Hawk Air 2019 transports students and community members to Egypt

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The ocean. Brazil. Pluto. The future. And now, Egypt.

Every March, Hygiene Elementary School virtually transports students and community members to far-off destinations. With the help of family and community volunteers, the school is transformed for Hawk Air, an immersive lesson in history, geography, and culture.

This year, after a short “flight,” complete with educational in-flight entertainment with background information on the north African county, travelers arrived in Egypt at Cairo International Airport. Visitors had their passports stamped before being guided through a hands-on experience that included a backdrop of desert, camels, and pyramids, with stops along the Nile River, at the Library of Alexandria, and at a pharaoh’s tomb. Along the way, they completed educational activities to earn gems that can be exchanged for food and jewelry in a bustling, colorful café and market at the end.

“We are so thankful for the community involvement in Hawk Air,” said Hygiene Principal Renee Collier. “Parents, grandparents, community partners – everybody comes together to support student learning.”

This year’s Hawk Air program took place on Friday, March 15, and Monday, March 18. The program ran during school hours on Friday and Monday, and was open to the public on Friday night. Over the course of a week, parent volunteers and OtterBox employees helped construct intricate geographical landmarks, scenery, plants, and animals to form the Egyptian landscape.  While the building itself started a week before the event, but for the students, the learning started much sooner.

“The students start their learning in October,” said Sherry Legrand, Hygiene’s STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, and Math) coordinator. “This year the fifth-graders took on passion projects, so they became experts on different parts of the culture.”

Every year, students in each grade address a design challenge related to their travel destination. This year, kindergarten and first-graders examined ancient Egyptian building techniques and second-graders discussed Red Sea coral conservation, while third-graders designed an ancient Egyptian playground, and fourth-graders designed an Egyptian café. Through their project research, fifth-graders became experts on different aspects of Egyptian culture, and served as ambassadors to guide visitors through the experience.

The next destination for Hawk Air is chosen each spring through a design thinking process that engages students, parents, staff, and community members. Next year is the program’s tenth anniversary, so whether the destination is India, Antarctica, or somewhere in between, the 2020 experience is sure to be a good one.

Erie High Students Win Governor’s Real World Design Challenge

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Erie High School’s Academy of Engineering and Aerospace students are once again winning awards for their capstone work. This year’s group of seven students has won the Governor’s Cup, the state level of the Real World Design Challenge, and have been invited to Washington, DC to compete in the national finals. The Real World Design Challenge is a non profit organization overseen by Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University. Each student on the winning national team will receive a $50,000 scholarship from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University.

The students were tasked to design an Unmanned Aerial System (UAS) that is able to measure plant health in an urban environment. Erie High’s design team, the Skygers, were given a hypothetical city’s map layout and were presented with five different types of vegetation they had to monitor including rooftop gardens and plants on median barriers. The Skygers merged engineering concepts with practical business strategies. Not only did they develop their own theory of operation and design for their unique drone using computer-aided design software (CAD), but they had to create a business plan utilizing a $200,000 budget as well as map out a sustainable path to creating profit.

Kelsey Rasmussen of EHS and Jake Marshall of the Innovation Center have been coaching the Skygers. Rasmussen teaches the Computer Science pathway in the Academy of Engineering and Aerospace, and her colleague Lindsay Fox teaches the Aerospace pathway. Students of computer science and aerospace join together in the capstone engineering class and use skills from both pathways.  

Rasmussen shares a capstone highlight has been to “see the students thrive in a realistic work environment that has many right answers.” She continues, “The students had to analyze the tradeoff for making one decision over another and justify why they proceeded with a certain pathway. The project required students to master self management and project management in order to divide and complete the various tasks of the project.” 

Sophomore student, Andrew Jordan, was invited to join the Skygers because of his strong interest in the project. Jordan shares, “It is awesome to be able to meet with students with similar interests who are willing to work hard on projects that are fun and engaging. The engineering program has prepared me for a future job in engineering by giving me so much experience of a real engineering design job.”  

The Skygers plan to compete in the national competition on April 13 and have fundraised nearly $1,000 to attend. They are still in the fundraising phase and have connected with the CEO of UAS Colorado, Constantin Diehl, to gain support from the local aerospace community for additional funds. UAS Colorado is a non-profit business league with the mission to promote and improve the aerospace industry in Colorado. The Skygers will attend the Rocky Mountain UAS Professionals Meetup Group on March 20 to present their project to the group. Good luck, Skygers!

Rocky Mountain Elementary Hosts First Unified Sports Game

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The success of Unified Sports is expanding to the elementary school level with Rocky Mountain Elementary hosting their first Unified Sports Basketball game as part of a weeklong campaign in March to promote social inclusion across the school. The Unified Sports program partners students enrolled in traditional education classes with those in special education classes to compete together in various sports games. Rocky Mountain celebrated the week with different themed dress days, a school wide pep rally, and a culminating staff vs. students Unified basketball game. The students played for the Red Shirt Rookies and beat the staff 44-11, but the celebratory week was a win for all in the Rocky Mountain community. 

 Rocky Mountain Elementary Special Education Para, Jill Vickland, was inspired by her friend, Mead High Special Education Teacher, Amber Vanzant, to bring an elementary level version of the Unified Sports program to Rocky Mountain. Vickland shares, “The week was about spreading awareness of inclusion and bringing joy to all Rocky Mountain Elementary students.”  One of the week’s highlights was the school wide pep rally where the school was colored in red and students wore their Red Shirt Rookies gear in honor of their team’s Unified Sports name. The entire school gathered for an assembly where the athletes were introduced to the crowd and students on the Unified Team shared what their participation in the program meant to them. Fourth grade student, Julian Garcia, has learned a lot serving as a partner in Unified. Julian says the athletes have taught him, “Don’t give up!” and “Just keep trying!”

There was plenty of pep with selected fifth grade students playing original songs for their peers. Music teacher, Jen Goerlitz, assembled a band to include a drummer, singers, guitarists, and keyboard players. The band played their own version of “We Will Rock You,” changing the lyrics to “We Are, We Are Rocky Mountain.” The school even received a visit from the Longmont High cheerleaders who also performed at the assembly.
The main event was the basketball game where Vickland says she was able to see the hard work of the athletes, partners, and staff “become a reality.” The gym had been transformed with the crowd presence, an ESPN booth with students serving as broadcasters, and a volunteer referee. 

Vickland’s hope is that more elementary schools adopt Unified programming so the students can compete with each other. According to Vickland, “Sports is about inclusion and games bring everyone together in a fun and relaxing way. Unified is a great way for kids to mix, learn about each other, and work together.”

Career Development Center Students Savor Results at ProStart Invitational

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There’s always something cooking in SVVSD’s Career Development Center’s ProStart Culinary Program. That something extends well beyond the food. Walk through the kitchen backing the Career Development Center’s welcoming Sunset Café (open to the community most Wednesdays through Fridays), and you’re bound to be impressed by a bustle that is energetic yet calm; keen focus and attention to detail on the part of student chefs and their teachers; creative inventiveness and passion; and an overall display of respectful, trusting teamwork in action. In other words, this kitchen—and most importantly those who occupy it—has all the key ingredients needed for success.

Since 1971, the Career Development Center has been the St. Vrain Valley School District’s area career and technical education school. Serving over 1,000 students each academic year, it is one of several Career and Technical Centers recognized by the Colorado Community College System. Any SVVSD high school student is eligible to enroll in the broad range of employment-based programs, with transportation being provided to and from each home school by the Career Development Center. “We work closely with business and industry to provide secondary programming that meets the region’s workforce needs,” says Career Development Center Principal Deniece Cook. “In the past five years, we have added concurrent credit and industry certifications to our programs.”

The Career Development Center distinguishes itself through innumerable means, not least for the integrity of its programs. In fact, CDC recently obtained status as a Front Range Community College site. This designation will allow for expansion of concurrent offerings, Cook says.

Among the Career Development Center’s wide range of programs, which includes the Agriculture, Health Sciences, Hospitality, Skilled Trades and Stem career pathways, the ProStart Culinary Program serves up a whole lot of goodness, literally and figuratively. “Our program offers kids that first professional start in the industry, while teaching them the commercial side…making them all the more employable,” says Culinary Instructor Hope Nazzaro. “Not all our students will go on to pursue culinary careers, but I always tell them, these are skills that will serve you for a lifetime. Whether it’s working their way through college in restaurants, cooking for their families at home, or applying the skills they learn to other careers.”

Through the national ProStart Culinary Program, students can earn industry certifications, including ServSafe Food Handler and ServSafe Manager. Those who complete the full two years of offerings further earn a nationally-recognized ProStart Culinary Program certificate. The overall outcomes, however, run much deeper. “I appreciate what I have learned and will try my best to apply it in my normal life,” says Silver Creek Senior Tammi Torres, who has finished the ProStart program and completed her ServSafe certificate. “Not only cooking and baking skills, but also teamwork, critical thinking; also some math, and thinking ahead.”

Students appreciate intrinsic rewards and shared satisfaction from the program as regularly as lunch and dinner. But their hard work and committed efforts received special acknowledgment early this month, at the annual ProStart Invitational. In its 20th year, the ProStart Invitational, which was held at Gaylord Rockies Hotel March 1, is self-described as a cross between “Top Chef” and “Shark Tank”. In this exciting and challenging event, high school culinary and management teams compete in two events demonstrating their mastery of culinary and business management skills. Prior to competition, participating ProStart Culinary students Jose Gonzalez (Olde Columbine High School Senior), Vanessa Cera (Skyline High School Junior), Tammi Torres (Silver Creek High School Senior), Annie Vanderveen (Silver Creek High School Sernior) and Lizbeth Lopez (Skyline High School Senior) had been putting in endless hours to prepare—during school, after school, and on weekends. Local Chef Mentor Sayab Poot was exceptional and student-centered, Nazzaro says. “He was so inspiring. He was always asking the kids, ‘what do you want to make’, ‘what do you want to learn about’. They came up with a really awesome menu that challenged them. The entire process was a whole team effort.”

As part of their preparation, students assigned themselves roles as a team. Vanderveen would take care of the lobster avocado salad appetizer; Gonzales was in charge of the ramen noodle main dish, for which the noodles were made from scratch; Cera and Torres were preparing the steamed cake dessert; and Lopez was the overall team manager. During the Culinary Competition, teams prepare a three-course meal in one-hour using only two butane burners. Nazzaro and fellow Culinary Instructor Yvonne Justice are must be mute observers. Only the team-designated Manager may communicate, to the team and judges. To say the set-up can be imposing would be an understatement. “We only had a 10 X 10 square to do all our cooking in,” says Vanderveen. “We couldn’t use any electric cooking utensils, like a KitchenAid mixer or an oven…we had only two Bunsen burners. There were judges walking around watching us cook in the hour we had, looking out for our technique, safety and sanitation, communication and teamwork.”

For the five student team, extra hurdles made the day all the more challenging. “We got to our food, and to our surprise a few of our things were frozen,” says Lopez. “In that moment, we were all scared and couldn’t believe what was happening. A Chef approached us and asked if our food was frozen, and what we needed. In a few minutes later, they came with our ingredients and we all felt amazing again.”

In addition to frozen ingredients, the team faced another sharp-clawed obstacle in the form of lobsters. “You know, lobsters need to be cooked fresh,” Nazzaro says. “That alone was nerve-wracking for Annie. Then, on the day, our lobsters arrived dead.” Luckily, Nazzaro had a back-up plan. She dashed to Denver’s Pacific Ocean Marketplace, and the day was saved…but albeit with an extra charge of unsettling adrenaline.

All the time working together as a team and the ensuing camaraderie paid off dividends. “Once we started cooking, I made sure to tease my team members like I did at practice”, Lopez says. “Annie killed the lobster like a pro, Juni was rolling his noodles with a speed of a jaguar, and Tammi and Vanessa were killing the dessert with kindness. I knew we were all having the time of our lives and we were having fun with one another.”

One final scare rounded out the day for the tireless team. Lopez’s stopwatch stopped working toward the end of their hour. Thinking they had approximately four minutes left, they found they were down to less than one, resulting in the team going two minutes over the time limit. Ultimately, however, the team’s exemplary communication skills, teamwork, and dishes spoke for themselves. Not only did their performance earn forgiveness for the time, they were awarded third place among the twenty-two competing teams. Additionally, they earned first places in Top Dessert and Top Culinary Skills categories.

From their third-place win, each of the participating students was awarded a total of $12,500 that may be applied in specific amounts to contributing colleges, should they choose to pursue their education there:

  • $500 Johnson and Wales University
  • $4,000 Culinary Institute of Virginia
  • $6,000 New England Culinary Institute
  • $1,000 Culinary Institute of Art
  • $1,000 Louisiana Culinary Institute

“I intend to apply to the colleges and see what the options are for me,” says Lopez. “I want to keep going to school for culinary arts.”

Students may not be able to make use of all the scholarship money. Depending on their next steps and chosen career directions, they may not have the opportunity to apply any of it. But the honor and recognition will doubtless be lasting…experience gained from the competition itself, and most certainly from the program as a whole. “I’ve learned so much,” says Vanderveen. “Not just culinary, but about life. I don’t want to leave [Mrs. Hope’s and Mrs. Yvonne’s] class, but I know that I have to move on. I will never forget that competition or anything that my teachers have taught me.”

St. Vrain Valley Schools hosts International IBMers to learn about advanced technologies and student learning

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On February 22, approximately 20 international visitors from IBM locations in Bulgaria, China, Canada and the U.S. were in Longmont to learn about advanced technologies and virtual reality from the Innovation Center students and staff. As room 260 in the new Innovation Center was buzzing with energy, Innovation Center students help visitors from IBM put in their virtual reality headsets and step into another world. 

“The collaborative relationship between the district and IBM, including the IBM P-Tech program, has great visibility at the IBM Corporate ranks and working with the Innovation Center has given the local IBM Boulder team opportunities to showcase their involvement in our community to their senior management team,” shared Tom Darcy, Director of Advanced Technologies and Innovation. 

During the demonstration, visitors dove into the ‘realm of the feasible’ in developing and employing skills based upon the advanced technologies our students and district are using. “They are working with their senior management team to introduce these tools (e.g. VR) into their own training programs and feel showing them what we’re doing will help them advance their cause,” added Darcy. 

The highlight of the day was the opportunity for St. Vrain Valley students to become the teachers and showcase how they are using virtual reality both in the classroom and to design solutions to real-world problems. 

“This is very synergistic to the other areas of the partnership we have with IBM, while demonstrating yet another area where our students are defining and developing career paths of the future,” shared Darcy.

Elementary Social Studies Curriculum Adoption Public Review

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Elementary Social Studies Curriculum Adoption Public Review 

The elementary social studies curriculum adoption committee is reviewing three programs after starting the process with six programs.  The three programs are from Nystrom, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, and McGraw Hill.  The three programs will be available for public review on Monday, February 25 and Tuesday, February 26 from 3:00 pm-5:30 pm at the Learning Services Center in the Colorado Room. 

Teachers, administrators, students, parents, and community members are all welcome to evaluate the materials and provide feedback.

Boulder County Youth Job Fair – March 21

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Teens and young adults ages 16-24 are invited to the Boulder County Youth Job Fair on Thursday, March 21, from 3:30 – 6:30 p.m.at the University of Colorado Events Center (950 Regent Dr., Boulder). Workforce professionals from across Boulder County have teamed up with Boulder Valley and St. Vrain Valley School Districts to unite industry leaders, recruiters, higher education, and schools in the effort to strengthen the talent pipeline and educate job seekers on current and future internship and job opportunities. Parking and other event details can be found at stvra.in/bocojobfair. Be Prepared

  • Have a completed résumé and cover letter; bring resources that showcase your talent and ambition
  • Have your Social Security number
  • Professional dress is advised
     

Resume ‘Critique’ Week

Leading up to the event, students will have the opportunity to engage with business professionals – improving interview skills and polishing résumés. Check with your school’s counselling office about upcoming workshops. 

Upon request, reasonable accommodations will be provided for persons with disabilities. Contact the Human Resources Division, at 303-441-3525 at least 48 hours before event.

Superintendent Update – The Future of America

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Across the district, we have been championing a new motivational motto that is uniting our shared vision for excellence in learning and student advancement: We are taking public education by #StVrainStorm! 

Every day, I observe countless examples of students, teachers, staff, and community partners exemplifying the highest levels of achievement and drive that represent the very best of our public schools. Our graduation rates are at their highest level – over 90 percent at our traditional schools – and St. Vrain was also one of only four districts in Colorado and 373 nationally to be recognized by College Board’s Annual AP District Honor Roll. Enrollment in Advanced Placement (AP) courses has increased by 50 percent since 2014 with over 3,000 students enrolled in at least one AP class.

We have students preparing to testify at the state Capitol in support of legislation they helped to write. Robotics students are winning tournament championships in a league of high school teams. Our CyberPatriot team is ranked first in the state and in the top 4.4 percent worldwide. Aeronautics students were the state winners for the Governor’s Real World Design Challenge. In the past few months, our students have received numerous highly-competitive scholarships, military academy and prestigious university acceptance letters, state athletic championships, All-State music invitations, robotics tournament trophies – the list goes on and on. In every classroom in St. Vrain, our students, teachers, and staff are taking academic excellence by #StVrainStorm!

Without the unwavering support of our community, this level of success would not be possible. I want to extend my most sincere appreciation to the teachers, staff, families, business partners, elected officials, and so many other members of our community who have helped to build St. Vrain Valley Schools into a nationally recognized system for excellence in education. Join me in celebrating the many achievements across our schools in this month’s Newsroom publication and the recent release of St. Vrainnovationmagazine. Let’s keep building the #StVrainStorm!

Sincerely,
Don Haddad, Ed.D.
Superintendent
@SVVSDSupt

Graduation Rates Continue to Climb in St. Vrain

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In St. Vrain, driving student excellence and providing opportunities for engagement and rigorous learning is having a large impact on advancing student achievement. St. Vrain’s graduation rates have reached their highest level – with over 90 percent of students in traditional high school programs graduating within four years. Overall graduation rates climbed 3 percent for the 2017-2018 school year, six percent higher than the state average.  When students are giving additional time to complete their credits, the graduation rate climbs even higher.

St. Vrain Valley beat state graduation rates despite having some of the most rigorous graduation requirements in Colorado. To earn a St. Vrain diploma, students need to complete, 24.5 credits, including three years of math, three years of science and four years of English.

The increase in graduation rates can be attributed to the many supports, resources, and opportunities given to students starting as early as preschool. Rigorous coursework, design thinking curriculum, AP and concurrent enrollment opportunities, increased attendance rates, technology integration, arts and music classes, athletics, co-curricular engagement, focus academies, and so many more programs are all advancing student achievement and success.

Celebrate Chinese New Year at Silver Creek High School, February 16

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Silver Creek High School will host the annual Chinese New Year celebration on February 16, 2019 from 2:00-5:00 p.m. This Zero Waste event is free and open to the public and will include cultural performances, hands-on activity booths, and Chinese food samplings. New this year, the Innovation Center will provide a virtual reality experience so guests can engage with past, current, and future China. 

To learn more about the event visit apalconnect.org >>

St. Vrain Valley Schools