Sunday, May 4:  Highlands Elementary School will host a 5k run/walk and bake sale at Ann Morrison Park at the Old Timers Shelter.  Bake sale begins at 1 p.m.; run/walk begins at 2 p.m.  Registration for the race is $10 at BlueCircleSports.com or on race day; cookies sold by donation. Mrs. Troy's class at Highlands and all proceeds will be donated to pediatric cancer research by way of an organization called cookiesforkidscancer.org.

Friday, May 9:  Koelsch Elementary School 6th grade field trip to St. Alphonsus Heart Clinic, 10 a.m.  Students will tour the McCleary Center to learn about the anatomy of the heart, causes and common warning signs of heart attacks and strokes, heart healthy choices, and the roles of exercise, diet and nutrition.

Friday, May 9:  Dodge a Bobcat Family Night Dodge Ball Tournament, South Jr. High School's annual Make-A-Wish benefit, 5:30-8 p.m.  Pasta dinner begins at 5:30 p.m. to be followed by a game of dodge ball at 6 p.m.  Tickets:  $3 in advance or $5 at the door.  Raffle tickets will also be on sale $1 each or 6 for $5. This year's recipient is 11-year-old Gabriel who is battling a congenital heart condition.  His wish is to go to Hollywood and shadow a film crew.  Proceeds from this event will help make Gabriel's wish come true.

Congratulations to Science Bowl Teams:  Treasure Valley Mathematics & Science Center's Middle School Science Bowl team took first place regionally in the Western Idaho Regional Science Bowl Competition.  These students will now travel to Washington, D.C., with an all expenses paid trip to compete in the National Science Bowl Competition, April 24-28. TVMSC's High School Science Bowl team competed in an intense final round against Boise High School's team, coming in second.  Boise High's team will also travel to Washington, D.C. to compete at Nationals. TVMSC's High School team also competed in the National Academic Quiz Tournaments (NAQT) and has qualified to participate in NAQT's National Competition in Chicago, IL, in May for the NAQT Midwest Championships.

Capital Team Competes in Science Olympiad:  Recently, Capital High School's Science Olympiad Team placed second overall in the Science Olympiad Competition held in early April.

Lowell Elementary Receives Grant:  Lowell Elementary School is one of five recipients of a Just Add Water garden grant funded by Whole Foods Market.  The $400 grant can be used to start a new school garden or expand an existing one. These funds can be used toward garden supplies, infrastructure, program materials, or garden tools. Additionally, through a partnership with Idaho Master Gardner Program, each grant recipient will receive a garden mentor to help support the garden during the 2014 gardening season. The award winners were eligible to apply for the grants after successfully completing a Just Add Water workshop presented earlier this year by the Boise Urban Garden School, Let's Move Boise, Boise Parks & Recreation, the University of Idaho Canyon County Extension, Idaho Botanical Garden and the Idaho Master Gardener program.

North Jr. High Jazz Bands Compete:  Jazz bands from North Jr. High School received a first and third place finish out of 5 in the CBC Jazz Unlimited Music Festival recently held in Pasco, WA.

BSD Teachers Selected to Receive Grants:  Three Boise School District teachers have been selected to receive grants in the Partners in Science Program of the M.J. Murdock Charitable Trust.  Borah High School science teacher Jeremy Thompson and Capital High School science teachers Cynthia Currie and John Doherty have each been selected to receive a grant of $7,000 which includes funds to attend two national Partners in Science conferences. 

BSD Teachers Selected to Attend Academy:  Two Boise School District teachers have been selected to attend the 2014 Mickelson ExxonMobil Teachers Academy to be held in July in Jersey City, NJ.  Over 1,100 teachers applied for this one-week, all expenses-paid intensive professional development program for third through fifth grade teachers.  Of the 1,100 applicants, 150 were selected including Monroe Elementary School's Alyssa Carter and Whitney Elementary School's Danielle Mora. 

Alyssa Carter

Danielle Mora

Dennis Center Students Participate in SkillsUSA Competition:  Fifty-five students from the Dennis Technical Education center competed in venues across the Treasure Valley in 18 skilled and leadership competitions.  The following students earned a medal at the 2014 SkillsUSA Idaho State Leadership and Skills Conference.  All gold medalists have been invited to compete in the SkillsUSA National Conference in Kansas City, MO, in June.

Automotive Refinishing:  Vasiliy Yaroshchuk - Gold

Collision Repair:  Cordel Gardner - Gold

Computer Maintenance:  Nathan Wigger - Bronze

CNC Milling:  Patrick Watkins - Gold

Diesel:  Chase Gilbertson - Gold, Samim Mohammad Aziz - Silver, Colton Duran - Bronze

Internetworking: Edward Teets - Gold, Trevian Johnson - Silver

Job Interview:  Hayley Williams - Bronze

Job Skill Demonstration:  Myles Lytle -  Gold, Blake Parkinson - Silver, Charles "CJ" Fox -  Bronze

Photography:  Andrew Grissom - Silver

Precision Machining: Joshua Nisson - Bronze

Prepared Speech:  Donald Messenger - Silver

Telecommunication Cabling: Michael Shuter - Gold, Logan Abel - Silver, Wyatt Wilson -  Bronze

Welding: Daneil Crutcher - Silver, Austin Logue - Bronze

Also, congratulations to Jonathan Rathamone, who was elected as the SkillsUSA Idaho Vice President for the secondary level.

Capital High Student Participates in Ski Competition:  Capital High School junior Jake Barrett recently competed in the United States of America Snowboard and FreeSki Association (USASA) National Championships where he received a bronze medal placing third against 40 competitors in the Rail Jam for ages 14 and over.  This is the third time Barrett has qualified for the USASA National Championships. Barrett ended the regular season ranked #1 in the nation for Slopestyle and #2 in the nation for Rails in his age group (men 16-18).  

TAHMO Sister School Program Launches at East Jr. High:  Six students at East Junior High School kicked off the TAHMO Sister School Program at the end of 2013 by starting a weather club, the International Weather Team - East Jr. High, which will serve as the first U.S. school in TAHMO's school partnership program.  The TAHMO Sister Schools initiative aims to foster international school partnerships and science education utilizing on-site climate station technology to analyze local weather, allowing schools to compare their local environments to partner schools around the world. At East, students have begun by exploring, testing, wiring and programming tipping buckets, air temperature sensors and solar radiation sensors. Pam Aishlin, TAHMO volunteer and geologist at Boise State University, is training these students to run their own weather stations and data, while also fund raising for equipment so their African sister school can implement parallel activities.  Once their sister school is up and running, students will be able to compare and discuss different weather events and activities with their peers across the world.  

USS Boise Crew Members Visit Boise Schools:  U.S. Navy crew members from Boise's Navy vessel namesake, the USS Boise, a Los Angeles-class attack submarine, visited two Boise District elementary schools on Friday, April 18, 2014. Commanding Officer Scott S. Luers and some members of his crew made presentations to 5th and 6th grade students at Grace Jordan Elementary School and also Whitney Elementary School. Click here to view photos from the school visits.