School Days- Summer 2013

WHAT’S INSIDE:

Tucker student’s disaster relief efforts | Pg. 3

STEM camp Spotlight on: Community rewarding | Pg. 7 Partnerships | Pg. 8

celebrate summer!

Students from around Henrico enjoy field day fun.

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Reflecting on a job well done Dr. Patrick Russo

Over the last five years, the total number of students in HCPS taking Advanced Placement courses has risen by more than 75 percent. We have high expectations for all our students to be engaged in more rigorous courses as we prepare them for future 21st century opportunities.

Superintendent of Schools

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would like to offer my heartfelt congratulations to everyone on another successful school year for HCPS! Our hardworking students, teachers and staff have given us many more reasons why we are so proud to call Henrico County a great place to live, work and educate our children.

• All Subjects • All Ages • SAT/ACT Prep • LD/ADD • Study/Organizational Skills • Affordable Rates • Qualified Tutors

As evidence of this success, Deep Run, Godwin, Freeman, Tucker, Hermitage and Henrico High Schools were named among the top 2,000 high schools in the United States by Newsweek and The Daily Beast. With six schools on the Another community partnerlist, Henrico bested all other school ship we are all very proud of is with divisions in greater Richmond.

J. Sargent Reynolds Community Our music department con- College. Together, we are launching tinues to distinguish itself by being the 2nd Advance College Academy named one of the Best Communities in Business Administration at Highfor Music Education by the National land Springs High School this fall.

Association of Music Merchants for This program allows our students to the 14th year in a row, the ONLY attain an Associate Degree with NO school system in the country to cost to our students or parents!

804-423-2004

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he Helping Hand Volunteer of the Month Award recognizes volunteers who make a difference in our schools. One winner is recognized each month for commitment, helpfulness, and maintaining good relationships.

Joseph Kalendek of Donahoe Elementary blows bubbles during the school’s field day event.

Additional field day photos (L to R): Nuckols Farm Elementary, Greenwood Elementary, Longdale Elementary.

I also wanted to let you know how much I enjoyed journeying to all the magisterial districts this fall and spring to hold “town hall-style” meetings. I truly appreciate the opportunity to dialogue with you, our stakeholders, to help make Henrico County Public Schools The PREMIER School Division in the United States. I look forward to your participation in our fall community meetings.

Finally, I wanted to send my best wishes to our new graduates, and words of encouragement to our students who will be returning in the fall. Have a happy, healthy and safe summer!

Sincerely,

Helping Hand Volunteer of the Month and ABCD Awards

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On the Cover

In addition, we are making positive progress in some key noted areas of improvement. This past year, we reduced the number of student suspensions by 27 percent.

In that same year we also reduced truancy by 32 percent, creating more than 5,000 additional instructional hours for those students who, in the past, would not be in school.

These wonderful results were made possible by a partnership between our Henrico County Juvenile Court judges and HCPS staff.

Teodora Preda from Twin Hickory ES won for the month of March and Andrew Getchell from Carver ES won for the month of April.

Preda The ABCD award is presented to various Henrico County Schools support personnel who have made significant contributions that improved job efficiency, quality of services, safety, or conserved resources; performed a humanitarian or heroic

act; or who responded proactively by anticipating needs and solving problems without specific direction. These people have gone Above and Beyond the Call of Duty.

The Henrico Education Foundation in partnership with the Henrico Federal Credit Union joins us in recognizing March ABCD winners (L to R) Ragy Saleh, these individuals by providing a Mary Ellen Higgins and Melissa Williams. check to each recipient.

The winners for March were: Mary Ellen Higgins of Tuckahoe MS, Ragy Saleh of Davis ES and Melissa Williams of Fairfield MS. The winner for April was: Robert Walker of Crestview ES. (L to R) Helping Hand winner Andrew Gretchell and ABCD winner Robert Walker.

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One-On-One In-Home Tutoring

achieve such a distinction.

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Tucker High student heads up disaster relief effort

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ucker senior Shane Powers had no idea that heading up a relief effort at his high school would garner up so much publicity, but after posing for multiple photos and being interviewed for the local news, he started to recognize that what he was doing was nothing short of exceptional. When he could have been thinking about his homework, ROTC practice or what color tuxedo he would wear to prom, Powers was instead thinking about all the kids in West, Texas who might not have a prom this year, or a school to go to each day.

After a fertilizer plant explosion left three of the four schools in West significantly damaged or destroyed, Powers decided to do something to help. He encouraged Tucker students and members of the Henrico community to come together

for a cause and asked people to donate school supplies and new or gently used books.

“My aunt lives in West, Texas so she and her kids are affected by this,” Powers said. “They need supplies to finish out this year and start the next year as well, so me and my mom collaborated and came up with this idea to help.”

Powers had no idea just how many people would donate and was surprised when he saw how quickly the storage room at Tucker filled with supplies. Altria dropped off a large last-minute donation that only added to the already towering pile of books, pencils, paper and binders.

“I was kind of shocked to see that people actually care that much about others,” Powers said.

Shane Powers, a student at Tucker High School, organized a school supply and book drive for those schools affected by the West, Texas fertilizer plant explosion.

Powers might be humble about everything he did to help the people of West, but his efforts definitely did not go unnoticed.

“I can’t describe how impressed I was to see Shane put this all together, it was completely his idea,” said Tucker Principal Bob Lowerre. “This seems to be a recurring theme with the senior class at Tucker. They see a need, they organize

a way to meet the need, and they wind up doing something above and beyond what would be expected of a high school student. They show a level of servant leadership that is a model for all of us.”

Students get first-hand look into the science behind racing

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hat better way to learn about the science of racing than to see it firsthand by visiting Richmond International Raceway (RIR)?

More than 500 Henrico County eighthgraders did just that during the recent NASCAR events at RIR. Henrico County Public Schools, in partnership with RIR and The Center for Sport Leadership at Virginia Commonwealth University, hosted the first-ever “Education in Racing” event, sponsored by VA 529 College Savings Plan, at Richmond International Raceway.

“The idea was to find a way to connect middle school kids who usually don’t identify with STEM components through

Students were welcomed to the event by guest speaker Diandra Leslie-Pelecky, author of The Physics of NASCAR. They were then broken up into small groups and visited different stations, including a weather prediction station, a race car simulator, NASCAR show cars, a SAFER barrier demonstration and a station that demonstrated the science behind making fire suits and helmets safe for drivers.

“Richmond International Raceway does a lot of events with VCU and Henrico County Public Schools, so it made sense to bring the three organizations together to teach students about the science involved in racing,” Bickmeier said. “When you look ‘behind the scenes’ at NASCAR,

everything is a science.

Through the ‘Education in Racing’ event, we are able to show Henrico County students how racing relates to what they are learning in school.”

After a long day of interactive learning, the students enjoyed lunch in the grand-

stands at RIR, while watching some of NASCAR’s future stars run practice laps in preparation for the weekend’s events.

Students also received tickets to bring their families out to RIR for the Blue Ox 100 NASCAR K&N Pro Series East and Denny Hamlin Short Track Showdown presented by FedEx doubleheader to see the science of racing in action.

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Focused on incorporating science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) into a fun day at the track, HCPS Superintendent Dr. Patrick Russo, RIR President Dennis Bickmeier and Tim Lampe, Director of VCU Athletics Facilities, joined forces to build the “Education in Racing” event. Eighth-graders from across Henrico County reaped the benefits. Students were exposed to the STEM side of racing in a very hands-on and stimulating environment.

sport,” Lampe said. “And, by all accounts, the event was a huge success.”

HCPS students “drive” a race car simulator during the first-ever “Education in Racing” event at RIR.

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Essay contest sends winning students to basketball camp

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s a way to keep students thinking about school over spring break, Henrico’s fatherhood initiative “Man Up” came up with an awesome incentive. Elementary students around the county were asked to write an essay about their most influential male role model. The top 80 essays received a once in a lifetime chance to attend a free basketball camp hosted by NBA star Johnny Newman.

“We wanted students to continue to prepare for the writing SOL over spring break by writing a one-page essay,” said Man Up Marketing Coordinator Larry Willis. “Kids of varying abilities participated in the camp and what stood out to me is the laughs that were shared as the group started with the opening warmups, there was genuine laughter amongst all of the participants that carried on throughout the day.”

Mr. Newman and his coaching staff taught students and their male role models how to dribble, shoot and block, but the real lesson learned that day was how important it can be to share a learn-

ing experience with a child.

Among the 80 participants, an allaround essay winner was chosen as well.

Heavyn Minnicks, a student at Highland Springs Elementary School, won this year’s contest.

“Heavyn’s essay touched everyone who read it,” said Man Up’s Co-Chair

Darryl Williams. “With all the negativity we hear about on a day-to-day basis, it was refreshing to read such a wonderful story about her dad and how much of an impact he has on her life. Yes, there were plenty of great essays to choose from but Heavyn’s story continued to stick out during the selection process.”

Heavyn’s father, Stuart, was entered into the Henrico Top Dads competition, which is sponsored by the Henrico Citizen and First Things First of Greater Richmond.

NBA star Johnny Newman (L) welcomes HCPS students and their male role models to his basketball camp at the Siegel Center.

HCPS students and their male role models participate in warm-up drills during Johnny Newman’s basketball camp.

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Hundreds of little feet compete

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ids ran eagerly from event to event during The Fifth Annual Little Feet Meet, held at Douglas S. Freeman High School.

More than 400 students with autism and intellectual disabilities in preschool through 5th grade gathered together and participated in parachute games, ballthrowing, relays and much more.

Student volunteers and volunteers from Special Olympics Virginia were at each station to help Little Feet competitors have the time of their lives.

“We just want to help these special needs students have a great time,” said eleventh-grader Max Nackman. “There is a lot of effort that goes into putting on this event, hundreds of Freeman students are helping out. I love seeing the kids smile, it’s great to see how happy they are.”

According to Ruth May, a Special Olympics volunteer, the event teaches

students about teamwork and is really inspiring to watch.

“I think this event is wonderful, it makes me feel wonderful to see kids helping each other,” May said.

The Little Feet Meet is a collaborative project between Special Olympics

Virginia and HCPS with funding provided by the U.S. Department of Education.

The event was filled with fun, laughs and most importantly some of the county’s most inspiring athletes.

Henrico County Public Schools is proud to announce that Taylor Snow, a social studies teacher at Moody Middle School, won the 2013 Gilman Teacher of the Year Award.

Alexandra Mendez-Zfass, a teacher at Highland Springs Elementary, won the First Year Teacher of the Year Award, and Maggie Walsh of Moody Middle School won the Christie Award for Exceptional Education Teacher of the year.

Snow believes “outstanding teaching does not emanate from exhaustive reading of pedagogical texts or a processoriented checklist. Rather, it emerges from a true passion for the act of learning and teaching.”

“The passion and enthusiasm Alex brings to the classroom are captivating for her students and the adults who have the pleasure of working with her or observing her in action,” said Shawnya Tolliver, the principal at Highland Springs Elementary.

“Educators like Ms. Walsh deserve to be honored daily,” said Director of Exceptional Education Nyah Hamlett.

“Ms. Walsh has mastered the art and science of teaching through her creativity, ability to make data driven instructional decisions, as well as, through her increased ability to elicit self-efficacy in students and maintain trust with parents.”

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Community Priorities Workshop gives leadership team perspective

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takeholders from across the county gathered at Hermitage High School for Henrico County Public Schools’ fourth annual Community Priorities Workshop. This year’s workshop gave the Henrico community an opportunity to provide input on safety and discipline measures within the school system. The invited participants, including students, parents, business leaders, faith-based leaders, and school administrators worked together to achieve consensus and to outline the priorities of Henrico County Public Schools.

Stakeholders first heard a presentation from the Division Leadership Team and were then broken up into groups, where they discussed pluses and deltas (things that could be improved) as they pertained to both safety and discipline

in Henrico Schools. The groups then recongregated and decided the best thing about Henrico as it pertained to safety and discipline was the overall safety of the schools, and the issue that Henrico could most improve upon was behavioral support for extreme behaviors.

“We’re very grateful to the students, parents and community stakeholders who provided a tremendous amount of valuable feedback,” said Superintendent Pat Russo. “The results of the workshop immediately become part of how we work to achieve our vision of becoming the PREMIER school division in the United States.”

Updates were also given on the Excellence with Equity initiative and the most current suspension data.

All Henrico Reads N ew York Times Best-Selling Author Adriana Trigiani wowed students with her insight and wit during this year’s All Henrico Reads program held at Glen Allen High School.

She talked to students and answered questions throughout the event and encouraged them to follow their dreams, no matter what those dreams were. Her humility and willingness to help any student to be successful was something

Students from across the county provided insight and feedback at this year’s Community Priorities Workshop.

that touched the entire crowd and left students, teachers and administrators buzzing about how wonderful Trigiani was many hours after she finished speaking.

Trigiani was raised in a small coalmining town in southwest Virginia in a big Italian family, and this comes through in both books that students across the county read. Students read either The Shoemaker’s Wife or Viola in Reel Life and spent months working on special projects in conjunction with reading Trigiani’s novels.

The purpose of this annual literary program is to provide citizens of all ages with the opportunity to join together in reflective discussion of a chosen book, while highlighting the importance of reading for all ages.

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Best-Selling author Adriana Trigiani signs books for students after wowing them with her insight and wit during this year’s All Henrico Reads.

Principals Art Raymond and Robbi Moose decide which talking points were most important to them.

Interactive modules add new dimension to learning about trees

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hanks to Markley Kautz-Scanvy, a teacher from Rivers Edge Elementary, there are now interactive modules that help students from around the Metro-Richmond area to learn about trees and the environment.

Kautz-Scanvy worked with Project Plant It!, the award-winning environmental education program from Dominion, to create these lessons, which will Markley Kautz-Scanvy (R) tests out her interactive lesson help teachers utilize a more plans on her students at Rivers Edge Elementary. interactive approach. These lesson plans in math, science and language arts, will be used on different than what they initially wanted the electronic Promethean Boards that it to look like and what we came up with many elementary school teachers have was a very interesting balance.” in their classrooms.

The Project Plant It! activities for “My kids were really excited about something new and fresh and inviting,” Kautz-Scanvy said. “I think that it was neat to work with Dominion because my vision of what a teacher would create is so

the Promethean Board include graphic organizers, tree vocabulary lessons, a Venn diagram exercise and her personal favorite— a matching activity where students match the correct leaf and tree.

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Engineering camp provides Longdale students with newfound confidence, skills

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ince Eric Sundburg was a kid, he has always been interested in science. He remembers the new technology presented at the World’s Fair and how it made him feel. Because of those memories, Sundburg decided to give back to students at Longdale Elementary, in the hopes he would help to ignite their love for Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM).

so that they are always working with their hands and learning to grow and challenge their minds. They need these critical thinking skills and STEM really does that for them.”

After the student groups got toward the final design stages, they presented their designs to real-world engineers.

These engineers came from all over the

metro-Richmond area to help give advice and pointers on how to improve the filters even further. Students had to consider things like cost effectiveness, speed of filtration and water quality when presenting to their fellow engineers.

“They felt so important when the engineers were here, they felt like their work really meant something,” Ms. Beane

said. “And the fact that the engineers were able to give them real feedback brought it to a different level. They are so used to hearing feedback from teachers but the fact that it was coming from professional engineers was really exciting and validating for them.”

“I’ve always loved science and as I have gotten older and grown my business, I wanted to give back to the community,” Sundburg said. “I want students to learn the process of engineering, how you take a problem and solve it. Coming up with possible solutions and then coming back and redesigning.”

Sundburg, who is the owner of Southern Electronics, Inc., partnered with the Henrico Education Foundation to set up and fund an eight-week, after-school STEM camp. Fourth and fifth-grade students worked on creating a water filter out of raw materials such as cotton balls, gauze and coffee filters.

They collaborated in small groups to create a preliminary design, and then received feedback from their teacher, Ellen Beane. After taking constructive criticism, the students would go back to the drawing board in order to figure out how to make a better, more efficient model.

“STEM is so important,” Ms. Beane said. “These students are drilled with testing and in order to make school fun again, we need STEM projects like these

Eric Sundburg asks student engineers questions about how their water filter works on the final day of STEM camp.

After a lot of exciting discussion between students and professional engineers, the group poses for a photo.

HCPS, William and Mary Partnership Wins Award

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enrico County Public Schools’ English as a Second Language (ESL) Partnership Program with The College of William and Mary has received the 2013 School/University Partnership Project Award by the Association of Teacher Educators—Virginia (ATE-VA).

Leading this ongoing effort are Valerie Gooss, the educational specialist for ESL and world languages in Henrico, and Dr. Gail McEachron, a professor and ESL program director at William and Mary. With such a large ESL population in Henrico and in Virginia as a whole, the program was created in order to encourage future teachers to get an ESL teaching endorsement. This means teachers who graduate from William and Mary have a better understanding of how to teach ESL learners in the classroom, and ESL students get the benefit of having a teacher who is knowledgeable and sensitive to their needs.

Longdale students pour unfiltered water into the filter they created.

A student points to the gauze, coffee filters and cotton balls she used to create her group’s water filter.

“For ESL students, this program provides quality educators who come out of a program that is visionary and

vested in ensuring that teachers are prepared to work with English language learners,” Gooss said. “It’s not just about the endorsement, what it does for teachers is that it prepares them to work with a very diverse population.”

For many years now, William and Mary students have participated in a practicum by coming to Henrico and helping with the ESL summer program.

This partnership has been highly beneficial for the summer school coordinator, teachers and ESL students, as well as the William and Mary students.

ment that is really valued and needed in the state of Virginia,” Gooss said. “I think this partnership is a model for other universities in the state of Virginia that may not have comparable programs.”

The partnership award supports collaborative projects between schools and universities that promote student learning and well-being and teacher preparation.

“It’s been exciting to see the relationship between a university and a school division come together to further teacher credentials and to promote an endorse-

Henrico County Public Schools will provide LIVE streaming videos of high school graduations. For graduation schedules, go to http://henrico.k12.va.us/Calendars/graduationdates.html

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Spotlight On: School-Community Partnerships Are you part of a business or community organization?

Henrico schools and students need your help!

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n “educational partnership” is an ongoing, mutually beneficial, cooperative relationship in which partners share values, objectives, and/or human or financial resources to enhance learning experiences for students. Whether it is mentoring individual students after school, donating school supplies or providing teachers with a moral booster, you can make a difference!

Successful community partnerships in HCPS are driven by a collaborative relationship between two parties who work to achieve common goals and have the following components:

1. Involves a community organization (business, faith-based group, community group).

2. Is or has potential to grow into an ongoing relationship with the organization.

3. Strengthens the overall academic program of the school.

4. Includes specific responsibilities for each party reflected in the Community Partnership Agreement.

5. A Community Partnership Agreement on file with the Department of Communications and Public Relations at the central office.

The Department of Communications and Public Relations oversees the school-community partnership program for HCPS. For more information, go to the HCPS district website and look for “School-Community Partnerships” under “Get Involved,” or email Natalie Allen at nnallen@henrico.k12.va.us.

Performance Achievements:

Deep Run, Godwin, Freeman, Tucker, Hermitage and Henrico High Schools were named among the top 2,000 high schools in the nation by Newsweek and The Daily Beast. With six schools on the “2013 America’s Best High Schools” list, Henrico bested all other school divisions in the Greater Richmond area.

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he 2013-14 school year has been a year full of successes and accomplishments, making us that much closer to our goal of becoming the PREMIER school division in the nation.

for Music Education” survey. Henrico is the only school system in the country to hold this distinction for all fourteen years.

Deep Run, Godwin and Freeman High Schools were named among the “2013 Best High Schools” in the nation

by U.S. News & World Report and were among the top 40 in the state. Deep Run ranked 12th in Virginia, besting all other high schools in the Greater Richmond area.

Echo Lake Elementary, Glen Allen Elementary, Nuckols Farm Elementary, Rivers Edge Elementary, Shady Grove Elementary and Twin Hickory Elementary received Board of Education Excellence Awards. This means they met all state and federal accountability benchmarks for at least two consecutive years and made significant progress toward goals for increased student achievement and expanded educational opportunities set by the board.

HCPS once again was named one of the Best Communities for Music Education by the NAMM (National Association of Music Merchants) Foundation’s fourteenth annual “Best Communities

Arthur Ashe Jr. Elementary, Colonial Trail Elementary, Gayton Elementary, Jackson Davis Elementary, Pemberton Elementary, Short Pump Elementary, Springfield Park Elementary, Three Chopt

Henrico County School Board Beverly L. Cocke Chair Brookland District

Lisa A. Marshall Vice Chair Tuckahoe District

Lamont Bagby Fairfield District

Diana D. Winston Three Chopt District

John W. Montgomery Jr. Varina District

Dr. Patrick Russo Superintendent

Contact Us

P.O. Box 23120 3820 Nine Mile Road Henrico, VA 23223-0420 804.652.3600 www.henrico.k12.va.us

Elementary and Tuckahoe Elementary received Board of Education Achievement Awards, meaning they met all state and federal benchmarks for at least two consecutive years and made progress toward the goals of the governor and the board.

Sixteen Henrico teachers were named National Board Certified at this year’s pinning ceremony. This brings HCPS’ number up to 116.

Awards & Credits School Days is an award-winning publication produced quarterly by the Department of Communications & Public Relations of HCPS. If you have questions about this publication, call 804.652.3725 or email nnallen@henrico.k12.va.us.

Natalie Allen - Editor Christie Harman - Production Manager Larry Willis Jr. - Website Manager

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