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Show OREM TIMES Thursday, February 8, 2007 1? " Page 6 notes NEWS AMD IDEAS Westmore Elementary students tune into school TV Michael Rigert V " v ' In most elementary schools, students from time to time get to watch (-durational programming program-ming on the school's television network Hut at Westmore IJementary School, students themselves are Incoming the programming Thanks to high tech hardware hard-ware including Apple laptop computers, a video camera, and a vast network of TV sets, Westmore Ix-gan in recent months making live broadcasts from a make-shift studio in the school's media (enter, said principal Harry Meckstrand. Twice a week, sixth-grade Student Council members act as news anchors, reading aloud brief school announcements announce-ments and activities over the TV system -,ach ( lass gets Cherry Hill teacher makes learning Michael Rigert In her sixth year teaching at Oierry Hill Elementary School, Stephanie Hillings believes the best way to get students excited ex-cited about learning is to make education an exx-rience rather than a chore. A native of Milwaukee, Wise, Hillings, 2K, has vivid memories about the subjects she was taught lecause her teachers made learning much more than reading a text book they brought the topics to life. Some of her favorites, including in-cluding the medieval fairs and Amazon rain forests she explored ex-plored with her class as a third grader, are forever a part of her childhood experiences. bruin I guess that because last week was so busy, this week doesn't really have a lot going on. Of course, there are the Public Skate Hours Available Hockey Skating Soccer ivMmuinsuMi Aspen Mortgage Your Home Loan Specialists tt AM'I MK, DM Is Your ARM or Interest Only Loan About to Adjust or Recast? In (he next year approx. 13 of all mortgages will either adjust or recast to a higher interest rate & higher payment, l ixed interest rates are at their lowest point this year so now may be a good time to refinance your mortgage. Call us today for free answers with no obligation. VC'e make it easy! .V; t.t v t Bert Wilson Bruce Henriksen PI.M Over 40 years combined lending experience. 250 west Main American Fork FROM CLASSROOMS AND EDUCATORS an opportunity to -;et in front of the camera for a brief spotlight spot-light where students share what they're learning with the school. A third-grade class even performed the Hedge of Allegiance in American Sign I-anguage and a preschool group sang songs over the television tele-vision network. "It's funny," Beckstrand said. "They get a little nervous, some get real nervous, and walk up there stone cold. Others Oth-ers relish in it, and definitely aren't camera shy." Through FTA fundraising, the school was able to install a TV set and combination DVD VCR in nearly every classroom at Westmore, Beckstrand said. A cable system provided free by Comcast links the entire network together. ()n Monday, the school televised tele-vised it's monthly individual The sixth-grade Accelerated Acceler-ated Learning Lab teacher at Cherry Mill Elementary School, Hillings said she's dovetailed many of those activities, skits and artistic mediums into her own lesson plans. "I do lots of science experiments, experi-ments, kx)king at microorganisms, microorgan-isms, mosquitoes under the microscope mi-croscope and live specimens," she said. "I'm a very hands-on teacher." Married for two years to husband Kolby, Billings was interested in-terested in the performing arts a very young age, participating and even directing many school theater productions. She also performed in several music and dance groups and later starred in semi-professional and community com-munity theater productions. basketball games, but other than that, it's pretty dull. It'll all be topped off with (for those who registered for it) the ACT. (iood luck guys. Speaking about the ACT, for those of you who don't know what it is, its one of the most miserable tests ever. When you sign on to act-student act-student .org, a blaring, upbeat tune comes on, scaring you Beginning Lessons Starting i OS I A student spotlight program called The Way to Go Awards, typically done during a time-consuming time-consuming assembly of the entire schxl. Though some activities ac-tivities will remain traditional assemblies, Beckstrand said by using the television system, students are able to remain in their classrooms saving precious pre-cious time otherwise spent gathering to the auditorium for an assembly. Even the kids are making suggestions on how the new technology can be used and sometimes providing troubleshooting trouble-shooting advice when teachers teach-ers and administrators are stumped, he said. "The students, I think, are our greatest resource. They come with all these ideas," Beckstrand said. "We teachers are the tech immigrants and they're the tech natives, as we After securing a scholarship to the University of Arizona in theater arts, Billings instead opted to attend Brigham Young University. Though she loved the arts, Billings still felt she hadn't discovered the best path for herself. As a sophomore at BYU, she was preparing to return home to Wisconsin for Christmas break when she got a call that led her in the right direction. It was her then-10 year-old brother asking her for help on his Spanish homework during her visit, adding she was the only one who could help him. Billings spent two hours with him studying Spanish Span-ish and some math after which her brother told her she would make a "really good teacher." She remembers her father half to death. Just from that you can tell they are trying to "psyche" you up for the test. From there you can go to "'hot' links" services, or register for the test. The Web site flashes with colors, almost as if you should be excited about taking the test that will ultimately decide de-cide where or even if you go to college. How exciting. So, finally, you register, and TP ttf III .1 v v m We have an Extensive Credit Program. We can help with a New or Used car and Reestablish your credit. No Hassle 24 hr. Credit Line. (801)492-1870 Or For One-on One Help Call Jake at 492-0100 DOUG & KSmj ATTTDPLEX I VI I I ITl 4 Family Owned & Operated 523 W. Main, American Fork, Utah Exit 281 801-492-1110 on kiy:iYi:JHlJi:iaill J UMrl Won't Peel, Crack or Warp Outperforms all Drop-in Lineri Great for Boats, Trailers, RVs Jeep, etc. Helps Keep your Gear from Sliding l Rhino Linings9 call them." Kimberlee Cook, West-more's West-more's teacher on special assignment, as-signment, said that feedback from faculty and students, thus far, has been positive. "The kids really like watching watch-ing and are excited tor their turn to be on the spotlight, to be on TV," she said. Beckstrand said that most schools in the Alpine School District have the same capability capabili-ty to do the broadcasts, but are only now learning that fact. He said the school is already looking look-ing into new ways to use the technology, including to provide pro-vide parents with information during back to school nights, parent nights and math nights, for example. "We're just skimming the surface as far as what we're able to use it for," Beckstrand said. come to life telling her growing up she should pursue a career in teaching, teach-ing, but she hated baby-sitting her five younger siblings, and thought, "Are you kidding?' "I thought about that over the break and when I got back I changed my major to elementary elemen-tary education," she said. "My brother doesn't remember that." Billings said elementary education edu-cation appealed to her because she could teach a variety of subjects. "I hate just picking one," she said. "I'm interested in a lot of things, so I like using my creativity." She enjoys teaching the most when she can get students enthusiastic en-thusiastic about education and getting them to participate in thought -provoking class discussions. dis-cussions. pay a whopping $40 to take this test. You then proceed to study. And study. Finally, the day of the test arrives. The test is usually on Saturday (unless your religion prohibits it) and it starts way to early for a Saturday. You pack everything up and go to the testing center. Hopefully it's a decent testing center, because you will be sitting on your butt ' S LIFETIME fS C - 5JL WARRANTY J"J PROitCTS AGAINST RUST AND CORROSION Resists Abrasion, even under Heavy Use Not a Paint-like coating... Sprays On up to 14" Thick All Colors Available Mountain View High School ACT Testing ACT testing test-ing will be held Saturday, Feb. 10, at Mountain View High School. I Broadway 2007 Featuring Michael Ballam The Mountain Moun-tain View Choral Department will present "Broadway 2007" featuring Michael Ballam as Don Quixote Feb. 23 at 7:30 p.m. and Feb. 24 at 2 and 7:30 p.m. Tickets may be purchased at 227-2400 ext. 225 or online at www.myschoolfees.com. All tickets are $10. Refreshments Refresh-ments will be sold at intermission. intermis-sion. Lakeridge Junior High School Orchestra Fest Today is the Orchestra Fest at Orem Jr. I Winter Concert The orchestra or-chestra will present its winter concert today. I Multicultural essays The multicultural essays are due Monday between 7:30-9 p.m. Write a one-page essay answering the prompt and you could win the chance to read your essay for the school and receive cash prizes. priz-es. Instructions are available at the Front Office. Cherry Hill Elementary School I Student Evaluation Planned Conferences SEP parent-teacher conferences for parents only will be held Feb. 7-8 from 4 to 7:30 p.m. ft Fourth Grade Parents Night Parents night for fourth graders will be Tuesday, Tues-day, Feb. 13. ft Fall Kindergarten Registration Regis-tration Tuesday, Feb. 27, will be Fall Kindergarten Registration for all children turning age 5 by Sept. 1, for the next four hours. The test is difficult, not a whole lot because of the questions, ques-tions, but rather how much time you have to answer them in. The unreasonable ratio is about two questions to every one-minute, but it differs for each section of the test. It's funny, because you walk into the test totally stressed out, and walk out of it carefree. 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Suncrest Elementary School ft Dads and Doughnuts Dads and Doughnuts reading read-ing time will be Monday, Feb. 12, at 9:30 a.m. ft Suncrest Storytelling Assembly As-sembly Selected students from grade levels will spin their tales before the entire student body, teachers and parents Friday, Feb. 23, at 9:30 a.m. Vineyard Elementary School ft Parent-teacher conferences confer-ences Parent-Teacher Conferences Con-ferences will conclude today from 4-7:30 p.m. ft No School Feb. 19 There is no school Monday, Mon-day, Feb. 19, in observance of Presidents Day. ft Second Trimester Ends The school's second trimester trimes-ter ends Friday, Feb. 23. ft Fall Kindergarten Registration Registra-tion Tuesday, Feb. 27, from 2:45 to 3:30 p.m. will be Fall Kindergarten Registration for all children turning age 5 by Sept. 1, 2007. Parents need to bring an original copy of the child's birth certification (no photo copies or wallet size copies) and an updated immunization record. Westmore Elementary School ft Valentine's Day Valentine's Valen-tine's Day parties will be held at the school Wednesday, Feb. 14. ft No School Feb. 19 There is no school Monday, Feb. 19, in observance of Presidents Day. Then comes the wait. You wait upwards of two weeks to see an early score (which will run you another $8) or you wait four to six weeks for your actual test result. You finally get it and are either relieved of the score you got, or you decide to re-take the test. If there is a worse test out there, I'd like to know. So that's the ACT for dummies. Tickets or Accidents? NO PROBLEM PROVO 756-7434 Purchase Refinance POOR |