Students learn science CSI style in Rowland Heights

Rowland Unified Police Chief Don Fernald warned the students to stay away
from the crime scene. The body had already been taken away, but white tape
marked the outline of the victim killed in the classroom at Shelyn Elementary
School.

Welcome to CSI: Rowland Heights, where GATE students are handling the
investigation in a murder mystery that will teach them real life science skills.
The gifted students meet every Wednesday after school to hone their sleuth
skills.

Read more in Rich Irwin’s story SHELYN.

Hollingworth Elementary accepts now excuses in Rowland Unified

While elementary students are busy focusing on history, math, English and
other core subjects as well as hobbies and friends, should they also be worrying
about college?

Michael Hoon, principal of Hollingworth Elementary School in West Covina,
thinks so.

In fact, he thinks the focus on college should start as young as kindergarten
in the Rowland Unified school..

“A lot of times kids aren’t getting the message saying they can do it,” said
Hoon, 43. “They may not have had parents who went to college. We need to do that
here at school. We need to give them the vision that someday they can attend
college. We prepare them for that opportunity.”

That’s why Hollingworth Elementary has been a “No Excuses University” for the
past three years.

Each class at the school “adopts” a different university, which begins to
familiarize them with the idea of college.

Read more in NOEXCUSE.

Walnut Valley teacher tests teaching strategies

It’s not about the test results; it’s about the learning. If you teach
students how to learn, good test results will follow.

Social studies teacher Alan Haskvitz believes that students will achieve at a
high level if you give them the tools to learn. The Suzanne Middle School
instructor equips them with study skills that carry over to every subject.

And it’s hard to argue with the results. Walnut Valley reports STAR scores
far above the state average. Known as STAR, or Standardized Testing and
Reporting, the results are measured in five categories: advanced, proficient,
basic, below basic and far below basic.

Read more in Rich Irwin’s story HASKVITZ

Diamond Bar high pays tribute to 9/11

They were only 4 or 5 years old when the Twin Towers fell on 9/11, so many do
not recall the tragic day that changed America and their lives forever.

Art teacher Dave Hamel wants the students at Diamond Bar High to remember the
importance of that pivotal event. So he assembled a visual reminder to promote
discussion and reflection on the local campus.

He erected several white sculptures on the high school quad to pay tribute to
the victims of 9/11. Then he brought his art classes out to discuss that tragic
event.

Read more in Rich Irwin’s story TRIBUTE.

Oswalt Academy hands out Apples to students in Walnut

Fifth-graders at Oswalt Academy in Walnut feel like they’re walking on air –
MacBook Air that is. The excited students received their brand new laptops last
week as part of the academy’s one-to-one computer program.

“They couldn’t wait to get their new computers, but it takes time to load all
the programs and settings on 130 laptops,” explained Principal Kevin Despard.

But families finally received the gleaming machines at the laptop learning
roll out night on Sept. 12. Proud parents and their smiling children learned all
about their MacBooks.

Despard noted the Rowland Unified school already uses more than 500 laptops
in the fifth to eighth grades. In addition, kids in kindergarten to fourth grade
use another

Read more in Rich Irwin’s story LAPTOPS.

Yellow Bus brings students to L.A. County Fair

“Genius: A Celebration of American
Innovation,” the L.A. County Fair exhibit continuing through Sept. 30, is
designed to appeal to all ages, but Fairplex officials also hope it will stir
the creative and pragmatic genius of young people.

Michael Converse, Fairplex exhibition designer and project manager for the
“Genius” exhibition in the Sheraton Fairplex Conference Center’s Expo Hall, is
particularly pleased with the fact that hundreds of thousands of elementary-age
children will visit “Genius” and the fair for free because of the Yellow Bus
Program.

The Yellow Bus Program is a field-trip project that developed from an
exchange with Yorba Fundamental Elementary School in Pomona and now extends to
students in public, parochial, charter, private and home schools throughout the
greater Los Angeles Metropolitan Area.

As one of the few county fairs held in the fall, the L.A. County Fair has the
advantage of attracting students from elementary, middle and high schools. The
Yellow Bus targets elementary-age youngsters.

“Last year, we hosted just shy of 100,000 students,” Converse said. “We’re
enlightening, enriching and educating children in ways that are really fun and
exciting. It’s as rewarding for us as it is for them from a creative
point-of-view because it makes information come to practical and visual life.”

Read more in Imani Tate’s story FAIR.

Rowland Adult School offers health programs by Boston Reed

New allied health
programs are now being offered at Rowland Adult School By Boston Reed. Becoming a trained healthcare professional is
quick and easy. No degree required for most programs.

Programs cost up to 75%
less and take half the time. Classes starting next month for Pharmacy
Technician, Veterinary Assistant plus new on line programs offered monthly such
as Electronic Health Records Specialist, Nursing Home Administrator, Billing and
Coding Specialist, Guide to Medical Billing and Personal Trainer are only a few
of the courses offered.

Boston Reed College will hold an information session from 10 to 11:30 a.m. Saturday in Room 106 at the adult school at 2100 Lerona Ave.. They will discuss the clinical medical assistant, pharmacy technician and veterinary assistant programs.


For more information, please call 800 201-1141 or
visit
www.BostonReedCollege.com
.

Alvarado puts the i in iPads in Rowland Heights

Do iPads increase IQ? Alvarado Intermediate School knows student interest
skyrockets when the little computers come out in Hacienda Heights.

In fact, this digital generation would be happy to ditch the textbooks
altogether. They live on the Internet, so why shouldn’t they learn there too?

“I love teaching with the iPads. The students become so motivated and engaged
in the learning,” explained eighth-grade teacher Sue Cook, who also sits on the
school’s digital committee.

“They’re all so excited when we use them for an activity. It’s quiet because
they’re concentrating on the assignment with their iPads,” Cook said.

Read more in Rich Irwin’s story iPads.

Diamond Bar High grad rings opening bell on New York Stock Exchange

Olympic soccer star Alex Morgan, who graduated from Diamond Bar High School,
will ring the opening bell at the New York Stock Exchange this morning to
commemorate the Sept. 11 terror attacks, Morgan tweeted on Monday.

“Honored to ring the opening bell at the NYSE on 9/11 to support
@Action_America. Become an #actionist & make 9/11 a day of positive action!”
the 23-year-old Diamond Bar High School graduate said on her Twitter feed.

Action America is a nonprofit that aims to turn the Sept. 11 terror events
into a positive call for action by encouraging volunteerism and donations.

This year, the organization is supporting the three causes – the National
September 11 Memorial & Museum, the Wounded Warrior Project and Tuesday’s
Children, which provides support services to families impacted by the terror
attacks on New York’s World Trade Center 11 years ago.

Morgan rang the bell at the start of the trading day at the New York
Stock Exchange.

She scored the game-winning header against Canada in the semifinals of the
London Olympics this summer, propelling the team to the gold medal match against
Japan. The United States won the final match.