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Show D2 Vernal Express Wednesday. March 5. 2003 Exwessmm Community Calendar From the principal's office: Discovery 5th Grade Center takes students from potential to success Experimentation 3. Reaching Out Base 4. to the Knowledge It has been an exciting and Appreciation and Recognition 5. Celebration and Humor 7. rewarding school year at the Caring, 8. Protecting Expectations High The Discovery 5th Grade Center. 9. Tangible Whut's Important to Held a with great tnp year began 10. and Respect Support the com maze in Bluebell and new in 11. Involvement Confidence principal Mrs. Hawkins bringing Honest 12. Decision has Making Open, who back a furTy little entter crawled into the hearts of ull the Communication . At Discovery 5th Grade Center, students and adults at the school. as well as throughout the district, small But "Maggie" is only a part of what Discovery 5th Grade state and country, tests in the recent past have rcveuled a decline in Center is all about, and that is helpbasic literacy skills. In reaching ing students realize their full potenout to the knowledge base" tial. To make Discovery 5th Grade (research), this teaching staff has Center a school where children learned thut unless all of the basic elements of a sound reading protruly capitalize on their innate abiliwill and staff set the teachers ties, upon gram are addressed, children show deficits in rcuding. The a path a few years ago to real acadNational Reading Panel has listed emic progress and schixil reform. the components of effective reading is the of school At the very heart our Mission Statement that guides intervention for primaryintermedi-atciniddlehig- h school students us all decisions made in the school: I. follows: awareness Phonological The students, staff nnd parents of 2. Letter recognition and formation are Center Grade 5th Discovery 3. Sound to Symbol connection 4. respectful, responsible, resourceful and ready to learn. The Mission Fluency (automuticity) 5. Abundant Statement is supported by the decoding practice 6. Vocabulary 8. Beliefs of the staff at the schixil: 1. building 7. Comprehension inde10. Wide 9. Writing We believe thut students can be Spelling more successful when their basic pendent reading. Discovery is hurd to address these comphysical and emotional needs arc working met. 2. We believe that all who ponents in our reading program. During the past two schxl years. enter Discovery 5th Grade Center teachers have found that in enviDiscovery a be safe have the right to ronment. 3. We believe students many deficits in reading at the 5th should be responsible for their grade level were due to "holes" in behavior, work habits, social skills the phonological awareness compoand academic progiess. 4 We nent of the reading program To address this deficit, Discovery believe parent's attitudes and supa port play a very imx)rtant part in teachers adopted phonics program for children called older 5. We believe designed students progress thut students learn in different Rewards. By devoting the fust two hours of each day to reading and ways, and at different rates and levels; thus, the educational program writing, and systematically addressshould address those variables. 6. ing the phonological components We believe that students, parents through the Rewards progiam, the and staff should show respect and teachers have helped students show work together toward commonly significant gains in not only decoding skills, but also rending compreagreed goals. To further these beliefs, the stuff has agreed to hold hension (on SAT, STAR, tests). Our reading goal themselves accountable for what schixil is not only to meet the as a School in cull we, education, of students of 90 district goal I. vn'2. Norms: Collegiulity reading -at grade level, but also to By Discovery Faculty Gatcs-Macginit- ie March 5 Reading Radio on KV'EL Radio at 6 p.m. The secret word and the drawings for free books continue along with great stories for kids. Golden Age Center Educational Series for Caregivers presents "Caring for a person with memory oss and confusion: tips to manage day to day tasks." 12:20 p.m. to 1:30 p.m. Lunch is provided at no 9 for informacharge. Call tion or to reserve a seat. 789-216- March 6 TOPS meets in the Conference Room of the. Vernal City Building, 1 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. For informacall Gwen Peterson at tion, 1 789-835- 6. Vernal Rotary Club meets at Ranch Cafe. noon in the David Green of Green Brothers Aviation will be the guest speaker. Fifth Annual Career Fair at Uintah High School in Gym B. Sponsored by the Department of Workforce Services. For information or to reserve a booth, contact Marilyn or Reva at and Child Care Resource Referral workshop presented in Vernal by the College of Eastern Utah for anyone interested in becoming a licensed child care provider. The workshop is free of 7-- Students at Discovery Fifth Grade Center jump rope for the health of their hearts as of the activity. take students even further. In addition, for students who were more than two grade levels below 5th grade in reading, a daily half hour, tutorial reading progiam has also produced significant gains for participating students. Parents of these students came to school once a week at night for six weeks to learn about the reading program, how to help their children at home, and to discuss other important parenting issues. After only two months, eight of these students arc back on grade level in reading and have graduated" from the class. The parents and students both echo that the program was enjoyable and a great success! As with the reading intervention program, a great focus of the school is to make a concerted effort to bring parents into their childs educational prorram, "knowing that par- - Barbara Smuin, Deloris Hill and Karen Gross take a few minutes out of their busy morning schedule as cooks at Discovery Fifth Grade Center to enjoy a bit of nourishment. Head cook Bonnie Howlett, not pictured, plans meals that provide for a healthy heart and are a part of Discovery's Gold Medal School Trinity Hansen, Cassia Simmons and Heather Deppe get plenty of exercise in ents are the single most important influence in a childs life. Studies show that the top five factors influencing school success all fall into the realm of "parent responsibility": 1. regular attendance 2. hours spent on homework 3. availability and type of reading materials in the home 4. hours spent watching television 5. the presence of parents in the home who are involved in their childs education. Teachers at Discovery make personal appointments with every student's parents three times during the year to discuss the "Student Education Plan". In these individual conferences, test scores, academic strengths and weaknesses are discussed, and individual goals are set. Parent, student, and teacher are partners in this In our endeavor. addition, Community Council (elected group of parents and schixil nsresenta-tives- ) has met throughout the year to help keep parents connected and involved in important decisions affecting their students. When students, parents, and the schixil work together, successful students are the result! The most important events in the schixil happen inside the classroom, with teachers and dedicated involved kids. Following are some of the many wonderful learning opportunities in which students have been engaged, from classroom activities to Student Council to Computer class: Led by the fearless "three muskeMrs. teers Merkley, Mrs. and Mrs.Ahmsbrak, the Student Council Christensen at Discovery has been very active this year. The following is a sample of activities sponsored by Student Council, month by month: September: elections, induction ceremony, officer elections; October: Red Ribbon Week, executive officers training, committee meetings for Oct. and Nov.; November: Reading Month activities, including the December: Fundraiser for the Angel Tree, Fundraiser for needy family. Rcad-A-Tho- the community swimming pool. well as for the joy caroling for the Care Center; "I Wish it Were January: door decoSummer activities rating, pool party, dress Mrs. Hawkins; February: "Healthy Lifestyles", maturation program, Lunch with a Punch" contest, menu contest. The annual Student Council fundraiser at Discovery has provided funding for countless field trips,' books, and supplies that the school would not have without this program. When students come to the computer lab with Mrs.Wiswcll, they are learning that computers are incredible educational tools. Along with practicing keyboarding skills, students are learning to use and Microsoft Publisher PowerPoint. Currently, they are making newsletters using a histori-- 1 cal even as a topic. When students use PowerPoint or other software, they are able to express their creativity and have fun! Mrs. Parr recently required her Social Studies students to enter the National History Day contest. This years theme is Rights and Responsibilities in History. What unbelievable effort went into making this contest a success! Most students brought in exhibits, while d other chose to write a paper on topics such as, The History of the Atomic Bomb to Womens Rights". About 15 students will be taking their projects or papers to the regional level for judging. Mrs. Parr wants to thank the parents who supported their children on these projects. She says, "I LOVE this job! Discovery has a wonderful new media specialist this year Mrs. Hunt who makes media time a great learning experience. Students in this schixil participate in the Accelerated (AR) Reading Program, a large part of what Mrs. Hunt helps with as a component of her job. Because of the contagious nature of the AR Program, 200 students recently qualified for AR Reading Point Club status with points ranging from 50 to 350. Symptoms include a desire to read one book after another! The books in the media center are being labeled to enable students to find individual reading levels more quickly, and new books soon become used books. In an attempt to take care of evening and weekend reading needs, a list of Accelerated Reading books at Discovery has been given to the Uintah County Library. Mrs. Searlc's Class held a successful History Fair on the 31st of January. All participants enjoyed the experience. The Grand Prize winners were: Weaver Logan display (Hiroshima) Jenny Hall - display (Olympics) Kristie Francisco - presentation (Nursing during World War II) Chclyse Hodgkinson - presentation (Nursing during World War II) Chclyse and Kristie will attend the Regional meet in Roosevelt. Mrs. Robinson's class has been busy learning about the ancient civilizations that were an important part of early America, including the Mayas, Incas, Aztecs, and Anasazi. They have learned that these peoples societies were rich with Mxual, Jump-A-Tho- 750-wor- 781-410- 0. charge. Preregister by calling 636-235- 5. March 7 First airing of the third episode of Reading Elementary on VTV Channel 6. Tapes of the first episode, praised by locul educators, will soon be available in the Blomenlaryt. schools and, in the Uintah County Library. The program Is designed for young children and is supported by the Uintah County Literacy Commission. Community dance at the Golden Age Center at 8 p.m. every Friday. All ages are welcome. Kays Band provides the music. 155 S. 100 W. USU College rodeo at Western Park today and tomorrow. Call 6 for information. Farm Bureau annual banquet at Niki's Steak House, 7 p.m. following the Issue Surfacing Meeting from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m. 789-737- March 8 Kick off five mile run for Health Beat 2003. Call the Rcc district at 6 for more information. 781-098- March 11 Chamber luncheon at noon in the Ranch Restaurant. Joseph Shaffer of the TriCounty health Department will be the speaker. 7-- March 14 National Wildlife Refuge System 100th birthday celebration at Ouray National Wildlife Refuge, 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the headquarters, located 27 miles southwest of Vernal on Highway 88. Refreshments, activities, free to the public. March IS Health Beat 2003 Health Fair at Western Park. Doors open at 9 a.m. For more information, call the Chamber of Commerce at 789-135- St Patrick's Day celebration 2. in the parking lot of Circle S and 5 for more Wingers. Call information. 781-855- place hems of public interest on the Community Calendar , mail to Vernal Express, P.0. Box 1000, E mail, edi tor'ernal.com or call To -- the Vernal Express at See DISCOVERY on page B3 ) 4 |