Category Archives: Academics

On Saturday, Nov. 3, students in Business and Marketing attended the “Super Business Saturday” at Chadron State College. Laurin Bronson, Zoe Schneider, Michaela Metcalf, and Mrs. Efta participated in workshops about starting and marketing a successful business, doing eCommerce business on the Web, marketing business using Facebook, Twitter, and other social media, and involving young people in business. Our students mingled with Chadron State College Business students, local business leaders, and people interested in starting new businesses. The event was hosted by CSC’s Nebraska Business Development Center and included leaders from Security First Bank, Chamber of Commerce, and Nebraska Northwest Development Cooperation. It was an inspiring, fun day out in the “real world” of business and marketing!

The purpose of this project is to: Design, construct and finish a personalized scroll saw box.

• Sketch preliminary design

• Technical drawing with dimensions, bill of materials

• Rough cut stock

• Prepare surface thickness

• Join and construct

• Scroll saw application

• Sand and finish

With some new additions to our shop lab, beginning wood students were given the chance to experiment on these keepsake boxes. Though small, the 8^th grade went through all the problem solving processes that one would on any level of production.

Surface planing, lamination, shaping, and detail scrollwork were just some of the processes they encountered. Sanding and finishing remained the least popular chore, but its significance was made evident as some of the projects that came to me for final inspection were returned to start the finish process back to the beginning! All in all the kids did a great job and the satisfaction of seeing the boxes take shape from paper to reality showed in the pride on their faces. Here are just a few examples.

The first grade students conducted the 2nd Annual Great Pumpkin Investigation on Halloween! We had a great time making predictions about the height, weight, and buoyancy of our pumpkins along with how many lines and seeds we thought our pumpkins had. We were surprised to find that our pumpkins had anywhere from 400 to 750 seeds in them; way more than our estimates!

We are studying the Earth System and its Spheres.  We started the unit off with a Peachy Model.  We cut a peach in half.  The skin was the crust of Earth.  The flesh was the mantle.  The pit was the core.    Our lesson review was making a model using ice cream, red hots, & Heath Shell Chocolate.  The red hot was the core, ice cream was the mantle, & the crust was the Heath Shell.  We learned that science can be fun and delicious.

PTCs have moved to Tuesday, October 30th – same times!

Parent-Teacher Conferences are right around the corner. They will be held in individual teacher classrooms on Thursday, October 25, 2012 from 4:15 pm until 8 pm. Report cards will be available in the office and need to be picked up PRIOR to you attending your conference. Parents and students are encouraged to attend the conferences together. We look forward to seeing you!

Our class butterfly surrounded by individual butterflies.

The second and third graders are participating in a Symbolic Migration. We read Hurry and the Monarch, a story about a tortoise and monacrch butterflies. The story told about the migration of monarchs from Canada and the United States to Mexico each fall and their return the following spring. The second and third grade made individual paper butterflies with their name, school, and town. These butterflies will arrive in Mexico about the November 2, the same time the monarchs arrive. They will be joined by thousands of other paper butterflies from the United States, Canada, and Europe. You can see the places that have sent symbolic migration butterflies on the map at http://www.learner.org/jnorth/maps/symbolic_fall2012.html. In the spring, these butterflies will be sent north, but each student will receive a different butterfly. I wonder where our students’ butterflies will go and where ours will come from. To learn more about this project go to the Journey North website.

After reading The Man Who Walked between The Towers, the fourth and fifth graders did a little research on the Twin Towers and 9/11. They recorded their findings on a website called VoiceThread. You can check it out at this link. https://voicethread.com/share/3423565/ This was a learning experience in many ways. We had some technical difficulties and had to find which microphones worked. Students learned to find information then put it into a short comment, then record that comment.

Kindergarten and first graders have learned to link from the HS Hawks home page to the Hay Springs School Library page. Each class has a page with activities they can do. These activities build computer skills, language skills, and math skills. Students can access these activities and others on the site from home as well. The link for the library page is http://mrsmatthews.hshawks.com/

Lifting weights provides students with an opportunity to improve their overall health and  physical attributes. The students are learning that lifting weights can be a lifelong exercise that they can do well throughout adulthood. The students have learned that technique is very important when lifting. Safety is also a very important part of weight lifting. Students have learned that not only is safety an important part of lifting but lifting together also builds a trust and respect for each other. Parents can be more involved in their child’s lifting by encouraging their child to reach and then set new weight lifting goals.

Click the link below to view the testing schedule for elementary through high school. This schedule is subject to change.

 MAPS Testing Schedule

“Be a yardstick of quality.  Some people aren’t used to an environment where excellence is expected.”  Steve Jobs

EXCELLENCE IS EXPECTED IN HAY SPRINGS!

Reflect back three years ago.  Hay Springs Schools were not achieving well academically.  We had a large number of students that were not proficient on State Assessment tests, our school district did not meet AYP (Adequate Yearly Progress), and perhaps worse, the State of Nebraska placed us on the “Persistently Lowest Achieving Schools” list – the bottom 5% of all schools in the State.  Overall, we were a failing school district academically.

Now, jump forward three years to today. Note the following success:

• On average 87% of our students are proficient, well above most schools in the State.

NeSA Tests (Nebraska State Achievement Test):

• NeSA – Reading: Our test scores exceeded the average State’s average scores at every grade level tested.  At the fourth grade 100% of our students were proficient.
• NeSA – Math: Our test scores again exceeded the state average except at grades four and seven who were close.  Grade six had 100% students proficient.
• NeSA –Science: These tests were exceptionally high.  Students are tested at grades five, eight, and eleven.  Students tested well above the State average.

AYP (Adequate Yearly Progress): Our school district has met Adequate Yearly Progress every year for the last three years.  All districts strive for this yearly recognition.

Two years ago our school was taken off the “Persistently Lowest Achieving Schools” list.  Because of our high academic success we are not close to being placed on the list again.

ACT Test: If your child plans to attend a four-year college after high School students must take the ACT.  This test reflects the achievement of our graduates over time and is an indication of the extent to which our students are prepared for college-level work.  The ACT measures English, mathematics, reading and science.  Last year’s graduating class and this years senior class are both substantially over the State average.  I would note that most schools only test the few students that plan to attend college.  In Hay Springs we make an effort to test every student.

We can attribute our academic success to our outstanding teaching staff, hard working students that come to school well rested and prepared for class, a solid curriculum and a supportive Board of Education.

In the last week we have sent home individual student’s State Assessment Test Scores.  Read them over, ask your child’s teacher for clarification, and work with your child if there are areas that are low.

As a community we should be proud of our hard working students, supportive parents, and diligent staff.  We are all working towards improved learning and successful students.

There is no better place for your child than Hay Springs Public Schools.

Students in grades one through eleven will be taking NWEA MAPS the beginning of October.  We are hoping to finish our NWEA Maps assessments prior to parent-teacher conferences so you can receive those results at conferences.  If you do not or if you have questions please contact Mrs. Marx after conferences.

Actual test dates have not been set at this time; however, your child’s teacher should notify them of an impending test.  You can help your child by remembering it is important for him/her to get a good night’s sleep before testing and to eat a good breakfast.  Also remind your child that these tests are important and encourage him/her to do their best.