Ames Middle School Associate Principals for 2019-2020 Announced
Ames Middle School associate principals for the 2019-2020 school year were approved by the Ames school board on Monday, April 8. The Ames Community School District is pleased to announce the following associate principals for Ames Middle School: Jeremie Knutson, Associate Principal for Operations and Student Services Erin Miller, Associate Principal for Curriculum, Instruction, and Assessment Nicole Coronado, Associate Principal for School Improvement, Culture and Equity Principal Yonas Michael opened all the positions this spring and added another associate principal for next school year. Each principal will be a point person for a specific grade, but will also use their expertise in their particular area to better serve Ames Middle School.
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AMS 2019 Scholastic Writing Award Winners
Two Ames Middle School students earned 2019 Scholastic Awards for their outstanding written pieces. Leslie Kim's sci-fi short story Fallen by One, and Jennifer Newman's short story The Pianist were selected by some of the foremost leaders in the visual and literary arts for excellence in originality, technical skill, and the emergence of a personal voice or vision. Nearly 340,000 works of art and writing were submitted to the 2019 Scholastic Awards. Since 1923, the Awards have celebrated teen artists and writers from across the country. Notable winners have included artists Andy Warhol, Robert Indiana, and Kay WalkingStick; writers Sylvia Plath, Truman Capote, and Joyce Carol Oates; and filmmakers Lena Dunham and Ken Burns.
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Ames High Student Judges Wearable Art Show at ISU
Sarah Oyervides, an Ames High Art student, was selected as 1 of 6 judges for the First Annual Wearable Design Show at Iowa State University. The inaugural Wearables Design Show featured 50 “Modular Mobile” designs by 200 students in the College of Design’s first-year Core Design Program. The designs were presented as a fashion show on a runway with lights, a DJ, and a live audience. Patience Lueth, a Co-Director of the event, selected Sarah for this amazing honor because of her creative ideas and beautiful artwork. Sarah judged the work on the April 9th with alongside 5 other professional designers. The showcase took place last night, April 10th.
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2019 State Science & Engineering Fair of Iowa (SSTFI)
On March 28, students from Ames High School and Ames Middle School participated in the 2019 State Science + Technology Fair of Iowa (SSTFI), held at Hilton Coliseum. Open to students across the state, the SSTFI is a way to showcase youth across Iowa and their science research skills. Student groups worked diligently all year on their research, posing an interesting, testable scientific question, design an experiment, analyze results, and creating a poster to present at the SSTFI. At the event, students set up their presentations and have an opportunity to tell their story and defend their research to professionals in the field.
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Speak Back: A Photography Collection from T’Ana Selah Smith
For senior T’Ana Selah Smith, photography is more than just a hobby, it is an avenue to use her art to produce a socially conscious commentary on what students experience. As an Advanced Photography student, Smith wanted to create a “message to the world” and produce something that could make an impact. “I wanted this project to be something that starts conversations with people. I particularly wanted to look at issues that are close to the heart, especially for minority students.” The result of her work is a photography collection that she has titled Speak Back. The collection represents painted messages on students that “speaks back to society about a generalization.” Messages in this collection include those on mental health, body shaming, how gender is assigned to eating disorders, racial stereotypes, and many others.
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Industrial Technology Projects
The Ames High industrial technology department offers a variety of classes that consistently produce outstanding projects. The department as a whole provides courses in Woodworking, Metals, Robotics, and CAD. Under the guidance of teachers Michael Scaramellino and Kent Jahn, students have access to a range of materials and equipment, with tool safety being a primary focus for both teachers. Many of the classes are guided through projects, but as students progress in proficiency, they have the ability to self-guide on projects they pick. With CAD software, a laser engraver, plasma cutter, and an arsenal of woodworking equipment, students are consistently churning out amazing projects from wood boxes, cutting boards, coasters, and a variety of amazing scrap metal projects.
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Voice of the Ames High Little Cyclones: Carter White
Meet Carter White, the voice of the Ames High Little Cyclones. New to this winter basketball season, home basketball games were streamed live on YouTube with exciting commentary from Carter. Now a sophomore, his sports commentary aspirations date back to elementary school. As his younger siblings competed at athletic events, Carter would provide play-by-play commentary to himself as a way to stay entertained when he would attend their games. In 8th grade, he job shadowed radio stations in Des Moines and quickly made the decision that this type of career was one he wanted to pursue. “In 7th or 8th grade, I made the determination that I have a natural voice for and talent for this type of career,” said White. This was confirmed when he worked the drive thru at his part-time job at Wendy’s when customers would tell him he had a “good radio voice.”
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I Can Read with My Eyes Shut!
Owais Samman, an 8th grader at Ames Middle School, may not be able to read with his eyes shut, but he sure can make Dr. Seuss’ classic children’s book fun to read. He debuted his rap of I Can Read with My Eyes Shut at the AMS Talent Show in December after entering the contest initially as a joke between his friends. After comtemplating other books such as Llama Llama Red Pajama, he settled this one and impressed the rest of the middle school student body. You can watch Owais rap Dr. Seuss on our YouTube Channel.
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Update on CTE Programming from Superintendent Risner
Dear Ames, I want to provide clarity on the decision to make programming changes at Ames High School next fall. Following an evaluation of our Career and Technical Education (CTE) programming, the addition of a financial literacy requirement, and an assessment of our immediate high school staffing needs, the decision was made to not offer Family and Consumer Science (FCS) classes next year. Starting in the 2019-2020 school year, the state requires each school district provide 4 out of 6 complete service areas within CTE. Those service areas must offer 4 years of course study in an area to prepare students for post-secondary careers and/or education.
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Ames High to offer an Agricultural Pathway Next Year
Starting next year, in the 2019-2020 academic school year, we are pleased to announce that Ames High will begin to offer agricultural classes as a part of a pathway that students can pursue. The Department of Education requires that all schools offer at least 4 of 6 service areas in secondary schools. At Ames High next year, those service areas will include: Business, Finance, Marketing, and Management Information Solutions Applied Sciences, Technology, Engineering, and Manufacturing Agricultural, Food, and Natural Resources. When the new Ames High building opens in 2022, we anticipate expanding into another service area: health science, when we begin to offer courses toward a CNA program.
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