When the power went out briefly at Bancroft Elementary School on January 14, students in the Math block set up desks near the window and ignited a surge of learning!  The lesson on fractions was quickly adjusted to accommodate the situation and students pretended they were facing a natural disaster and used division and simple fractions to divvy up goods and economic resources.  Some students drew the school building and penciled in windows to show rooms in darkness and incorporated fractions to determine how many rooms did not become lit by a generator.  Bancroft students refused to be left in the dark and instead used the power outage as a learning opportunity! 

This January, all fourth and fifth grade classrooms at Brader participated in the Geography Bee. Students answered challenging geography questions, and one winner from each classroom advanced to the school level competition. Fourth grader Beth Wojciechowski and fifth grader Suveer Ganta competed in the championship round, and Suveer was the winner!  He may be eligible to complete in the state level Geography Bee this April. This would be Suveer's second consecutive year competing at the state level bee! Congratulations to all of the students who participated.

Leasure Elementary School third grader Kylee Countryman became the first student at Leasure this school year to earn the coveted 8th Math POWER band and the much sought after "T-shirt of Honor" that goes with successfully completing all 8 levels of Math competency.  She will be the first, but not the last, to have her picture hung on the Leasure Wall of Fame.  The Math POWER band program was started four years ago as a way to help increase Math proficiency and give students at Leasure a cool incentive to master the skills at each level.  POWER stands for Practicing Operations With Effective Results. Students work on grade level strands of Math problems directly linked to the Common Core Standards.  There are 8 levels per grade.  Only when a student "Masters" a skill are they awarded a different colored gel bracelet.  After they complete their grade level, they may go on to the next grade level and earn additional rewards for successful completion. The Leasure Math POWER Band program really gets kids excited about Math. Thank you to INGDirect for providing a grant for the program in the second and third year.       

On January 11, two teams from Wilson and Leasure Elementary Schools competed against 20 other teams from around the tri-state area in the First State FIRST Lego League Tournament held at Salem Community College in New Jersey.  This year's theme was "Nature's Fury."  Students at Leasure researched flooding in Delaware City and met with Delaware City's Mayor, Police Chief and the Delaware City Fire Department to get a sense of the issues there for their project.  Students at Wilson researched tsunamis and their effects on people and the land in Tokyo, Japan.   

The students prepared for several months prior to this competition, including spending over 30 hours after school with their coaches and enrichment teachers, Jenny Rovner and Tim Werbrich.  In addition to researching a natural disaster, students built and programmed a robot to perform different themed tasks on a large board.  These tasks ranged from securing people, pets, and supplies to a safe zone to raising a house above the flood to releasing a cargo plane with much-needed supplies for the disaster and much more.    

Students were judged on the technical aspects of their robot, their research into the natural disaster they chose, and teamwork.  They also had 3 robot performance trials where they had 2 1/2 minutes to accumulate as many points as possible.

It was a long day of competition and work.  The students enjoyed themselves and represented their schools and the District very well.  They displayed gracious professionalism and teamwork throughout the day. Wilson scored high on their robot tasks, but unfortunately not enough to qualify for the state tournament.  Leasure was awarded the "Judge's Trophy" for their enthusiasm and persistence when their robot failed to work through the judging rounds.  They were able to later "resurrect" the robot and were able to present again to the judges with a working robot.

Being the first year for both schools competing in the Lego Robotics event against much more experienced and older teams was a huge undertaking.  It was a rewarding experience for all the students and coaches.  [more photos]

Four of Bayard Middle School's students received "Honorable Mention" awards from the DuPont Center for Collaborative Research and Education as part of its Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day of Celebration.  Felix Oyola Perez (6th grade), Hiski Hodge (7th grade), Fernando Morales (7th grade) and Jessica Trujillo (8th grade) were nominated by staff and won based on their commitment to education and their respect for self and others; two characteristics that clearly support Dr. King's vision.

The students have been invited to receive their award at the Martin Luther King Jr. Day of Celebration program and reception on January 20 at the DuPont Theater on North Market Street in Wilmington.  The Bayard family is extremely proud of these students' accomplishments and dedication to their education!

On December 20, the Christiana High School (CHS) Marching Band and CHS Advanced Steel Band performed for Kirk and Shue-Medill Middle Schools as well as Marshall and Jones Elementary Schools.  The band performed its 2013 Marching Show and the Steel Band played a couple of pieces from the winter concert.  The band not only performed for the students but discussed what is like to be in high school band.  Also, the band demonstrated the different band instruments to the elementary students.  CHS Director of Bands Mr. Jeffrey Dombchik says, "We want to get out to the students and get them excited about music in our district. We are hoping we can help plant the seed early and get students interested in playing or continuing to play an instrument."  The CHS students look forward to the Schools Tour every year.   A good time was had by all.  

VIDEO 1 / VIDEO 2

On December 18, the Christiana High School (CHS) Band welcomed back several alumni for its winter concert.  The alumni performed in the Concert Band, Alumni Jazz Band and a combined Instrumental Ensemble at the end of the concert.   CHS Director of Bands Mr. Jeffrey Dombchik said, "it is always special having the alumni come back and be part of our concert.   They have helped create the positive musical atmosphere we currently have at CHS."  Several of the alumni performed "An Inspiration" dedicated to the memory of Brian Dombchik.  "This piece is very special for me", says Mr. Dombchik.  I had written this piece for my brother when I was a 21 year old college student.  He eventually passed away from cancer at age 18.  He inspired me to become the teacher that I am today.  It was very special having so many students come back and help bring the piece to life.  Also, many of the alumni performed on Morning Dance. This was the piece that helped bring the Steel Band program to CHS.  It was an amazing performance says Mr. Dombchik.  "We combined the traditional  Concert Band, Jazz Band, and Steel Band into one ensemble.  It was one of the most exciting performances we have done during my tenure at CHS."  It was a great night of music and we will be looking forward to many more great performances in 2014!   

VIEW  VIDEOS:  "An Inspiration"  /  "Morning Dance"

On January 6, seven students from Glasgow High School's journalism class participated in an online conference call with Governor Jack Markell. The conference call included students from schools across the State of Delaware. The governor held a question and answer session where students asked questions about civic engagement, education, job creation in Delaware and various other topics. The Glasgow students appreciated the chance to be a part of such an important event.

On Sunday, March 2, 2014, the Fairy Godmothers' Delaware Chapter will host its 4th Annual Prom Fair at the Christiana Hilton Hotel. All Delaware high school seniors are invited to attend and purchase some gently used but mostly new gowns at a cost of $10.00 with the exception of a few at $25.  Several vendors will display a variety of accessories at a discount price. (shoes, jewelry, make up etc.)  This year, the program has partnered with the Bridal and Tuxedo Shoppe. Boys are welcome to come and view and or be fitted for tuxedos.  The fair runs from 9:00 am - 5:00 pm. Admission and parking are free.