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.