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What’s Up for August? Take a Look Inside...
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Stevens Students Reach 106,000 Feet in Space Project By Amanda Rombough Information Services Officer
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The students of Rapid City Area Schools are incredible and reaching heights of over 100,000 feet in the air. Last year’s AP Physics students at Stevens High School, led by Dr. Andrew Smith, were able to send a balloon, along with a sustainable payload, into the air at 106,000 feet, gathering data, photos, and videos from the trip to help them study.
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Students are tasked with coming up with a project idea for the class and the projects chosen by the class are presented to a panel and projects are chosen whether or not they get funding. This year, three balloons were launched and recovered and three projects were funded for future research.
• McKinney-Vento
• Campaign for Grade Level Reading
• Resource Center • Green Boot Camp
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• Data Retreat
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• Back to School Photos
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One project, Project Bakteriak, sent bacteria up into the air with the balloon to track the change in the bacteria to see if it would grow in space. They chose to send up E-Coli and received a safe strain from the Microbiology department at Rapid City Regional Hospital to study due to its quick response and growth rate and its safety. The group found there was less bacteria than there was when they sent it up. “When my partner and I were in stage one with the memo, we all had the same goals,” student Noah Storm said. “So we thought how are we going to make our memo stand out? Initially my partner and I thought, let’s send up a mouse. It’s going to be great. Dr. Smith shot that down right away.”
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School Supply Drive Makes Big Impact on Area School Districts By Amanda Rombough Information Services Officer
In the beginning it was maybe 500 supplies. This year, 19 years later, they collected well over 81,500 school supplies to donate to 60 schools in the Black Hills Community, benefiting over 6,000 students. The Black Hills Federal Credit Union (BHFCU) school supply drive was a success again this year and brought in more supplies than the organizers could have hoped for. “We thought of all of those kids going back to school without the supplies they need and it makes it difficult for them to succeed and that’s not what we want to see,” Business Development Officer for
BHFCU Kylene Casanova said. “We want the kids to be excited and nervous to start school. They shouldn’t be embarrassed because they don’t have the supplies they need.” Casanova said they’ve seen prices going up over the years and that has made it difficult for parents to get students the supplies they need for school. BHFCU collected everything from pencils to backpacks, rulers to colored pencils, and everything in between. The donations were distributed among schools throughout the Black Hills, including Rapid City Area Schools, based on their needs, and representa-
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One of the other projects was Project Aquilla attempted to use HAM radio and APRS Tracking to track the payload after the balloon bursts and falls back to Earth. What they attempted to do was live transmitting of GPS data points back to Earth all the way up and all the way down. While they ended up not being able to use the program due to technical difficulties, the students learned that a notable company started packaging the technology they had initially built. “They packaged what we were trying to do and we had done it before it was available on the market,” student Erin Rezich. “That was immensely impressive even though we weren’t able to have it on the flight.” “This project was a tribute to the fact that students can work together, and even though we were competing at stage three, we came together and made, honestly, a more magnificent project than either of ours individually,” Rezich said.
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The students presented their projects to the school board at Monday evening’s meeting and shared their goals for next year with them. Smith said the future plans for the project for his classes includes returning a photo from the flight next year, and by 2018 they should be able to return data to Earth from orbit via a spacecraft at 150,000 feet. “If all goes well we’ll actually raise some money and get one of these payloads onto a spacecraft and put it into orbit and we’ll transmit a picture back to Stevens High School from it,” Smith said. Storm shared with the board that the AP scores from Stevens High School were among the highest scores internationally. “That is definitely a testament to what Dr. Smith is doing here in Rapid City,” Storm said. “What Dr. Smith is doing here is literally changing the world.”
McKinney-Vento Works to Aid Homeless Youth in District By Amanda Rombough Information Services Officer A child deserves an education, despite income or lack thereof, which is what McKinney-Vento Homeless Education Act works diligently to combat each year. The McKinney-Vento Act is a federal law that protects the rights of homeless students and families in temporary housing situations. The importance of this program goes deeper than education. Temporary housing situations doesn’t necessarily mean living on the streets. It could include living in a shelter, hotels or motels, doubling up with family members, living in cars or tents, etc. McKinney-Vento works to help kids in those situations in grades K-12 and preschool. McKinney-Vento Coordinator Anita Deranleau said that consistency is key in these children’s lives, so any child in the program is guaranteed to stay in the school they start in for the year and they will work to keep them in that school through all their years in school.
“We know how important stability is in a life where everything else is so unstable for them,” Deranleau said. Deranleau said they work to help the student with everything they possibly can. They are enrolled in free breakfast and lunch, they help with emergency food, clothing and can even help with things like laundry and transportation. Deranleau said they want to eliminate all barriers that they might have to education. The only barrier they can’t help with is housing. “We’re there to try to help them so that the students can get to school and hopefully pick themselves up from there,” Deranleau said. Last year Rapid City Area Schools identified 793 students as being in temporary housing situations. So far, there are 83 identified this year and Deranleau said that will continue to grow throughout the year. She said they serve all walks of life and a lot of people who find themselves in that situation are people who had an
event in life happen and they need help. “Poverty affects everyone,” she said. “We can’t do it all but we do what we can to help families in crisis.” Donations can be made at General Beadle Elementary School. They are always in need of clothing and shoes, and food such as spaghetti sauce with meat, noodles, and peanut butter. In addition, teachers can refer students to the program if they suspect that they might be in a temporary housing situation by emailing Deranleau at Anita. Deranleau@k12.sd.us.
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United Way Press Release
Rapid City is one of 11 communities joining the nationwide Campaign for Grade-Level Reading this month, committing to work collaboratively to increase the number of children at grade level by the end of third grade. The addition of the 11 plus the state of West Virginia means the Grade-Level Reading Communities Network (GLR Network) now includes organizations operating in 232 cities, counties and states. All told, cities and counties in 42 states across the country – plus the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands – now have recognized the problem and resolved to do something about it. “We are excited that United Way of the Black Hills has been chosen to lead this effort, in partnership with the Rapid City Area Schools, and funded through a $375,000 grant from the John T. Vucurevich Foundation. This initiative has involved partners from nearly every segment of our community,” said Danita Simons, Community Impact Director of United Way of the Black Hills. “There are many variables that are preventing our children from succeeding in school. Nearly 800 children in the Rapid City Area School District are homeless. Coming together as a community, we can address these issues to ensure our children have the tools they need to start school healthy and ready to learn, have good attendance, graduate on time, and lead successful lives.” New partner organizations are being added nearly every week. Current partners in Rapid City include Black Hills Special
Continued from A1 tives from each school picked them up to distribute at their schools. The collection started in June 17. BHFCU also collected monetary donations and sold raffle tickets to get money to purchase more supplies. “If we can make your lives go a little smoother and make your classroom run a little smoother, if we can make these students listen a little bit more, then we’re happy to do so,” Carol Brown, Vice President of Marketing
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Services Cooperative/Career Learning Center of the Black Hills, Big Brothers Big Sisters, Boy Scouts of America - Black Hills Area Council, Bright Start, CASA 7th Circuit, Catholic Social Services, Club for Boys, City of Rapid City, Community Health Center of the Black Hills, Cornerstone Rescue Mission, Consumer Credit Counseling Services of the Black Hills, The Dahl Arts Center, Early Childhood Connections, Ellsworth AFB Airman & Family Readiness Center, Ellsworth AFB Youth Center, Family & Community Health Services - SD Department of Health, Feeding South Dakota, Girl Scouts – Dakota Horizons, Girls Inc., Gwendolyn Stearns Foundation, Head Start, John T. Vucurevich Foundation, The Journey Museum, Learning Solutions of the Black Hills, Literacy Council of the Black Hills, Love Inc., Lutheran Social Services – Arise Youth Center, North Rapid Community School Association, Partnership Rapid City, Pennington County States Attorney’s Office, Pennington County States Attorney’s Office - Juvenile Diversion, Rapid City Area Schools, Rapid City Arts Council, Rapid City Chamber of Commerce, Rapid City Dyslexia Care, Rapid City Fire Department, Rapid City Police Department, Rapid City Public Library, Rapid City Public School Foundation, Rural America Initiatives, South Dakota Child Protection Services Division of Child Care Services, South Dakota Humanities Council, Starting Strong Coalition, Unified Judicial System - Court Services, South Dakota Gear Up, South Dakota Voices for Children, University Center, Volunteers of America, Watkins Tutoring, Working Against Violence, Inc., Youth and Family Services, and YMCA of Rapid City.
In joining the GLR Network, the partner organizations developed formal plans to address three underlying challenges that can keep young children, especially those from low-income families, from learning to read well:
and Business Development at BHFCU, said.
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School readiness — too many children are entering kindergarten already behind.
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School attendance — too many young children are missing too many days of school.
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Summer learning — too many children are losing ground academically over the summer.
The GLR Communities Network is dedicated to narrowing the gap between children from low-income families and their more affluent peers. According to the U.S. Department of Education, that gap has widened significantly in recent years, with 80 percent of low-income kids failing to read proficiently in 4th grade compared to 49 percent of their more affluent peers. Launched in May 2010, the Campaign for Grade-Level Reading is a collaborative effort of funders, nonprofit partners, business leaders, government agencies, states and communities across the nation to ensure that many more children from low-income families succeed in school and graduate prepared for college, a career and active citizenship.
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Resource Center Moves to New Central Location By Amanda Rombough Information Services Officer Having the supplies needed to succeed are important for a teacher. That is why the Rapid City Area Schools Resource Center is so important. The Resource Center has recently moved to the School Warehouse on South Highway 79 and includes a plethora of supplies for teachers to use in their classrooms. Materials included at the Resource Center for checkout include: classroom Literature sets of 31 books Literature Circle sets of 6 books, videos, study prints and posters, microscopes, science kits and learning center kits, Kids Discovery magazine sets, book prop kits, and Professional books for teachers. The Resource Center also provides lamination services and has a die-cut area with colored strips and a selection of shapes and letters for making posters. The die-cut area is also open to the public to use at $0.10 per non-laminated sheet and $0.30 for a laminated sheet, with that money being deposited into the General Fund. Everything at the Resource Center is free for teachers to use, however.
“There is so much here for them,” IMS Secretary Sheree Bernal said. “It makes more sense to have one central district location for the district to use. The buildings don’t have room for all of this. It’s just like a downtown library.” Bernal, who is new to certain sections of the Resource Center, says the move has been a learning curve and she is learning a lot about the Resource Center, so patience is key and appreciated.
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check anything out, they must go through the school and call 394-4015 to get their password to login to the online catalog. Bernal said she is willing to take suggestions for things that she should order that can be used in classrooms to expand the collection. The Resource Center is open from 7:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. Monday through Friday and is closed for the entire month of July.
“If I don’t know the answer to something, I will find someone who does,” she said. She recommended that new teachers, and veteran teachers as well, come get a tour of the Resource Center to see what all there is for them to check out. If teachers wish to
Rapid City Teacher Chosen to Attend Green Boot Camp
By Amanda Rombough Information Services Officer
Even in the summer months, teachers are working hard to expand their knowledge so they can better teach the students of the Rapid City School District. That held true for East Middle School science teacher Nicole Keegan who was one of 50 other teachers from around the world who got to attend the Honeywell’s Green Boot Camp in San Diego in June. There were over 690 applicants and Keegan got to attend the camp with teachers from 12 countries and 30 other states. Keegan teaches seventh grade science and eighth grade Science Exploration. “Honeywell’s selection of Nicole to participate in this program is a significant achievement for her personally, but also is something residents of Rapid City should be proud of as it’s a direct reflection on the quality education your district provides,” Honeywell Building Solutions
President John Rajchert said.
Keegan said the camp was centered around green technology and the impact that it has on us and the camp focused on touring green buildings, learning about emerging green technology, lectures about global environmental issues, lessons that focus on green technology, and the importance of going green. “Most of all, networking with other educators to hear about how they use this in their classrooms, resources they use and community involvement was essential to what I brought back,” Keegan said. Keegan said she has big plans for how she will apply this information in her classroom. She plans to use the energy conservation with her seventh grade life science class as well as incorporating the engineering aspects of green technologies with her eighth grade Science Exploration class. She said she hopes to do work with
solar cells and wind technology in hopes of working with South Dakota School of Mines and Technology and Black Hills Power. “This generation of kids is going to solve our energy crisis, or at least be part of the solution,” Keegan said. “I feel it is my responsibility to offer them experiences to begin to think about it.” Keegan plans to apply to attend the Honeywell Space Camp next year.
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Administrators Begin Goal Setting for School Year By Amanda Rombough Information Services Officer While students tried to relish the last few weeks of their summer break, administrators went back to work during their administrative and data meetings the first week of August. Goal setting and data analysis were the main focus of their meetings and facilitators from Technology and Innovations (TIE) were on hand to lead the group through retrieving and analyzing district data. Administrators studied data covering Reading and Language Arts proficiency, Math proficiency, High School Completion rates, Attendance, and Discipline at a district level looking at recent assessment data as well as trends over the last five years. While the data is not finalized yet, and won’t be made public until September, the preliminary numbers helped the administration
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to set goals for the future. “Collaboration and collective goal setting are the key to success and the Rapid City Areas Schools administration is excited
to embark on a successful school year,” Valerie Seales, Coordinator of Staff Development, Curriculum, Instruction and Assessment. Administration focused on coming together to discuss what their plans are for the coming year. Each department shared
Superintendent Dr. Tim Mitchell welcomed new teachers and all staff back to work last week.
Ground was broken on the new Stevens High School Science Wing. The project is set to be finished in August 2016.
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their vision and goals for the upcoming school year. Discussions centered on Professional Learning Communities (PLCs) implementation, curriculum updates, the Learning Assessment Process, and the South Dakota Framework for Teaching. The priority areas for Rapid City Area Schools for the 20152016 school year will be: All Students Learning at High Levels, Fiscal Accountability, Infrastructure Development, Staff Development, Organizational Accountability, and Community and Legislative Relations. Performance targets and the identification of specific strategies in each of those priority areas are under development. Regular reports will be developed for sharing with the community on the progress in these areas.
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Get online with us at all of our web and social media sites! Watch for school postings on Facebook & Twitter; browse photos on Instagram; watch quick videos on The Cube and longer videos on Vimeo!
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