks were provided as children made crafts, shopped for their parents, and sang songs. There is definitely a feeling of excitement in the air!
Beaver Creek teachers were given the opportunity to learn about some on-line resources such as Flipped Classrooms, Khan Academy, Learnzillion, and Prezi. Khan Academy and Learnzillion are good resources for parents too (check them out at www.khanacademy.org and http://learnzillion.com). We then brainstormed ideas to continue to think how education could be improved to engage our 21st century learners.
Brandywine Wallace
There is now a special reading area in the BW Library called Aidan's Dugout. Aidan Silva was a first grade student who passed away suddenly last year. Through the generous donation of Mrs. Diana Snyder, this reading area will be enjoyed by all BW students and will be a pleasant reminder of Aidan and his love of reading (and baseball!). Special books will be highlighted and displayed each month. Aidan's brothers, Devin and Quentin, were the first to explore this new library addition. We also appreciate the assistance provided by DHSW in hosting a community children's heart screening last weekend in memory of Aidan.
The BW Band, Chorus, and Orchestra will delight family and friends with their winter concert this evening. We look forward to the exciting and entertaining program that will surely get everyone into the holiday spirit! Thanks to Mrs. Otto, Mrs. Heavens, and Mrs. Baer for their excellent work with our students. The entire school participated in Dress Up Day today and enjoyed the morning dress rehearsal.
Pickering Valley
Toys for Tommy was a toy drive held in memory of a special student who attended Pickering Valley. Toys were donated by students and their families in Tommy's name and were delivered to Dupont Hospital on Friday, December 2nd. Tommy received wonderful care at Dupont Hospital and these toys will be enjoyed by children who are current patients in the hospital.
Quinn Morrin, a Pickering Valley 2nd grader was Principal for the Day on Wednesday, December 7th. She started the day out on the PV Morning News broadcast. She was a natural! Watch out TV news anchors!! She then introduced our Holiday Concerts! She wrote a report on what is important for new students and their families to see at PV telling them what great teachers and students we have at PV!! She described the interview questions she would use to interview for a new teacher. She then visited classrooms and did end of the day announcements.
Shamona Creek
SC held the annual Winter Concert on Wednesday afternoon and evening. The auditorium was packed as students showcased their skills through performances by the orchestra, chorus and the band. Kudos to our students and music Directors; Mrs. Angela Baer, Mr. Tom Conroy, and Mr. Glenn Gordon. Thanks to our parents for their on-going support for our music programs.
This Saturday, the SC Home and School Association will hold the Winter Celebration from 9-11. Light breakfast will be served and students will have the opportunity to visit the Holiday Shoppe to purchase gifts for family and friends.
Many of the student teachers who have been at SC will be leaving for their next placement. It is always a value to share knowledge between experienced teachers and novices. Teachers love serving as mentors and often learn some of the newest strategies from the adult students!
The members of the Response to Instruction and Intervention Team met this week for a "temperature taking" discussion. There were many celebrations...
- Enthusiasm is high, even in Tier 2 and 3!
- Students are excited about Target Time!
- Teachers love sharing students. It gives the opportunity to get different perspectives on student performance.
- Small groups allow for high interaction.
- Students are reading more!
RtII allows teachers to provide 30 minutes daily of targeted instruction in reading in small group settings. We all love that the doors are opening to shared ownership of student progress. Hooray for our grade 2 and 3 teachers, Instructional Support Teachers and Aides, and Learning Support Classroom Teachers.
Springton Manor
Springton Manor Winter Concert: On Friday, December 2, 2010, Springton Manor students in the Orchestra, Band, and Chorus presented their 2011 - 2012 Winter Concert. The musicians had two performances. The musicians performed for the rest of the students Friday morning and then gathered at 7:00 pm to perform for their parents and guests. The musicians performed a wide selection of winter and holiday songs. A special Mustang thank you goes out to all of our musicians, Mrs. Baer, Mr. Carpency, and Mrs. Zimmerman for a very enjoyable concert.
Fifth Grade Field Trip: On Thursday, December 8, 2011, Springton Manor Fifth Grade Studednts traveled to Lancaster to visit the Lancaster Science Factory. The students and teachers had an opportunity to participate in a number of different stations throughout the factory that illustrated a number of scientific concepts, laws of physics, and other interesting scientific phenomenon. All of the stations are hands-on scientific experiences that will assist our fifth grade students as they select topics for our 2011-2012 Science Fair.
Uwchlan Hills
On Wednesday night, November 30th, Uwchlan Hills had a fantastic turnout out our Scholastic Book Fair. There was great fun for everyone as parents and children shopped for books. Through this HAS sponsored event, UH raised hundreds of dollars that will be used to purchase leveled reading materials to help support our push towards differentiating reading time. Last month was also our annual Turkey Trot at UH. Hundreds of parents joined their children in fun, and healthy, activities.
Fourth grade has been busy with Operation Outreach, a food drive that serves soup kitchens and homeless shelters in Chester County. This project tied nicely to 4th grade's Harcourt story last week on helping the community.
Recently, the Great Valley Nature Center visited our 4th grade classrooms. The real fun was in their special guests they brought with them. Students met a chinchilla, Owl, and even a snake.
Uwchlan Hills continues to stay focused on the priority at hand, student achievement. We meet each week, by grade level, to look at student data and steer our instruction accordingly. We have found this to be a very effective way to continually meet students directly at their instructional level, particularly our very talented students who should be continuously challenged.
Uwchlan Hills is committed to being fiscally responsible. We diligently look into all of our programs to ensure that we are maximizing tax payer dollars to their fullest. In the past month we have revised two IEPs eliminating the need for two, one-on-one special education, assistants. We truly believe in providing the least restrictive environment for all students, and in these two cases the assistant was deemed too restrictive. Consequently, we are saving tens of thousands of dollars that can now be used on other initiatives.
West Bradford
Monthly Charger Chat
At West Bradford's monthly assembly, students and staff were educated about what recycling can look like at WB, after which, students actively participated in a Recycling or Not game show! Targeting our lunch trash, we challenged ourselves to reduce our baseline trash bag collection by increasing our amount of recycled trash collected. After day 1, we were down 2 bags already! Stay tuned to check in on our progress!
A Veteran's Visit
Donna Patrizio's and Karlee Kircher's fourth grade classrooms welcomed a local veteran into their classroom on Nov 11th. Mr. Christopher Riben, a father of twin brothers, Christopher ad Carter in our fourth grade, talked with students about his military exeriences. Mr. Riben was in the Marine Corp for ten years and was up for reenlistment when his wife became pregnant with the twins. He shared his two uniforms, camo and dress blues, gave a PowerPoint presentation about the Marine Corp and brought in his gear. - vest, canteen, - and had his son Christopher try it on to demonstrate to the class. Students followed up with letters of appreciation for what was an informative and fun visit.
DMS
Academics
Our West Chester University tutors celebrated yet another successful semester at DMS. Our students were fortunate enough to have one on one tutoring two or four times a week with WCU English and Math teachers in training. Solid rapport with adults as they brush up on the RACES strategy and math skills makes our DMS students strong learners. We look forward to continuing the programs in January with a new group of college students. Thanks WCU and DMS students for your hard work and dedication to academic achievement.
7A, 7B and 7C also traveled to Hedgerow Theatre in Media to see Charles Dickens' classic, A Christmas Carol. We enjoyed lunch at Country Buffet on the way home. The kids and the play were awesome!
Congratulations to the Music Staff, Mr. Rawleigh, Mrs. Houdeshel, Mr. Wattenmaker and Mrs. Weaver, along with all of our students, for their performances in our Winter Concerts. The heart and dedication that is seen by the audience amaze us every year. Our talented students and staff create the mood for a happy holiday season. There are still concerts next week, so please, come join us.
Sixth grade students in Mrs. Hiller's, Mr. Ripkey's, and Mrs. Griffin's Computer Application classes gathered in Computer Lab A131 to hear a presentation from Downingtown's School Resource Officer, Detective Andy Trautmann. Officer Trautmann provided detailed information about Internet Safety, Bullying, Cyber-bullying, Cell Phone and Digital Safety. As Digital Citizenship is a new component added to the Computer Applications curriculum this year, Officer Trautmann's presentation was a very valuable learning experience.
Competition
None of us have sprouted feathers, but we sure have eaten a lot of chicken this week. Our friendly Chic Fil A competition with LMS comes to a close at the end of the business day Saturday, 12/10/2011. It was a week full of activity and nuggets. The Chic Fil A cow came every day to keep our motivation high during the competition. Thanks go to our String Quartet and Mrs. Weaver who provided dinner music for many diners at the Chic Fil A. We appreciate all the work Mrs. Prokop and the art students did in creating advertisement as they decorated the windows of the restaurant. Teachers and staff enjoyed lunch all week and a Chic Fil A breakfast this morning. We appreciate the support of the community, parents, students, and friends that added their receipts to our collection. Keep those receipts coming today and tomorrow. Go Lancers.
Extra Curricular
"Girls on the Run" is a nonprofit prevention program that encourages pre teen girls to develop self respect and healthy lifestyles through running. The curriculum addresses all aspects of girls' development: their physical, emotional, mental, and social well-being. DMS girls, along with teachers Patti Reidinger and Cynthia Lawrence, worked through the program this fall season engaging in activities to empower themselves. Tara Eng, Katie Johnson, Alex Bogdan, Lexi Hanson, Jackie Baldwin, along with our high school helper, Natalie Runyen are this year student participants. The culminating activity for this semester was the 3.1K run in Downingtown this past Sunday. The smiles tell it all......what a great accomplishment. We look forward to continuing activities and another race in the spring. We invite the elementary schools to join us in this dynamic Brandywine YMCA sponsored program for girls.
LMS
LMS and the Lionville Chik fil a are competing against DMS and the Downingtown branch. Customers are invited to donate their receipt toward the sales counted toward each schools total. Both schools decorated their respective restaurants to encourage customers to support the cause. Ms. Tumminelli, Mrs. Craig, Chanpreet Singh, Luke Birkhead and Mr. Birkhead were on hand to complete the decorations pictured below. The winner will be announced next Monday. The winner will receive a check for $1000 to be used for a charitable donation, and the runner up will receive $500 for the same. As of Wednesday, DMS was slightly ahead in the competition.
On Tuesday December 6, Saint Nicolas, or Père Noël paid a special visit to the students in Mrs. Strauss' French classes, to mark the start of the French Christmas season. The students left their shoes out in the hallway in anticipation of his visit. While the students were in class learning all about the French legend of Saint Nicolas and his evil assistant, Père Fouettard, the two were busily filling shoes with candy canes, though several students were surprised to discover sticks in their shoes! In French culture, sticks are the equivalent of coal, and a sign to some students, all in good fun, that they need to "shape up" in time for Christmas.
On Friday 12/2, Mr. Stango accompanied seven students to the DVMSAC Middle School Student Leadership Institute sponsored by the PENN Center for Educational Leadership. Students attended several sessions which focused on inspiring young men and women to seek high levels of personal and academic success and accept leadership responsibilities in their school and community. LMS students had the opportunity to collaborate and network with students from other Districts and engage in activities that will foster leadership development. LMS students represented themselves and DASD well and exhibited those behaviors that are characteristic of our young, developing leaders.
The 6B Bobcat team at LMS has been collecting funds for the "Spare Change Challenge" in an effort to raise both money and awareness for Make a Wish, an organization which grants wishes to children who have life-threatening medical conditions. Because many of our 140 students and their families share the experience of having their lives touched by unfortunate medical situations, we were inspired to join together in an effort to "spare some change to make a change". Through bake sales, pretzel sales, bracelet making, ribbon selling, and donations, the 6B Bobcat team was able to raise $567.00 that will be donated to Make a Wish!
DHS East
Winter Orchestra Concert:
The Winter Orchestra concert will be held this Friday, December 9th at 7:30 in the DE Auditorium.
Academic Competition:
The Downingtown East Academic Team participated in a CCIU county competition here at Downingtown East on Tuesday, December 6, 2011 in the auditorium. The varsity team competed against Oxford High School and Owen J. Roberts High School and scored 105 while Oxford scored 80 and Owen J. Roberts scored 70.
The JV Team did one better and scored 120 while Oxford JV scored 70 and Owen J. Roberts JV scored 15.
Vocal Ensemble
On Sunday, December 4th, the Vocal Ensemble performed at memorial services at the Terry Funeral Home to commemorate the loss of members of the community.
On Saturday, December 3rd, many chorus students performed at the Pickering Valley Holiday Breakfast.
Teenage Republican Club
The Teenage Republican Club sent 1,102 cards to troops overseas through Holiday Mail for Heroes, a program run by the American Red Cross. Students and faculty filled out the cards which were sent to American troops fighting in the Middle East.
DHS West
Forty-seven Downingtown West students will be receiving Distinguished Honors Awards for the 1st Marking Period. Their parents have been invited to join them at a celebration breakfast on December 12th.
Congratulations to the following members of the football team for being named to the 2011 'All Ches-Mont All Star Team."
Defensive Line - Dan Speca
Linebacker - Matt Dunleavy
Defensive Back - Parker Foti
Running back - Zach Barr
Offensive Line - Elijah Wilkinson
All Academic -- Tim Connell
Elijah Wilkinson was also named as the outstanding lineman in the entire league.
ACTIVITIES
The Special Olympics Volunteer Clubs from both West & East will be hosting their 4th annual Rock & Bowl. The money raised will help pay for the Special Olympics basketball tournament that the clubs will be hosting in the winter.
On Friday December 1st Hadiya Setlock, Leslie Rose, Maya Crockem, and Andy Hunter went to the University Sheraton on the University of Pennsylvania's campus to participate in the Delaware Valley Minority Achievement Consortium's High School Leadership Institute. The year's theme was DARE TO BE GREAT: LIVE YOUR DREAM. Our students had the opportunity to mix and mingle with the best and brightest of students from consortium's 25 participating districts. Our students participated in workshops that aimed to engage students in activities that foster leadership development, increase awareness of the relative underachievement of students of color in schools, and to inspire young men and women to seek higher levels of personal and academic achievement. The day was capped by keynote speaker Mr. Carlos Ojeda, President and CEO of Coolspeak. Mr. Ojeda has been called on the most dynamic speakers under thirty in America.
The WEST National Art Honor Society hosted a Winter Exhibit in conjunction with the Orchestra Winter Concert on Thursday, December 1. On display were drawings, paintings, jewelry and ceramics from the many art classes. Refreshments were served before and after the concert for all in attendance. Members of the orchestra, including students from STEM, performed many fine solos during the concert. Friday morning the Orchestra left for New York City to perform at Carnegie Hall in The American Christmas Carol Orchestra with composer Tim Janus.
The National Honor Society at West had a busy weekend!! NHS students helped with the Heart Screening program that took place all day on Saturday, as well as 30 students that helped with Brian's Run on Sunday. This Thursday the Giving Tree will up and running in the cafeteria. We typically collect over three hundred gifts for those in need.
NHS as always will donate to several families in our community that need a little help and TLC.
STEM Academy
9th & 10th Grade Class Officers
The 9th and 10th grades class officers and advisors are selling candy cane grams as a fundraiser for future social and school events. Students, teachers and staff are having a great time filling out the messages that will be delivered on December 17th, 20th and 21st.
Chinese School Partnership
On December 13 and 14, the Academy will be hosting several head teachers from the Hebei Province of China. Our guests will be meeting with students, teachers, parents, and administration to
identify instructional practices that foster creativity.
Physics
Students in our 9th and 10th grade physics classes are engaging in an activity in which they are collaboratively building a cubed structure made of Popsicle sticks. The objective of the Statics Project is to analyze the reactionary compression and tension forces within a rigid, static structure. Groups of 3-4 are given the challenge of creating a 4" wooden cube out of 30 or less Popsicle sticks and a limited amount of glue. Students are given Benchmarks that include the brainstorming process, designing two cubes, testing them, reflecting on their performance, then redesigning, building, and testing a third cube that improved upon the last two. Each group is required to develop their own goal. For example, the group in the picture wanted to hold all the physics books they had (73). The entire process including explanations of forces is recorded using the cameras on the laptops and their final product is a Video Diary. The idea behind the project is promote Divergent Thinking among the students and to provide them with ownership of their own learning. Students have to apply concepts from physics, engineering, and geometry in this activity. The students pictured here have placed 301.95 pounds on their cube.
Future Business Leaders of America
The Academy's FBLA team was victorious at the latest regional competitions! The team had 12 winners with five of them in first place. Also, the conference members as regional officers elected two members, Shashank Bhargava and Jeff Wang.
Professional Development
The Academy has been contacted by a group of schools across the commonwealth that meet to discuss best practices in utilizing technology, specifically, laptops in the curriculum. In March, we will be hosting about ten principals and technology directors that are one-to-one laptop schools. The goal is communicate and collaborate instructional uses of technology in innovative ways.
On Friday, the Academy hosted several teachers from all over the district to observe the instructional practices employed. The students and staff were excited to share their learnings with our sister schools. We will be conducting these visitations over the next few weeks under the leadership of Mr. Buck Jones.
Student Council
The Academy Student Council has been as busy as ever! As part of Jean's Fridays, the staff donated $75 to the National Down Syndrome Society in honor of October being Down Syndrome Awareness Month and $185 to the American Diabetes Association in honor of November being the American Diabetes Awareness Month. The Council's Charity Committee raised about $500 in change for Trick or Treat for UNICEF. Student Council upcoming activities include a dodge ball tournament on December 21st and a winter formal on January 21st.
The 1st Annual STEM Student Council Holiday Food Drive has been rolling for the past two weeks with a school-wide goal of 1,500 canned food items. In the past few days the student body has met and surpassed this goal with a week left to go. At this point students have donated in excess of 1,500 canned goods which based on the 400 students here in the building is an average of almost 4 canned goods per student. Great job to all students!!
Thematic Unit
Earlier this year, Academy teachers were trained in Apple's Challenge Based Learning. Using that training, the 9th Grade Blue Team started a Challenged Based Project on Wednesday, November 30th that will extend throughout the remainder of the school year. For this project, the students are answering the question, "How can the STEM Academy adapt to its changing community?" The students will analyze how certain aspects of our school, communication and capacity, which will be affected over the next two years when our population increases. Each marking period will be devoted to a particular part of the process. Our overall model to complete the project is based off a project management standpoint: Identifying a problem, developing a solution plan, data collection and analysis, developing conclusions and publishing those conclusions.
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| This Week's D-Link Sponsor is...... | |
Thank you to i9 sports for hosting this issue of The D-Link. For sponsorship information, please contact pmcglone@dasd.org.
A Message from i9 Sports
i9 Sports programs are safe and allow kids ages 3 to 13 to have fun and learn important values, such as teamwork and good sportsmanship. We offer flag football, cheerleading, soccer and basketball leagues and camps all year round. Our leagues last for 8 weeks and practices are only before games one day per weekend so parents do not need to drive to and from the field/gym during the week.
To View the i9 Spring Flyer, click here!
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