SHS Learning and Progress

SHS LEARNING AND PROGRESS Practicum in Business Management Provides SUNNYVALE HIGH SCHOOL Support for Hello Day

High school students lend support for younger grades’ activities.

BY EMILY TAYLOR

SHS students enrolled in Coach

Kim Horton’s Practicum in Business

Management course gained real-world experience this fall by planning and executing activities for the intermediate school’s “Hello Day,” which was part of the district’s “Hello Week” activities.

“Hello Day” is part of the Sandy Hook Promise — a proactive nation-wide initiative that promotes inclusion and kindness in schools across the country as a measure for preventing school violence.

“In preparation for Hello Day, the students focused on project management, marketing, cost analysis, collaboration, and communication to ensure that SIS's Hello Day came to fruition in a seamless, yet organized fashion,” Horton said. This is the first year SHS has offered the Practicum in Business Management course, and this project allowed students to gain hands-on experience by planning events and activities for almost 500 fellow Raiders.

Part of the project included creating activity schedules for the intermediate students, and “...the [practicum] students faced adversity when their initial Google Form

Q&A with Shelby Webster-Payne

SHS AP/DUAL-CREDIT GOVERNMENT, AP MICROECONOMICS, AND ECONOMICS TEACHER

What led you to Sunnyvale ISD?

The opportunity to teach the content area that is my passion (Government) and at the college level was something I could not pass up. This is my 14th year in the classroom. I have taught in several districts of varying sizes in different parts of Texas, but mostly in the DFW area.

What is the benefit of having an on-site Dual-Credit teacher?

An on-site instructor can build relationships with students and really get to know them in a way that an online instructor or a traveling adjunct instructor cannot. Additionally, because an on-site instructor is also a part of the ISD, an on-site instructor is better situated to facilitate a smooth transition for their high school students to the rigor and expectations of college courses.

was completed incorrectly, so they had to rethink and revise how they would collect the information to make the students’ schedules,” Horton said.

Ultimately, all students involved benefited from the planning and execution of Hello Day. Not only did Intermediate students have a day full of activities, but they were able to see some of the activities they might help plan someday, too.

“I loved seeing all of our hard work pay off as the students had a great time with the activities we prepared,” senior Kaden O’Neal said. “Even when our ideas did not pan out, our groups figured it out and put in the work required to deliver a great day for our younger students.”

A TaLE AS OLD AS TiME

Vale Drama and Director Daniel Gambill presented Disney’s Beauty and the Beast on December 1, 2 and 3 in the SHS Auditorium.

How do AP courses benefit our students?

It is fantastic that SHS offers both dual credit and AP courses. While both are college level courses, they are structured very differently. I think it is great that students get exposed to both. AP courses offer students an opportunity to delve deeper into predetermined, targeted areas and then be assessed on what they’ve learned on a very rigorous exam at the end of the course. The more exposure that students can experience in advanced/college level coursework within the confines of a caring and nurturing environment such as their high schools—the better. AP courses are a low-risk way to assess students’ college level readiness.

How can parents support your classroom goals?

At this stage of students’ educational journeys, parents support my classroom goals by having raised students that are self-directed, respectful, driven, hard working, responsible, and are self-advocates. Sunnyvale parents have done a great job and as an instructor of seniors, I simply reap the benefits.

What has been your favorite aspect of teaching?

Literally everything. I truly enjoy every single aspect of teaching at SHS. Everyone (and I mean everyone) has been warm, helpful, supportive, and welcoming. The students are simply the best. I feel so fortunate and blessed that my professional journey has led me to Sunnyvale ISD!