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A newsletter from Nelson County School
Superintendent Anthony Orr

Teacher’s assistant Tiffanie Wimsett works with pre-school student Chloe Boone on an exercise about measuring during an On The Road To Learning class this summer at New Haven School.

What did you learn at school today?

That’s the question I have made a habit of asking students when I meet them.  I’m sure it’s a question you ask your children when you talk to them each evening.  The question certainly cuts to the core of what school is about.  Asking a student to explain to you what she has learned reinforces that learning whether you are a teacher, bus driver, relative, family friend or community member.  I want to take some space here to encourage you to ask this simple question and share some things I hope you will hear in your student’s answers.

Over the last couple of years, you may have heard or read of Nelson County’s Non-Negotiables.  (You can find them by following this link.)  The first item you will see on the list is an expectation that teachers have a rigorous learning objective as a part of every lesson.  This means that for each lesson taught during the school day, the teacher should have clearly communicated exactly what the students are going to learn during the lesson.  That clear communication means that students of any age should be able to tell in their own words what they know or can do, as a result of being in school that day.

When you ask the question, your child should be able to remember and tell you what she learned.  As she answers, listen for evidence of rigor.  The simplest way I know to describe rigor is to say that children should be using what they have learned to understand something new.  In other words, students should figure out how to learn new concepts on their own, rather than simply having the teacher tell them all of the answers directly.

Finally, listen for your child to describe how she learned the lesson.  The little girl you see in the above picture is learning by doing.  Not only is that more fun and interesting, but the research makes clear that learning by doing works better and sticks in the child’s memory longer.  When your student can tell you clearly what she did and what it means, the whole community has been successful.

Reaching toward a higher level — Old Kentucky Home Middle School has taken aim at preparing more students for advanced courses in high school. OKH this summer sent eight teachers for training through Advance Kentucky, an initiative designed to accelerate and expand rigorous academic achievement by encouraging increased participation in Advanced Placement programs in math, science and English. “My goal here is every kid in this building gets exposed to this kind of instruction,” said Principal Ryan Clark. The four days of training this summer represent the first installment of a three-year commitment to the program, Mr. Clark said. The program is designed to convey strategies to expose more students to higher levels of thinking, more rigorous content and is about infusing these strategies for all kids, Mr. Clark said. Participants included Lisa Stratton, Randi Jury, Christiane Reinle, Kim Smitas (Language Arts); Camille Boone (Math); Sarah Wilson, Teresa Doerr (Science); and Marci Haydon (Curriculum Resource Consultant). The training took place at Bryan Station High School in Lexington.

Three students enter elite program at WKU — The summer break ended and a new adventure began Aug. 30 for three special Nelson County High School students when the new term began at the Gatton Academy of Mathematics and Science in Kentucky. The Academy at Western Kentucky University (WKU) each year selects a small number of gifted Kentucky high school sophomores to enter the two-year residential program designed to provide advanced educational opportunities centered on math and science. Among those students this year are Rebecca Brown, 15, Charlotte Humes, 16, and Barbara Still, 15. They join another NCHS student, Taylor Harbin, who this year will be in her second year in the rigorous college-style program at WKU. The four follow Jennifer Robinson who was the first NCHS student to attend the academy, which is in just its fourth year of existence. Ms. Robinson has already graduated from the program and is a student at WKU. The Academy is listed among the nation’s best high schools by Newsweek, in that magazine’s annual ranking of elite schools. Gatton Academy students finish their junior and senior years of high school taking courses offered at WKU and graduate from high school having earned at least 60 college credit hours through the program.

NCEEF is hero for backpacker program — The Nelson County Education Endowment Fund (NCEEF) provided a huge shot in the arm last week for the Backpack Program in Nelson County, to the tune of an $8,000 donation. With funding severely cut from last year’s levels, the program was looking for a few generous heroes to “adopt-a-backpacker,” so hungry children could receive food for the weekend at last year’s level. The Backpack Program, operated through the Family Resource and Youth Services Centers (FRYSC), which serve all schools in Nelson County, fed 272 children every week last year, but this year had enough money to feed just 85 children. The NCEEF donation, together with $12,000 in donations from other sources, put the program over the top last week and restored it to last year’s levels. That is good news for Nelson and especially good news for hungry children all over this county.

Endowment fund opens new grants cycle — The scholastic landscape in Nelson County also received a large boost last week from the NCEEF. The board of directors voted to open another round of funding this fall for the endowment fund’s grants program and allocated an additional $10,000 for that purpose. Last spring the NCEEF awarded nearly $15,000 in grants for 13 applications from schools and teachers throughout the Nelson County School System. New applications, along with unfunded or partially funded applications from last spring will be considered anew in this new grants cycle. NCEEF grants have a direct impact on our classrooms and represent an important supplement to the educational resources available to our teachers. This new funding cycle is good news for the entire school district.

The Nelson County Board of Education regularly takes note of the many recent accomplishments of our staff and students. Here are just a few of the highlights heard during the August board meeting.

Under one roof — Foster Heights Elementary School had a successful opening day with all staff and students under one roof in one building. About 80% of students and families were present during the kindergarten and first-fifth grade open house events in late July. First-grade teacher Lee Johnson and math intervention teacher Mary Gagne were each awarded NCEEF Mini-Grants to implement special programs this year. Ms. Johnson will implement Leveled Literacy Interventions while Ms. Gagne will implement the DreamBox Math Intervention Technology Program. As a part of the DreamBox grant, between 30 and 40 students attended school throughout the summer under the direction of FRYSC to utilize this program. The program will continue through this school year.

Pennies for puppies — Bloomfield Middle School sixth graders raised $515 last year for the Nelson County Humane Society through the pennies for puppies program. They partnered with the Humane Society to bring in pennies or other funds for the campaign.

Gift cards awarded — New Haven School was selected as the winner of the area’s Sam’s Club contest. The school was one of approximately 500 entries within this Sam’s Club territory. The store hosted a party at the school last week to award 10 $100 gift cards to teachers at the school. The gift cards are for school supplies.

More gift cards awarded — Boston School was the beneficiary last week of 10 $100 gift cards from Wal-Mart. Store representatives visited the school Thursday to deliver the gift cards, which were distributed to 10 lucky teachers selected through a drawing. The gift cards are for school supplies.

Volleyball team is “gold” — The Nelson County Lady Cards Freshman Volleyball team won the Gold Division of the second annual Nelson County Freshman “Bienvenidos” Tournament in August. They went undefeated in pool play and beat Pleasure Ridge Park and Central Hardin in the tournament to earn the Champion’s Trophy.

Principal “presents” in Africa — OKHMS principal Ryan Clark presented some of his academic work while attending the sixth annual International Symposium on Education Reform in South Africa. Clark was invited by the University of Kentucky to attend the symposium. While there, Clark interacted with school leaders from all over the globe, visited South African schools and was even chased by an elephant.

World championship musicians — Four former OKHMS band students performed at the Drum Corps International World Championships in August. Two of the students (Damon King and Garrett Thompson) performed with the eighth-place Blue Stars. One student (Brit Roberts) performed with the sixth-place Phantom Regiment, and another student (Lindsey Filiatreau) performed with the third-place Bluecoats.

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