Highlights April 2024

Highlights Pattonville A top-tier district in Missouri and the U.S.

APRIL 2024

School news for parents, residents and staff of the Pattonville School District

Inside

Pattonville earns DESE education grant - See page 2 for details

High school Hall of Fame program updated - See page 2 for details

BOARD OF EDUCATION

Mary Kay Campbell, President Jeanne Schottmueller, Vice President Dr. Dan Wentz, Secretary Lisa Kickbusch, Treasurer Dr. Brian J. Gray, Director

Construction skills challenged

Dr. Barry Nelson Superintendent

Students at Parkwood Elementary School participated in a Buddy Day skilled challenge event led by staff from S.M. Wilson, the construction manager for the Pattonville School District’s Prop S bond issue work. Students were tasked with creating a structure that could withhold wind using just 20 pieces of spaghetti, two pipe cleaners, 10 mini marshmallows and four straws. Shown, clockwise, are students participating in the activity. Second grader Messiah Patton, left, watches fifth grader Wyatt Paulson flip their model to test for stability. Third grader Griffin Wood assembles a pyramid-shaped model. A group of kindergartners and third graders use a hair dryer to test their design’s structure. Shown are, kindergartners Eliab Kumlachew, left and James Woerheide, right, and, from left, third graders Mercy Scheldt, Paris Thomas and Carter Zerbe. Kindergartner Kaleb Timmerberg, second from left, excitedly watches as third graders, from left, Jersie Gray, Chance McAlpine and Nevaeh Freeman pick up their structure. Kindergartner Madelyn Cafiero, center, looks at third grader Evelyn Ising, left, as she tests their model while guided by Maggie Farrell, diversity and human resources manager at S. M. Wilson.

Third graders Avalyn Hall, left, and Titus Howard, right, connect straws using marshmallows for their model as counselor Kendra Worsham watches.

Pattonville School District 11097 St. Charles Rock Road St. Ann, MO 63074-1509

Non-Profit U.S. Postage PAID Permit No. 1 St. Ann, MO

Pattonville is an award-winning public district in St. Louis County, Missouri. The district is fully accredited by the state and is recognized for academic success on the regional, state and national level.

From the Superintendent Charting the Course: How ICAPS, SchooLinks Empower Students T

he Pattonville School District is focused on preparing our students to confidently navigate the exciting world of post-secondary learning, future career options and beyond. This work is taking place through the use of the Missouri Individual Career and Academic Plans (ICAP). The ICAP, introduced in to students in eighth grade, serves as a perDr. Barry Nelson sonalized planning road map for students Superintendent to develop goals and explore pathways connected to their future plans, including direct workforce entry, military service, technical education, apprenticeships and higher education.

Pattonville is leveraging the technological power of SchooLinks software to implement the ICAP process effectively. SchooLinks serves as the central hub for students, parents and educators to come together to support student success. The following are specific ways SchooLinks is supporting students and parents/guardians in Pattonville: • Students learn valuable decision-making skills and are empowered to chart their course and track their progress by actively participating in the ICAP process.

SchooLinks provides access to a wealth of information and resources, enabling students to make informed decisions about their academic pursuits and future careers and showcase their achievements, skills and experiences to potential colleges and employers.

• Parents/guardians can monitor their child’s ICAP progress to gain a better understanding of the post-secondary options their child is interested in focusing on. Other key features accessible to parents include: • View the results of their child’s career interest, strength and mindset assessments to learn more about their interests and what careers might be right for them.

• See what colleges and careers their child is interested in exploring.

• Check their personalized dashboard for upcoming events, important reminders and to-dos for their child.

• Complete research on colleges, careers and more to help families have informed conversations with their child.

• Compare college costs and explore expected financial aid, scholarships and out-of-pocket expenses.

• Review their child’s course plans and map their high school course schedule.

• View their child’s learner profile, which each student creates to allow them to discuss who they are, how they learn best and their hopes and dreams.

We encourage all parents and guardians to actively support their child’s future planning by activating their SchooLinks guardian account by following the instructions in the QR code Creating a Guardian or website link provided at right.

Account in SchooLinks If you have questions or require tinyurl.com/mrxk894b technical assistance, please don’t hesitate to contact Cara Hiripitiyage, director of secondary education, at chiripitiyage@psdr3.org.

Together, we can empower our Pattonville Pirates to navigate their academic and career paths with confidence and clarity.

Pattonville receives competency-based education grant T

he Pattonville School District was one of seven school districts and groups to receive funds from the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE)’s Competency-Based Education (CBE) grant program. Of the more than $2.2 million available, Pattonville received $334,000. The maximum amount available to a single applicant was $400,000, with only three districts receiving more than Pattonville.

CBE allows students to advance based on their ability to master a skill or competency at their own pace. The grant will allow Pattonville to continue to strengthen work related to CBE, including focusing on student agency, developing personalized learning pathways and helping students understand who they are as learners. Funds from the grant will support staff professional development, including sending staff to conferences focused on CBE and personalized learning and deepening work with

learning cohorts, such as the Institute for Personalized Learning (i4PL).

Other grant recipients were the school districts of Lebanon, Maplewood-Richmond Heights, Ritenour, Sedalia and Ste. Genevieve, as well as the Success-Ready Students Network, a group consisting of 28 educational agencies, including Pattonville, that supports the creation of a more meaningful way to measure student learning, demonstrate individual student growth and influence future success for all Missouri students.

“These grants provide local educators more opportunities to best meet the unique needs of their students,” said Margie Vandeven, DESE’s commissioner of education. “Competency-based education programs are truly student-centered, making learning the constant in the equation, and seat time the variable — knowing some students will master certain concepts faster than others.”

Two Holman Middle School administrators selected T

he Pattonville Board of Education recently approved the selection of two administrators at Holman Middle School, effective July 1. On Feb. 13, the board approved the selection of Dr. Tamika Dukes as principal and, on March 12, approved the selection of Josh Roberts as an assistant principal.

Dukes currently serves as assistant principal at West Middle School in the Parkway School District. Prior to that, she was an art teacher at Remington Traditional School. Dukes started her educational career in the Lee’s Summit School District in Kansas City, Missouri, where she opened a new elementary school as the art teacher. She then continued her career as a middle school teacher at East

Middle School in the Hazelwood School District.

Dukes earned a bachelor’s degree in K-12 art education and a master’s degree in instructional technology from the University of Missouri-Columbia and her doctorate in educational leadership from Maryville University.

Dukes will fill the position of departing principal Dr. Sarah Moran, who is retiring at the end of the school year.

Roberts is currently the dean of students at West Middle School in Hazelwood. Prior to that, he worked as a social studies teacher at West and at East Middle School. During his time at West, Roberts also served as the middle school activities director. He started his career as a high school social studies

teacher in the Lincoln County School District.

Roberts has a bachelor’s degree Dr. Tamika Dukes in education and master’s degree in secondary administration, both from Lindenwood University.

Roberts Josh Roberts will fill the position being vacated by assistant principal Dr. Greg Schnatmeier, who is also retiring at the end of the school year.

Pattonville announces updated Hall of Fame honors P

attonville High School has made revisions to its Hall of Fame program, marking a new era of recognition for student, staff and community excellence. Since its inception, the Hall of Fame has stood as a proud tradition, celebrating the achievements of students past and present.

Under the revised program, current Pattonville High School students will have the opportunity to be inducted into the Hall of Fame across three distinct categories: academics, activities and athletics.

Student selection will be automatic, with accomplishments in each category — such as National Merit honors, placements at state or national competitions and named all-state in athletics — serving as the criteria for induction.

To further honor the legacy of Pattonville alumni, honors for graduates have updated. The Pattonville Alumni award will recognize individuals for their accomplishments after graduation.

Additionally, a new award, Pattonville Legends, was created to recognize individuals who have made a positive impact on the district. Honorees include anyone not covered by the alumni

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category, including staff and volunteers.

Nominations for the Pattonville Alumni and Pattonville Legends honors are currently open and will be accepted all year. At the end of each calendar year, all nominations will be shared with to a selection committee for review. Honorees will be announced in February, recognized at the annual District Appreciation Night event in May and invited to that year’s homecoming festivities, including the homecoming football game.

In tandem with the updates to the selection criteria, the physical Hall of Fame space is also set to undergo a transformation. As part of Phase 3 of Pattonville’s Prop S bond issue, the space outside of the gymnasium will be modernized, incorporating digital displays to showcase the achievements of Hall of Fame honorees.

For more information, including criteria and nomination forms, visit bit.ly/PSDHallofFame.

Our Learners Spotlight on

News focusing on students, staff and schools in Pattonville

REMINGTON TRADITIONAL SCHOOL

Building gets student-initiated, designed art to support positive school environment

S

tudents have a positive voice at Remington Traditional School with themselves through the revision process. Throughout the and are seeing daily reminders of it. Third graders in Isabelle project, every student had to be creative, reflective and adaptGarcia-Blackwell and Christine Hillier’s classes took creative able. initiative in improving a space in the building they thought was Hillier’s students also incorporated math into their process. being overlooked. Through this student-led project, art was Once they had their posters printed, they measured out the wall inspired, obstacles were solved and students began to take ownspace to align and even the spacing between the posters. To get ership of having a clean, safe and positive school environment. to this stage, Hillier collected all of the posters and saved them It started with the teachers posing a question to their as PDFs to send to Pattonville’s printing department. students, presenting pictures of the school’s restrooms and “It’s great that we have the print shop and that they’re able asking the students to reflect on what caught their attention. In to do that stuff for us,” Hillier said. “And then for them (the response, the students noticed outdated decals and plain walls students) to see it come from their screen to be a real poster that that didn’t match the energizing tone of the rest of the building. they got to put up was awesome.”

Their teachers asked them if there was anything they thought After hard work and such collaboration, the artists were able they could do to change that. to see their creations hang on the walls that will greet students Third grader Zoey Davis works on an illustra“They were excited to know that they had a voice in improv- tion to hang at Remington Traditional School. every day with motivating messages from their peers. The coning a space in the school,” Hillier said. tent of each design was personal and thoughtful to each student.

Motivated to get to work, the classes brainstormed ideas and created their plans One student in Garcia-Blackwell’s classroom, Knightly Colbert Weiss, included for improving the restrooms. Students in Garcia’s class wanted to paint motivationthe words “Love yourself and never give up.” al phrases directly onto the walls. In Hillier’s class, the students wanted to create “Don’t treat yourself badly,” he said. “Treat yourself and other people good and designs digitally and print their work as posters to hang on the walls. Although using you should always keep trying until you reach your goal.” different methods for their process, their unified goal was to brighten the space and In Hillier’s classroom, the students selected messages of equal importance and inspire people in the school to have a better day. personal value to themselves. One student created a poster depicting caterpillars and Both groups used Canva to get inspiration and workout the initial drafts of what butterflies, which reads “Nothing is lost. Everything transforms.” they hoped to create. In order to be successful with the tool, teachers asked for help “It’s OK to be upset,” third grader Kathryn Stevenson said. “But you don’t lose from district technology specialist Stephanie McCreary, who gave an introductory anything, everything transforms, everything can transform into something new.” lesson to the classes on how to use Canva. McCreary showed the students how to Third grader Jace Kinner wanted to remind his peers to take care of the space work with templates, change fonts, manipulate sizes of images and more useful tips. around them, putting the words “Be Kind” on his poster, with pictures of the earth “Most of us either hadn’t used it or only a little bit here and there,” Hillier said. and animals.

“She gave us a good lesson on it where we could practice.”

“I want everyone to be kind to the Earth,” he said.

With new knowledge of this digital resource, the students were able to explore Since the completion and installation of their work, the students have been satisand see what was possible for them to create on their own. Hillier’s students worked fied with how the restrooms have transformed. Not only does the artwork improve through several design phases on Canva while Garcia-Blackwell’s students moved to the space visually, the students are being affected by the kind messages. paper prototypes to practice painting and make revisions before they brought brushes “Even Dr. (Don) Furjes said that people aren’t doing bad stuff in the restroom and to the walls. The students had to use measurement and found the area and perimeter putting water everywhere,” Colbert said. of their designated painting space. As they made the transfer from digital design to The students are proud of their work and how it’s affecting the school. paper, many students faced obstacles with proportions and learned how to incorpo“We had the students reflect on the process,” Hillier said. “They enjoyed being a rate the appropriate math to solve this. In addition, they had to learn to be patient part of making our school a brighter and more positive space.”

DRUMMOND ELEMENTARY SCHOOL

Students stage parade celebrating culture, art, music M

ardi Gras is French for Fat Tuesday, and on Feb. 13, Drummond Elementary School hosted a themed parade organized by the art and music departments.

Third graders including Quentin Flood marched through the school with floats, handing out necklaces and candy and showcasing their musical talents.

Students from other grades lined the hallways wearing masquerade masks they made in art.

“I thought it was really good and I had a lot of fun passing out the necklaces,” Flood said. “It’s hard to say no to the kindergartners and we ran out really, really early and had to get a refill pretty quick.”

Preparations for the event started several weeks beforehand.

Art teachers Josie Cammarata and Carolyn Elliott and music teachers Jacob Johnson and Kori Phillips covered the cultural traditions of Mardi Gras during

classes with the third graders and spent time crafting the masks and floats and teaching about the history of jazz music.

“We studied New Orleans as part of our Black History Month curriculum because it’s the birthplace of jazz,” Johnson said. “We incorporated Mardi Gras because of its cultural heritage and traditions.”

In art, students completed drawings for their class float. They also made masks out of plaster and decorated them with paint, glitter and feathers.

To ensure everyone was ready to fully engage in the parade’s festivities, all kindergarten through fifth graders also learned about Mardi Gras and its cultural background. Students also created masks during art class and explored the significance of jazz in music class.

Johnson said he taught the students on both the techniques of marching and the proper behavior and

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Third grader Jaxson Flood, left, hands out candy to students during Drummond Elementary School’s Mardi Gras parade while music teacher Jacob Johnson plays jazz music.

performance expected of them during the parade.

“This was such a unique experience for them because usually you just have an audience sitting during your performance,” Johnson said. “During the parade, the audience was involved and it was so much fun to see everyone interacting with each other.”

PARKWOOD ELEMENTARY SCHOOL

Read Across America Day builds student love of reading F

irst graders at Parkwood Elementary School spent a full day celebrating on March 1. What was the cause of their celebration? A love of reading. They were honoring Read Across America Day, an initiative created to inspire the enjoyment of reading in students of all ages across the nation. The annual celebration encourages young readers to get excited about books and gain a better idea of just how important and empowering literacy can be in their lives.

“The main thing is to foster a love for reading,” first grade teacher Sarah Adams said. “That’s what we’re really trying, especially in such early readers. We really want it to be something that they look forward to and enjoy instead of something that they feel like they just have to do.”

Adams, along with first grade teachers Elena Bernstein and Tiffany Laughlin, planned for a full day of reading-inspired fun for their students to celebrate Read Across America Day. And while this year the holiday officially fell on a Saturday (March 2), that didn’t deter the teachers from making it an event to remember. Students made reading-inspired paper hats, which they decorated by writing their favorite sight words on. First grade then had a special visit from local author Josh Scott, who read his book “Creaks, Squeaks

& Beeps: Our Noisy Home.” The first graders made for a highly engaged audience, imitating sound words on cue as Scott read his story about common noises heard in a house. At the conclusion of the reading, nearly every student in the room had their hand raised to ask Scott questions about what it’s like to write a book and be an author.

“We do writing in first grade, but it’s cool for them to see a person who is a real author and see that it’s super attainable,” Adams said. “Having them be able to ask questions like ‘When did you write this book?

How’d you get your ideas? Who drew your pictures?

Do you want to write another book?’ I think it was really cool for them to see that.”

That afternoon, more book related activities commenced as the teachers read “Oh, the Places You’ll Go!”

by Dr. Seuss. Students were then prompted to write what they want to be when they grow up on cutouts of hot air balloons that they decorated and had hung on a bulletin board in their hallway. The first grade hallway at Parkwood is also where Book Madness brackets will be shown, a take on college basketball’s March Madness tournament which also happened to be the topic of the first graders’ final activity of the day. All in March, teachers read select books to their classes and the stu-

Students in Tiffany Laughlin’s first grade class at Parkwood Elementary School listen to local author Josh Scott read his book “Creaks, Squeaks & Beeps: Our Noisy Home.”

dents voted for their favorite between two books each day. Whichever book receives more votes will move to the next round and students will vote between that winner and a new book they hear the next day. These votes will culminate in a top-rated book from each first grade classroom, which will then lead to a vote between each classroom’s top pick.

“We actually started this last year and the kids loved it, so we said, ‘We will have to do it again,’” Adams said. “It brings a lot of excitement around reading. They get to vote for their favorite and most of the books we pick are super fun or silly books that make them laugh.”

With a plethora of interactive activities, first graders are continually experiencing all of the fun and excitement that can happen through reading.

HOLMAN MIDDLE SCHOOL

Seventh graders at Pattonville Heights Middle School are visited by an owl from the World Bird Sanctuary after a unit on the book “Hoot.”

Curiosity guides French history unit F

rench students at Holman Middle School have their focus on famous events and prominent figures from Francophone history. Letting their fascinations guide them, the students in modern language teacher Alexander Amo’s 7A French class were able to choose a topic they found interesting to research and will present the work of their findings to their classmates.

Through projects like this that enable personalized learning, students are able to take ownership of their education and develop a stronger investment in their work. Students will become experts on their particular topic, which they will accomplish by doing extensive research. The presentation portion of this project also provides an opportunity for students to learn about additional topics from their peers.

“This project has brought out a variety of topics including an explanation of how Louis Braille invented Braille (and how Braille works), explaining Jeanne D’Arc’s life and rise to power through a canvas painting and outlining Napoleon’s battlefield tactics with a keynote presentation,” Amo said.

One student, Mustafa Kareem, is researching the invention of Braille and learned there are two grades, or forms, of Braille. Grade 1, also known as alphabetic Braille or non-contracted Braille, writes out each letter and word exactly as it would be written out in print; Grade 2, or contracted Braille, uses the alphabet with abbreviations and contractions. Kareem has become immersed in the process and very interested in how it works.

“I’m trying to actually learn it as I go,” Kareem said. In the presentation of his research, Kareem plans to share about the man who invented Braille, why he invented it and what it’s used for today.

“The man who invented it is French, so I want to see how it was modified for English speakers,” Kareem said.

Students are encouraged to be passionate about their learning and take more ownership in their work. With an opportunity to explore their interests, like seventh grader Vivian Truong discovering the life of fashion designer Coco Chanel or seventh grader Hope Malala learning more about French NBA player Victor Wembanyama, these students are making unique Holman Middle School seventh grader Vivian Truong and meaningful connecresearches Gabrielle Bonheur “Coco” Chanel, a French fashion designer and businesswoman. tions to their coursework.

PATTONVILLE HEIGHTS MIDDLE SCHOOL

Guest visit gives students lesson on conservation S

eventh grade English classes at Pattonville Heights Middle School read the novel “Hoot” by Carl Hiaasen. Adding to their understanding of the text and to complement a recent animal research project, the World Bird Sanctuary was invited to present a program titled “All About Owls.” The visit was funded through a grant from the Missouri Department of Conservation.

“Hoot” is a story about middle school students sabotaging a construction site to prevent the workers from destroying a burrowing owl’s habitat. Teacher Maggie Mayberry said they paired the book with nonfiction materials and learned about owls and conservation efforts. Students later worked on an endangered species research project.

“We thought, ‘How cool would it be if we could do a text connection to the book and their research by reaching out and seeing if they could actually make a real-world connection with owls?’” teacher Melissa Wetzel said. “We weren’t thinking of just something from a book but maybe something they had never even seen before.”

The 45-minute long World Bird Sanctuary program explored the natural history of owls, spotlighting their unique adaptations and behaviors. Four distinct owl species were showcased, providing students with a real experience with the birds.

“We had a big focus on animals regarding conservation and learning about habitats, diets and behaviors,” Mayberry said. “It was great to see all of that come together and have a chance to learn about these birds up close.”

In support of the group’s conservation efforts, the school organized a donation drive for specific items and raised money by hosting a hat day. After the assembly, a collection of donated items and a check for $100 was presented to the World Bird Sanctuary.

“Learners and Leaders is our mission here at Pattonville Heights, and we wanted to teach the kids that piece as well,” Wetzel said. “We learned from the World Bird Sanctuary, and we wanted to act as leaders by giving back to them.”

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WILLOW BROOK ELEMENTARY SCHOOL

New golf unit gives students lesson in sportsmanship A

t Willow Brook Elementary School, students are taking a swing at something new with the First Tee program, designed to introduce them to the game of golf. This innovative approach not only teaches the basics of the sport but also emphasizes important values like sportsmanship and safety.

“It takes students from having very little to no understanding of golf and having no experience whatsoever and it breaks it down,” PE teacher Ashley Downs said. “They may know what it is and the components that go with it, but I think only a handful of our kindergarten to fifth graders actually have ever held a club in their hands or played putt putt before.”

Collaborating with the First Tee program, PE teachers in the Pattonville School District received training to effectively instruct students. Starting with basic techniques and learning that golf is a target sport, they gradually introduced concepts like chipping and taking turns.

First Tee utilizes a variety of methods to enhance the learning experience for young golfers like Velcro pads and balls, basket nets and training triangles.

PE teacher Vince Licameli also emphasized safety and engagement, utilizing various targets and equipment to keep the students interested and focused.

“We wanted the kids to understand safety so we

taught them the ABCs of playing golf,” he said. “We used A for ‘All Sides’ to make sure you’re ready to swing safely. B was for ‘Broadcast’ to announce, ‘I’m swinging!’ C is for ‘Caddy Check’ and they have to give you the all clear to hit the ball.”

Taking turns was important and after a player put their club down, they would meet their caddy at a safety hoop and high-five them so they could collect the balls and switch positions.

For fifth grader CJ McCullough Jr., the experience was informative.

“I learned how to swing right and hold my arms and have my feet placed right with my body,” he said.

Fifth grader Elrich Panganiban, who, like many of the students, had never played golf before, discovered the joys of the game.

“I learned that there was a club named a putter, so that’s new to me,” he said.

The First Tee equipment will rotate through all of the elementary schools, and Downs said exposing students to the sport now might lead to future interest.

“Sometimes kids come into our lessons with prior experience, like soccer or basketball, but hopefully they left this one with new knowledge and maybe consider it something they want to play more in life and possibly at the high school.”

Students at Willow Brook Elementary School had the chance to try their hand at golf as part of a new unit in PE. Above, fifth grader CJ McCullough Jr., center, celebrates with PE teacher Vince Licameli, left, and fifth grader Caitlyn Jamieson after getting his golf ball down the course set up in the gym. Right, Elrich Panganiban practices putting onto a flagged target.

PATTONVILLE EARLY CHILDHOOD CENTER

PICL program brings families with infants together for learning, discussions A

t the Pattonville Early Childhood Center, toddlers colored on the walls, painted on boxes and tossed colorful crinkle paper around the room, all while babies bounced on their parent’s lap. This was structured fun for the children and an opportunity for parents to talk to and learn from each other. This monthly opportunity, provided by the Pattonville Parents as Teachers (PAT) program is called PICL, which stands for Play Imagine Connect Learn.

PICL is a group for families with children from birth to 36 months old. After that, families can move into the group connections program for children aged 3 to 5 years old. The meetings are fun and interactive, designed for parents and children to, as the name implies, to play, imagine, connect and learn together. It’s also for parents to interact with others who have children in a similar stage of life. Early childhood parent educator Krysteen Euson facilitates these monthly groups.

“Over the last few years, I have observed some great connections between the families who attend,” Euson said. “It’s so fulfilling to see the developmental growth of their children each month. I have seen the start of close friendships, planned play dates and family members sharing resources with each other about their favorite library story time, parks or outdoor activities, just to mention a few.”

Families participate in a recent PICL meeting at the Pattonville Early Childhood Center.

Above, from left, Ali DeBeer, Elise DeBeer, Shari Vestal, Alivia Vestal, Tom Howdeshell and Kyle Howdeshell enjoy each other’s company. Right, Vonya Church, left, watches as William Church, center, assists Savannah Church with painting to develop motor skills.

Each month, Euson sets a theme for the group to help facilitate learning and engagement between children and families. Some of the activities this year have centered around the benefits of play, supporting and enhancing developing motor skills, car seat safety and learning about family through traditions. The February meeting focused on thinking inside the box, with space set up for children to climb, crawl, paint, draw and read. Many of the activities featured recycled delivery boxes, including creating a boxed sled that kids could be pulled around in by their parents.

“These PICL groups are a great opportunity to get together, talk, learn, have fun, collaborate and even facilitate an activity,” Euson said.

The support within the group has even extended to families volunteering to facilitate a PICL or group connection meeting to share an interest or talent of their own.

“Every time we come here, it’s just hearing other parents’ stories, what they say about how they’re feeding their kid, how their kid sleeps, what their kid does, things they enjoy doing or even things like new parks to go to,” PICL parent Kyle Howdeshell said. “It’s always beneficial talking to other parents here as well as seeing what other kids are doing and getting ideas from other people.”

William and Vonya Church had their first PICL meeting in February and their first PAT meeting the month prior.

“This is our second interaction with PAT,” Vonya Church said. “It’s been super resourceful, super helpful. We’re excited to get resources and strategies. I highly recommend it. If anyone you know is looking, they can get this resource. It’s been great.”

William Church agreed and looks forward to future PICL meetings.

“We’ll definitely be back,” William Church said. “It was a very wonderful experience to get the kids out interacting with one another and put the screens down.”

Euson knows many of the families at PICL from working with them in the PAT program. With PAT, a parent educator makes home visits to families to work individually with them on their child’s development. PICL provides those families an opportunity to meet, talk and gain insights from one another.

“Stella was our first (child) and of everybody we talked to — family, medical professionals, all of that — Krysteen was the one that made us feel the most confident, like we were doing things the right way or whatever our daughter needed” said Howdeshell, whose family has had monthly PAT visits since Stella was three months old.

“I feel like the early childhood development stuff is what really gave us that knowledge that this is normal. It’s amazing. We’ve told everybody we know who has kids to do PAT because it’s beneficial in so many ways. Stella is not super outgoing. She always had to warm up to people and it felt like she warmed up to Krysteen quicker because of her approach. Krysteen learns what type of kid you are and approaches you in the manner that makes sense. Krysteen’s the best; we love her! I have only positive things to say about Parents as Teachers, and PICL has been great.”

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PATTONVILLE HIGH SCHOOL

Students creating product to improve process for local company, get work experience T

hree students from Pattonville High School have a unique opportunity to develop something that will help employees at a local company with a daunting task.

And it comes with the chance to work on real U.S. military hardware. The students are working at Leonardo DRS, a defense contractor developing advanced technologies, as part of an Extended Learning Opportunity (ELO) this semester. ELOs are learning opportunities driven by each individual student’s interests that give them exposure to real-world experiences.

Juniors Reagan Nelson and Xander Werthmuller and senior Nick Rice are partnering with Leonardo DRS staff to design, project manage and market a tool to remove sticker labels that are added onto items delivered to the company in order to enable laser scanning to create a 3D digital model of the item. But it is difficult and time consuming to manually remove the stickers when scanning is complete. The trio started their ELO at Leonardo DRS in January and go to the company’s Bridgeton campus weekly as part of their school day.

During the course of the semester, they will work through the process to bring their sticker removal product through development which includes figuring out and comparing the cost of the current and an improved sticker removal processes and working on marketing and business tasks.

Each student is working with a mentor at Leonardo DRS who specializes in their individual area of interest: Nelson is working with marketing and communications specialist Ally Garrison; Rice, who is interested in accounting, has partnered with Mary Engelkemeyer, manager of financial reporting; and Werthmuller is exploring engineering with senior manager and mechanical engineer Saleem Kashif. The duos work together on their specialized area of the project and then meet regularly to discuss as a group.

“As it pertains to Xander, I am supporting as he works through developing a product that will be used to support our reverse engineering process,” Kashif said.

“This product will be a tool that aids users in quickly and ergonomically removing adhesive-backed scanning targets from surfaces. The development process entails defining the problem statement, assessing the market for existing solutions and patents, developing a project proposal for funding authorization, building a project schedule, creating product requirements, concept development and prototyping.”

To better understand the needs of the Leonardo DRS staff and their current process, the students met with employees who are part of the scanning process from working on the front end of program capture or in research and development, as well as employees who manage the program execution phase. In the coming weeks, the collaboration will shift to focus on the development of the product.

The ELO has been an opportunity for the students to get first-hand experience in a field they are interested in exploring as a career. For them, it has only deepened their interest in that field, and even opened up other opportunities within that area.

“I think it has broadened my view on what I want to do,” Rice said. “I definitely believe I want to stick with accounting, but as I continue down that road, I believe I could expand the things I put myself into. Maybe begin to look into project management or maybe even financial advising.”

This experience is a large part of why the mentors at Leonardo DRS wanted to get involved.

“It is my hope that the students gain enough insight

into what their day-to-day job would be like to decide if they truly want to pursue the required degree associated with their area of interest,” Kashif said. “I was fortunate enough to have chosen a major that led to a career I have truly enjoyed. But if that hadn’t been the case, I would have paid a lot of money for a degree I didn’t really need. In addition to providing the students with experience in an area they currently feel they want to pursue, we are getting them face time with other disciplines within the company to see if that may spark an interest.”

In addition to the knowledge they are gaining through the project, the students are also learning about what it’s like to work in a professional environment.

“A normal day usually consists of following my mentor and learning a little bit more about her day and what she does within her occupation,” Rice said. “We meet with people in her division and with my peers that also partake in the ELO to combine our ideas and collaborate within the experience as a whole. In doing this, I learn processes of the job, I pick up on skills I need to know for my field of interest and I create relationships within the workplace that could carry on to become partnerships down the line. I have learned many soft skills, things like communicating and the tone of voice you use when in a meeting amongst peers.

Alongside that, I have also learned skills that correlate with accounting. Things such as skills within Excel and learning how to navigate different documents and pieces of information.”

Werthmuller’s experience has been similar and also includes shadowing engineers in a variety of fields, including an electrical engineer, mechanical engineer and project manager.

“My favorite part of the ELO so far has been being able to see how each individual role plays a part in the final product,” Werthmuller said. “I have learned how a business works as a whole and how there are different parts that work in unison to accomplish a collective goal.”

Similarly for Rice, he has enjoyed learning from the people he’s had the chance to meet and work with.

“I think my favorite part is the opportunity to meet with other people within the business and learn aspects of the financial world,” Rice said. “Being able to obtain the thoughts and guidance from multiple viewpoints is something that I don’t take lightly.”

While the students have only been at Leonardo DRS

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Three students from Pattonville High School are learning from industry experts at Leonardo DRS as part of an Extended Learning Opportunity (ELO). Their work includes designing, project managing and marketing a tool to remove stickers placed on items delivered to the company. At left, senior Nick Rice, second from left, scans a model car while juniors, sitting from left, Reagan Nelson and Xander Werthmuller watch.

Leonardo DRS employees are, from left, mechanical engineer James Eimer; senior manager and mechanical engineer Saleem Kashif; and marketing and communications specialist Ally Garrison.

Below, from left, Nelson, Werthmuller and Rice look at a tank that stickers were previously removed from.

for about a month, the mentors are already seeing positive changes in the students.

“I’ve noticed that the students have grown in confidence,” Kashif said. “The first meeting, there was a sense of hesitancy and perhaps shyness. As we’ve had more interaction, they are vocalizing questions, independently coming up with ideas and are really engaged.”

Kashif, who graduated from Pattonville in 2005, looks at this as an opportunity to pay it forward.

“When I was a senior, I took a principles of engineering course and there was an assignment that had me interview a functional engineer,” he said. “In that process, I discovered that the discipline I thought I wanted to pursue wasn’t what I really wanted to do for a career. I’m hopeful that this has a similar impact for the students.”

In addition to the ELO program, Leonardo DRS has partnered with Pattonville in a variety of ways. Staff members are serving on an industry advisory board and have mentored students in the FIRST Robotics program, participated in career fairs, hosted students on facility tours and served as judges for mock robotics competitions. The company is also looking to grow its collaboration by establishing summer internship opportunities.

“Our partnership with Leonardo DRS has been incredibly rewarding, offering unparalleled learning opportunities for both our students and staff,” said Odetta Smith, director of innovation and life readiness. “This collaboration connects us with a global leader right here in our community, providing invaluable insights and fostering a fresh perspective on how industry expertise can enrich the learning experience. Students have been exposed to job shadowing, ELOs and internship programs, opening doors to exciting future possibilities.”

ROSE ACRES ELEMENTARY SCHOOL

Women’s sports history comes to life F

ourth graders at Rose Acres Elementary School not only got to learn about women’s sports history but had the chance to see it in action. It all stemmed from an invitation to a Saint Louis University (SLU) women’s basketball game. The opportunity gave the fourth grade teachers a unique way to incorporate the students’ excitement into a multidisciplinary learning opportunity. The game, on Feb. 7, was also the school’s annual Education Day where the SLU athletics department invited 9,500 students from around the St. Louis area to attend the game. It was also played on National Girls and Women in Sports Day. “Part of our fourth grade writing curriculum is to learn how Rose Acres Elementary to research, take notes and compile that into a piece of writing,” School fourth grader Macaden teacher Mary Spitzmiller said. “We picked the topic of female Waldon attends the Saint Louathletes once we found out that February was National Girls and is University women’s basketWomen in Sports Month. When we found out about the game, we ball game and is recognized for winning a Billiken mascot met as a fourth grade team along with our PE and art teachers and drawing contest. librarian to come up with a unit we could each take part in.”

In their core fourth grade classes with Grace Burgos, Kirstie Hummert and Spitzmiller, each student chose a female athlete to research and wrote a multi-paragraph essay about their life and athletic experiences and accomplishments. To master the curriculum, students had to generate a list of topics, write questions about the selected topic, find reliable and relevant sources, take and sort notes into categories, create a bibliography and share their information with an audience. For this project, the audience they shared with was their families. Students brought home printed copies of their essay and also recorded themselves reading their essay so that families could listen to it. Some students even made slides to accompany their essay.

Their work in the library with librarian Nicole Mikel was an important part of the unit.

There, students learned how to use different sources to find information as well as how to search for information and write a bibliography.

“We decided to make this an interdisciplinary unit because we wanted to encourage the students to learn about women in sports from different perspectives,” Spitzmiller said.

In art with Rhondalyn Logan, students created an art project about the female athlete they researched. Logan asked the students what type of art they would like to make and they each got to picked from those options. Students chose to make sculptures, paintings or drawings of the person they researched. In PE, students learned the rules of basketball and how to play from teacher Joe Rehagen.

“I liked being able to show that women should be able to do the same things as men and we were able to pick our own person and find things about that person,” fourth grader McKenzie Claeys said. She picked wrestler Charlotte Flair. “I kind of always wanted to go to a WWE wrestling match so I did choose Charlotte because wrestling kind of does interest me.”

Leading up to the SLU game, also in art, students drew the Billiken mascot. Their drawings were entered into a contest and a student from Rose Acres, Macaden Waldon, won and was recognized at the game.

“I love how much our leaders are learning about women in sports and how excited they are to share what they are finding out,” Spitzmiller said. “We are seeing lots of excitement, interest and learning. That, combined with the pure excitement and joy the kids had at the SLU game, has made this unit a complete success.”

Rose Acres Elementary School teacher Grace Burgos, right, works with fourth graders AyDon Malcolm, left, and Kellen Harris on their research project.

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Students at Bridgeway Elementary School dressed up as famous people and shared information about them with their peers. Above, third grader Maverick Roedl, left, talks about physicist Albert Einstein with classmate Mia Hobson, center, and administrative intern Leslie Jones. At left, Ava Crawford, left, shares information about activist Rosa Parks with Kye Petties, who prepared information about Kansas City quarterback Patrick Mahomes.

BRIDGEWAY ELEMENTARY SCHOOL

Students teach about historical figures I

n the third grade classrooms at Bridgeway Elementary School, historical figures came to life as students took on the roles of famous personalities for a living museum project. Beyoncé stood beside Martin Luther King Jr., while Ariana Grande was next to Rosa Parks.

“We set everything up in the classrooms and dressed up as our person and said facts about them,” said Fares Abdelbaset, who studied George Washington Carver. “The poster board I worked on showed all of the facts I found so people could see it when I talked about him.”

According to teacher Vanessa Curiel-Gray, the living museum project serves as a collaboration of various learning areas.

“There are several parts to their project, but they are going to make a presentation to other people, and that’s where our living museum comes in,” she said. “They are going to dress up as their famous person, and we’ll have classes come by to visit and learn about who we are.”

Each student created either a poster or a PowerPoint presentation to showcase their chosen historical figure.

“We have been working on reading and writing, and we have also been talking about historical figures in social studies, so this is a little bit of a mix of both of those,” Curiel-Gray said. “With our Making Meaning curriculum, it’s also a way to talk about narrative nonfiction.”

Daniela Alvarado Armenta, who is portraying Ariana Grande, said she is very excited about the project.

“I can’t wait to show what I’ve learned,” she said. “My sister took me shopping, and I bought an outfit from Forever 21 just so I could dress up like her that day.”

Kailyn Fultz is studying Beyoncé, and said she is using a lot of technology to help her research and prepare her display.

“I am using Canva to create my presentation and am including all of the things I learned about her on different slides,” she said. “One thing I used was PebbleGo, which has articles that I can read to learn more about her.”

Curiel-Gray said students are thoroughly enjoying the experience and are working hard on their research “This way of doing the lesson is different for us, but the students are having a lot of fun,” she said. “I think they’re excited to share what they learned.”

BRAGGING WRITES

Honors, Awards and Achievements by Pattonville Students and Staff

HOLMAN MIDDLE SCHOOL Honor Choir

Students from Holman Middle School were selected to perform in the St. Louis Suburban 7th and 8th Grade Honor Choir Festival. The Students from Holman Middle School selectstudents sang ed to honor choirs include, from left, front alongside row, Kylie Williams and Sydney Martin and, back row, Marcus Young and Layla Stuart. more than 200 other students from schools in St. Louis and St. Charles counties at the festival on Jan. 20. Students who were selected to the mixed honor choir were Mikayla Meekie, Whitney Murray, Khadime Seck, Rylie Smith, Chloe Tate and Marcus Young. Students selected to the treble honor choir were Aryana Firrow, Madison Jurilla, Alyssa Mack, Sydney Martin, Alissia Medina, Layla Stuart, Kylie Williams and Taylor Williams. The Holman choir was directed by Larry Knobel.

COLLEGE SIGNINGS T

he following Pattonville High School student-athletes recently committed to play a sport at the collegiate level. They were recognized at a school-sponsored signing day on Feb. 7 where their sport and colleges were announced as well as their accomplishments while play a sport in high school. Students recognized at the signing day event are: Michael Allen Jr., football, McPherson College; Christina Bae, lacrosse, Maryville University; A’laji Bradley, track and field, University of Kentucky; Emily Cremer, soccer, Missouri Baptist University; Sophia Kelly, lacrosse, Drury University; Jordan Kedl Thomas, football, Illinois College; Ian Moore, cross country, Missouri Baptist University; Terrell Porter Jr., football, William Jewell College; Kylie Surratt, volleyball, University of Tennessee at Martin; Isaiah White, volleyball, Fontbonne University; and Aeriana Michael Allen Jr. Woodard, dance, Missouri Baptist University.

Christina Bae

A’laji Bradley

Emily Cremer

Sophia Kelly

Jordan Kedl Thomas

Ian Moore

Terrell Porter Jr.

Kylie Surratt

Isaiah White

Aeriana Woodard

PATTONVILLE HIGH SCHOOL Presentation honors

Students from Pattonville Heights Middle School selected to honor choirs include, from left, front row, Hunter Johnson, Lily Gamino and Pierre López; second row, Malia Robinson and Sophia Goldsmith; third row, Tula Stewart, Mason Biship and Skylar Kuzuf; and back row, Gabriela Garcia and Kalob Kornhardt.

PATTONVILLE HEIGHTS MIDDLE SCHOOL Honor Choir

Students from Pattonville Heights Middle School were selected to perform in the St. Louis Suburban 7th and 8th Grade Honor Choir Festival. The students sang alongside more than 200 other students from schools in St. Louis and St. Charles counties at the festival on Jan. 20. Pattonville Heights students who were selected to the mixed honor choir were Nisrine Assal, Mason Biship, Hunter Johnson, Kalob Kornhardt, Lily Gamino Pinon, Pierre López, Malia Robinson, Sophia Goldsmith, Chi’marreon Walker and Landon Zavala.

Students who were selected to the treble honor choir were Golden Curtis, Destiny Dent, Cassadi Divers, Gabriela Garcia, Skylar Kuzuf, Ruby Ramirez Ortiz, Carly Ratcliff and Tula Stewart. The Pattonville Heights choir was directed by Kurtis Heinrich.

Pattonville High School senior Yashika Raja was selected to emcee the National Project Lead The Way (PLTW) Launch conference on its opening day, Jan. 29.

PLTW is a national nonprofit organization that develops STEM curriculum for elementary, middle and high school students. Raja met and spoke with PLTW Yashika Raja president and CEO David Dimmett on the first day of the three day conference which was titled “Sparking Curiosity.” Participants were able to attend a variety of sessions and workshops, collaborate with PLTW members and have an evening of exploration at the St. Louis City Museum. Raja is taught by PLTW biomedical science teacher Jamie Jobe.

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Art honors

Two students from Pattonville High School had their artwork selected for display at the St. Louis Community College-Florissant Valley High School Art Exhibition. Ellis North and Hanna Todtenhausen had artwork selected and were invited to attend a reception and awards ceremony on Feb. 15 at the Florissant Valley Contemporary Gallery.

These students were taught by art teacher Beth Kathriner.

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