Thursday, March 15, 2018

Ten students advance in Richland Amazing Shakedown

By Billy Woods
WM School District
A simple handshake is the start of the most recent Richland Elementary project called The Amazing Shakedown.
Originated by the Ron Clark Academy in Georgia, the objective in the Amazing Shakedown is to teach life skills to elementary school students. And, or course, it starts with the most basic of skills, the handshake.
As with all West Memphis Schools, the RCA is fed off a group of teams (called houses). Each house had their turn meeting six local business people and WMSD employees, who were used as judges. The individual students were judged on presentation, handshake and a two-minute question-and-answer session.
"It's kind of like speed-dating, but it was speed-meet-and-greet, where you apply a firm handshake and make direct eye contact with the one you're meeting with," said Richland teacher Suzanne Elmore, coordinator of the event. "The meetings were totally kid-led. The adults were not allowed to speak until the students."
First-round activities included students were then asked to write down each of the names of the presenters and everything they learned about those people. That round reduced the qualifiers to 30.
The top 10 (round two) was announced March 14. The students were then given five topics of discussion. The students were to pretend that the presenters were school board members.
"Their objective was to get the school board members to see their side on the topics," Elmore added.
Some of the topics ranged from cell phone use in school, school uniforms, more recess time, homework and should a student be able to sit wherever they want in the cafeteria.
The top five finishers in each house advanced to the next round on April 9.
The top 10 students who were announced on March 14 included Emily Thorne, Hannah Dory, Taeveon Dancy, Drew Jenkins, Caleb Free, William Tennison, Saniya Barber, Nakhya Jackson, Carley King and Jack Carter.

Tuesday, February 6, 2018

Academies of West Memphis February calendar


Sunday
Monday
Tuesday
Wednesday
Thursday
Friday
Saturday

28

29

30
Jessie Burns
31
Jennifer Presley
1

2

3

By 7:50 Turn in your ISS lesson to Coach Burns
Basketball (Beta Club)
Basketball
@Jonesboro (bGB)
Quiz Bowl Practice
Load Grades
Basketball (MAθ)
Junior High
All-State Jazz Tryouts
Basketball (Beta Club)
vs Greene County Tech
All-State Concert Band Tryouts @ASU
Algebra 2 Super Bowl

4

5

6

7
Sgt. Charlie Ricks
8

9

10
AWM Facebook set up
By 7:50 Turn in your ISS lesson to Coach Burns
GRADES LOADED BY 3:30
Basketball (MAθ)
Junior High
Mandatory Parent Cheer meeting 6:00 AWM Activity room/ISS
Year II Lit Lab
Basketball
@Marion (bGB)

11th grade  attendance/academic team 3:35
Beta Club meeting
Year II Lit Lab
Updated ACT Aspire rosters due to Mrs. Burnett
Quiz Bowl Practice
Load Grades
Football signing 9:00 PAC
10th  grade attendance/academic team 3:35
PROGRESS REPORTS GO OUT 5th period
Basketball (Beta Club)
Junior High
ASU Career Coach Audit building 1 conference room 10:00
12th  grade attendance/academic team 3:35
Weekly Parent Contact; put information in the google sheets
Basketball (Beta Club)
vs Wynne (gGB)
“Senior Night”
Great Rivers Senior High Quiz Bowl
ACT (7:30 – noon)

11

12

13

14

15

16

17

By 7:50 Turn in your ISS lesson to Coach Burns
Basketball
@Valley View (GB)

ALE Aspire Training 2:00-3:00
11th grade  attendance/academic team
MAθ meeting
Quiz Bowl Practice
Band
All-State Clinic & Convention
@Hot Springs
Load Grades
10th  grade attendance/academic team

All-State Band Clinic at Hot Springs     
Basketball @Nettleton
Academies Showcase 9:00-2:00 in the Arena
9:00 PAC Delta Arts
Junior High 9th Grade Mandatory parent meeting for students registering for Tech classes/ 2.5 GPA required PAC 6:00
12th   grade attendance/academic team
Weekly  Parent Contact; put information in the google sheets

All-State Band Clinic
@Hot Springs
All-State Band Clinic
@Hot Springs

Basketball
6A-East District Tournament (GB)

18

19

20

21

22
William Gray
23

24

PRESIDENT’S DAY HOLIDAY
By 7:50 Turn in your ISS lesson to Coach Burns
Basketball
6A-East District Tournament (GB)
ACT Interim test Reading
11th grade  attendance/academic team
Quiz Bowl Practice
Load Grades
ACT Interim test English
10th  grade attendance/academic team

ACT Interim test Science
Sound Fushion PAC
Junior High 9th Grade Mandatory parent meeting for students registering for Tech classes/ 2.5 GPA required PAC 6:00
12th   grade attendance/academic team
Weekly Parent Contact; put information in the google sheets

 ACT Interim test Math
Quiz Bowl
UMAIT Tournament
Basketball
6A-East District Tournament (GB)
10:00 21CCLC Mandatory Parent mtg ACT in the cafeteria

25

26
Cherilyn Minnis
27

28
Iris Warford
1

2

3

By 7:50 Turn in your ISS lesson to Coach Burns
ACT (Grade 11)
Career Day
10th grade bldg. 1
Quiz Bowl Practice
Load Grades
State Tournament
State Tournament
Weekly Parent Contact; put information in the google sheets
State Tournament
State Tournament

Monday, February 5, 2018

Sister N Me honors Waggener

Photo by Billy Woods
Sister N Me cause
Susan Waggener, assistant principal of the Academies of West Memphis, accepts the Angel Award in memory or her daughter Rebecca, who passed away due to cancer, from Patricia Perry of the Sister N Me organization. The group was recognized on Pink Out Night at the West Memphis Blue Devil basketball game last Friday night at Lehr Arena. The Sister N Me is designed to help women in various communities who are dealing with everyday life struggles.

Friday, February 2, 2018

West Jr. High teachers achieve National Board status

By Billy Woods
WM School District
To hear Ashley Lipe reel off the list of teachers whom she looked up to as a student at West Memphis High School, you'd think she was a youngster opening a fresh pack of baseball cards chocked full of Hall of Famers.
Lipe said she was so enamored by who she considered the best teachers at WMHS from 2004-06 that it made the difference in her decision to become an educator herself.
Furthermore, it was some of those same teachers she admired who encouraged her and colleague Amber Heigle to go for the National Board.
Lipe and Heigle, both teachers at West Junior High, received confirmation of one of the highest honors a classroom teacher can achieve recently and it sent both into delirium.
Lipe and Heigle became the 15th and 16th teachers in the West Memphis School District to achieve the National Board certification.
The West Junior High duo were encouraged to go through the two-year National Board process by their peers in the WMSD. The reinforcement came in the form of the same teachers Lipe revered when she was a student.
"Being taught at West Junior High and our high school by Frances O'Dea, Becky Sutton, Blaire Burton, Chris Lee, Mimi McDougle, Joanne Smith, Cherilyn Minnis...those were teachers I didn't want to leave their class," Lipe said. "In high school I had the opportunity to work with Joanne at algebra camp and during one of those summers (assistant superintendent Willie) Mr. Harris was in the cafeteria during the break time. He just looked at me and said, 'You should think about being a teacher.' At that time teaching was not on my mind at all. My junior year of college I started thinking about it, but I didn't want to change my majors. But I knew that Joanne was a non-traditional teacher, so I pursued that.
"Being able to come back to teach in West Memphis and work alongside some of those teachers has been great. They've been mentors and they prepared me for my first years here."
The veteran Smith, herself a National Board certified teacher, mentoring students and cultivating future teacher prospects are very rewarding for her.
"It is very important to me to mentor new teachers as well as students and be a confidant and listener without being an evaluator," said Smith. "We all need to be encouraged and a good mentor can assist new teachers find effective ways to manage the grind of daily struggles and the many challenges we face in teaching every day."
Lipe is in her eighth year at the school, the last four of which has been as a literacy coach. The 2006 graduate of WMHS received her teaching degree from the University of Memphis.
"It was stressful," Lipe said of the National Board process. "Amber and me entered this process after it had been changed. They didn't even release how we were going to be scored until just before they released the results."
Heigle, the West Junior High librarian, is in her 12th year in the WMSD. She spent her first two years as a teacher in her hometown of Osceola.
"Teachers are who I looked up to as well," Heigle said. "Teachers are often the role models that little girls have."
Heigle described the National Board process as "tedious."
"Staying organized, staying ahead of schedule were the toughest parts," Heigle added. "It actually changed the way I look at teaching."
Heigle said she was "talked into" going to a pre-National-Board process meeting by Lipe.
"I  went to just as a friend, but I knew after the meeting how comprehensive the process was going to be. Still, I wanted to do it," Heigle stated. "I don't think, however, I would have gone to the initial meeting if it hadn't been for (Lipe) instigating the process."
Both teachers anxiously awaited the results, which were posted online late at night.
"The results were supposed to be posted online about midnight," Heigle commented. "So I checked my computer around 11:30 p.m. The results were posted, but I couldn't tell if I'd actually made it or not. But when I realized I'd made it...fireworks."
Lipe said she started checking for results around 11 p.m.
"The website was shut down, so I knew they were probably uploading the scores," she said. "I was constantly refreshing the page, and when I saw I made it I just started screaming."
Lipe and Heigle had to pass a four-component process. One is an online test and the other three are portfolios, with two of those having video components that show the growth of their students as learners.
Their monetary compensation will be $5,000 from the state and $2,000 from the WMSD.
Other WMSD teachers to achieve National Board status include Tamika Burnett, Suzanne Elmore, Carla Ely, Annie Ester, Charles Foster, Shelly Hardin, Kasey Hauswirth, Sara Hays, Norritta Langston, Roxanne Lee, Anne McCreery, Joanne Smith, Tracy Valentine and Christie Wilson.