WHS Leadership Students Participate In Tower Of Pasta Challenge
August 27, 2019
Shout out to Mrs. Stephenson’s leadership class at WHS who recently participated in a "Tower of Pasta" challenge. Each group held the max weight for the same time before breaking. One tower was 10-1/2 inches vs. the other tower which was 8-1/2 inches.
Great collaboration, critical thinking, and team work were shown in this hands-on Odyssey of the Mind-type challenge.
Submitted by Christy English
Superintendent Hughes Visits with Students at SWHS!
August 27, 2019
Superintendent visits with students during lunch at SWHS. The Art Club entertained potential members, and shared the value of being involved at school. The other students were enjoying their 12th Day Of school and love SWHS!
EPIC3 in motion during the Third Week! Superintendent Hughes loves seeing the babies in their element!
In seventh grade Civics classes across the state of Florida, students study the roles, rights, and responsibilities of United States citizens. On Friday, August 23rd, students in Mrs. Katie Williams' and Ms. Regina Messer's classes interacted with their peers to enhance their content knowledge in a collaborative carousel activity.
In small groups, students rotated around the room, like a carousel, to different scenario cards and had to closely and carefully read and determine whether the situation described is a citizen's "obligation" or "responsibility." Students then had to provide a summary sentence of key ideas from the scenario and then list evidence to support their rationale. The teachers guided students to look for key words and phrases, like "must," "everyone," "required," and "you can." They also told them to ask themselves, "Is there a consequence described?" (If not, then it is probably a responsibility.)
This engaging activity built students' content knowledge through writing, inquiry, collaboration, organization, and inquiry (WICOR) tasks--a foundation of AVID-style learning at WMS. It also helped equip students with fundamental knowledge about their roles and duties as United States citizens--knowledge that will prove beneficial to them for the rest of their lives.
Submitted by Kristen Nelson
Tracing the Challenges of Heroism on WICOR Wednesday at WMS
August 22, 2019
Heroism is a concept that has been explored in society and culture throughout time--a concept that continues to be worthy of study in ELA classes at Walton Middle School. The first unit in the eighth grade Springboard curriculum introduces the challenge of heroism. Because the word "hero" is used daily--in school, conversations, movies, video games, news, daily life--it is worthy of exploring.
In Ms. Alex Rhodes' classes this year, students are taking the time to reflect on what heroism really means as a societal and cultural concept. On WICOR Wednesday, these eighth graders spent time analyzing how a film--Disney's Big Hero 6--uses the hero's journey to structure its plot. Students closely and carefully watched the film to identify stages of the hero's journey. Ms. Rhodes' students organized their thoughts (a key WICOR concept) using a graphic organizer, recording details from the film that aligned to each stage of the archetypal hero's journey. During Wednesday's lesson, students carefully traced how the film's hero, Hiro, faces a series of challenges that become increasingly difficult as the story unfolds, mapping out the hero's "Beginning of Adventure," "Road of Trials," and "Experience with Unconditional Love." After pausing the film, Ms. Rhodes instructed students to "turn and talk," collaborating with their classmates about how key details from the film support the hero's archetype.
WICOR strategies were in full force throughout the lesson, as students "read" the film as a text, as they wrote down key details and analysis in their graphic organizers, and as they collaborated with their peers to articulate their thoughts. Students at WMS practice these essential skills across campus each and every day--but especially on WICOR Wednesdays.
Submitted by Kristen Nelson
FHS AP Computer Science Students Create Number Systems!
August 22, 2019
Freeport High School students in Jason Burnham's AP Computer Science class collaborated to invent their own “number system” with symbols and rules for getting from one pattern to another. Computers store information using number systems. All commands from a user must be translated into numbers by the computer's number system. We look forward to seeing Mr. Burnham's students succeed on their AP exams in May.
Submitted by Brian Michie
FHS Seniors Return to Friday Night Lights!
August 22, 2019
FHS Seniors return to Friday Night Lights, starting with the senior breakfast and ending with a win at home!
FMS Celebrates Perfect FSA Scores!
August 22, 2019
FMS is so incredibly proud of these five students! They received perfect scores on the FSA‘s! Congratulations and keep up the hard work! Go Bulldogs!
New FHS Robotics Program in Ready to Build Success!
August 21, 2019
Students in Gary Driver's new Introduction to Robotics class began the year with an engineering challenge. Students were given only 3 sheets of paper and asked to design a structure to support as much weight as possible. This is the inaugural school year for the robotics program at Freeport High School and we are excited to see it grow and succeed.
Submitted by Brian Michie
Innovative Vocabulary Instruction at FMS
August 20, 2019
Mr. Bump has made learning Civics vocabulary fun, innovative, and competitive! This week, students learned and practiced unit 1 vocabulary by playing "The Match Game". To play, one student has a set of vocabulary cards with the word side up, the other student has the same words but with the definition side up. Students take turns trying to match the word to the correct definition. At the end of the game, the student with the most matches wins. Way to go, Mr. Bump for getting students engaged in their learning!
Submitted by Chelsea Ellison