Review What's Happening in Your Boise School District!

What's Happening in Boise School District

October 3:  FALL Community Education session continues with new personal enrichment classes starting the week of October 3rd. Click here to review and enroll in upcoming classes. We offer lifelong learning classes for all ages!  





October 3:  The official start to Idaho's Farm to School Month will occur Monday, 11:30 a.m., October 3rd at Whittier Elementary School, 301 N. 29th St., in Boise. During lunch, the school will be taking "One Small Step" by adding fresh Idaho apples and vegetables to their salad bar. The menu addition will be used at all cafeterias in the Boise School District on October 3rd, and will include 40 cases or about 6,500 Idaho-grown apples. Throughout the year, Boise schools also will serve Idaho grapes, green peppers, garbanzo beans, trout, potatoes and a wide variety of dairy products.  "Students, parents, faculty and food service staff in our district are really supportive of preparing and eating locally grown and produced items," said Peggy Bodnar, RDN, LD, SNS, Food and Nutrition Services supervisor for the Boise School District. "We love supporting the local economy, and the foods Idaho produces taste fantastic!" Click here to learn more. 

October 4:  Nearly 17 Boise State University and community/industry groups will be attending and providing hands-on interactive science, technology, engineering and math experiences for students and their families at Garfield Elementary School's STEM Night, 1914 S. Broadway Ave., Boise, from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m.  A total of 20 classrooms offering interactive STEM displays and activities will be available for students and their families.  



October 5:  Boise Mayor David Bieter will walk with Koelsch Elementary School students as part of International Walk to School Day. The walk will begin at 8 a.m at Winstead Park, 6150 W. Northview St. Boise. Koelsch is one of a number of Boise schools participating in this annual event. The Mayor has challenged schools to participate in the 2nd Annual Mayor's School Walking Challenge in October. In addition, October 5th is officially International Walk to School Day, which is a global event that involves communities from more than 40 countries walking and biking to school on the same day. It began in 1997 as a one-day event. Over time, this event has become part of a movement for year-round safe routes to school and a celebration - with record breaking participation - each October. Today, thousands of schools across America - from all 50 states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico - participate every October.

October 6 & 7:  No school for Boise School District students due to state in-service. 

October 10:  Boise School Board meeting, 6 p.m., Boise School District Services Center, 8169 W. Victory Road, Boise.  Some of the agenda items include - Presentation of Red Apple Award to Natalie Lutes, Special Education Teacher, Boise High School and Golden Apple Award to Paul Hunter, Head Custodian, Grace Jordan Elementary School. Complete meeting agenda will be posted here.  


October 17:  The public is invited to attend a meeting 6:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. at Capital High School, 8055 W. Goddard, Boise, to help Boise School District plan for a new generation of neighborhood schools to serve our students and community. The District is currently involved in an exciting process of developing a new Facility Master Plan that will guide our school district for the next 10-20 years. Use your voice to help the District make choices about school facilities. The purpose of the public meeting is to show how results from a recent public questionnaire affected a draft Facility Master Plan that is currently being studied by the District. The Public will be provided an opportunity to weigh in on the draft plan. Click here to learn more about the Facility Master Planning process.  


October 18:  Make plans now to "Go On" to college by attending the upcoming Boise National College Fair.  On Tuesday, October 18, 2016 at Expo Idaho nearly 200 colleges, universities and military service academy representatives will be on hand at the Boise National College Fair from 9:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. and again from 6:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m.  The event is free to the public and parking is free, as well. Click here for a list of higher education institutions attending the Boise National College Fair and click here for more information about the college fair. 

Inspiring Story of Timberline High Student Dedicated to Cancer Cure: Timberline High School student Kassidi Peterson (pictured) is on a mission to hopefully one day find a cure for cancer.  A recent death in the family set the senior on a course to study to become a cancer researcher with a goal to one day find a cure.  Idaho Education News recently spoke to Kassidi about her inspirational efforts and filed a report here. 





Capital High Student Selected to Attend Columbia Engineering Event: Capital High Senior Ivan Vazquez has been admitted to the Columbia Engineering Experience (CE²), which is occurring from Sunday, October 9, to Tuesday, October 11, on the campus of Columbia University In The City of New York.  The Columbia Engineering Experience was created several years ago as an opportunity both for a small number of students to learn more about the field of engineering and also to introduce students  to Columbia's campus and the University's engineering program.




2016 Boise High Graduate Making A Positive Difference:  Vanessa Wong (pictured), 2016 Boise High School graduate, is making headlines for helping raise awareness about teen cancer.  Wong, who is the founder of a local non-profit organization, Just Keep Swimming,  recently held an Open Water Fundraising Event for Teen Cancer America.  The student run non-profit organization hosted a family friendly open water swimming event at Lucky Peak Sandy Point in Boise drawing around 50 participants to swim and compete in half, one or two mile races. Elated swimmers from 10 years old to 50 all came together to take part and at the end of 3 hours Just Keep Swimming Idaho's first event had raised $700 for Teen Cancer America. Click here to review some photos taken of the event. 

A Day Fit For a Superhero at Capital High School:  Capital High School students rallied behind a four year old Boise boy and his family during a recent assembly held at the school. The Day All for Trey was featured by KBOI-TV during a local newscast and posted here or click on the adjacent video image to watch the report.  For weeks, Capital students donated money to  the Make-A-Wish Foundation in order to help Trey, who faces medical issues, be able to live his dream of visiting Legoland.  


Refugee Students Featured in N.Y. Times Magazine Article: The New York Times Magazine recently highlighted refugee students from the Treasure Valley with beautiful photographs by local photographer Angie Smith.  The photos and stories, Stronger Shines the Light Inside, are also currently on display on banners  located throughout downtown Boise (pictured).  Click here to read the article. 



Generous Educators Help Students Start Soccer Team:  Educators from South Junior High School, and from across the District, including retired educators, are helping a number of District students, many of whom are refugee students, to start a soccer team through  Idaho RUSH Soccer. The Team, Nations United FC, includes refugee students from across the District and Treasure Valley, including South Jr. High,  Hillside Jr. High, Les Bois Jr. High, Boise High, Borah High and Mountain View High. The team recently began their fall season with play at Simplot Soccer Fields in southeast Boise (pictured).  "With donations of time and money, educators and counselors from througout the Boise School District, including here at South, have made these students' dreams of playing soccer a reality," said Mary Karol Taylor, South Teacher/Librarian, who has led the effort to support the soccer team and is now trying to raise funds to purchase soccer balls.  "It's been so fun to see these kids play a real organized soccer game for the first time in their lives."  For further information contact Mary Karol Taylor at marykarol.taylor@boiseschools.org 


Rock Party Big Hit With Students & Families:  More than 700 people, including 340 children, recently took part in the Rock Party at the Idaho Museum of Mining and Geology. It was especially engaging for children who worked their way through over a dozen hands-on activities that focused on geology, fossils, and mining history. Special thanks go to Patsy Wolter and Pat Ware who prepared and organized Kid-Stations located within the Old Idaho Penitentiary.
 
Eighty plus dedicated volunteers held down the activities, and more supplied all the equipment for the afternoon. Museum volunteers answered questions and directed folks inside the museum, and ran the cash register for the many shoppers that day.   Activities included hillside geology hikes, panning for gold and sifting through Midas Gold treasure sacks. Even our food vendors (Wetos Locos, Slow River Coffee) made just enough to consider returning next year. "This was our biggest Rock Party to date, surpassing last by over 100 people," said Shirley Ewing, Rock Party Coordinator and retired Boise District Principal.
 
A big thank you to the Idaho Humanities Council for their financial support, Idaho Botanical Garden for their chairs, Old  Idaho Penitentiary for tables and chairs and access to the historic Women's Prison, Event Rent for large canopies and tables, Idaho Statesman, Idaho Family Magazine, Advanced Signs & Design for orange cones, Boise School District , Signs Now, and Office Depot/Max (Franklin). Also, organizers want to thei neighbors and friends for additional canopies and supplies. "We had blast and are grateful for your help and support," added Ewing.


Educator Receives Idaho STEM Award:   The Idaho STEM Action Center is recognizing Garfield Elementary School 5th Grade Teacher Sonia Galaviz (pictured) for her dedication to championing science, technology, engineering and mathematics while connecting students with industry leaders. Galaviz is one of two Idaho educators to have been selected to receive a 2016 Industry's Excellent Educators Dedicated to STEM Award, or INDEEDS for short.    Galaviz, STEM coordinator at Garfield Elementary in Boise since 2013, has taught in Treasure Valley schools for 12 years. A Boise State Writing Project Fellow, she's among five teachers nationwide receiving a Horace Mann Award for Teaching Excellence from the NEA Foundation on February 10, 2017. The Idaho Technology Council will bestow the INDEEDS award to Galaviz at its Idaho Innovation Awards gala October 25th at the Boise Centre. With support from the Discovery Center of Idaho, the STEM Action Center will present Galaviz with a check for $2,000 and give an extra $2,000 to Garfield Elementary School to fund STEM initiatives. Click here to learn more. 

Counselor Receives State Recognition:  Court Hanson,  Boise High School College and Career Counselor, received a Lifetime Achievement Award from IACRO (Idaho Association of Collegiate Registrars and Admissions Officers) in recognition of his service, dedication, support and advancement of students in higher education.





 
Data Points - Idaho's Kindergarten Enrollment Continues Downward Trend: In his latest Data Points blog post, Boise School District Superintendent Dr. Don Coberly takes a closer look at the current downward trend in kindergarten enrollment across the state of Idaho. Data Points is dedicated to providing student achievement and education trend analysis and is intended for parents and patrons interested in an objective, data-driven look at student performance in Boise and across Idaho.  Read Dr. Coberly's blog post here. 

Job Opportunity for Students at YMCA:  Treasure Valley YMCA has need for 50 students, ages 16 and up, to  serve as Youth Basketball Referees and Site Leads for Y-Ball and AAU protgrams at the Y. If interested, attend a Hiring Fair scheduled for October 5th from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. at 1177 W. State St., Boise. Click here to learn more.
Share Your Passion with the People - Teach a Community Ed Class: Have a passion, skill or knowledge you want to share with the public? Consider teaching a Community Education class. Click here to learn more.
Parents -  Sign-Up for Emergency Text Messaging:  The Boise School District offers emergency text messaging for parents/guardians.  Click here to learn more and sign-up.


Mobile App Available: Boise School District has a mobile app to improve communication to you. The app is available in the Apple App Store and Google Play Store.  

Note: Should you no longer wish to receive Constant Contact emails from the District, you may click on the SafeUnsubscribe link located at the bottom of this email.    

News Media Contact:
Dan Hollar
Public Affairs Administrator
Boise School District  
(208) 854-4064
dan.hollar@boiseschools.org  
Boise School District | 8169 W. Victory Rd., Boise, Idaho 83709 | 208.854.4000  ww.boiseschools.org
STAY CONNECTED:
Follow us on Twitter
View our videos on YouTube