LRSD Spotlight

National ratings have finally come in for Little Rock Central High School’s 2009-2010 yearbook, Pix. The publication earned two Gold Medals: one from Columbia Scholastic Press Association and one from the National Scholastic Press Association, the two largest national press associations in the country. In addition, NSPA awarded Central an All-American Honor rating due to the fact that Pix earned Marks of Distinction in all five categories:  writing, design, content, theme and photography. Editors were Neelam Vyas, Vicki Wang and Christa Page.

Sean Rose, a senior at Little Rock Central High School, was recognized as one of the best student writers in the country when he was named a winner of the 2010 National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE) Achievement Award in Writing. NCTE honored only 543 high school seniors with this award this year; the recipients were chosen from students nominated by their teachers from the 50 states, the District of Columbia, Canada, the Virgin Islands and American schools abroad. Only eight students from Arkansas received this prestigious honor this year.

The NCTE Achievement Awards in Writing program was established in 1957 to encourage high school students in their writing and to publicly recognize some of the best student writers in the nation. Their selection is based on samples of students’ own best prose or verse and on impromptu themes that are written under supervision. A team of English teachers chosen from throughout the students’ home states serves as the judging panel, looking especially for writing that demonstrates effective and imaginative use of language to inform and move an audience.

Imagine floating in the air, just like a bird soars along through the breeze.

Kim Romain, a 5th grade teacher from Otter Creek Elementary, knows exactly how it feels. She was weightless for a time (meaning she experienced zero gravity) as she participated in the Zero Gravity Weightless Flight of Discovery, sponsored by the Northrop Grumman Foundation. The flight took place on September 16. Mrs. Romain was one of 5 teachers from Arkansas, and the only one from Little Rock, to participate.

"It was an incredible experience," says Mrs. Romain. She plans to use this experience to motivate and inspire her students to seek STEM-oriented careers (science, technology, engineering and mathematics). As a result of her time in a weightless environment, some of her students have declared that they want to be astronauts.

"The Northrop Grumman Foundation launched the Weightless Flight of Discovery program in 2006," said Mrs. Romain. "This unique, nationwide teacher professional development program is designed to inspire today’s students to pursue science and technical careers by inspiring their teachers first."

Research shows that students in the United States, especially girls, are not being exposed enough to science, which is leading to a shortage of women in science-related fields. Because of Mrs. Romain's experience some of the teachers, students and parents of Otter Creek are becoming more excited about and interested in the wonderful world of science.

It's a small world after all!

Gibbs Magnet Elementary recently hosted community leaders from eight different nations (Bangladesh, Brazil, Colombia, Kyrgyzstan, Lebanon, Panama, Tajikistan and Tanzania) through a project of the U.S. State Department.

After teaching 5th grade students a little about the cultures of their countries, the visitors had lunch with students in the cafeteria. After lunch, Ms. Luz (pictured at right), the visitor from Brazil, spoke to Ms. Johnson’s 4th grade Brazil class while the others visited with Ms. Hula’s 4th grade class, Argentina.  Before departure, they were able to spend a few minutes with Ms. Shaw’s 3rd grade class that represents the Republic of South Africa.

These international visitors came to the United States specifically to learn about the purpose and creation of alumni associations. Locally they were sponsored by the Arkansas Council for International Visitors.

Last spring Rockefeller Elementary students, staff and their families, led by Instructional Assistant Teffine Green-Craig, collected over 1,000 boxes of cereal for the Summer Cereal Drive. They did so well, in fact, that they won the Elementary School Division of the competition.

The Summer Cereal Drive service project benefits summer feeding programs throughout Central Arkansas. Rockefeller Art Specialist Sharon Boyd-Struthers and a group of students and volunteers worked to decorate the cereal collection unit to look like a giant box of cereal. For their winning efforts, the entire 5th grade was rewarded with a breakfast with KTHV's Tom Brannon which was featured on the KTHV morning broadcast. Tom is shown in the photo with Rockefeller student Louis Green, who is holding the Cereal Drive trophy.

“We are very proud of the way our students and their families really pitched in, knowing that many children would benefit from their donations,” said Ms. Craig, who organized the Rockefeller effort. “This was a great project, and we look forward to collecting even more cereal this spring.”