Corporate Publication of Richmond Community Schools EARLY SPRING 2009

With the latest in technology to back up her dreams, Samantha Gray, a kindergartner at C.R. Richardson Elementary School, looks as comfortable at the computer controls as a NASA engineer. Who knows how high Samantha’s education may take her? To learn about an exciting technology development at school and at home for Fairview Elementary’s students, please turn to page 7.

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Superintendent’sMessageRCS Approves New Magnet School and Early College Program

Elizabeth Starr Academy will soon be a reality in Richmond, as will the Early College program for sixth- and seventh-graders.

Beginning this fall, Elizabeth Starr Academy will be located in what is now Starr Elementary School, and Early College will be in Dennis Middle School. Both were recently approved by the Richmond Community Schools Board of School Trustees in response to recommendations arising from reconfiguration discussions, which began early last fall.

Elizabeth Starr Academy, formed from the combination of Starr Elementary and Discovery School, will be a magnet school for RCS but will continue to be the home school for students residing in the Starr district. As a magnet school, it will be open to all Richmond students in preschool through sixth grade.

Entrepreneurial education—organized within the framework of the MicroSociety Program now in its second year at Discovery School—will be the focus of the academy. While reading, writing, arithmetic, science, social studies and the arts will continue to be the foundation of the educational experience, learning through business partnerships will bring the community into the classroom. Applications for enrollment will soon be available. Space is limited.

The Early College program targets students who will be in sixth or seventh grade next fall and are eligible for Indiana’s Twenty-first Century Scholars Program. In partnership with Ivy Tech Community College, RCS is creating a program for Grades 6–12 that will make it possible for participating students to graduate with enough college coursework for an associate degree.

There has never been a time in our nation’s history when getting a good education has been more essential for success later in life than it is now. Elizabeth Starr Academy and Early College are two bold initiatives to help make that success happen for RCS students.

—Dr. Allen Bourff, Superintendent of Schools

It would seem the sky’s the limit for fifth-grader Donovan

Chandler, whom the camera caught making a point while

delivering a speech at Julia E. Test Middle School.

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FeatureStoryStudents Build Real-World Skills in Kid City

As in all of Richmond Community Schools’ elementary classrooms, Discovery School’s first priority is teaching children basic skills—reading, writing and mathematics. However, Discovery School goes beyond that by offering its students real-world opportunities to apply those basic skills in Kid City.

What is Kid City?At the beginning of the 2007–08 school year,

Discovery became a MicroSociety school—an innovative design where children create a microcosm of the real world inside the school, and where each student has a role in running that world.

Three afternoons a week, the children move out into other classrooms to assume their roles in their MicroSociety—Kid City. Some students are employed by businesses and develop products for sale to other citizen-students, while others work for agencies that provide services needed by the community. Student legislators help develop city laws, and the youngest students operate the post office, sorting and delivering the mail.

What do students do in Kid City? A visitor to Kid City might see:• K–1 students selling products in the Greenhouse

Market in connection with current study themes • The manager of a greeting card company meeting

with her production team to discuss how new competition might affect their business

• Student bookkeepers working on payroll• Older students in the computer lab creating

spreadsheets containing such data as attendance, math facts and discipline

• Student-run shops where jewelry, origami, toy cars, and learning games are produced and sold

• Student professors at MicroUniversity tutoring younger students in math

• Government Center workers mailing out tax bills for the Internal Revenue Service

How do students benefit?

The Kid City experience gives students opportunities to:• Learn to work with others• Be innovative • Solve real-world problems

As a result, Discovery School’s students grow in confidence while learning business etiquette and leadership skills—and develop personal and social responsibility as members of a thriving community.

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Who doesn’t like making pictures with stamps? is what Kendrick Villanueva might be thinking. He’s in kindergarten at

Discovery School.

It only takes one word to describe the kind of day third-grader Jalen Turner appears to be having at Discovery School, and the picture

says it all—great!

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When determining percentages and proportions, ratios and rates, the trusty calculator is still the math tool of choice. Just ask Dylan Bales, an eighth-grader at David W. Dennis Middle School.

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All-School Calendar, March–June 2009March 30 .......................................................... Spring Break BeginsApril 6 ......................................................................School ResumesApril 20 ....................................................... Sixth Six Weeks BeginsApril 24 ...........................Snow Makeup Day (school in session) *May 22 .............................Snow Makeup Day (school in session) *May 25 .................................................... Memorial Day (no school)June 5...............................Snow Makeup Day (school in session) *June 8...............................Snow Makeup Day (school in session) *June 9..............................Snow Makeup Day (school in session) *; Last Day for Students June 10 ............................................................ Last Day for TeachersJune 14 .............................................................................. Graduation

* Makeup information is contingent on weather and the Indiana Department of Education position on waivers.

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Sydney Eaton, a fifth-grader at Vaile Elementary School, gets ready to explore her artistic side by choosing a stencil from

the template she has in hand.

Dylan Siler, a kindergartner at Charles Elementary School, doesn’t need soup to enjoy his crackers. They’re fine all by themselves!

Striking a happy, contented pose is Paige Sparkman, a kindergartner at Highland Heights Elementary School.

As poised as the pencil she’s holding, third-grader Andrea Watson demonstrates good writing form as she practices cursive in her Westview

Elementary School classroom.

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MiddleSchools

Banners, Banners Everywhere at RHS! This spring Richmond High School is starting a new

recognition program for graduating seniors. As students are accepted at a college, university or skilled-trade program, or enter military service, RHS will collect a banner from the designated post-secondary school to hang in the main floor hallway.

Every year we report how many seniors will be attending post-secondary schools, but this growing collection of flags will be an enduring, visible sign of where our graduates have chosen to continue their education.

Our first banner is from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point. RHS senior Chris Miller, who has been accepted to West Point, purchased the banner on a recent visit to the campus and brought it back to RHS.

“We’re hoping to fill our main hallway with many different banners from various post-secondary schools,” says Barbara Bergdoll, RHS principal. “The display of banners will remind everyone, students and teachers alike, of the many RHS graduates who have continued their education far beyond these walls.

“We invite you to visit Richmond High School in the fall to see the different banners hanging in the main hallway,” continues Bergdoll. “No doubt they also will serve as an incentive to future students to pursue their education beyond high school.”

Dennis Students Simulate Fossil Formation Seventh-graders at Dennis Middle School are learning to

simulate the formation of various types of fossils, thanks to a McDonald’s MAC Grant.

Susy Hasecoster, science teacher, used the grant to purchase materials for students to explore insect preservation, molds and casts, petrifaction and other forms of fossilization to help students better understand the work of paleontologists at a dig site in South Dakota.

Simulated golden amber, which is made using an old-fashioned hard candy recipe, is used to preserve insects. Molds and casts are created by carving initials into clay and then filling those impressions with plaster of Paris.

Students simulate petrified wood by soaking tightly rolled paper towels in Epsom salt solution. The salt crystals fill in the spaces between the paper cells, creating hardened logs.

To replicate fossilized bones created when minerals from soil and water replace calcium in the bone, students make steel wool figures and place them in a solution of copper sulfate. The iron in the steel wool and the copper in the liquid trade places, transforming the figures into copper.

In addition, students use microscopes to observe microfossils sifted from soil and extracted from rock at the South Dakota dig site. Often small teeth, fragments of bone and plant material are found using this method.

“These hands-on activities make covering the new Indiana CORE Science Standards much more realistic and increase the students’ understanding of prehistoric time and life,” says Hasecoster.

Deadline Approaching for Twenty-first Century Scholars Program

Test Middle School eighth-graders have until June 30 to apply for the Twenty-first Century Scholars Program, created in 1990 by the Indiana General Assembly to assist Indiana’s low- and moderate-income families with college tuition.

In exchange for keeping a pledge of good citizenship, Scholars are guaranteed up to eight semesters of tuition assistance at more than 80 Indiana universities, colleges and trade schools. If the student chooses to attend a private institution, the state will award an amount comparable to that of tuition at a public college or university.

Students in foster care, as well as those receiving free or reduced-price lunches, automatically qualify. Disclosure of financial information and a parent’s or guardian’s signature are required. Parents of seventh- and eighth-graders are encouraged to call Dan Norris, school counselor, if they have questions about the application process.

Test Speech Team SuccessesThe TMS speech team placed 4th out of 17 teams at the

Carmel speech meet on Jan. 24, with the following results:• Discussion: Jalen Sleet, 2nd; Russell Zimmerman, 4th;

Cory Vantresca, 5th

• Dramatic: Alaina Keene, 8th; Emma Toney, 9th; Kristin Perkinson, 10th

• Humorous: Cassidy Ballin, 5th; Kita Frick-Shipley, 6th; Chloe Parks, 10th

• Poetry: Emma Toney, 7th; Matt Sheridan, 10th

• Prose: Jordan Timmerman, 3rd

• Impromptu: Bryce Wedig, 2nd; Siena Kemp, 7th; Debra Kates, 8th; Max Van Buskirk, 9th; Jordan Timmerman, 10th

• Radio: Morgan Reece, 4th

• Duo: Alaina Keene and Elaine Brady, 1st; Somer Eckert and Kita Frick-Shipley, 4th; Max Van Buskirk and Bryce Wedig, 5th; Cole Ballin and Andy Stevens, 7th

The team’s 34 seventh- and eighth-graders, all of whom are in the LOGOS High Ability Program, attend speech class every day and practice once a week after school with Francie Klinge and Deb Williams, speech team coaches.

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Exploring the exciting field of computer-aided design (CAD) is not only intriguing but a possible path to the future for Chris Nelloms, a sophomore at Richmond High School.

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Fairview Second-Graders Receive Laptops for School and Home

Fairview Elementary School was one of 27 Indiana schools to receive a Second-Grade Laptop Program grant from the Indiana Department of Education. The purpose of the grant program is to study the impact of an affordable, sustainable, one-on-one computing environment on second-grade student achievement.

Each second-grader at Fairview has received an Internet-accessible laptop, not only to use during the school day, but to take home to work on projects, as well.

The laptops support such RCS programs as Math Facts in a Flash and Type to Learn. Ongoing support for teachers is provided through an online Learning Management System (Moodle) and a Virtual Help Desk. Fairview is responsible for submitting requested data and participating in periodic evaluations.

Second-grader Faith Hill gives the program a “thumbs up”: “The laptops are really cool. It makes learning more fun. I can search for things I want to learn more about.”

Valentine’s Day Celebrations Take on New Meaning

Valentine’s Day was more than candy hearts and flowery cards at Highland Heights Elementary this year. It was an opportunity for the sixth-graders in Sam Thomas’s classroom to express their love, through poetry, to the people who matter the most in their lives.

The plan was simple: Use what you’ve learned about poetry to write from the heart. With their classroom transformed into an open-mike stage, the young writers stepped into the spotlight before fellow poets and distinguished guests.

Families, friends and teachers were treated to a very special poetry reading, and the talented students found an outlet for their own creative voices through the poetry workshop at the school.

Free verse flowed; rap and rhythm rang out. Appreciation, as well as affection, was apparent, as students cheered each other on through original compositions and performances of the best-loved works of published mentors.

“Providing students with an opportunity to author, publish and present their poems for each other and honored guests made Valentine’s Day very special this year for our class,” says Thomas.

Reflecting on the experience, budding poet Lexus Allen says, “I really liked writing poems and getting to decorate our papers. Reading my poem in front of everyone made me nervous, but it was still really fun.” Adds Taylor Pierson: “I gave my poem to my dad. He loved it!”

Jacob Kehlenbrink, a fourth-grader at Crestdale Elementary School, knows these tales of the dead aren’t about ghosts and

ghouls but legendary figures like Julius Caesar, Cicero and Spartacus who lived in Ancient Rome.

You’re Invited!You are invited to attend meetings of

the Board of School Trustees of Richmond Community Schools. These sessions are conducted the second and fourth Wednesday of each month at 6:30 p.m. (unless otherwise noted) at the Administration Building, 300 Hub Etchison Parkway, Richmond.

Board of School TrusteesSuzanne I. Derengowski .................. PresidentDavid W. Stidham .....................Vice PresidentKelly A. Baumgartner ...................... SecretaryPatricia G. Heiny ................................. MemberLinda L. Morgason .............................. MemberJulie M. Ripperger ............................... MemberAaron L. Stevens ................................. Member

Feedback Is WelcomeWe welcome our readers’ letters,

comments and critique. Write to us at Editor, Red Around Richmond, Richmond Community Schools, 300 Hub Etchison Parkway, Richmond, IN 47374, or you may call (765) 973-3300.

Our Phone Numbers Charles Elementary School ........................ 973-3441Crestdale Elementary School ..................... 973-3415Discovery School .......................................... 973-3375Fairview Elementary School ......................973-3442Paul C. Garrison Elementary School ........ 973-3431Highland Heights Elementary School ......973-3408C.R. Richardson Elementary School .........973-3429Starr Elementary School .............................973-3426Vaile Elementary School .............................973-3433Westview Elementary School ....................973-3445David W. Dennis Middle School ............... 973-3495Julia E. Test Middle School ......................... 973-3412Richmond High School ............................... 973-3424Administration Office .................................973-3300

Special ProgramsDay Treatment & Residential Facility .......973-3430FIND Center (at Discovery School) ...........973-3486LOGOS Lab (at Test Middle School) .........973-3488Richmond Area Career Center .................. 973-3307Early Learning & Family Literacy Center . 973-3416

Our Website Addresswww.rcs.k12.in.us

Non-Profit Org.US Postage

PAIDPlymouth, INPermit No. 31Richmond Community Schools

300 Hub Etchison ParkwayRichmond, IN 47374

*****ECRWSS Postal Customer

‘Kicks 96’ Sponsors Kick-It-Up Reading ChallengeLocal radio station WQLK (Kicks 96 FM) sponsored a reading challenge for

all students in the WQLK listening area, awarding prizes to the school and those individual students who read the greatest number of minutes.

Westview Elementary School had the most minutes read of any school—448,734 minutes—and received the $1,000 grand prize. The money will be used to furnish classroom libraries.

The individual winners and their prizes were:• 6–10 years old—Lillian Sagna, 5,086 minutes; iPod • 11–14 years old—Cheyenne Henry, 5,053 minutes; iPod The fifth-graders in Kimberly Vincent and Claire Prinkey’s classroom took

top honors with a total of 75,188 minutes read.

Statements of Nondiscrimination and Equal OpportunityIt is the policy of Richmond Community Schools not to discriminate on the

basis of race, creed, color, gender, religion, national origin, handicap or age.The Richmond School Corp. is in compliance with all federal statutes

including, but not limited to, Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, the Americans with Disabilities Act, Office of Civil Rights and nondiscrimination regulations as applied to public school corporations, Title IX, and the Family Educational Rights to Privacy Act. Copies of statutes are available upon request from the Superintendent’s Office.

WestviewElementary

These third-graders at Fairview Elementary School—Nivek Killion (left) and Chris Farmer—are kickin’ their learning up a notch with some extracurricular reading (see Fairview story on page 7).