Tuesday, May 10, 2016

Raise your hand if you know how many days are left in this school year?
I thought so.

Head's Up

Wednesday, May 11 is National Twilight Zone Day.

Thursday, May 12 is National Limerick Day. There once was a kid from . . .
May 12 is also Ruth Barker's Fine Arts Night from 5- 7 pm. Mary Mae Jones holds their leadership day on May 12 as well.

Friday, May 13 is National Apple Pie Day. It's also National Blame Someone Else Day.

It's still National Nurse's Week. If you haven't told a nurse how much they are absolutely necessary in the education process, you still have time.

It's also still Women's Health week until May 15th.

@bpscommunity

Last Monday, the first group of Ignite Innovators completed the IT Solution Strand of the program. This group of pioneers set a new standard of educational excellence in the professional studies program. Three of them have jobs in technology after graduation.






I was fortunate to be able to catch the Ardis Ann Fine Arts night on Tuesday. The artwork displayed showed how the teachers created an inclusive environment where kids were not afraid to explore their artistic talents.

Thursday might have been the busiest day ever.
There was the Happy Trails Day at Ruth Barker, This day is made possible by funds raised through a student project. Isn't it great when students help students.




The BHS DECA club made a wish come true for a Springdale child and her family after raising over $12,000 during this year's Mr. BHS contest. Always great to see BPS students supporting others.

And later that evening, the annual Gold Rush 5K filled the streets of Bentonville with runners. It was another huge turnout.











The Friday Roundup at Cooper was especially energetic last week as the surf was up! The Kindergarten class put on an excellent show and got everybody in the mood for summer.






Amy Pinault might be the most courageous teacher in the district. She let students cut her hair to be donated to Pantone's Lock of Love.








On Friday, a group of BHS Sports Medicine students visited with Orthopedic Surgeons at Northwest Medical to help name their new surgical robot. Ladies and Gentleman, let me introduce you to OsteoPrime.







Oh, and there was this film festival thing going on. I don't know if you got a chance to visit BFF or see a movie, but it was a pretty great week to be in Bentonville. It was especially great for these BHS students who competed in the Samsung Student Film Contest - and WON! And yes, that is Geena Davis.









Sugar Creek participated in National Lemonade Day again this year. Yet another great example of students working to support our community. National Lemonade Day is a great way to introduce students to economics and entrepreneurship.















Centerton Gamble Kindergartners want to thank McLarty Daniel Automotive for their new Tinker Time supplies they purchased thanks to a $2,000 donation. They were able to purchase two carts with activities to promote design thinking and creativity.








The Washington Jr. High Band earned superior
ratings and 1st Place in the Festival of Music at Worlds of Fun in Kansas City.

Grants and PD

Here's a couple of opportunities that don't have hard due dates.

Salesforce.org supports innovative, scalable solutions in education and STEM programs with a focus on increasing exposure of underrepresented groups and girls. http://www.salesforce.org/about-us/grantseekers/

Crayola is looking for applications for the Champion Creatively Alive Children grant program. http://www.crayola.com/for-educators/ccac-landing/grant-program.aspx

Videos of the week

This is the winning entry in the BFF Samsung Student Film competition.


I forgot about the videos created by students at Thomas Jefferson and Sugar Creek as part of Trike Theatre's Digital Storytelling program. BPS and Trike Partnered to provide training, equipment and opportunity for students to learn the craft of using video to tell a story.

Tuesday, May 3, 2016

BFF is here! BFF is here! Probably the one week out of the year that if you can't find something to do,your living under a rock.

Head's Up

The Bentonville Film Festival begins Tuesday, May 3. I don't know about you, but I'm kind of curious about what a Cinetransformer looks like. Download the BFF app or check out their website for schedule of events.

Tuesday, May 3, is National Teacher Appreciation Day, but you're so special we're appreciatin' you all week! Have a great week. It's also Ardis Ann Middle School's Fine Arts Night from 5- 7 pm.

May the 4th is Wednesday, also known as Star Wars Day. It's also bike to school day this year, which means, in theory, you could ride to work on those totally awesome speeders from Return of the Jedi.

It's National Bike Month. So, get out there and ride! The weather's great and you can't swing a dead cat without hitting a cyclist on a trail around here. In fact, May 14th is the spring Square to Square ride from Fayetteville to Bentonville. It's really a fun day. Try it. (No cats were hurt in the writing of this paragraph.)

Gold Rush 5k is THURSDAY, May 5, not Friday as is has been in the past. I guess there's some Cinetransformers blocking the route. It's Cinco de Mayo, so, I'm not sure what to expect at this year's race.






Looking ahead, next week elementary schools will be hosting a district-wide open house on Monday, May 9th. Here's a short promotional video.




It's also school National School Nurses Week. Want to know more http://www.nursingworld.org/NationalNursesWeek-History

Did you know that BHS has a Fishing Team? Join them at Fishing Derby Day on May 14th from 8 - 2 pm. All families from Bentonville Public Schools are welcome.

@bpscommunity

Have you been itchin' for a twitter chat? Join #whatisschool Thursday at 6pm moderated by @OLDHIGHMS teacher @tobiemichele this week. Questions here: http://mrkempnz.com/2016/05/what-is-school-building-rapport-and-relationships.html


Really believe I saw who should be leading our country Monday at BHS when I visited Ms. Hamm's class and watched debate students in a mock Congressional debate. Wish I could have brought all those people who complain about kids with me.

BWHS was open for tours on Wednesday for future students and parents. The place was full of excited Wolverines ready to get to work in NWA's premiere collaborative learning environment.








The school features open spaces and lots of areas for students to collaborate. I've heard many people comment that it is more like an office building than a school.

The competition gym at BWHS seats 2,250. It's large enough to host state playoff games; better yet, the entire student population can gather in the gym.










Regretfully, I wasn't able to attend the 21C Showcase on Thursday. I heard it was exceptional and really showcased the way technology is being integrated into classrooms across the district.

The Central Park Ballet was Thursday, and, as usual, the production was amazing. Here's a video clip of the teacher performance during the morning performance. They really outdid themselves this year, and I'm sure they brought the house down Thursday night.

If you'll permit me to shout - Friday, WAS THE BEST DAY OF MY LIFE! I got to spend the day at the Amazeum "convening" about the future of learning, teaching, entrepreneurship, and economic development.









Not only that, but the Woods Trail bike trail at Ardis Ann officially opened in the afternoon. This could be the future of the bike program. Compact, collaboratively built bike parks for all ability levels. Want to thank Tim Keith for his leadership in making this happen.

Mary Mae Jones, and Willowbrook both held health fairs with the support of community members.





Here's something cool from Cooper - Cooper Cafe! The 2nd grade class is using a reading restaurant as a fundraiser to buy books for the book room.The menu and chef changes daily and offers up a just right meal for the customer.

Talk about a great trip to Crystal Bridges! Guess who these Ruth Barker 6th graders ran into on their last trip to the museum. Alice Walton is always to gracious when approached for photo ops.












And at Washington Junior High S.E.R.E (Survive, Evade, Read, Escape) Camp is immersing kids in what can only be called "adventure reading" to build literacy skills. Every Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday from 3:30 pm to 5:30 pm, students face a new and dangerous reality found in the assigned books. This, people, is a great idea.

Grants & PD

Time is running out for submissions to the 2017 Economic Calendar Contest, entries must be postmarked by May 13, 2016. Details here http://www.economicsarkansas.org/for_teachers/econ_calendar.html

Video of the Week

Just pretend that there's great TED talk video here. I have some saved up for YouTube videos I'm can't wait to share.

Tuesday, April 26, 2016

Happy Teacher Appreciation Week! Oh, wait, it's next week. What the heck, let's start early! I appreciate all you do to support students.

Head's Up

Today is National Kids and Pets Day. It's also National Carpet Cleaning Professionals Day (not really).

Wednesday, April 27th is National Administrative Professionals Day and National Tell A Story Day.

Thursday, April 28th is National Take Our Daughter and Sons to Work Day. It's also National Bravehearts Day. Not sure if that means to wear a kilt to work (not suggested), or if its a good day to antagonize an enemy (also not suggested).

Friday, April 29th is National Zipper Day, National Arbor Day, and, most importantly, National Teach a Child to Save Day. Always my favorite day to do the compound interest lesson. It's easy, just find a compound interest calculator on line and get kids to enter the variables.

May starts with Teacher appreciation week May 2 - 6. Again, thank you.

May is also National Mental Health Awareness Month. I'll let you draw your on conclusions - coincidence or not?

May is the awareness month for brain and skin cancer, high blood pressure and stroke, and ALS.

Next week is also the Bentonville Film Festival. Make sure and share your celebrity sighting selfies.

@bpscommunity

The Fulbright and Washington Vex IQ robotics teams placed in the top 3% of approximately 4400 teams that completed world wide.
Governor Asa Hutchinson declared last week Arkansas Robotics Education Week.















It seems like every week Mary Mae Jones students and staff are doing something for the community. Last week they hosted Make-A-Wish to celebrate granting Jimi's wish to go to Sea World and the Everglades in Florida. Several MMJ students took leadership and synergized with students at Washington Junior High and BHS to make this possible. Mary Mae Jones is truly a school greater than the sum of its parts.

And on Saturday, they were out at the Bentonville Farmers' Market still working to raise money for Make A Wish. These kids are superheros in the community. (Hence the capes)

Going to have to give them an A+ for this job done well.







Meanwhile over at Lawrence Plaza, Central Park Gators and Cooper Broncos were raising awareness about Autism as part of Diversabilities Awareness Festival 2016. These kids along with students from Bright Field, Lincoln, and BHS all were teaching our community about the diverse abilities that make us all uniquely special.

It was a beautiful day for a walk, and thanks to many Bentonville Schools, the Best Buddies Friendship walk raised over half of the $75,000 needed to bring a chapter of this program to support students with intellectual and developmental disabilities.

Last night the Centerton Chamber of Commerce unveiled their new logo designed by students at BHS. Talk about collaboration and community building! Bentonville West Pride is evident in the Centerton and they are getting excited about the opening of BWHS next August. Sophomore Mallory Braswell created the winning design.




Keep sending those leads to khelm@bentonvillek12.org and pstolt@bentonvillek12.org. A new issue of Bentonville Beats should be coming to Facebook soon.

Grants and Pd

Slim pickin's this week.

Are you missing some state required trainings? Here's an opportunity to get those taken care of before the end of the year.
School Safety course - Wednesday, April 27, 4:00 - 4:30 pm Kalpa #618172
Smart Core course - Wednesday, April 27, 4:30 - 5:00 pm Kalpa #618173
Anti-bullying & Sexual Harassment course Wednesday, May 4, 4:00 - 4:30 pm Kalpa #618170
Code of Ethics course - Wednesday, May 4, 4:30 - 5:00 pm Kalpa #618171
Suicide Awareness and Prevention - available as a IDEAS course(s)

Here's something for kids in 1st - 5th grades.

Video of the Week

Oh, never mind. Maybe YouTube will play nice next week.I appreciate all the efforts our technology department is putting into finding a solution.

April 19, 2016

Going to start this week by including a link to an editorial by Mr. Poore that ran in Saturday's Arkansas Democrat Gazette. Our hope is that it will add much needed context to the discussion on grades given schools under the Arkansas State School Performance Report Cards. There was a great article in Sunday's paper by Cynthia Howell as well.

Head's Up

Wednesday, April 19 is National Hanging Out Day and National Garlic Day. Kind of mutually exclusive if you ask me, unless your friends are all garlic lovers.

Thursday, April 21 is National Kindergarten Day and National High 5 Day. Now there's two things that definitely go together! Kindergartners love High 5's and Kindergarten teachers deserve a High 5 on a regular basis.

Friday, April 22, is Earth Day. We're aware of some events in the district, but let us know if there are any great photo ops.

Saturday, April 23 is the Diversabilities Awareness Festival and Best Buddies Friendship Walk. Thanks to all who participated in preparing for this event, and I hope you will stop by Lawrence Plaza to check out student projects.

A special shout out to Erin Phelps. Her class raised over $2,800 for Best Buddies, and to celebrate they turned her into a sundae. Sweet!

This Saturday is also the Youth Literature Festival at the Bentonville Public Library. (Probably won't be any human sundaes there.) It's also the first
Downtown Bentonville Farmer's Market of the season.

Next Tuesday, April 26th is the Global Day of Design. The U of  A has released a collection of STEM Design Challenges.

Thursday, April 28th is the 21 Century Technology Showcase from 5:00 to 7:00 pm at Fulbright Junior High. Don't miss this one-of-a-kind event.

@bpscommunity

At last Thursday's Teacher Recognition Awards, Apple Glen Caitlyn Knight was named Bentonville Schools Teacher of the Year. Teacher appreciation week is May 5 - 9. But why wait? We're going to be tweeting with the #ARTeacherImpact like others across the state to let people know how much you impact students each day.







Bentonville Mayor Bob McCaslin and Parks and Recreation Director David Wright recognized BHS Civics classes last week for their work to clean up and plant trees at Orchard's Park last fall. According to Mayor McCaslin, the 300 students logged a total of 875 community service hours at the park, saved the city $18,000, and 21 1/2 weeks of work for an employee.







Ignite IT Solutions students spoke about their experiences in the program to the NWA Tech Council last Wednesday. These kids are all looking at college and careers in a whole new way after participating in Ignite.










Saturday, the 2nd annual Fulbright 5k took place. Perfect day for a run. Thanks to all Fulbright students and community members who participated in the run to help fund the maintenance of Wolf Park. What's Wolf Park? It's a multipurpose cycling and running park between Central Park and Fulbright.








Another $2,000 was donated to Sugar Creek Elementary by McLarty Daniel Automotive Managing Partner Russ Daniel for hands-on science supplies. Thankful for the support for student projects that has been given this year. The photo might not show it but these kids were whooping it up.








BHS Girl's golf team attended an event at Sam's Club Corporate offices where LPGA players Natalie Gulbis and Morgan Pressell spoke to 9th and 10th graders about success.










The new elementary and middle schools have names! Osage Creek Elementary and Creekside Middle School. I was out to the site this week, and the foundation work is beginning.

Grants & PD

Economics Arkansas always has some great professional development opportunities. Check their website.

Economics Arkansas Teacher grants are also available to support learning in classrooms.

Submissions for the Economics Arkansas Calendar Contest are due May 15.

Bentonville Public Library has an opportunity coming up this weekend to spend time with author Janet Wong about teaching poetry.














No video this week. I need to share the Haiku poems that were submitted. Thanks to 2nd graders in Stacey Jenna's class at Mary Mae Jones for these exceptional examples.

I Like My Dog

I like my good dog,

He is good but sometimes bad,

He is wonderful!

--Dakota

Vanilla

I like vanilla,

I like it on my ice cream,

It is delicious!

--Neil

Cars

I have a fast car,

it works on the bumpy road,

it is the coolest!

Bikes

My bike is the best,

it is blue, red, black, and white,

I love my cool bike!

Have an awesome week,

Appreciate all you do,

High 5 & Fondue

April 12, 2016

It was a huge week in Bentonville Schools. Over half our schools were rewarded for academic growth and achievement, and Business Insider listed Bentonville as the Best School District in Arkansas. Congratulations to you all for your efforts to make Bentonville excellent.

Head's Up

Missed this last week. Yesterday was National 8-Track Tape Day and National Cheese Fondue Day, Kids, grab your fondue pot, some Sterno, a little Gruyere and cheddar, a baguette and some long forks and celebrate.



April is Stress Awareness Month, so take some time to relax. You know a great way to de-stress? Cheese fondue.

It's National Assistant Principal's Week. Take time to thank them for all their support.

Wednesday, April 13, is National Thomas Jefferson Day and National Scrabble Day.

Sunday, April 17, is National Haiku Poetry Day. Send your submissions Monday, April 18th for inclusion here on Tuesday the 19th.

It's National Library Week! School and public libraries are still your best resource for information. Bentonville Public Library's Youth Literature Festival is Saturday, April 23. Find the full program on school websites in the Peachjar section. As we've all come to expect, they have a great day of literacy activities planned and an exceptional slate of authors available.

The Farmers' Market opens the 23rd as well, and remember to head over to Lawrence Plaza to visit Diversabilities Awareness Festival and cheer participants in the Best Buddies Friendship Walk.

Friday, April 22 is Earth Day.

Thursday, April 28 is the date for this year's annual celebration of technology integration - The 21st Century Showcase! The event will again be at Fulbright Junior High from 5:00 to 7:00 pm.

@bentonvillecommunity

The Be Pro Be Proud professional skilled workforce development trailer came to BHS last Tuesday. This travelling exhibit gave students the opportunity to safely explore some of Arkansas' most in demand jobs. Highlight of the day was Josiah Leas' speech about how Ignite lit a passion in him to explore a career in technology.

Arkansas Treasurer Dennis Milligan presented certificates to Ruth Barker students who completed Ar Finance AR Future financial literacy program. Great to hear students talk about saving, investing and the difference between needs and wants. Dr. Ming would have been so proud.

Economics Arkansas has some exceptional resources for teaching financial literacy and economic concepts as well. www.economicsarkansas.org.

Superintendent Poore and I completed the United Way NWA Poverty Challenge last week by living off of $5 per day. I have never thought about food so much in my life. I truly wish I'd taken this challenge years ago, I would have understood the effects of chronic hunger better. You can help fight hunger this week by participating in our virtual food drive. All proceeds go to The Pack Shack. Donate here. Make sure to type "Bentonville Schools Virtual Food Drive" in the comments.

Grants and PD

Frankly, if you're not taking advantage of the programs offered by Crystal Bridges, well, you're missing out on some of the best professional development (and student engagement) available at any price. And, it's FREE. Get those kids to the museum, and sign up for some very inexpensive classes. Check out this link to learning opportunities for teachers http://learn.crystalbridges.edc.org/.

Belk Stores have a program to support student projects called Charity Days. The elevator pitch is this: a group wanting to raise money sells a ticket for $5, the group keeps the $5, and the purchaser of the ticket gets $5 off their purchase during charity days. I've attached information from the Rogers Belk store for you to read carefully.

Video of the Week

I thought this was an interesting perspective. As a kid who grew up within 2 blocks of the public library and a lumberyard, I always was a reader and a tinkerer. Someday I'll tell you all about the time I decided to figure out how a tube radio worked while it was plugged into a power source. Let's just say it didn't end well, but I lived to tell the story.


Have a great week.

April 5, 2016

It's beginning to look a lot like April. Very few activities during the day, more and more activities at night.

Head's Up

Today is National Go for Broke day. I believe this is meant metaphorically; but what the heck, if you've got a great idea, go for it. 

April is Autism Awareness Month. Check out the Autism Involves Me website for information on how you can get involved. 

Today and tomorrow the Be Pro, Be Proud mobile workshop will be at Bentonville High School. This travelling exhibition introduces kids to career opportunities in professional skilled trades. 

Thursday, April 7, is Arkansas Gives Day. Child Care Aware is now participating in Arkansas Gives. Building Bridges is participating and asking for help raising money for resources to support their parenting classes.Go to ArkansasGives.org to make a gift to Child Care Aware of Northwest Arkansas between 8 a.m. and 8 p.m. on April 7th.  You'll be able to search for us in the list of participating nonprofits and indicate that you want your gift to support us.

Next Saturday, April 9th, is the Take Steps for Crohn's and Colitis 2016 walk. This takes place at Village on the Creeks and raises awareness and funds for research into these diseases. Info here.

April 11 - 15, 2016 is National Assistant Principals week. Let's all make a point to say "thank you" to these individuals who do so much to support children in Bentonville Schools. 

And don't forget Diversabilties Awareness Festival and Best Buddies Friendship Walk on Saturday, April 23rd at Lawrence Plaza. It's also the first Farmers' Market of the year.

@bentonvillecommunity

Washington Junior High Odyssey of the Mind team finished 2nd in their division and 2nd in solving their problem "Furs, Fins, Feathers and Friends" this past Saturday. This result nets them an invite to the World Finals in May. 

Washington and Fulbright Junior High School Vex Robotics teams are gearing up for their World Competition in Kentucky in a couple of weeks. 

Northwest Medical System is looking for suggestions to name their new surgical robot. The promotional video below gives an overview of this new high tech machine to help orthopedic surgeons with joint replacements. If you're interested in having kids help name this machine, take a look at the video. But be aware it does have footage of ACTUAL SURGICAL PROCEDURES. My suggestion for the contest would be to have junior high age kids suggest names. Kids interested in medical professions might find this interesting. Obviously, you're catching on that I don't have a really great idea on how to do this, but I know that Northwest is really interested in supporting our schools and the medical professions strand of our Ignite Professional Studies Center. (quid pro quo)

Keep sending in those story ideas to pstolt@bentonvillek12.org and khelm@bentonvillek12,org. 

Grants & PD

If you have kids doing projects that might be marketable, you may want to check out Wings of Love Inc. They are a program that specifically seeks to fund young entrepreneurs under 21 to support their development as business leaders and agents of social change. 

Here's one for all my media specialist and literacy teacher friends. The National Storytelling Network is providing $5,000 awards for model storytelling projects. 

Video of the Week

Want to drop something like a bad habit? Found this interesting, hope you will as well.

Have a great week.