Anthology: A Students’ Voice 2018
On the morning of May 9, middle school editors got to see for the first time their self-published anthology after months of work putting it together. The book is a collection of stories and poems all written and edited by middle school students. The project started in November when 8th graders Preksha Sarda and Claudia Murphy began recruiting writers and editors for the project. This is the second year that Steph Schares, who is an Extended Learning Program teacher at Ames Middle School and staff liaison to the anthology project, has helped students produce the anthology. Sarda and Murphy took applications from fellow students for positions of editors, marketers, and also managed the communications with students. They also paired each writer with an editor early in the process to provide a collaborative and authentic approach to the writing process.
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Sawyer News Network
In a few years, you may see Quin and Elijah, currently 4th graders at Sawyer Elementary School, behind the anchor desk reading the news. Until that time, they are comfortable as the content creators of Sawyer News Network, a weekly news segment created by the duo and shared across the building. New episodes arrived each Friday for the past two months of school. Their teacher, Nicole Coronado, has allowed the students creative freedom on the weekly segment and the pair have made it their own. “Quin and Elijah are in charge of picking who they interview, what questions they ask, and when they video tape. They also write their own script and research the weather and events for the following week, so they can report those out to the school,” said Coronado.
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Memory Project
This semester, art students at Ames High School joined the Memory Project, a charitable nonprofit organization that invites art teachers and their students to create and donate portraits to youth around the world. These portraits are given to those who have faced substantial challenges, such as neglect, abuse, loss of parents, violence, and extreme poverty. The purpose of the portraits is to provide youth a meaningful mementos and a personal keepsakes. The project also allows art students to practice kindness and global awareness while enhancing their portraiture skills. “I always want to emphasize to students that they should make meaningful art - I want them to make art projects they want to keep or give away as a gift. I also love the idea of incorporating service learning into the classroom.” said art teacher Lindsay Wede.
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Meeker Little Cyclone Captains
Students at Meeker Elementary are using some of their free time to make an impact on the culture of their school through the building’s new Little Cyclone Captains initiative. The student leadership program provides students with opportunities throughout the day to have a positive platform to lead and be a captain for kindness. Each day, captains serve as greeters (who are called “morning sprinkles”) at the front door to provide a welcoming smile as students enter. Captains also take time during their day to write kind notes to other students. They often come in during their recess time, pick from a pile of student names from across all grade levels, and write notes of encouragement or inspiration. These notes are then placed in the student’s cubbies by School and Family Counselor Kari Deal to serve as a pleasant surprise. She has noticed that many notes remain in their cubbies for weeks at a time.
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Ames High Culinary Students Compete in a “CHOPPED” Competition
On Friday, April 6, four Story county schools gathered for a culinary arts expo held at the DMACC Hunziker Center in Ames. Participating schools included Ames High School, Colo-NESCO High School, Nevada High School, and Roland-Story High School. Students participated in a “CHOPPED” competition using the mystery ingredients of turkey tenderloins, strawberries, zucchini, mushrooms and strawberry patch kids candy. During this competition, students applied skills and knowledge learned in their Family and Consumer Sciences classes to create an entrée using the required “mystery” ingredients. Students had 40 minutes to prepare their entrée all while being evaluated on teamwork, safety and sanitation, food preparation skills, and presentation of food. The judges for this competition were Executive Chef Robert Bruno from the Iowa Stater restaurant at the Gateway Hotel, Chef/Owner Evie Peterson from Farmhouse Catering in Nevada, and Director of Member Services Sheila Larson from the Iowa Turkey Federation.
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Ames Community Gives Free Bike Helmets to Every Third Grader
For the third year, members of the Healthiest Ames Board of Directors, in collaboration with other community partners, spent a morning at each Ames…
Read moreRead-a-Thon Celebration
In January, elementary schools across the District organized read-a-thon events in collaboration with their PTOs. “The goal is to get students to develop a passion…
Read moreEarthquake Science Challenge
Students in Mrs. Andrews’ sixth-grade science class have been analyzing and interpreting data on earthquakes in order to forecast future events. As an…
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Boys Swim Team Wins First State Title Since 1982
In his 20th year of coaching, Dan Flannery finally got the state title that has eluded him. The Ames High boys swim team won the 2018 State Championship, their first since 1982. The Little Cyclones were ranked #1 in the state for much of the year and went through the regular season undefeated before losing at the District meet to Ankeny. Going to state is nothing new for this senior heavy team; they’ve been there the last 4 years. But going in with a legitimate chance to take the title is new, and something this team has spent their high school career working toward. This was the first year that the University of Iowa has hosted the Iowa High School Athletic Association Boys State Swimming Meet at their new pool. This year the meet was held on February 10. Throughout the season, the boys team took on the motto “swim like it’s 1982.” With former Hall of Fame and Ames High coach Mike Wittmer, who led the 1982 Little Cyclones to a state title in attendance, they did just that. The meet got off to the start that Ames needed. The 200 Yard Medley Relay team of seniors Dalton Lillibridge, Misho Mahrous, Nick Matthews, and junior Ethan Johnson, set a new school record of 1:33.83 as they won the state title in the event. The winning time is currently under All-American Consideration. It got the Little Cyclones out to an early lead, but after the second event, Ames fell behind West Des Moines Valley for much of the meet.
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Fresh Thyme Launches Roundup Fundraiser to Address Food Insecurity Among Ames Students
Customers’ roundup dollars from Feb. 7–28 and $2,500 Fresh Thyme donation will pay students’ negative lunch balances Fresh Thyme Farmers Market believes no student should go without a meal. That’s why the full-service specialty retailer announced today the “No Student Goes Without Lunch” fundraising campaign at its new Ames store. All customer donations from the campaign — as well as a $2,500 donation from Fresh Thyme — will go to the Ames Community School District to pay students’ negative lunch balances. As of Dec. 31, 2017, Ames students’ negative lunch account balances totaled $47,932.42. Last year, the school district grappled with how to address this issue. In June, the Ames School Board amended a policy so that today all students receive lunch regardless of their negative account balance. However, with this action, the district still must find ways to settle students’ outstanding balances.
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