School Year in Review: 2016-17 Edition

As the school year winds down and summer plans begin to take form, I want to take a few minutes and reflect on some of the great things that have happened this year.

Engineering Thread

• Before students returned in August, teachers were beginning to prep for the upcoming year.  Teacher leaders in Moore County met with Curriculum Specialists to develop our Engineering Thread in K-5 classrooms.

CyberPatriot

• Early in the school year, our high school CyberPatriot Teams began the qualifying rounds for the State and National rounds of the competition that puts students in the place of newly hired IT professionals managing the network of small local businesses.  One Union Pines CyberPatriot team received a State award for advancing to the 3rd Round.  

Winter Warriors

• Before Christmas break, our middle and high school FIRST Tech Challenge (FTC) Robotics teams competed in a local warm-up called Winter Warriors.  This event was hosted by Union Pines High School and was a great measuring stick for future FTC events.  Robotics teams were able to practice their robots and programming on the actual Velocity Vortex playing field they would eventually see at Trinity High School in Durham, NC in January.  

NCCAT

• In January, the DIF team traveled east to Ocracoke for a Team Planning Session at the North Carolina Center for the Advancement of Teaching.  While we were there we planned out our Spring activities (digital learning showcase, NCTIES presentations, elementary and middle school robotics events, STEM Camp).  

FTC Robotics

• On January 28th, Moore County Schools took 7 FTC Teams to Trinity High School of Durham and Chapel Hill to compete at a Regional Qualifier event.  Our teams were pitted against 15 other teams from around the state in an attempt to qualify for the State level Robotics Competition.  

NCTIES

• In March, the North Carolina Technology In Education Society (NCTIES) had its annual conference in Raleigh at the Convention Center.  This is always a great learning experience as we get to meet with colleagues to share ideas about how to effectively use technology and digital tools in the classroom.  It is worth noting this year that 8 DIF's presented at NCTIES on topics like Coding in Middle School Math, Sustainable STEM Camps, our Elementary Engineering Thread and using the app SeeSaw in Elementary Schools to create portfolios.  

Digital Learning Showcase

• In March, our students and teachers had an opportunity to show the community the great things they are doing in their classrooms with digital tools.  We had our 3rd annual Digital Learning Showcase at West Pine Elementary.  Teachers, students, parents and community members were invited to check out things like 3D printed fidget tools, custom built cell phone applications, programmed drones, play-dough pianos and robotic Lego arms.  

Elementary Robotics Showcase

• A few weeks ago, May 12th, we held our 3rd Elementary Robotics Showcase at Pinecrest High School.  The event has grown tremendously since our fist elementary robotics event held at Sandhills Farmlife in 2015.  Students had to navigate terrains that depicted different cities around the United States but programming for different turns and objectives throughout the unknown landscapes.  We also opened up our Elementary Robotics Showcase to other districts in our Region with Scotland County sending several teams the following day on Saturday.  

Middle School Robotics Competition

• The following Friday, May 19th, we had our 2nd Middle School Robotics Competition.  This year's competition provided opportunities for students to program robots to throw a football, pull a weighted sled, measure area of a building and traverse terrain with various obstacles.  The middle school event was opened up to other schools in our region the following day as Scotland County schools brought 5 teams to the Saturday event.  

STEM Camp and Advanced Robotics Camp

• STEM Camp will be our next big thing in the district.  This year's STEM Camp will be held at New Century Middle School.  There are two, 1-week camps (June 19-22 and June 26-29).  This year we are partnering with the Moore County Airport to have an Aviation Theme culminating with the opportunity for campers to fly for free at the conclusion of camp on each Thursday.  STEM Camp filled up at a record pace this year with over 280 applicants in the first week.  
• This year is a first for our Advanced Robotics Camp (ARC).  This camp will run during the first week simultaneously with our June 19-22 STEM Camp and will focus on preparing students for the FTC Robotics use in secondary schools.  The ARC is open to rising 8-10 grade students and still has a few open spots.  If you are interested in attending the Advanced Robotics camp please email me at jcallahan@ncmcs.org. 

As we wind down (or wind up) for summer, it should not go unnoticed that our schools are in a dire financial situation.  With the cuts that have been proposed, these events listed above will certainly be affected in some fashion.  The support staff that makes things like this possible are vital in sustaining them.  I feel like the people that will read this article already know about the great things teachers and students are doing in the district.  My hope is that this article reaches those that do not know about all of the great things Moore County Schools students are achieving.  My hope is that at least one person reads this article and thinks "We have to fully fund our schools".  My hope is that people realize that Moore County children are our greatest investment.  So I ask of you, share this article with others so the hard work our teachers, students and support staff get the notoriety they deserve.  Share this article so we can let the community know what our students are capable of when they are funded.  Share this article to be part of the solution.  

Tyler Callahan

Digital Integration Facilitator

@STEM_TC

jcallahan@ncmcs.org

A salute to our Public Education Foundation

It takes a village. That’s one of the cliches that you hear a lot in the education field. But it rings true. A student's success in school is directly correlated to the hard work and dedication of a number of people.

One of the most supportive groups that we have in Moore County Schools who has an enormous hand in the education of our students is the Public Education Foundation (PEF). Led by President Andrew Lyons, this passionate group of up to 25 members has awarded over $250,000 to enrich classrooms in Moore County Schools for over 30 years. From robots and drones to musical instruments and sustainable school gardens, our PEF has funded a variety of educational projects. Whenever we see something pricey that we would like to integrate into the classroom but we’re unable to secure the funding, the first thing we think of is applying for a grant from the Public Education Foundation and so should every educator in Moore County Schools.

I highly recommend pursuing a grant through the PEF if you are interested in adding something to your classroom to facilitate creative and engaging learning experiences. Anyone from our Digital Integration Facilitator team would be more than happy to help teachers with the application process or preparing for their interview. And the turnaround time is amazing! If your project is approved, you will have your funding within the next two weeks! Click here to apply for funding.

Along with projects that are embedded in our daily curriculum, the PEF has played a vital role in two major events in Moore County Schools. First is our annual summer STEM Camp. Their financial assistance has helped bridge the gap to a sustainable camp for our rising third through eighth grade students. They were also generous enough to provide scholarships last year for students to attend STEM camp who may not have been able to attend otherwise. And secondly our elementary robotics showcase as well as our middle and high school robotics competition would not be possible without the support of the PEF. Many of the robots our students program as well as the fields they use during the competitions have been awarded from grants through the PEF.

Please come out and support our Public Education Foundation! The “Are you Smarter than a 5th Grader?” event is sponsored by the PEF. Admission is free and the excitement is unbelievable. I hope to see you at the Pinecrest Auditorium on Thursday, January 19th at 6:30 pm. Come early to see some robotic demonstrations that were made possible by funding through the PEF. Another wonderful opportunity to support our PEF is the ShamRock ‘N Roll Road Race on Saturday, March 11th. They offer a 1 Mile Fun Run, 5k run/walk and a 10k run/walk. All proceeds go towards the PEF. There is also a competition that the PEF funds to encourage the support of our local schools. The top 3 schools with the highest percentage of participation earn a cash prize! Click here to register.

We would like to send a HUGE thank you to everyone in the Public Education Foundation for their continued support of our students. We truly appreciate all of the opportunities that you have made possible for so many children.

-Clint Rogers

Pinecrest Students Decide Who We Can Trust in 2016

March 22nd, 2016

The 2016 presidential election season is in full swing. It is at the forefront of the news and our students’ minds. Accusations are flying freely  and the decorum of the candidates is as low as we have seen since the 1830’s.

Shawna Farbotnik and Emma Robinson, both Civics and Economics teachers at Pinecrest High School in Southern Pines, wanted their students to critically analyze the claims of the candidates. Using the site, Politifact as a model, Shawna, Emma and I created a lesson that required students to identify six specific claims by one of the candidates, search for confirming or conflicting evidence using only reputable sources, and then present their work in front of a green screen.

The kids did a great job with their claims and research. The green screen work and editing threw us for a loop but they turned out well and we’ll know how to do a little better next time. Here is the link to our work, the lesson plan, and our rubric. As with all things, these are works in progress. Feel free to use in your room and if you figure something out send us the tip!

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Will Herring

Digital Integration Facilitator

MCS, UPHS, PHS

@willherrin16

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Student Highlight - Chromebooks - Student Perspective

Meet Ava F.  and Elisa R, New Century Middle 6th graders!

"Chromebooks are such a part of our daily routine, that we hardly ever think about having to do things on the computer, we just do it!" "They make most things simpler." Chromebook are our life!

Recently I sat down with these two 6th graders to talk about how the Chromebook has changed their learning environment. "I really like it better than doing classwork with a notebook and pencil. The computer makes it easier and more fun. I like using the Chromebook except for taking a test. This is not just because it's a test, it is hard for me to read the test on-line and make a choice."

Elise shared that in one of her Flex classes, she had to make a commercial. It was actually aired on the school news show. "That was fun. I learned how to use the green screen to record the commercial. I had never done that before and it was really fun. I had never made a webpage before, and I made one of those too. We worked as a group and designed a company and items to sell. Our webpage was about our mouse accessory company, MEMLA."

"We use our computers in class everyday. I have a Moodle account, an Edmodo account and we use Discovery Ed in Social studies every day! We don't use the computer all day long, I think it's a healthy balance. We usually use them more on Thursday's and Friday's because of tests.We use the computer in Social Studies every day because Discovery Ed is our Tech Book - we don't have an actual text book anymore."

Ava has Art for Flex. She uses the computer for research in Art. "For instance, we had to choose a college basketball team and then research that team. We wrote a report which included information about the college and the basketball team. We teamed up with the AIG class for this project. The culminating project was to create a poster highlighting the team (this was not done on the computer). I think it would have been really hard to make the poster on the computer and I don't think people would have shown as much effort. It would have been easier for the teacher to grade it if we had used the computer!  The posters are up on the wall and receive an large red X when the team loses. It's the big basketball tournament, you know." 

When I asked them how their responsibilities have changed since getting the Chromebooks, they said they had a lot of new responsibilities! First, we have to remember to bring it to school each day and to have it charged. We have to make sure we know where it is at all times, and we are responsible for them all day long. If something happens to it, our parents will have to pay for the Chromebook; that would not be good. I have always had a digital device such as a phone or an iPad so that part is not new. We also have e-mail accounts now and that is very helpful because we can communicate with our friends, e-mail the teacher if we have a problem or to ask about a project. We can't e-mail people outside of Moore County, so that makes it difficult when working on a project. We know that everything is being monitored, so we just do what is right. That doesn't bother either of us! 

Their words of advice were, "You know what is right, so just do that!"

New Century Middle School