November 17, 2014

Students Recognized for Doing The Right Thing

The second round of "Do The Right Thing" award recipients include pictured above, back row, left to right, Grand Prize Winner Enrique Dolores, Freshman at Wood River High School, Audrey Hernandez, 3rd grader at Hailey Elementary, Natalie Villanueva, Senior at Carey High School, and Lauren Robideaux, Senior at Sage School. Not pictured is Avery Closser, Senior at Wood River High School. Hailey Fire Chief Craig Aberbach and Hailey Police Chief Jeff Gunter are pictured in the front row. Read the full press release here.

Watch the presentation at the Board of Trustees meeting here.

Watch the KMVT news story here.

Nominate a student here.

Superintendent Shares State of the District Report

This month marks the end of the first 100 days for our new Superintendent, Dr. GwenCarol Holmes. The first 100 days included a Listening Tour that helped Dr. Holmes get to know the community and assess the needs of the school district. The Listening Tour included 116 individual and group meetings and 279 responses from the Listening Tour survey. At the November Board of Trustees meeting, Dr. Holmes shared the State of the District Report which includes insight from the Listening Tour, student and financial data and more. Read it here.

Students Across Blaine County School District Honored Veteran's Day

All public schools in Idaho are required to recognize Veteran's Day with appropriate ceremonies or classroom lessons. But the ceremonies in Blaine County Schools go far beyond a requirement; they are an opportunity for our students to make personal connections with adults in our community, to learn about our nation's history, and to collaborate, create, and communicate during the planning and presentation of a very special public ceremony.

Look for Partners in Education in Your Mailbox This Week

Partners in Education is delivered to all mailboxes in Blaine County. In this edition, read about the Big Picture program at Silver Creek High School, learn how VOICE II helps students with disabilities prepare for their future, read about the International Baccalaureate program, and more.

Silver Creek High School Students See the Big Picture

How does learning connect to the real world? How are students prepared for college and careers after high school? These are the questions Silver Creek High School Principal Mike Glenn began asking when he took the reins of the alternative high school two years ago. Faced with a challenging demographic of students, Glenn knew he needed to give students a holistic educational experience that would serve their unique needs. Read more.

VOICE II: A Future for Every Student

One hallmark of public education in the United States is access for all students regardless of race, gender, ethnicity, or ability. The Blaine County School District has a national reputation for educating students with disabilities, whether cognitive, social, physical, emotional/behavioral, communication or learning. During the last year of the Idaho Standardized Achievement Test, students with disabilities in the Blaine County School District outperformed their peers across the state of Idaho. Read more.

Student Spotlight

Meet Bailey Cleven in the Weekly Sun Student Spotlight. To read the article go here.

Each week, Jonathan Kane will be profiling a local high-school student. If you know someone you'd like to see featured, e-mail jennifer@theweeklysun.com.

Parent Tech Classes Start This Week

The technology department will offer a series of parent tech classes. The first one begins this Thursday, November 20 from 6:00-7:00 p.m. at the Technology Department at 719 3rd Avenue South, Hailey. For information, call 578-5410. The first class is Computer Basics.

Do You Garden? If Not, Why? WRMS Student Needs Your Help, Take the Survey Today!

"My name is Sascha Leidecker and I am in seventh grade at Wood River Middle School. In Ms. Schrader's gifted and talented education (GATE) class I am working on selling raised garden beds (hopefully this spring) for my Genius Hour Project.

I created a survey to help me understand who might want to buy raised garden beds. These answers will help me determine who already gardens in this county and who would be interested in having a garden. This survey would also tell me what kinds of foods people would want to grow in their gardens.

By doing this I hope to improve people's eating habits by helping them grow and enjoy healthy organic food. Thank you for taking the time to help me with my project."

Take the survey here.