Courtesy East Grand School District
Great Happenings in East Grand Schools the week of Nov. 21.
• We wish everyone a happy and safe Thanksgiving break.
• It was an exciting week for Granby Elementary kindergarteners. On Tuesday, students participated in an Alphabet Parade around the school. Each child sported a vest that they decorated with words, items, and pictures that began with the letter of the alphabet that they were assigned. The parade was to celebrate the hard work and incredible focus that these students have shown during our study of the alphabet. All staff and students at GES, as well as kindergarten parents and siblings, lined the hallways to cheer for the kindergarteners, giving them encouraging words and high fives.
“I felt like a celebrity,” one student said. “I think I got 100 high fives. All these people must know how hard I worked to learn my letters and sounds.”
• MPHS science teacher Kyle Masterson is working with students on concepts regarding the Earth’s interior and its surface processes. Materson is showing the students how scientists study the properties of each layer of the Earth. He told them we have only drilled 1/500th of the way to the center of the Earth and posed the question: “So how do we know which layer is solid and which is liquid?” The activity also demonstrated the basic properties of P and S waves emitted during an earthquake, as the class looked at the speed at which the waves travel as well as their general shape. After the activity, students had a discovery project where they used a simulation to further their understanding about these waves.
• We recently received this letter from Tina Goar, the Director of Northwest BOCES. “On behalf of the NW BOCES, Colorado Center for Rural Education and the Colorado Mountain College, I would like to send our most sincere thanks and appreciation for the time, effort and most amazing tour you provided for the 25 educator recruits participating in the Northwest Educator Recruitment Extravaganza. You really rolled out the red carpet for them and it was duly noted and appreciated by the future teachers, Valerie and myself. It was one of the absolute best in the region. We have received numerous comments and compliments from the recruits on how they enjoyed and appreciated your tour, pizza dinner and entertainment. I know that time is valuable and the time you spent organizing, talking with the recruits and presenting the wonderful aspects about East Grand was priceless. Thanks for your commitment to the future of public education in Northwest Colorado.”
• In EGMS computer class, sixth-graders are working on learning to program in Scratch. They have completed their first challenge and will continue through a series of lessons after break. Seventh-graders just finished their Book Trailer projects and will start creating a 3D Puzzle Cube where they will design and 3D print their final product in December.
Eighth-graders have been learning how to program in Python. They have currently created and programmed their own shapes using Python. They will build on this by learning about classes in Python allowing them to create multiple versions of their shapes each with their own color and movement.
• EGMS FIRST Tech Robotics Teams had a guest speaker, Lori Birch from FIRST, who delivered a lesson on robot systems, including how to understand motors and torque ensuring that a motor can perform the task they are asking it to do. They also learned about gear ratios and what is needed to increase either the speed or torque of their motors.
• Friday School is kicking off Dec. 6 at GES for all students. We will be designing the Friday school schedule and projects, coding, and playing games for our kickoff.
• On Nov. 17 and 18, two of the very best choir students from Middle Park High School participated in the 29th annual Colorado Choir Directors Select Honor Choir. This annual event is on the campus of Colorado Mesa University every November. Sophomore Paulina Collier and freshman alto Rachael Penrod joined 150 other talented singers from all over the western part of our state to rehearse the music and perform a concert under the direction of Nathan Payant, the director of Choral Activities at Colorado State University. Everyone agreed that this years’ choir was one of the best in the history of this prestigious event. Congratulations, Paulina and Rachael, for singing so beautifully and representing our school district with your beautiful spirits and vocal talents.
• Twenty students from kindergarten through fourth grade made recycled book crafts at the Fraser Valley Elementary School last Monday after school. In cooperation with the Recreation District, FVE paraprofessionals Laura Veenstra and Anna Szczepanski guided the students in creating holiday ornaments using only recycled books, glue, tape and ribbon. The resulting crafts were wonderful homemade gifts or decorations.