ACHIEVING EXCELLENCE TOGETHER
December 18, 2014
In This Issue
Flu & Illness Guidelines
School Board Notes
Elementary News
Middle School News
High School News
Cold Storage Project
Giving Back
Quick Links
Boone County Schools
 
Free/Reduced Lunch Online Form
 
 
Board of Education Meetings
 
 
 
 ornaments-pile.jpg 
Happy Holidays!
 
Flu and Illness Guidelines   
  
The Flu and cold season are in full swing and many students are experiencing the flu or flu-like symptoms. Please take the following precautions to limit the spread of illness:

1.  Free of fever for 24 hours before returning to school (without the use of fever-reducing medicine).
2.  Cover your coughs and sneezes.
3.  Do not share drinks, food, pencils, etc.
4.  Wash/sanitize hands frequently and thoroughly.
5.  Stay away from others as much as possible.
  
SCHOOL BOARD NOTES
  
Good News Items: 
   
Connor Middle School - Lauren Hill fundraiser - The Cure Starts Now

 
   
 
Lauren Hill

 
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
The entire Tri-State region has been captivated by the heartbreaking story about Lauren Hill.  As you know Lauren, a basketball player and student at Mount St. Joseph is suffering from a rare form of terminal brain cancer.  Her wish is to help find a cure for her condition called D-I-P-G so that no one has to ever suffer this debilitating disease.  Many area organizations, businesses and schools have joined Lauren's cause.  Our own Conner Middle School hosted a basketball game against Twenhofel Middle last month in honor of Lauren Hill.  Five-thousand dollars was raised and those proceeds are going to THE CURE STARTS NOW.  Lauren Hill fulfilled her dream last weekend by scoring on her home court at Mount Saint Joseph. She played her last game this past Tuesday.  Her next dream is to defy the doctors who said she would not live to see Christmas with her parents,  brother and sister.  Our thoughts and prayers are with Lauren and her family.
 
Boone County School District Awarded Tier 4 Rapid Improvement Effort Grant.
The Boone County School District was just awarded a $15,000 grant to help with areas of intervention. The grant will help the district better meet students' needs in the areas of students struggling in content areas, students not meeting benchmark and behavior interventions. The grant was awarded by the Kentucky Association of School Administrators (KASA) and The Center for Education Leadership.
  
Boone County certified as 'Work Ready' County
The state of Kentucky has certified Northern Kentucky as a "Work Ready Community."  This certification is an endorsement of how well the region is doing in education.  This designation links education quality, workforce development and jobs.  To be a "Work Ready Community" a region must exceed a high school graduation rate of 86 percent. 
The Boone County School District high school graduation rate is 93 percent.
You can expect local leaders to use our numbers as an economic development tool to bring more STEM jobs to the Northern Kentucky region.  
  
Sportsmanship Award Winners:   
  
BCHS-Jamar Lamb (not pictured)
  
 
  
CHS -Taylor Gambrel
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
 RCHS-Torrey Cordell-Armstrong
  
  
 
  
  
  
RHS-Max Lonnemann
  
  
  
  
 
 
The Sportsmanship Award, sponsored by First Financial Bank, is presented to a deserving High School student who has demonstrated outstanding school spirit and leadership.  The following are the selection criteria: 
  
*All four students have demonstrated outstanding school spirit and leadership
*Each works hard in theclassroom
*Each sets the standard for good sportsmanship. demonstrating unselfishness and fair play at all times.
*Each is an excellent ambassador for his/her individual school, as well as for the entire district.  
  
2014 Oasis Awards
(award recipients seen in November 19th edition of this newsletter) 
  
Congratulations to Boone County Schools for recognition of Outstanding Achievement in School Information Services! 
  
     
  
ELEMENTARY NEWS

  

 

 

 

Last week was Computer Science Education Week nationwide.  Several Boone County Schools observed it with Hour of Code in the classroom.  Hour of Code is a one-hour introduction to computer science, designed to demystify "code" and show that anyone can learn the basics to be a maker, a creator, an innovator.  Using computer science skills as early as kindergarten nurtures problem-solving skills, logic and creativity in children.  Teachers found students 100% engaged  and excited to learn.  Hour of Code is organized by Code.org, dedicated to expanding participation in computer science learning and is supported by Microsoft, Apple, Amazon, Boys and Girls Clubs of America and the College Board.  Below are a few pictures of what some of our schools did during Hour of Code week.

 

Thornwilde Elementary - Mr. Guy Frye's class

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 Stephens Elementary - Mrs. Cheryl Losey's Kindergarten and third grade  classes

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  
Yealey Elementary
  
 
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
 Burlington Elementary 
      
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
   
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
Longbranch Elementary
  
       
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
   
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
Cooper High School students under the direction of Jillian Maher visited Longbranch to participate in Hour of Code with 158 4th grade students.  Just like with all the other schools pictured here students used the website code.org to watch an overview video and were led through basic programming using Angry Birds and Frozen game-based coding applications.
  
  
New Haven Elementary
  
 
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
 Florence Elementary
  
 
  
  
  Colonial Fair Day at Thornwilde
  
The fifth grade held their annual Colonial Day Fair last week. 5th grade teacher Terri Barrilleaux says for one month students study Native Americans, Colonial Williamsburg, Slavery and Explorers.  Studying Colonial Trades culminates in a Colonial Fair.  The Colonial Fair is a social studies activity in which students display their research about a colonial trade in the form of a "store front".  They also replicated period products of their trade in creative ways.  For example:  Silversmiths may make horseshoe shaped cookies or a carpenter may create wooden toys.  Visitors were invited to stroll through the Colonial Town and speak to the tradespeople (students)  to learn more about the period, tools, products, and workmanship of the time.  At the end of the visitors' session, students bartered their wares with one another.  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  

 
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  Wax Museum Day at Mann
  
Third graders put on their annual Wax Museum.  They researched and studied their favorite historical figure and wrote speeches about them.   The third graders were visited by the younger students to get a taste of what they will be learning about when they get to third grade. Parent time was also included with the museum production.   The students acted as wax figures of their character and so did not talk until you hit their button next to their name.  Hitting the button made them come to life as their character reciting information or speeches known for that person.  The Wax Museum is a part of the student's social studies and language arts classes. 
  
  
Amelia Earhart
Louis Armstrong
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
Judy Garland
Jackie Robinson & Florence Nightingale
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
Dwight Eisenhower
Rosa Parks
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
 
Walt Disney
Annie Oakley
 
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
 
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
Hellen Keller
   
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
Popcorn Day at Mann
  
The Boone County Businessmen's Association collaborated with the Mann Elementary PTA to pop popcorn for the students last week.  PTA Vice President Kim Niehaus says it's a monthly effort that requires volunteers to pop the popcorn, bag it and deliver it to the classrooms. All the work is done at the school.  The students bring in 50 cents and each get a bag of popcorn.  This month the Christmas Tree Shoppes donated the bags.   
 
School Board member Steve Templeton
   
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
Boone County Businessmen: Bill D'Andrea 
Superintendent Dr. Randy Poe
   
   
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
Make-A-Wish visits student at Mann
  
The Make-A-Wish foundation teamed up with Macy's department store to make 7-year-old Evan Perricelli's wish come true.  Evan, a second grader, is fighting aplastic anemia.  He spent all of his first grade year on home hospital instruction.   One of his brothers recently donated bone marrow to transplant into Evan.  Evan's dream was to one day go to Hawaii to see dolphins, sea turtles and fish for Mahi Mahi.  Last Friday Macy's and Make-A-Wish celebrated Evan's wish on National Believe Day and it will be granted on Christmas day.  Evan was picked up in a limo and wisked off to the Macy's department store in downtown Cincinnati to deliver more than 600 letters his classmates wrote to Santa.    
  
 

Perricelli Family with Principal Connie Crigger.  Evan is centered

 
Evan's class with teacher Mrs. Willoughby left
  
  
  
  
  
   
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
Evan Perricelli right
Brothers: Alec, Lucas & Evan
  
  
  
  
  
   
  
  
  

 
  
MIDDLE SCHOOL NEWS 

  

 

Middle Schoolers from Northern Kentucky attend Gifted Student Leadership Symposium at Thomas More College

  

The Keynote speaker was the President of Cincinnati State College, Dr. O'dell Owens who told several hundred Northern Kentucky middle school students Tuesday that "they make a difference."  Dr. Owens, formerly an infertility doctor and Cincinnati's coroner holds five differnt degrees. But the story he told of how he got there was one of extreme poverty and loss.  Dr. Owens mother died tragically at the age of 29 leaving seven children behind.  The year his mother died Dr. Owen's flunked 8th grade at Ohio's #1 rated high school, Walnut Hills, a school for gifted students that he had to test to get into.  He was told by a school counselor that he was "too stupid" to go to college and that because he was on welfare there was no chance for him to succeed in life.  He set out to prove them wrong.  He graduated from a Cincinnati Vocational High School, then college to later attend Yale University Medical School.  Today, this college president sets his sights on students like him who are falling through the cracks.  He tells them his story in hopes of encouraging them to lift themselves up and out.   

 

Students from Camp Ernst, R.A. Jones, Gray, Ockerman and Conner Middle Schools were in attendance along with several other Middle School students from all over Northern Kentucky.  Dr. Owens took many questions from the students.  The students then went into breakout assignments in individual leadership classroom presentations.  The symposium ended with leadership group sessions.  The pictures below are from the days activities.

 

   

 

 

 

 

 

 

  

  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  

  

  

Three Boone County Middle Schools qualify at Regional STLP 

 

The Kentucky Department of Education's Student Technology Leadership Program (STLP™) uses project-based learning principals to empower student learning and achievement through the utilization (and creation) of technology based solutions to school and community needs.  The competition was held at Northern Kentucky University.  The three schools listed below scored high enough to be invited to the STLP State Championship to be held in Lexington, Kentucky at Rupp Arena in March. See the results below.   To learn more visit the State STLP Website here.

 

 

Congrats to RA Jones Middle School! 

The following are their STLP Regional Showcase Competition Results:

 

RAJMS Coach-Cynthia Baker  

Going Old School with Social Media-Instructional Project

Jorge Gutierrez, Maddie Hicks and Alli Baer

 

 

Congrats to Conner Midde School!  

The following are their STLP Regional Showcase Competition Results:

 

CMS Coach-Diane Collins-Tashima 

Honor Tree, 8th Grade Left to right; Trey Barnes, Alania Brauer, Taylor Deters, and Matthew Bremer. Instructional
ILH Tutoring, 7th Grade Left to right; Ian Petersime, Holly Hendrix, and Logan Hamm.  Instructional
Little Life Skills, 8th Grade Left to right; Brady McKinley, Maddie Yaw, Bryce Huff, and Nathan Hammond. Instructional
The Site of Study, 8th Grade left to right; Allison Hill, Teddy Schul, Bryce Bornhorn and Katie Wells.  Instructional

 

Congrats to Camp Ernst Middle School! 

The following are their STLP Regional Showcase Competition Results:

 

CEMS Coach-Drew Bredenberg

Project #1:
CEMS Coffee Break
Community Service
Elisabeth Bautista, Emily Chaney, Abby Spicher, Lars Hebenstiel


Project #2:
Safety Maps
Community Service
Nikki Bridgers, Megan Kelter 

 

 

 

  
HIGH SCHOOL NEWS
 
Ryle High
  The MEGA Heart exhibit
Have you ever wondered what your heart really looks like from the inside?  That's just what students got a chance to see reccently when the MEGA Heart Inflatables exhibit visited Ryle High School.  The MEGA Heart exhibit, sponsored by St. Elizabeth Health Care was visited by more than 250 students from a variety of science and health classes.  The MEGA Heart inflates to 26 feet long by 16 feet wide and 13 feet tall.  That size makes it big enough to walk through it on a guided tour to experience the heart's most critical components.  MEGA Inflatables also has other interactive medical exhibits including the MEGA Brain,  MEGA Lungs and the MEGA Body.
  
  
Boone County High 
  
     
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
   
  
  
  
  
  

 

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
Seven students from Boone County High School (BCHS) attended the Kentucky Youth Assembly (KYA) earlier this month. KYA is a three-day conference where students participate in a direct simulation of the Commonwealth's democratic process.  This is the first year that BCHS has participated in the program.  BCHS was recognized as a delegation of excellence, and received an outstanding bill award for their garden bill.  BCHS presented a bill that would require all Kentucky High Schools to have a community garden run by the student body.  These community gardens would teach students the importance of growing crops and eating healthy foods.  All seven BCHS students received seats on both the House and the Senate floors.  Cameron Roundtree received an award for outstanding delegate for his work on the garden bill.  The BCHS Kentucky Youth Association will attend another conference in March, the Kentucky United Assembly (KUNA). Read more about it here.
  
  
    
    
Boone County High School students from Jeff Von Handorf's Work Place Readiness class and Cindy Wallace's Accounting class attended an investment simulation at NKU, last month.   40 students enjoyed the time learning and participating with hands on activities while growing and managing a 401k portfolio.  The students competed with each other building the best portfolio, while learning which investments have the least risk and how important time is in the investment arena.
  
  
Cooper High
  
  
  
  
  
Looking for a unique way to display your books lying around the house for the holiday?  This is the book tree at Cooper High's media center.     
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
Boone County School District Students' Project Builds Community Resources at Master Provisions
 
Installing cooler rails
 
  
Jacob Warnick, Wyatt Dupree & teacher Matt Clark
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
   
  
  
  
  
Students from the Boone County Area Technology Center recently fabricated and installed customized protective railings for the outside walls of a large cold storage/freezer unit at Master Provisions. The railings meet OSHA standards and protect the unit from accidental damage by fork lifts or other warehouse equipment
Jacob Warnick, a senior at Connor High School and Wyatt Dupree, a senior at Ryle High School were the team leaders for the project. They are students in the welding class taught by Matthew Clark. On December 16, the three were at Master Provisions to install the railings, which completed the project.
Boone County Schools began working with Master Provisions as service learning partners this school year, and the railings project is the latest example of their cooperative efforts. Service learning integrates instruction with meaningful community service to enrich the students' learning experiences, build civic responsibility and strengthen the community .Read more here.
  
Boone County School District Office gives back 
 
Every year employees at the District Office select children's names from The Giving Tree as a way to give back to the community. The names on The Giving Tree reveal the sex (girl or boy), age and their gift request.  The joy of the holiday is to go out and find the perfect present that will make a child happy. Children's names are provided by the school's Family Resource and Youth Services Centers (FRYSC).