News Release

For Immediate Release

What's Happening in Boise School District

Sunday, April 6: Look for the Spring Community Education catalog inserted into the Sunday, April 6th Idaho Statesman and mailed to non-Statesman subscribers by April 11th. Click here to review classes and register, or click on the adjacent catalog image. Hurry, classes fill quickly! For more than forty years, Boise School District's Community Education has served as Boise's first choice for lifelong learning opportunities. Enroll in a Spring Community Education class today!

Wednesday, April 9: Borah High School Senator's Choice Academic Awards Assembly, 10:15 a.m. to 11:45 a.m., large gymnasium. Students, parents, community members and school staff members gather to celebrate the accomplishments of outstanding Borah students!

Tuesday, April 15: 2014 Boise Rotary Century Scholars Program, a program honoring Boise's top 100 graduating seniors, 5:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m., Boise State University Jordan Ballroom. This is the ninth annual Boise Rotary Century Scholars program. Each student being recognized has substantially exceeded the minimum program grade point average requirement of 3.75 and represents the best in music, the arts, service to community, athletics and academics in each of Boise's public and non-public high schools: Bishop Kelly, Boise, Borah, Capital, Frank Church, Riverstone and Timberline. This year's Distinguished Alumnus Address will be presented by Mr. Ben Ysursa, Idaho Secretary of State who recently announced his retirement. Look for the program publication inserted into the April 15th Idaho Statesman and online at Idahostatesman.com/scholars.

Tuesday, April 22: Hawthorne Elementary is excited to break ground on their first ever vegetable garden and celebrate their new permanent picnic shelter on site at 2401 W. Targee Boise, ID 83705 on Earth Day, Tuesday April 22, 2014 at 4:00 - 6:00pm. Hawthorne Elementary School received significant grant monies to do so, from the City of Boise Neighborhood Reinvestment Grant Fund, Boise Urban Garden School, and Whole Foods Boise and the Whole Kids Foundation. Click here to learn more.

Saturday, May 3: 13th Annual Hornet 5K Run/Walk. The Hornet Run is a non-profit event that supports East Junior High School athletics and physical education. Race begins at 9:30 a.m. at East Junior High, 5600 E. Warm Springs Ave., Boise. Click here to learn more, including how to register. Or, contact Chuck Johnson or Rose Liddle at 854-4730 for more information.

Boise School District Music Students Excel at Gene Harris Jazz Festival: Results from the annual Gene Harris Jazz Festival show East Junior High School was chosen as the Junior High School winner and was selected to perform during the Night Concert and Timberline High School was chosen as the winning band for 5A high schools. A Boise District high school has taken home the 5A Gene Harris Jazz Festival Award the last four years.

Boise School District Students Sweep Spelling Bee Contest: More than 120 excellent spellers from the Boise School District, private, parochial, and charter schools participated in the Districts' Spelldown contests held on March 21-April 2. Results of the Spelldown show that the top three finishers in each grade level are students enrolled in Boise School District elementary schools. Click here to learn more.

Boise High Music Teacher Recognized: Wendy Hartman, Boise High Orchestra Teacher, was recently selected as a finalist for the The Kennedy Center/Stephen Sondheim Inspirational Teacher Award. She was nominated by Boise High graduate Andrew Park from the Class of 2003. The annual Kennedy Center/Stephen Sondheim Inspirational Teacher Awards publicly recognize specific teachers by spotlighting their extraordinary impact on the lives of students. The Awards celebrate the teaching profession, the important role of teachers in society, and seek to inspire others to pursue this noble profession. Nominated by students they once taught, these former students' stories exemplify the power one teacher has to inspire others and transform lives.

Boise High Student Selected to Attend German Summer Study Program: Based on her performance on the National German Exam, Boise High senior Deana Jackson has been selected as a recipient of the 2014 AATG Endowment Fund Scholarship to participate in the AATG German Summer Study Program. This scholarship fund is supported through generous donations from teachers of German across the U.S. to support study in Germany. Deana's application stood out among the many strong applications from across the nation. The AATG German Summer Study program includes a home stay with a German host family, classes at a Gymnasium, and excursions to places of cultural and historical significance. As part of this award, Deana will receive round-trip air transportation from New York to Germany.

Timberline High School Athletic Director to Receive State Award: Tol Gropp, Timberline High School Athletic Director, will be presented the 2014 State Award of Merit by the Idaho Athletic Administrators Association (IAAA). The award will be presented during the state conference for athletic administrators in Boise on April 7. This award is provided annually by the National Interscholastic Athletic Administrators Association (NIAAA), for recognition of meritorious dedication to High School and Middle School Athletics. Learn more here.

Timberline High School Teacher Recognized: Timberline High School Sports Medicine Teacher and Head Athletic Trainer Tony Fitzpatrick was inducted into the Northwest Athletic Trainers' Association Hall of Fame on March 22.

Timberline High Dance Team Takes Home Top National Award: Timberline's Dance team recently won the National Championship for Military Dance at the National competition held March 26-29. "This was the first time Timberline's dance team has ever attended a National Competition," said Shana Kittrell, Head Dance Coach, Timberline High

School. "The girls were so nervous but they got out there and nailed the military routine! I am so proud of these kids. I can't wait for what the future holds for our program!" Learn more here.

Horizon Elementary Raises Money for Wheelchairs: For the second year in a row, Horizon Elementary School students and staff participated in Change For Wheels, a fundraising effort to give wheelchairs away in the developing world. Recently, guest speaker Curt Whitcomb, spoke to fourth, fifth and sixth grade students about how he uses his wheelchair. Whitcomb, who was paralyzed from the chest down in a car accident at 17, illustrated his talk with photos of his downhill ski races, he and his wife and daughters on vacation and his doctoral graduation ceremony. He also showed slides of how he drives his van with hand controls. He asked the students to respond to his question on how he did all these things with "in my wheelchair." Indeed, Whitcomb said, he is grateful for his wheelchair and can't imagine how restricted his life would be without one. Students hoped to raise enough funds to purchase 20 wheel chairs.

West Junior High School Student Recognized: West Junior High School 8th grade student Cade Warnock has been notified by the National Geographic Bee that he is one of the semifinalists to compete in the 2014 Idaho State Geographic Bee, which is being held in Rexburg on April 4. This is the second level of the National Geographic Bee, which is now in its 26th year. The state winner will receive $100, the "Complete National Geographic on DVD" and a trip to Washington, D.C., to represent Idaho in the National Geographic Bee finals to be held May 19-21. Learn more here.

May Brings Music Week Events/Activities: Boise School District's award-winning music program is on full display during the month of May. Each year, music students throughout the District reach out to our community by offering free performances as part of Music Week activities. For a complete review of this year's Music Week schedule click here. In addition, click here for a schedule of elementary spring performances and here for a schedule of secondary spring performances. In addition, click here for information about this year's School Night Concert to be held on Friday, May 2.

Digital Learning Tip #14: Keyboarding is More than Just Typing. Would you like to improve your speed when typing a sentence, paragraph, or essay? There are many free online resources that can get your fingers moving quickly across the keyboard! You can access Keyboarding Games for Kids without having to create a login. Integrating shortcuts can help us with effective productivity and can save time, when word processing, researching, and communicating in a digital environment. Here are 6 essential shortcuts to get you started:

SAVE

Windows: CTRL + S

Mac: CMD + S

UNDO

Windows: CTRL + Z

Mac: CMD + Z

COPY AND PASTE

Windows: CTRL + C and CTRL + V

Mac: CMD + C and CMD + V

SHUTDOWN PROBLEM PROGRAMS

Windows: CTRL + ALT + DEL

Mac: CMD + OPT + ESC

SELECT ALL

PC: CTRL + A

Mac: CMD + A

CLOSE FILES

PC: CTRL + F4

Mac: CMD + Q

CTRL = Control CMD = Command

Look for future Digital Learning Tips in our "What's Happening?" that will offer resources to support digital communication and productivity.

Explore a Great Summer of Learning - Summer School Program Information Available Now: The Boise School District offers a wide variety of summer school classes for students to enhance their educational experiences. Click here for further information.

Superintendent's Update: Boise School District Dr. Don Coberly provides information regarding the Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium assessment that is being taken for the first time by District students this week, in a "field test" of the assessment. Click here to learn more about the field test and what the District has been doing to make the assessment more manageable for our students.

Where are Idaho's Students Going to College?: There's a new blog post from Boise School District Superintendent Dr. Don Coberly regarding where Idaho's students are going to college. The blog, Data Points, is dedicated to providing student achievement and education trend analysis and is available through Google Sites or you can read it here or click on the adjacent image. The blog is intended for parents and patrons interested in an objective, data-driven look at student performance in Boise and across Idaho.

Sign-Up for Emergency Text Messaging: The Boise School District offers emergency text messaging for parents/guardians. Learn more and sign up by clicking here.

News Media Contact:

Dan Hollar

Public Affairs Administrator

Boise School District

(208) 854-4064

dan.hollar@boiseschools.org