March 29, 2016

Hard to believe Friday is April Fools' Day.

Head's Up

Friday, April 1st is the first, First Friday of the season. Bentonville Schools will have booth space at every first Friday for students and staff to connect with the community. This space should be used for community engagement, so let me know if you have ideas.

Saturday, April 2nd is the Bentonville Half Marathon. A great place to cheer the runners is at Tennie Russell, Sugar Creek, and Thomas Jefferson.

I know it's a whole summer away, but August First Friday theme is "Back-to-School." Downtown Bentonville Inc. is giving us a street, yep, a street - quite possibly Main Street in front of  Walton's 5 & 10 this year - for us to use. Start thinking about what you might want to do with the space. Last year we had the first ever competition between BHS and BWHS, and Old High brought in a mobile makerspace.

Monday, April 4th is National School Librarian Day. Where would we be without librarians! I for one wouldn't have anyone to point out my misstakes.

Tuesday, April 5th the Arkansas State Chamber of Commerce and the Governor's Workforce Development Campaign bring their mobile Be Pro Be Proud trailer to BHS to promote skilled trades as a career option.

Tuesday, April 5th is National Deep Dish Pizza Day. Deliver my Ditka to 500 Tiger Boulevard.

Thanks to all who are participating in the Best Buddies Friendship Walk on Saturday, April 23rd. This is truly a great cause and will impact so many in our community. While you're there, make sure to visit the Diversabiities Awareness activities at Lawrence Plaza. It's probably time for someone to start a Diversabilities Club. (hint, hint) It's also the first Farmers' Market of the Year.

@bpscommunity

While you were away, I made sure that the downtown restaurants kept their quality up.

Remember to send news items and information on the awesomeness that's happening in your classrooms on a daily basis to pstolt@bentonvillek12.org and khelm@bentonvillek12.org.

Wait a minute, kids 9 - 13 can go to college? They can at NWACC from June 6th to July 28th. NWACC Kid's College engages children ages 9 - 13 in fun, educational short-courses on campus. Learn more and register at nwacc.edu/kidscollege.

Crystal Bridges summer camp registration is open. This year, Crystal Bridges and the Scott Family Amazeum are partnering to present How It's Made as one of the offerings. Details http://crystalbridges.org/events/category/summer-camp/list/

And now for something completely different. Washington Junior High is hosting S.E.R.E. Camp Jr. for 5 weeks starting Monday, April 4th to teach reading survival skills. Check this link for details. First person to get the reference in the first sentence wins a Subway sandwich.

Grants and PD

Check out Economics Arkansas for some great programs for educators. http://www.economicsarkansas.org/our_supporters/event_calendar.html/calendar/2016/4

Video of the Week

April is National Humor Month. I guarantee a chuckle out of this talk.



Have a great week.

March 15, 2016

Final week before Spring Break!

Head's Up

In case you forgot, next week March 21 - 25, 2016 is SPRING BREAK!

Not sure, but April might be the most aware month of the year.
It's Autism Awareness Month, National Child Abuse Prevention Month, Food Health Awareness Month, National Youth Sports Safety Month, Sexual Abuse Awareness Month, and National Humor Month. There's nothing funny about any of these. But a sense of humor will help make the world a better place.

The Bentonville 1/2 Marathon in Saturday, April 2, 2016. Get out and support those runners. If you want to do something special and unique, like, say, have a collaborative art project along the route, let Josh Stacey at Bentonville Parks and Recreations know.

Last meeting for Diversabilities Awareness Festival is Thursday, March 17, 2016 from 4:15 to 5:15 pm. Thanks to all who filled out the google form last week to sign up and have students participate on Saturday, April 23. Need more information on Best Buddies Walk? Find it here.

@bpscommunity

AT&T brought their "It Can Wait" anti-texting and driving campaign to BHS last Monday and Tuesday. I was able to get into the simulator, and it was quite an interactive experience. BHS Assistant Principal Ben Lewis didn't survive his drive.

The good people at Arthrex Surgical Equipment and Dr. Brian Dougherty brought live surgery back to BHS last week when they performed an arthroscopic surgery on a cadaver shoulder. It was so quiet you would have thought you were in a (blank.) A little interactive piece for you.

Students from Ruth Barker and BHS collaborated on projects to teach the community about the Civil Rights Movement. The projects were exceptional and in a first, at least for me, included both a digital and good old-fashioned analog handmade project.

Hundreds of people came out for Arts and Academic Night at Old High Middle School last week. There were so many clever activities that visitors could engage in. It's amazing to see how many different ways academic content can be infused with the arts.







Dyslexia Specialist Kristen Kossover and Assistant Principals Tracey Wood, Leslie Lyons, and Angie Stafford presented on BPS RtI process to support Dyslexic students and support students. Word on the street says their presentation was packed!

The Tiger basketball team has to be congratulated for playing in what can only be described and challenging circumstances in Hot Springs at the state tournament. Huge crowds showed up and stayed for the Bentonville game vs. Cabot. This game could have made a dent in the capacity at Verizon Arena. Coach McMahon and his players showed a lot of class.



Fulbright and Washington Junior High robotics teams won a regional competion and are heading to world championships in Kentucky in April.

I'm a little jealous about not being invited to attend SXSW edu conference. BPS had a contingent of influencers in attendance for this conference known for innovative ideas.

Grants and PD

KEEN Footwear is providing up to $10,000 for outdoor projects. Interest click here.

Video of the Week

Starting to like these videos from John Spencer.


Enjoy your week. Have an excellent break!

March 8, 2016

Not going to jinx it. Not going to even mention that we haven't had a snow day this year. Nope not going to do it.

Head's Up

Do you know kids who are looking for volunteer hours, or just want to make a difference in the community? Diversabiities Awareness Festival and Best Buddies Friendship Walk could use their help on Saturday, April 23, 2016 from 8:00am to 12:00 at Lawrence Plaza in Downtown Bentonville.
For more information on Best Buddies, contact Sheila Munn, Kathy Breed, or Libby Shaller.

If you're having students create projects to raise
awareness of Diversabilities, fill out this form by Friday, March 11, 2016. Contact Paul Stolt for information on Diversabilities.

Friday is also the last day to suggest names for Elementary 11 and Middle School 5. Use this form.

Crohn's Disease or Colitis affect millions of Americans and many in our community suffer from the debilitating effects of these two often misunderstood diseases. You can help raise awareness and funds to support research by participating in Take Steps for Crohn's and Colitis April 9, 2016. It's also another great opportunity for students to get involved in a community event.

Some of you may know Ann Taylor. She's an exceptional Bentonville educator who battled through Leukemia and is now cancer free, but not cancer forgotten. Help her become the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society's Woman of the year.

Daylight savings ends this Sunday. Use those Starbucks cards you got in December Monday.

High School students are invited to enter the Congressional Art Competition. Winning entries are displayed in Washington, D.C.

@bentonvillecommunity

I was talking to a teacher this weekend and was asked about how best notify communications about upcoming events. He said: "You should have a form for that." Here it is. http://goo.gl/forms/YUbSe0iGfW Save it to your desktop. Or you can email khelm@bentonvillek12.org or pstolt@bentonvillek12.org. Done.

The collaboration between Apple Glen and Bentonville Schools, Crystal Bridges, Bentonville Public Library, and the Amazeum created an exceptional community event to celebrate this year's One District, One Book - The One and Only Ivan.

Maybe the most interesting part about this day was that it was nearly impossible to tell who was a Bentonville family and who was visiting the museum. We are so fortunate to have these community partners to help us create learning opportunities for all families.

Last Friday, RE Baker dedicated a new set of swings for students with special needs. The best part about this event was that students initiated and lead this celebration. The swings were one of the projects created as part of the McLarty Daniel School Support Program. In every elementary school that has participated, the student projects have all been targeted toward supporting peers and the community. 

Nice little news article can be viewed here http://www.nwahomepage.com/news/bentonville-school-unveils-accessible-swings

Grants & PD

Cox Communication's Innovation in Education program awards grants up to $2,500 to fund classroom and school-wide projects that encourage and promote students' innovation and imagination.

Video of the Week

Don't take this one personally, just thought it was a clever commentary on the times in which we live.



Now, get out there and take some selfies!

March 1, 2016

Always wanted to parody Garrison Keillor and start with: It's been a quiet week in Bentonville, Arkansas, my adopted hometown. . .
Maybe next week. (If you're not sure who Garrison Keillor is, Google him.)

Head's Up

Tomorrow is Read Across America Day in honor of Dr. Seuss' birthday. It also kicks off Read Aloud Month.

March 7th - 11th is National School Breakfast Week and School Social Work Week.

Daylight Savings Time begins on Sunday, March 13th.

Extra Cup o' Joe day is Monday, March 14th.

March  9th - 15th is National Sleep Awareness Week. Don't know about you all, but I'm all for sleep!

@bentonvillecommunity

Wow, pretty sure I missed about 90% of what was happening during National Engineering Week. Thanks for sharing just a few of the activities that did occur.

@OLDHIGHMS Tobie Taylor Jones' class is leveraging social media to get the community involved in a math challenge. Check #mathphotoaday for daily problems.

Ardis Ann's Kathy Hancock was awarded the Making IT Happen Award by ARKSTE for her podcasts on science.

Students at Old High took on some engineering challenges last week. Great to see them applying design thinking and iteration to finding solutions to the problems.

 Over at Washington Junior High, students are prototyping an arm to assist people with disabilities. 

Mary Mae Jones Lighthouse team accepts a check from $2,000 from Russ Daniel to fund items for a school store. Proceeds from the store will sustain on-going projects. Good luck to these young entrepreneurs.

Over at Apple Glen, students are tutoring students in literacy. These students had such empathy for each other and trusted each other during their time together.

Literally across the hall, Washington Junior High students are teaching  a class on sustainability, global warming, and collaborating on ideas to protect the planet we all share. 

Remember all that food collected in Superintendent Poore's office? Well, Lincoln Junior High students loaded it up on a bus, and BHS students added the items to what they collected. Then BHS students in  civics classes packed over 1,100 SnackPacks for kids last Friday.

Also at BHS, Gov. Hutchison's videographer interviewed students on how his coding initiative is changing their computer science experience. When asked about females in computer fields, one student responded: "We need to come understanding that we're all equal, no matter what your gender is, and that anyone can do [computer science] if you have the passion for it and you put your mind to it."

Good advice for us all. No matter what field we're in.


The BHS Choir placed a record 36 students in the All-State Choir.Terry Hicks was named Distinguished Choir Director of the year.Maybe it wasn't such a quiet week after all.

FFA BREAKFAST was amazing! Walking through the South Building reminded me of Saturday mornings on Grandma's farm in the Old Country. Thanks for the invite.

Do you have a student or students who have "tinkered up" or "makered" an article of clothing or a fashion accessory? The Scott Family Amazeum is looking for re-purposed fashions created by students to display in April. Contact Dana Engelbert 479.657.2525.

Want your story told? Contact khelm@bentonvillek12.org or pstolt@bentonvillek12.org and we'll do our best to share it with the world.

Remember that discounted tickets to Razorback sports are available to BPS educators. Remember the promo code EducateB15.

Grants & PD

A few offerings from edweb.net.

Video of the Week

With 3 weeks until Spring Break, Standardized April, and The 90 Days of May to go, thought it was time for a pep talk. 

Enjoy your week.

February 23, 2016

Snow day, or not. That is the question. Unfortunately, of the five forecasts I monitor, none of them say the same thing. Stay tuned.

Head's Up

It's engineering week. Have fun building, designing, developing, creating, making, tinkering . . .

Hard to believe next week is March with National Nutrition Month, American Red Cross Month, and Learning Disabilities Month.

It's also Music in our schools month.

March 2nd is Read Across America Day and Dr. Seuss's Birthday. Coincidence? I think not!

Seriously, love that day of the year.

Oh, oh, say can you see, that Thursday, March 3,
Is day that the National Anthem was adopted in 1931.

Crystal Bridges is again hosting the culminating event for One District, One Book on March 6th from 1 to 4 pm. There's still a couple of spots left for volunteers. http://www.signupgenius.com/go/508084ba8a62b0-ivans/

March 7th - 11th is National School Breakfast Week, and School Social Work Week. A great week to take a social worker to breakfast and thank them for all they do to support students.

Bentonville 1/2 Marathon is April 2, 2016.

@bpscommunity

Crystal Bridges is taking applications for Teen Council next school year. High School students (except seniors) are invited to apply. It's a great way to get service hours, and have a voice in arts programming for teens. On a personal note, my daughter Hannah has been a CB Teen for the past two years and she loves it.

Dr. Jones and I had some exceptional tour guides at Mary Mae Jones last Friday. We learned all about leadership from these kids. 

One of the best parts of visiting schools is that you truly get to see how excellent they all are at meeting the needs of students.






Talk about exceptional. These Army Airborne Rangers took time from recruiting at BHS to have lunch with Megan McCleary and make her wish come true. Talk about service.

Arkansas 3rd District Congressman Steve Womack visited to award BHS students the top prize in the Congressional App contest to Marc Aranibar, Tyler Gay, and Austin Shanley for their Virtual Reality Math App. The competition was so close that the judges awarded an honorable mention to Rebekah Arrington and Sarah Criss for their Retirement Planning Game App. 




Remember to tag @Bentonville_PS in your tweets.

Grants and PD

Economics Arkansas is always sharing a separate blog's worth of opportunities for PD and opportunities to engage students in project-based learning. Here are some valuable links for you to check out.
https://www.stlouisfed.org/events/2016/03/ee-econlowdown

Economics Art contest http://www.economicsarkansas.org/for_teachers/econ_calendar.html

Econ Challenge for students in 9 - 12 grades
 http://www.economicsarkansas.org/for_teachers/econ_challenge.html

Art and Economics at Crystal Bridges http://goo.gl/jMLuSn

Here's an article from NEWSELA an excellent free resource for relevant reading content.
htpps://newela.com

Ardis Ann's Nikki Kalcevic is giving a webinar today! She's presenting Socratic Circles: Building Student Inquiry with two other members of her PLN. Follow this link to learning.

Video of the Week

Found this interesting, hope you will as well.



Have a great week.

February 16, 2016

I hope all who attended enjoyed EdCampBHSLJHSOHMS Friday. Still, dollar for dollar, your best professional development option.

Head's Up

George Washington's actual birthday is February 22nd.

Next week is Engineer's Week - Whoot! Whoot! What could be cooler than trains all week long! Thomas the Tank Engine Videos, Youtube narrow escape and train vs. (fill in the blank) videos. It's a whole week of fun for engineers. If you want to engage kids in some STEAM activities (other than pulling the cord that releases steam through the whistle) here's a few resources:

Discover Engineers Week
National Society of Professional Engineers
National Society of Black Engineers

If you've got some unique activities planned, or just plain o' interesting activities planned, let us know at bpssocialmedia@bentonvillek12.org.

It's a leap year, find a novel way to celebrate leap year day, February 29th.

February 23rd - March 1st is National Eating Disorder Awareness Week.

March is also Music in our Schools Month and Youth Art Month.

@bpscommunity

Know students who might need some help getting ready for Prom? This could be a good option.

We collected quite a few items for Samaritan Community Center SanckPacks in Mr. Poore's office. 

One group in deep discussion during Friday's Edcamp.

Walmart's Mark Easton talks to WJHS about sustainability practices.

One of Jerri Foster's Eduprekids presents their Bentonville G.P.S. (Great Places to See) to Bentonville Rotary.

All the Eduprekids ready to sell advertising on their maps.

Some of the Bentonville Tigers basketball team's most loyal supporters.

The BHS Electric Vehicle Team is preparing to convert this gasoline-powered vehicle to electric power. Follow their progress @BvilleEVT on Twitter.

It was sciencefairapalooza at WJHS last week. Great exhibits and some really thought provoking experiments.

Grants and PD

This is kind of a cool opportunity.

https://www.google.com/edu/resources/programs/google-rise-awards/

Here's some resources from edweb.net.

Video of the Week

You might have heard about design thinking. Here's a quick overview of the process.




I'll get back on schedule next week. Enjoy yours.

February 9, 2016

I enjoyed EdCamp St. Louis last Saturday. It's always fun to interact with passionate educators.

Head's Up

We're collecting SnackPack items until Friday, February 12th. Let's fill Mr. Poore's office!

This Saturday is Polar Plunge for Special Olympics, many school sites have teams - brave souls. Support them however you can.

If you can't participate in Polar Plunge, think about starting a team to participate in the Best Buddies Fun Walk on Saturday, April 23. Keep checking here for information. Online sign up is now live, just click the link.

The next Diversabilities planning meeting is Thursday, February 11, from 4:15 to 5:15 pm. at the BPS Student Services building. There is an exceptional group of kids taking leadership of this, but there's always room for more. Saturday, April 23, 2016 we'll be at Lawrence Plaza raising awareness and having fun.

Y'all know what February 14 is - get your loved on a nice gift. And don't let them talk to Doug Overstreet, big mistake, let me tell you.

No school for you - Monday, February 15.

February 16 - 22 is National Acts of Kindness Week. Again, shouldn't this be year round?

Monday, February 22, is World Thinking Day. Might have to give that a shot.

Make an impact on the runners in the Bentonville Half-marathon on April 2 by showing your school spirit. Great place to cheer on runners is at Tennie Russell, Sugar Creek, and Thomas Jefferson. Get your students to create a banner, or develop an interactive art or making project as runners pass by.

@bpscommunity

Last call for people who want to help create new social media guidelines for the district. Interested people should send me an email, and be prepared to meet after school for a couple of days. They will also be tasked with researching two examples of guidelines from other districts.

Shout out to Apple Glen for posting to #bpsodob! Doing something interesting with The One and Only Ivan? Send photos, etc. to bpssocialmedia@bentonvillek12.org.

Send a Valentine wish to a child at Arkansas Children's Hospital this week. Guaranteed to put a smile on two faces. https://www.giving.archildrens.org/valentine Thanks Holly Elsea at Bright Field for sending this in.

Discounted tickets for Razorback athletics can be found here.

 

It seems kind of early in the year to be thinking about Lemonade, but it's never too early to be thinking about entrepreneurship in NWA; it's in our DNA. A great, fun way to learn about entrepreneurship is through participation in Lemonade Day. The curriculum teaches the skills and habits of mind of entrepreneurs, as well as financial literacy and citizenship. Lemonade Day 2016 is scheduled for Saturday, May 7.

Grants and PD

There's always something happening at Economics Arkansas.

Ninth through 12th graders should participate in the EconChallenge. It's a free online competition.

Here's a link to the Economics Arkansas Livebinder; there's a wealth of resources here.

Thinking of continuing your education? Arkansas has two programs to help you out. The State Teacher Education Program (STEP) will pay $4,000 for teachers specializing in certain content areas and disciplines and geographic locations.
The Teacher Opportunity Program (TOP) provides reimbursement grants to teachers and administrators. http://scholarships.adhe.edu/financial-aid-for-teachers/

Video of the Week

My guess is with 2 million plus views, many of you have seen this already. Yesterday's flurries made it seem appropriate to share.



Have a great week.