By GINA KINSLOW
EDMONTON — Summer break came to an end this morning for Metcalfe County students as the first day of school got under way.
Students in Kelly Shaw’s biology class at Metcalfe County High School can expect to have a fun first day of school.
“They are going to have to fly paper airplanes made out of different materials,” said Shaw.
But that doesn’t mean students simply will be goofing off on the first day.
The activity is designed to help them review what they learned about the scientific method in their freshman science classes using the concept of speed.
Students will have to collect data from the experiment, organize the data and then be able to graph it.
Shaw pointed out that the high school’s science department is focusing heavily on ACT scores. Two things students must know for the exam is how to create a graph and how to interpret it. She also said she wants to see how well the students work together and how well they can do an open-ended activity. Once they’ve reviewed that material, they will move on to studying how the scientific method relates to biology, she said.
“They should be prepared to recall what they learned about the scientific method from when they studied it in their integrated science class,” she said.
Shaw is not a new teacher to Metcalfe County High School. She taught there a couple of years ago but took time off to be with her family before going back to work.
“I’m excited,” she said, adding she’s looking forward to meeting her students and getting the school year off to a good start.
The Metcalfe County School System has several new things to offer students this year.
The board of education voted earlier this year to create a sixth grade center, which is located in a portion of Edmonton Elementary that was used by sixth graders from that school last year. The idea behind the concept is that it will help make the transition from elementary to middle school much smoother.
The district has also placed more of a focus on writing and mathematics this year by appointing teachers to serve as district writing and math coaches.
A second gifted and talented teaching position has also been created so that the district has one for the elementary level and one for the secondary level in order to better serve students, said Patricia Hurt, superintendent.
More attention will be given this year to the Explore, PLAN and ACT exams for students in grades 6-12, and response to intervention coaches have been assigned to the middle and high school to help with interventions to ensure students have learned, she said.
A new class that is being offered this year is a choral program for students in grades 6-12.
The district will also have a district health and wellness coordinator this year, and a buildings and grounds director.
Serving as buildings and grounds director will be Ken Miller, who was the district’s transportation director last year.
“Ken Miller and his crew, Clayton Judd and Ronnie Reed, have done a tremendous amount of landscaping and grounds work in preparation for a new school year,” Hurt said. “Also the maintenance director, Herby Bunch, and his department, Maxie Kirgan and David Moss, have been busy all summer blacktopping surfaces, building offices and painting gymnasiums. The result is an improved campus with curb appeal.”
Property control procedures have been added at the technology building. All shipments are received there and then delivered to schools to ensure better accounting, she said.
“Karen Blythe is a key player in that new work along with Lauri Perkins, Buddy Brown, John Strode, Chris Huffman, Herby Bunch and Ken Miller,” Hurt said.
