Education

During her lifetime, 99-year-old College of the Canyons graduate and Agua Dulce resident Doreetha Daniels has lived through the Great Depression, World War II and the fall of Nazi Germany, the Civil Rights movement, the moon landing, the collapse of the Berlin Wall and end of the Cold War and, and most recently, the ushering in of the digital information age.
But with all the drama the past has offered, Daniels – originally from North Platte, Neb. – had yet to be presented with a challenge quite like earning her associate degree.

The William S. Hart Union School District has announced Golden Valley chemistry teacher Julie Huffman as the 2015-2016 Teacher of the Year.
Huffman, who also won the award in 2007, has been teaching for 19 years, the last 13 with the Hart School District.  She is co-chair of the highly collaborative science department at Golden Valley, helps run an at-risk program at the school, and created a family resource program at Sierra Vista Junior High.

It seems that more and more families are discovering Classical education. If you were to ask most people just a few short years ago about this method, very few would have been familiar with even the term.
The Classical education method makes use of the first three of the seven liberal arts - grammar, logic and rhetoric, or what is commonly referred to as the Trivium. In times past it was a given the learning of every discipline of subject involved first getting the basic facts, or grammar.

Summer is here! This time of year brings forth a great deal of joy as students have ended their school year, are enjoying vacation, and looking forward to either moving up a grade level, or in some cases moving on to the next school. As parents, this time of year brings about mixed emotions. On one hand we are very excited for our children who have finished elementary school and are ready for junior high.

Education should not take a back seat to fun in the sun! An athlete would not be expected to run a marathon without daily training and conditioning, and the same is true with students’ academic skills. Children need to continue to train their brains throughout the summer months. Like the old adage says, “If you don’t use it, you lose it.”

As we reflect on the 2014-2015 school year in the Sulphur Springs School District, we are so very proud of all our students’ accomplishments.  Throughout the year, our students have shared their learning in technology, music, the arts, computer programming, science, engineering, and a host of academic and creative areas proving that they are truly 21st century learners.  

According to experts, kids who don’t read over the summer can lose up to two months or 22 percent of instructional time over the summer if they don’t keep reading. Parents can play an important role in supporting out-of-school learning by involving children in fun, everyday activities. Below are a few suggested activities that can help students practice critical academic skills during the summer months:
Reading and Writing

Call it the dog days of finals week.
Six puppies from Guide Dogs for the Blind paid a visit to the campus of Academy of the Canyons Wednesday to not only promote the dog training program but to provide finals stress relief for the Hart School District’s middle college students.

Congratulations to our 1,500-plus sixth graders who promoted to seventh grade!  We are proud of your accomplishments and know that the future is big and bright for each and every one of you.  Your teachers provided you with outstanding educational experiences, prepared you well, and now you are ready to take on the next step of your educational career.  Enjoy junior high school and come back to visit and let us know how you’re doing!

College of the Canyons has been recognized for its continued leadership in promoting the use of Open Educational Resources in the classroom as a means to help reduce student costs and increase access to higher education.
Open Educational Resources (OERs) are free, electronic educational content materials, which are increasingly being used in the classroom as an alternative to traditional textbooks and course manuals.   OERs are licensed in a way that allows them to be legally and freely shared, reproduced and modified. For example, when a publisher releases a textbook in an OER format that content can be legally, and freely, used by others.

What happens when you ask a group of kindergarteners from Mrs. Dunn’s class what their definition of trustworthiness is?  Well, you get the adorable responses like these…
Nicholas: We are supposed to trust friends to do a good job helping.

Looking for something more than just day care for your child during the long, hot summer months? Look no further than CBS Preschool where summer camp equals safe and educational fun. Between water play and in-house field trips, including barnyard animal visits and pony rides, your child will be thoroughly entertained and you will feel good about the place you’ve chosen for him.

January 10, 2015, SCCS Senior Zack Norton received an email that he was accepted into the U.S. Air Force Academy basic training.  It was on a fifth grade field trip to Edwards Air Force Base where Norton first remembered being in awe of the cool airplanes. “I didn’t understand the commitment it would take back then to get into the Air Force,” said Norton. “It was in the ninth grade when I really got serious about it and began preparing for the application process.”

Through his involvement with various on-campus clubs, activities and employment opportunities, College of the Canyons student Ryan McPeters has taken full advantage of the opportunities presented to him.
But in securing an internship with NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) for the study of semicircular matter disks and stellar formation and extinction, McPeters is rounding out the beginnings of a dynamic career that simply can’t be ignored.

Today’s generation of students is more technologically advanced than any previous generations. For teachers, acquiring classroom technology can be a challenge. Different school districts and schools have different ideas about the types of technology students should have in their classrooms.

As the school year winds to a close, every parent faces the same dilemma: what to do with the kids during the summer months so they stay busy. There are a ton of activities available to families during the summer and it’s often hard to choose which one will not only keep your kids occupied, but will be enjoyable to them as well.

When your child attends a preschool program working on social skills and learning how to cooperate with others will be a part of the curriculum.  Learning to socialize with peers should be the foundation of learning. 
It is essential for children’s independence to be in a setting with same age peers, and without their parents or guardians.

There are many options for students of every age during the summer. One can find classes or activities in just about any sport, area of interest such as cooking, science, music, art, drama, computers, Legos, robotics, video production, foreign language, etc., as well as good-old summer camp. Not only are these activities a great way to spend time while parents are working or to stay busy during the long summer vacation, if a good match is made they can also help boost social skills and friendships, which are so important for social and academic success.