Top Water Features

Every School Every Thursday – Des Moines South

Elementary Schools

On Feb. 19 as part of our Teeth Unit, a dental hygienist from the dental offices of Drs. Mancuso and Barsetti came to visit. she demonstrated proper brushing and flossing and kindergartners learned about how to keep our teeth healthy to prevent cavities.

Central Academy instructor Jeff Hepburn and several Central Academy students provided exciting demonstrations to Hanwalt scientists.

The results of the fourth- and fifth-grade science fair are as follows: Fourth grade - Scientific Method Division: Katie Baumert and Jariah Hannible, first place, dissolving eggshells; Rabsa Naseer and Kylie Sly, second place, earthquake; Aydin Baschich and Conor Quinn, third place, the 3 laws. Honorable mention went to Wyatt Johnson and Sean Anderson, oil spills; Amber Bormann and Grace Steffenson, plants; and Garrison Starkey and Danny Kramer, volcanoes. Scientific Topic Division: will Nigut and Sam Knoshaug, first, submarine fins; Ben Stone, second, mold; Sam Bruner and Isaac Anderson, third, soda fountain; Erik Ingebretsen, honorable mention, sonoluminescence. Fifth-grade - Scientific Method Division: will Myers, first, earthquakes; Olivia Griffin, second, corn starch; Jacob Thompson, third, trebuchet; Emma Carlson, honorable mention, water and sun. Scientific Topic Division: Anne Beeman, first, pendulum; Alle Brown-Law and Elaine Greiner, second, man vs. animal; Miranda Gruber, third, going green; Tom and Sam Nordmeyer, honorable mention, airplanes.

Third-graders are learning about clay in art class while creating clay fish whistles. They are expanding their knowledge of sculptures and how materials can change when they are put under a great amount of heat. By the end of this art project students will be "whistling while they work."

During February, students raised money for Pennies for Patients to be donated to the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. the fundraiser kicked off with an assembly to help inform students of what we are doing and who we are helping by donating. Students saw pictures in the front hallway of patients being helped. Jackson raised more than $450 with a week left. a toy sale also was planned.

First-graders are having a lot of fun in science and math. They have been exploring the differences between pebbles, sand and silt. did you know that silt is the smallest one of those? They have also been discovering what makes things balance and move. in math, they have been using different size feet to measure lengths of items. They have used their own, baby, and basketball player steps. Even having different answers, the measurement can be right if we are careful.

Students attended a PBS Olympics Opening Ceremony on Feb. 12. PBS is the Positive Behavior Supports program used in the school to help children manage behavior. each classroom designed its own flag and carried it into the ceremony. Children were retaught school wide expectations and told how they could earn gold, silver and bronze medals for their class. the two-week Olympic theme was being used to help students remember the South Union ABC's; always be Responsible, be Respectful, Care.

Third-graders are learning multiplication and division in math. They are ready to begin our study of communities in social studies.

Second-graders have been studying biographies during Black History month. They learned that Rosa Parks wasn't just tired she was "tired of giving in." With this they have learned how to write character sketches, focusing on what people say and what they do.

In February kindergarten students honored our presidents. They learned about money and the heads of the presidents on each coin. They wrote stories, created beautiful art pieces of Abraham Lincoln and George Washington, made log cabin houses and three-cornered hats.

During social studies students are studying various countries around the world. They are learning about customs, traditions, and national flags. the students will explore maps of these countries to develop their map skills. They will also sample different foods commonly found in these countries.

Middle Schools

Several art students had work shown at the State Historical Center in a recent exhibit of student generated work. Two dimensional art was entered by Marit Simmons, 6th grade; Chase Jackman 6th grade; Clare Baker 7th grade; and Bradley Rhein, 7th grade. Eighth-graders Cianna Rothwell, Megan Hopkins and Aden Finkelstein presented three-dimensional work.

High Schools

Instrumental students participated in the Perry Band Olympics Solo/Ensemble contest on Feb. 20. Twenty-two Division I (Superior) ratings, ten Division II (Excellent), and one Division III (Good) ratings were earned in the 33 total events. Receiving top five solo medals were Jewels Hyden (Bass Clarinet), Steven Best (Alto Sax), Torie Dotts (Multi Percussion), Caleb Peterson (Trumpet), Matt Rogowski (Multi Percussion), and Danny Folkers (Multi Percussion).

Parent Conferences will be 4 to 8 p.m. March 10 and 12:15 to 3 p.m. and 4 to 8 p.m. March 11 in the Lincoln Main Roundhouse. Classes do not meet on March 11 and 12. Spring Break is March 15-19.

Fierce is the theme for the East High 2010 Fashion show. the show will be May 11 in the East High Auditorium. Directors of the show are Breonna Carroll, Yesenia Vargas, Rene Reynolds and Misty Black. the Fashion show is done by the Fashion and Sewing Technology classes at East High.

The following are Students of the Month for the month of February: Foods I - Sopheavy Bunhoeun; Fashion Runway - Leanna Thun, Amber Knox, McKenzie Whittington; Sewing Tech - Misty Black; Foods II - James Illingworth, Josue Marquez; Personal Development and Health - Pi Knight Hem; Adult Living Skills, Vanessa Contreras-Colunga; Relationship -Taylor Carlisle.

Other Des Moines High Schools

The spring musical, "Little Shop of Horrors," will be April 29 through May 1 at 7:30 p.m. Tickets will be available at the door and range from $4-$8. the cast features sophomore Jay Jacobson as "Seymour", senior Allison O'Braza as "Audrey", sophomore Logun Buckley as "Mr. Mushnik," sophomore Sean Carnahan as "Orin Scrivello" and sophomore Nick Clark as the voice of "Audrey II." be sure to check out this hilarious musical comedy.

Hoover High School is presenting our traditional Diversity Assembly on March 5. Students will be performing traditional songs, dances and skits from many different countries around the world.

Citywide Schools

Students have been celebrating Chinese New Year in many ways. the children made masks, dragon windsocks and the Chinese calendar. Students discussed the WuFu sign which has five bats drawn in a circle with their wing tips touching. It means long life, good luck, wealth, health and happiness. the color is red, the color of good luck in China. the flag of China is displayed in the classrooms for children to study.

Students are learning what the Olympic rings look like and represent. Students have been discussing the sports in the Olympics and how hard the athletes practice to be so good. Comparisons are made to school as we have to do things over and over to learn them well.

Students are discussing the vision of a young Native American boy, named Black Elk. When Black Elk was ill, he had a vision of two roads intersecting where all people walked the Road of Peace (red road) by taking care of themselves, their friends, and the Earth. Black Elk's vision also saw a black road of difficulties that all people sometimes walk. Students listen to the story and role play taking the walk. Classrooms have a table top and floor model for the children to set up including the roads, tree, flowers, and birds.

Upper-level students have completed a study of gravity in physics. They are currently working on friction and next week, will begin simple machines.

The South Region hosted a family night on Feb. 18. each school in the south region was invited to share something special about their school. Three of our 9- and 10-year-old children developed a PowerPoint about how children at the Downtown School have opportunities to address the DMPS Graduate Ends Statements. They included their interpretation of these statements in their presentation. They also included photographs of children at all age levels participating in many learning activities.

Kindergartners have been anticipating the 100th day of school and it finally arrived. Students enjoyed a variety of activities emphasizing the concept of 100. among those activities were decorating T-shirts with 100 items, writing projects involving 100, singing 100th Day songs, bringing collections of 100 items, exercising in sets of 10 to reach 100, counting by twos, fives, and 10s to reach 100, flipping a coin 100 times and recording heads or tails, making a 100th Day sticker book by grouping 100 small stickers in groups of fives and 10s, filling a paper with 100 boxes using words from our room, and decorating a cupcake with 100 written in the frosting.

Second-grade students in Reader's Theatre will be performing their plays today for family and friends in the library after school. They have been working for eight weeks on activities to build their reading fluency and are ending with 3 plays to present to others showing their success.

On Feb. 12 students participated in Jump Rope 4 Heart. the students jumped to their hearts' content and raised more than $600 for the American Heart Association.

The Smouse Knights of the Week traveling trophy went to Jim Merkwan's classroom for demonstrating excellent cafeteria expectations for the week of Feb. 8 and to Katie Lombard's classroom for demonstrating responsible bathroom expectations for the week of Feb. 15.

Reading students are giving persuasive speeches about their favorite book in an effort to convince others to want to read it.

The Central Academy math team raised $1,652.40 in donations to the Red Cross after participating in the recent Iowa State University math contest. much like a bowl-a-thon, the students asked donors for either a fixed donation or a donation per point they would score at the contest. not only did 43 Central Academy math students qualify for the state math championship, but they raised a notable amount for the Red Cross relief in Haiti.

Graphic Communication students of Instructors Jeff Bock and Tim Rice are currently plating business cards in preparation for printing. They are also designing a full color postcard and designing T-shirts for the Graphic Communication program as well as for the upcoming May Fashion show featuring Fashion Design and Merchandising student collections.

Commercial Photography students of instructor Denise Wicker are preparing for their spring break trip to Italy. They will photograph the cultural and physical geography of Venice, Florence, Rome, Assisi and Pompei from March 13-22. Fifteen students and six adults will attend.

On Feb. 16 students went to Ankeny. in the morning they visited the John Deere plant. in addition to learning some of the history of the plant, students saw machining, welding, assembling and painting of implements. This plant's two main product lines are sprayers and cotton pickers. in one area of the plant, plastic tanks were being made. the noon destination was DMACC Ankeny campus. Students enjoyed lunch and got an overview of programs and facilities. After lunch students toured the tool and die making program. Students learned about tool and die making as an occupation and about opportunities such as the Accumold Scholars program.

Future Pathways will be holding conferences on March 9-11. over spring break, the program will be open a portion of the day.

This is an exciting and busy semester for high school classes. Students continue to write poetry for their upcoming poetry book, "United together." They are also engaged in a project-based learning activity with the driving question: "How can we, as Circle of Courage Students, proactively respond to intolerance and bullying on our school campus by identifying and studying intolerance, hatred, and bigotry throughout history and literature? "Students are keeping weekly journals of acts of bullying experienced on our campus. Weekly discussions address these incidents as well as the role of becoming a pro-activist against bullying. Application to witnessing intolerance or bullying at school addresses the student's role as a pro-activist: What is your role? What can you do on this campus? What might you have said or done at the time of witnessing the intolerance? What difference would it have made to the situation? What difference would it have made in you? If you confront the same situation again, what will you do? What will you say? the teachings of Rosa Parks, Martin Luther King and Mahatma Gandhi are being used as examples of what a pro-activist can do when bullying, hatred, discrimination, and intolerance occur.

The students from Gina Martin's and Deb Vogel's rooms studied current events during their technology literacy unit. They used reading, social skills, math, communication and physical education throughout the week to learn about the Winter Olympics. They were given a chance to use a digital camera to take pictures and computer to print them out. we learned new vocabulary words through the use of an interactive book and the smart board. the students used their communication devices, micro-switches, and PODD books to answer questions and comment on the Olympics and math graph. the last day was spent participating in a mock Olympics with students from Dorr's, Santangelo's, Nordaker's, Hefty's and Glass's classrooms. the students competed in Curling, Skating and Hockey. the event was fun and students practiced their social skills by taking turns, working as a team and waiting. at the end of the event, students were presented with medals as they stood on podiums.

RVM received a $10,000 grant from Prairie Meadows to help pa for Video-Modeling Project video equipment and a consultant to help develop instructional plans using the new technology. the goals revolve around making students more independent in social situations. Teachers and support staff involved in the project have been attending conferences, reading research, identifying students who could benefit from a video-model strategy, and developing videos to help instruct students in social skills. the technology and consultation services purchased with the Prairie Meadows money will help us reach our goals.

The Open Arts program is driven by a Community-Based Learning philosophy. one of our projects this winter is for Judge Celeste Bremer. she and her colleagues are collecting books to provide for children who are visiting relations at the new jail north of Des Moines. our community artists created panels of trees to surround the bookshelves, making an inviting corner in the visitor's area. Children may enjoy books there or take one home "for keeps" every time they visit. we are currently outlining tool walls at the Des Moines Bicycle Collective. Carl Voss says it will help them stay organized.

Scavo is in its second year of having students participate in the Dream Team, RAGBRAI's official student team of student riders. last year, Ben Rawlins completed the grueling six-month training and completed the entire ride across the state of Iowa. This year, six students have committed to the program. Ben returned as a second-year rider. we also added Joey Bemisdarfer, Mariah Legg, Nayron Monk, John Ring and Katy Markham. They've started their indoor training and will start outdoor training in March. we will also give them extra support and the opportunity to earn elective credit by participating in Bookin' on Bikes.

Private Schools

The preschoolers at Christ the King have been busy singing and memorizing poetry for a winter concert. the children performed five songs and three poems. They spent several class periods learning their pieces as well as adding movements and instruments to their performance. It was clear a few of the class favorites were the poem "Pet Snowball" and songs "Down in My Heart" from "Veggie Tales" as well as "Mele-Kalikimaka" from Bing Crosby. at the concert parents learned more about the kindergarten program at Christ the King and enjoyed refreshments afterward.

Congratulations to DMC senior David Carlson, who bowled a perfect 300 game on Feb. 14 at the Greater Iowa Scholarship Bowling Tour in Muscatine. David also bowled well in substate competition on Feb. 20 in Des Moines.

Congratulations to junior Jess South for his fifth-place finish in the Iowa State Wrestling Championships in the 215-pound weight class for Urbandale High School.

Congratulations to eighth-grader Luke Bruflat for placing first, fifth-grader Braeden Trinder for placing second, and sixth-grader Caroline Jones for placing third in the Association of Christian Schools International spelling bee on Feb. 19 in Eldridge.

Congratulations on the first-place finish of both the junior high show choir (Destination Excellence) and high school show choir (Light, Inc.) at the Indianola show Choir competition on Feb. 20.

The second-grade music presentation will be held today in the elementary music room at 3:45 p.m.

On March 5, the junior high and high school jazz bands will compete at the Hooverfest Jazz Festival.

The Parent-Teacher Fellowship executive committee will meet on March 8.

On March 10, the first-grade classes of Allison Scherer, Charlene Brown and Pam Wilson will present the elementary chapel.

The first-grade music presentation will be held on March 11 in the elementary music room at 3:45 p.m.

Congratulations to the DCHS 15U Mac Elite volleyball team, which recently won its last two tournaments in Pella and Johnston.

The Dowling 4-Hers will be holding a blanket drive for the Domestic Violence Center through March 5. as this has been an especially cold and snowy winter, the families at the Domestic Violence Center are in great need of new or gently used blankets. a collection box will be located in both the attendance office and Room 803. please help out all of those families in need by bringing in a new or gently used blanket.

Dowling Catholic High School's Students for Life Club's annual Skate for Life Fundraiser is planned for March 7 at Brenton Skate Plaza, 520 Robert D Ray Drive in Des Moines, from 5-8 p.m. Minimum donation is $7/person. Families of four or more: $25. Skate rental is $1.

Parents, alumni, friends and family, save the date for the annual DCHS Parents' Guild-sponsored auction La Dolce Vita on April 10.

Congratulations to Dowling Catholic coach Jim Williams, who received the Central Iowa Sports Lifetime Achievement Award recently at Prairie Meadows. in addition, congratulations to Miranda Leek, who was nominated for the Female Athlete of the Year award for her national and world archery achievements. And finally, congrats to the girls' cross-country team, who won the team of the year award; and to Katie Flood, who won the Central Iowa Sports female athlete of the year award.

The first district Special Olympics meet is April 14. the state meet is May 21. Approximately 85 Dowling Catholic students will coach athletes during this annual event.

On March 1, DCHS presented proceeds from the school's recent Haitian Relief fundraisers to Bishop Richard Pates and the Diocese of Des Moines. DCHS raised $10,000 to contribute to the relief efforts.

Recently, Dowling Catholic's People to People officers gave presentations to the Theology classes on this year's Lenten Almsgiving project Working with Break the Cycle of Hunger.

Holy Trinity School eighth-grade students just completed a sculpture unit. They created shoe sculptures out of brown grocery sacks. They first did a study of their own shoe in a pencil drawing and then began creating their sculpture. the students had many challenges. how do you make a paper bag transform into a shoe? What is craftsmanship? how do I get the paper to form the way I want it to? how can I show texture? When the students were finished, they shared some thoughts: "I didn't think I would be able to do it." "That was hard but fun!" "That was my favorite unit so far."

Third-grade science students are studying growth and change in animals. one of the activities we have been learning about is the life cycle of the mealworm. over the past several weeks we have been monitoring the changes and keeping a record in an observation log. Students have been eager to see the metamorphosis of the mealworms to beetles.

Students in Holy Trinity's fourth and sixth grades have been participating in a guidance unit called Student Workshop: Respect, It Starts With you. the goal of this unit is to impress upon students that they are responsible for their own behavior, that respect starts with them. It teaches that we all have an obligation to treat others the way that we want to be treated. the material helps students to distinguish between behavior that is respectful and behavior that is disrespectful in regard to other people's feelings, individual differences, the rules we live by, as well as their own self respect. other areas of focus are respect for differences in interests and abilities, respecting other cultures and religions, and gender issues.

Fourth-grade students spent Feb. 23 at the State Historical Building. Students attended workshops facilitated by artists from all over Asia and of Asian heritage. each artist told a story about cultural practices and values from the varying societies. in many workshops students created cultural art pieces that are used in traditional New Year celebrations.

In middle school social studies the sixth-grade students are studying East Africa, Kilimanjaro and the Serengeti. Seventh-grade is working its way down South America, exploring the Amazon River basin and the different cultures. Eighth-grade is dissecting the Constitution as we are learning the responsibilities of citizenship.

Student council is learning about leadership by listening to different speakers that are leaders in our community. we will be hearing from our administrators, Audra Meyer and Beth Happe, at our next meeting. our council is also ordering student council T-shirts and organizing a charity walk and food collection during Lent.

On March 3, the sixth-graders attended a Vocations Awareness Day. the presenters included priests, deacons, professed women and men and Bishop Richard Pates. It was wonderful opportunity for students to better understand what it means to have a religious vocation.

Holy Trinity students who attend the child care program, Kids Connection, had a fun time painting when What-A-Dish pottery visited. Kids Connection offers a wide variety of field trips and special events while students attend during vacation and no-school days.

An emperor penguin visited Holy Trinity Preschool. the 4-year-olds met the penguin and discovered who was taller, the same height or shorter than the emperor penguin. we loved having the emperor penguin visit.

Iowa Christian Academy

New for 2010-11, ICA is expanding its preschool program. ICA is pleased to now offer an optional four-day, 4-year-old preschool program, and a five-day kinderprep program. an optional Friday afternoon class was added for both groups. ICA also offers a three-day program for 4-year-olds and a two-day program for 3-year-olds. For more information about ICA's early education center, please call 221-3999.

ICA is proud to announce the results of the Association of Christian Schools International spelling bee, held Feb. 19 in Eldridge at Heritage Christian Academy: First-grader Taylor Williamson placed fourth; second-grader Zach Dueker placed second; third-grader Collin Schroeder placed fourth; fourth-grader Samantha Moon placed first; fifth-grader Kayla Schut placed fourth; sixth-grader Wyatt Beatty placed second; seventh-grader Gabriel Gonzalez placed first; eighth-grader Stephanie Traynor placed fourth.

Don't miss ICA's fun night. This year's theme is around the World at ICA. come ride oversize trikes at the Tour de France, Sumo wrestle teachers and staff or a friend in Japan, bid on a trip to Jamaica ... Iowa, and much, much, more. the date is March 5. Pizza will be served in Italy from 5:30-6:30 p.m. with games from all over the world from 6-8 p.m. Tickets are on sale at the school, 2501 Vine St. in West Des Moines. Don't miss out on this world-class event.

Preschoolers celebrated Presidents Day with a parade. They also learned about the presidents on their bulletin board.

Sacred Heart School began a new student mentor program, pairing students in grades K-5 with students in grades 6-8. the students meet once each month and do a variety of activities in and around the school. the February mentor activity focused on service. Students wrote and delivered thank-you cards to school staff. Thank you notes were created and delivered to the school janitor, secretaries, kitchen staff, nurse, after-school program director and the administrators. Additionally, students read books to the preschool students. all students involved really seemed to enjoy the activity.

The following students from Sacred Heart received the top rating for their participation at the Perry Band Olympics held Feb. 20, at Perry High School: Conor O'Halloran, snare drum solo; David Herzog, trombone solo; Jackson Ingle, tenor sax solo; Giselle Gamez, clarinet solo; Samantha Rabang, clarinet solo; Natalie Wodniak, trumpet solo, brass duet, and brass choir; Samantha Rabang and Giselle Gamez, clarinet duet; Jackson Ingle and David Herzog, trombone and tenor sax duet; Dlyan Thomas, brass duet and brass choir; Bridget Albaugh, snare drum duet. Special congratulations to Dylan Thomas, who was awarded first place for his duet with his older brother Jordan in the unlike Duet Category.

The St. Augustin Catholic Middle School is proud to present Meredith Willson's "The Music Man" on March 9-10. Matinees will be held each day at 9 a.m. Evening performances start at 7:30 p.m. Ticket prices are $5 for adults, $3 for high school students and $2 for students K-8. all performances will be held in the school gymnasium, 4320 Grand Ave.

Congratulations to the St. Augustin sixth-grade basketball team. It placed second in the 2009-10 regular season and third in the tournament. Team members are Allison Carmody, Ksusha Vickery, Anne Simmons, Morgan Smith, Louise Jenson, Samantha Savala, Meagan Halliwell, Hannah Frame, Ali Strittmatter, and Margaret Engel. a special thank you to coaches Ted Engel and Amy Simmons.

The first-, second- and third-graders are preparing for the English and Spanish spelling bees that will take place on March 9 in the Parish Hall beginning at 5:45 p.m. Students who will compete have been chosen and continue to prepare for the competition. everyone is invited to attend and offer support to the participants.

The students in third-grade have been researching the planets of the solar system. each chose a planet and made a PowerPoint with facts and pictures of the planet. we presented them to each other on the Smart Board.

We entered a dental health poster contest for third-grade students. the theme was For a Sparkly Smile, Remember to Brush and Floss Every Day. we welcomed an ISU practicum student to our room. she will be with us twice a week for five weeks. Her focus is reading, writing and science.

Every School Every Thursday - Des Moines South