Bucket Filling at Central Primary

by Nicole McPhate for APSD

At Central Primary, the students and families are sharing kindness in a new way. Through the use of the book, Have You Filled a Bucket Today? and with the encouragement of their teachers, students are growing as positive influences on their families and community through acts of kindness. Central Primary’s principal, Melinda Morris, shared the students excitement as well as her own about the project. The book is used in the classroom setting to explain how kindness, appreciation and love can fill someone up and have positive effects for both the giver and the receiver.

Each classroom has the book and a “bucket-filling” backpack that contains a book for home and a log for the students to share about the experience. The students take turns taking home the backpack over the weekend and completing projects or acts that benefit others. Once they have completed their turn, they are encouraged to journal about the experience in the log provided. Two examples Morris gave were baking cookies for the neighbor next door, or just going to talk with a neighbor down the street. After each student has had the backpack for a weekend, the whole process starts over.

According to several teachers and Ms. Morris, this project is helping students and parents focus on the positives instead of the negatives. They have experienced a great response from both students and parents. Morris shared that “it is helping them as a family, they are completing projects together to fill others buckets, and the students love it.”

For more information on the bucket filling concept, you can visit their website: http://www.bucketfillers101.com/index.php

Relay for Life

Goza Greats Raising Money for Relay for Life

by Nicole McPhate

Students at Goza Middle School are doing much more than attending classes and enjoying lunch. They are aiding their teachers in giving back to the community through the Clark County Relay for Life, which will be held on April 20th, 6:00 p.m. at Badger Stadium. The Goza Greats are a Relay for Life team headed up by seventh-grade teachers Kaki Forthman and Kelly Rogers. They have set a goal of $2,500 to be raised for the American Cancer Society.

During the month of February, the students were given many chances to help their teachers raise money. First, the eighth-graders nominated classmates to run for King and Queen of the winter dance. The students were able to vote for their fellow classmates by placing spare change in the candidates’ jars. Kirby Smith and Katy Dickerson were crowned King and Queen. During the winter dance, there were concessions, pictures and a Wii Just Dance competition. All of the money from the voting and concessions went towards the teachers’ goal. Next, Love Grams were sold at lunch. Students were able to send a Love Gram to another student, and they could personalize it by picking a tag and writing a note. On Valentine’s Day, the tags were attached to bags of chocolates and delivered towards the end of the day. And there are several more events planned for the month of April.

The Goza team has raised $1,380 so far. There are several options to help them reach their goal, if you’re interested:

• Make a cash donation.

• Sponsor their team - Business owners make a $100 donation payable to American      Cancer Society and they will list your name on the back of the Goza team shirt.

• Purchase a Hog Wild for a Cure shirt.

• Purchase a luminary in honor or memory of someone. These are $10 each and will be           placed at Relay for Life.

For more information or any questions you can contact Kaki Forthman at Goza at (870)246-4291. And for more information about Relay for Life you can visit their website: http://www.relayforlife.org/

iPads in Arkadelphia Schools

Getting Technologically Savvy at Peake Elementary

by Nicole McPhate

The fourth and fifth graders at Peake Elementary are getting a unique opportunity that many elementary schools have yet to experience: Apple iPads. Nikki Thomas, Peake’s principal, shared that the school recently bought two iPad carts. Each cart contains 30 iPads, plus an iPad for every teacher. The carts also have an Apple Macbook that will allow the iPads to be synced with applications and other teaching tools.

Ms. Thomas has attended multiple conferences which share that “new tech standards are coming with the Common Core.” The Common Core State Standards Initiative is a new initiative that is developing a teaching framework that will better prepare students for college and the workforce. In this new set of standards, technology will be a growing factor and Peake plans to be ahead of the curve.

With the iPads, teachers will be able to build lesson plans that will encourage hands-on learning, as well as provide “real-life and relevant projects,” according to Thomas. Thomas went on to give an example as to what students will be able to do with this new technology. She stated that students will be able to plan a trip that would involve learning about geography and calculating expenses such as gas milage and food.

Ms. Thomas hopes that with getting technology into the hands of her students, through the use of iPads, they will be prepared for the new Common Core standards when they are implemented in the coming years. For more information about the Common Core Standards Initiative, you can visit: http://www.corestandards.org.

Arkadelphia named 'City of Distinction' by Arkansas Business Magazine

Arkansas Business magazine has named Arkadelphia as a 2011 City of Distinction for the development and implementation of the Southwest Arkansas College Preparatory Academy.  The Academy recently began its fourth year with 184 students from Clark County high schools. The Saturday and summer classes are held on the campuses of Henderson State University and Ouachita Baptist University in Arkadelphia.

"The Academy is just one example of the innovative partnerships that are making a difference in our schools and community," said Arkadelphia Superintendent Donnie Whitten.  "We would like to thank everyone involved in its development and implementation - especially our private funders and university partners at Henderson and Ouachita.  We appreciate the recognition from Arkansas Business and look forward to strengthening the educational and economic vision for Clark County."

For more information on Arkadelphia's City of Distinction award, please visit the Arkansas Business online article or view the full e-issue here.

Historic Peake High School Restoration

ARKADELPHIA — Work is under way inside the old Peake School building as part of a year-long effort to restore the building to its original appearance when it was Arkadelphia’s only school for African-Americans.

“We have completed the work on the outside of the building except for some landscaping and handicap-access features,” said Pat Wright of the Arkadelphia Public School System, who remembers taking a class in the old school as an elementary student. 

“The contract for Phase II of the restoration was done in July, and work began in August inside.”  Wright, the director of special programs for the school district, said the work is now concentrating on the common areas of the old school. That work should be finished in November; then work will begin to restore the original classrooms, she said.

The Peake School has a history that goes back to 1928, when it was built using a grant from the trust of Julius Rosenwald, the chairman of Sears, Roebuck and Co., that provided money and plans to build schools in African-American communities in rural areas. The school was known as the Peake Rosenwald School and provided classes for the first through eighth grades.

The building was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2005 as an example of one of the 5,000 schools built in the U.S. by the Rosenwald trust from 1917 until 1932 for the education of African-Americans, according to materials from the Arkansas Historic Preservation Program in Little Rock. Now, few of the schools remain.

When a new high school was built in 1960, the name of the Peake School was changed to Peake Elementary School for grades one through six.  When Arkadelphia schools were totally integrated in 1970, it became Peake Middle School. By 1984, the original Peake School building was used by the Head Start program, but the building had been vacant since December 2001.

“Since then, there has been nothing going on in there until the present,” Wright said.  Work started last year with repairs to the roof of the building. A second project water-proofed the basement, Wright said.

The work is being done under the direction of Twin Rivers Architects in Arkadelphia. Wright said the funding for the first phase of restoration was from the Arkansas Preservation Program, and the inside phase is being funded by $400,000 in federal stimulus funds given to the program by the school district.  Wright said plans for the building are for it to return to its role of education.

“We hope it will become part of our early childhood program, and the classrooms will be for 3-yearolds,” she said. “There is a waiting list for that program, and the list is longest for age 3.”

Additional plans call for a small museum in the building and an office for the Peake School Alumni Association.

Former students of the Peake schools held a reunion early in August in Arkadelphia. Wright, who is president of the alumni association for the schools, said the group is now looking for donations of memorabilia, such as school jackets and photographs of classes and teachers.

“The alumni want to see this done and finished,” Wright said. “This is important for the legacy of thecommunity. [The Peake building] is on the campus of [what is now Peake Elementary School], and we want those students and all students to understand about the school.”

She said once the building is restored and the museum is ready, alumni will look for ways to link Arkadelphia students with the old schools through their grandparents or other relatives.

For more information about Historic Peake High School and the restoration efforts in Arkadelphia, click here.

by Wayne Bryan

Arkansas Democrat-Gazette Tri-Lakes

Prep Academy begins fourth year with 184 students

Henderson State University and Ouachita Baptist University will host 184 high school students from local school districts as the fourth year of an innovative educational opportunity in Clark County begins. The Southwest Arkansas College Preparatory Academy is scheduled to resume classes on October 15th.

The program was designed as part of the High School Redesign Initiative of the Southwest-A Education Renewal Zone at HSU and the Arkansas Department of Education. Leaders from Arkadelphia Public Schools, Henderson State University, Ouachita Baptist University, College of the Ouachitas, Dawson Educational Cooperative, Southern Bancorp, Ross Foundation, Clark County Strategic Plan, local business and community representatives and elected officials participated in the development of the Academy in 2009. The project was expanded to include the Centerpoint and Gurdon School Districts for the Academy’s second year with the Cabe Foundation and Olds Foundation joining the partnership.

The purpose of the Academy is to provide additional academic opportunities for students to ensure that they are ready for postsecondary studies upon completion of high school. Students were selected based on their interest in attending a four-year postsecondary institution and an application process. Information from the EXPLORE test administered in the eighth grade will be used to help students prepare for the ACT they will take as juniors.

“Our ongoing commitment to this project has been a true collaborative effort and we are grateful to all of our partners. With the success of the first three classes, we are pleased to continue the program with other area districts in Clark County. We are fortunate to have the support of our community and universities,” said Donnie Whitten, superintendent of the Arkadelphia School District.

The Academy will focus on the areas of reading, English, mathematics, and career planning. The program will pair a public school teacher with university professors from HSU and OBU, resulting in a faculty-student ratio of 1:6. The Academy will hold classes on selected Saturdays from October through May and two weeks in June. Activities will take place at Henderson and Ouachita with plans to expose students to additional university experiences through field trips and off-campus activities. Funded by local school districts and grants from private foundations, all classes and activities will be offered at no cost to the students.

Bobby Jones, interim president of Henderson State University, said “The Southwest Arkansas College Preparatory Academy is one of the most progressive and innovative P-12/higher education collaborative projects in the entire state of Arkansas, and I am excited about this new class of Academy students. This Academy is having a tremendous impact on our schools, our students, and our communities. The partnerships between our universities, our public schools, other educational entities, and our private supporters are a model for the power of collaboration.”

“We are so proud of these students and the commitment they have made. We look forward to the return of our current students and to meeting our ninth graders on October 11. Our faculty and staff are planning many exciting activities preparing for their return,” said Paulette Blacknall, director of the Southwest-A Education Renewal Zone at Henderson State University.

The opening celebration for the Southwest Arkansas College Preparatory Academy will be held on Tuesday, October 11 at 6:00 p.m. in the Garrison Center Lecture Hall. State Representative Johnnie J. Roebuck is scheduled to address the audience and provide the “charge” to this year’s students.    For more information on the Academy, please contact Paulette Blacknall at 870-230-5476.

The Southwest Arkansas College Preparatory Academy and Arkadelphia’s efforts to improve its college-going rate will be highlighted in an upcoming October issue of Arkansas Business Magazine as a 2011 “City of Distinction” program award winner.

Arkadelphia Test Scores Released

Students in the Arkadelphia School District completed state testing in the spring of 2011. Students in Kindergarten – 2nd grade were administered the Iowa Tests of Basic Skills, a nationally recognized norm-referenced assessment. Seventy-four percent of Kindergarten students scored at or above the 50th percentile on the Vocabulary subtest, 96% on the Words subtest, and 93% on the Language subtest. 78.9% of Kindergarten students scored at or above the 50th percentile on the Math portion of the test.    On the Reading subtest, 60.6% of first grade students scored at or above the 50th percentile, 61.5% on the Language subtest, and 67.3% on the Math section. Sixty-one percent of second grade students scored at or above the 50th percentile in Math, 62.9% in Reading, and 43.4% in Language. Students in grade 9 were administered the Iowa Tests of Educational Development; 57.2% of freshman scored at or above the 50th percentile in Reading, 52.3% in Math.

Arkansas students in grades 3-8 take the Augmented Arkansas Benchmark Exam, a criterion- referenced test, each spring. The tests include multiple-choice and written-response items. Students are assessed in Math and Literacy. Scores are reported as one of four performance levels: below basic, basic, proficient, or advanced.  The 3-8 Benchmark results are as follows:

3-8 AUGMENTED BENCHMARK
% OF STUDENTS SCORING PROFICIENT OR ADVANCED IN SPRING 2011

3rd Grade Math
81%
3rd Grade Literacy
71%

4th Grade Math
81%

4th Grade Literacy
84%
5th Grade Math
82%
5th Grade Literacy
81%
6th Grade Math
81%
6th Grade Literacy
72%
7th Grade Math
84%
7th Grade Literacy
73%
8th Grade Math
70%
8th Grade Literacy
82%

“We are pleased with the improvements our students are making across the District,” said Arkadelphia Superintendent Donnie Whitten. “Our faculty and staff are making it happen and I applaud their dedication and commitment. We will continue to work toward improving achievement levels at every school and for every student in the District.”

Students are required to take End-of-Course (EOC) Exams in Algebra I, Geometry, and Biology. High school juniors take the 11th Grade Literacy Exam.    100% of the 8th grade Algebra I students scored proficient or advanced on the EOC, 46% of high school Algebra I students were proficient or advanced.    Students must pass the Algebra I EOC in order to receive graduation credit. In Geometry, 66% of the students scored proficient or advanced; 35% of Biology students scored at those levels. Of the 11th graders, 59% scored proficient or advanced on the literacy exam.

In addition to these state tests, high school students enrolled in Advanced Placement (AP) classes take the AP Exams in May. Students receive a score ranging from 1 to 5. Many universities grant college credit based on qualifying scores.    As an AAIMS school, AHS students that score a 3, 4, or 5 on certain AP exams receive a $100 gift card. Arkadelphia High School also participates in the state’s Voluntary Universal ACT Assessment (VUAA) program, meaning that the district pays for each student to take the ACT during the spring semester of their junior year.