District-wide Weekly Notes
Submitted by rukamau on May 20, 2012 - 11:51am
The School District of Black River Falls is committed to creating a learner-responsive environment that ensures educational excellence and life-long learning.
Forrest Street
Thanks to the heroic efforts of Travis Lind, the FS playground is now woodchuck free.
On Thursday, May 17, the Kindergarten students took a field trip to J and A Produce Farm. With the help of the FFA members, students planted pumpkin seeds, cabbage plants, and sunflower seeds. They learned about bees and how they help our crops grow, learned about asparagus and rhubarb, and picked chicken eggs. They got their faces painted and colored their favorite vegetable then enjoyed some ice cream and rhubarb bars! Thank you to Ashley and Jason Seekamp for their great hospitality! Also to the FFA members for all of their help!
Pea Gravel was obtained and delivered to FS. Thanks to Sue Wester and Kim Parker for obtaining the grant from the BRFPTO and for also getting some much needed equipment for the kids!
MAP testing ended on Friday.
Laura Ruger found a great way to connect student voices to the Smartboard, so now her "talking" smartboard is very customized!
4k and 5k orientations were a big hit. It is exciting to see and meet new students and families to the district.
Third Street
Janelle Tande's second grade class has been reading the story The School Mural. Then the students went on a walking field trip around Black River Falls to learn about the Murals created by Susan Sampson. They enjoyed discovering all the Murals we have in our town. The students also stopped by Susan Sampson's art studio and visited with our local artist. The students had a great time.
Students at Third Street Elementary school raised $383.60 to donate to the Blair-Taylor School District’s Eagles4kids project (http://www.eagles4kids.com/). The funds raised will go toward the projects fund drive for a new camera with sound and nightvision. See Eagles4Kids thank you to Third Street School at http://www.eagles4kids.com/daily-updates/
Congratulations to Jody Gawron and Stephanie Cowles for the excellent musical performance they put on with the second and third grade students who were in attendance during Fine Arts Night at Third Street School on Thursday (May 10th) night.
Cassie Hammond and her second grade students had the opportunity this week to Skype with Mr. Lawrence and his combined 3rd and 4th grade class at SoSET Charter School in the Blair-Taylor Elementary School. Each class had the opportunity to ask each other questions. Mrs. Hammond's class was super excited to learn Third Street Elementary school helped Mr. Lawrence and his school, meet their eagles4kids fundraising goal. They will soon be purchasing a new camera with sound and night vision!
Gebhardt
Tracey Tumaniec's science classes were really stretching their technology skills over the past weeks! They have made some fantastically creative projects to represent their research and learning regarding Endangered and Extinct Animals. The students had a choice to use Go Animate, Prezi, Glogster, and Animoto. It is very true that the teacher and students can learn hand in hand. Check out two examples of some of their projects:
http://goanimate.com/videos/0Q_SL05p6PDw?utm_source=emailshare&uid=0IWCX2eSLu6o
http://animoto.com/play/oD5N1lLPQ4aqGVlDJvR6Xw
This afternoon, the fourth grade held their last incentive party for the year. The students that had kept their precious punches (by showing respect and responsibility) earned their way outside to take part in six different stations of water soaked fun!
This year, Gebhardt also decided to make their annual trip to the Hoffman Aquatic Park an incentive. Both grade levels established their criteria, communicated it with students, and sent notes home for parents. They also emailed all of the parents so that they were sure to get the message! They were really pleased with the positive responses they have received - they are all in favor of students earning the right to attend these fun activities as opposed to all students feeling entitled. What an excellent opportunity to motivate kids to keep their responsibility and respect in line as the days start to wind down!
Middle School
Andrea Koester's middle school choir had a very successful spring concert this past Tuesday evening. Congratulations to the students for all their hard work! Nice job, Andrea, on developing a program whose numbers have increased dramatically over the past year.
The Middle School LMC hosted its Spring BOGO Book Fair this week. With the volunteers from the PTO and LMC Aide Jean Helland's organization skills, it was a great success! We thank the PTO for their continued support for our schools!
Brad Markhardt's 8th grade Exploring Agriscience class "went fishing" this week - in the back lab room. Students caught and weighed the Tilapia being raised in the 250 gallon recirculating aquaculture system. Using the data collected, students then calculated the amount of feed that should be fed to the fish.
May 15 was an exciting day for Mike Downie's and Allison Boerger's social studies classes. To end a unit on the Middle Ages, students were given numerous project choices. They could create a castle or diorama. Some students chose the dress up option and came to school decked out in Middle Ages apparel. Researching inventions of the Middle Ages and creating a book about them was also a popular choice. There were so many impressive projects. Students really took on this project challenge in full force and did a great job!
Brian Stemper's middle school Science and Technology Club presented science experiments for the TS 2nd and 3rd grade students. 6th grader Andrea Peterson presented a demonstration on vacuum and pressure. 7th graders Karly Stemper and Kaili Berg demonstrated the Vande Graff generator. 7th grader Tabitha Raifsnider demonstrated and talked about physical and chemical reactions. 8th graders Tommy Kelly and Chris Bryan presented the bed of nails. 8th graders Mya Long and Jenny Bunde mesmerized the 3rd graders with liquid nitrogen. The students did an excellent job, and Brian is very proud of them!
High School
On Friday afternoon, the HS rocked the gym with a Spring Assembly. The assembly featured their newly formed show choir, which wowed the crowd, as well as hearing some fun songs from the band. They honored many of our students, including the Girls Basketball team, who won a bronze medal for academic scholarship - earning a 3.5 or higher for athlete on the team. They also honored one student and one former graduate for receiving the National FFA Foundation Scholarships -- Chad Bahnub and Zachary Markhardt. Others who were honored were 59 students who earned proficient or advanced on all five WKCE tests and a special honor went to those 13 who earned advanced rating on all five.
Here is a list of the rest of the highlights:
- Tiger Investment Club - $4,000 profits
- State Forensics competitors- Brianna Amborn, Page Fisher, Zane Dukes, Greg Koboski
- State Solo Ensemble
- FCCLA national qualifiers
- Presidential Excellence Award winners who earned a 3.5 or higher high school GPA and 85% proficiency in math or reading on the ACT exam. 17 of seniors earned this award.
- SMV – The Super Mileage Vehicle team competed in three events this year and despite a crash at Elkhart Lake learned many valuable lessons.
- A talented crew of construction students have nearly completed a beautiful house on the river in town for a former student and part-time resident of BRF.
Mrs. Wojciechowski’s Physics class used the trip to analyze uniform and non-uniform circular motion by collecting data on the carousel and tree swing. They also compared circular motion with linear motion to evaluate similarities and differences. The students evaluated whether the mathematical models they use in Physics match with real world applications. They used their trip on the bus to analyze velocity, acceleration, and Newton’s Law of Motion.
Mrs. Byrns’ Marketing class used the trip to evaluate real world applications of visual merchandising. They evaluated storefronts and displays. The students compared and contrasted stores based on clientele demographics; they examined store layouts, print advertisements, and in-store promotions. Other activities included identifying logos and slogans. They were also required to interview a sales person to learn more about the job of retail sales and to evaluate the seven steps of the sales process by engaging the sales person in a potential sale.
Students in Shawn Moretti's Health class were visited this week by Paula Przywojski, a Registered Dietician at Black River Falls Memorial hospital. She shared some excellent information on beverage choices via her "What's in Your Beverage" presentation. Paula provided hands-on activities, measuring the amounts of sugar and caffeine in the various energy drinks and available soft drinks on the market today. The students learned to be aware of what they are drinking, dangers of certain beverages, and that water is the best beverage choice. Thanks for visiting us Paula!
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