Passion-fueled Student Innovation Put on Exhibit in Colorado
PEYTON, Colo. – Students at Sand Creek High School in Colorado Springs set a new standard as International Baccalaureate learners Dec. 11, while exhibiting innovative ways to impact their world.
Now in its third year as an International Baccalaureate world school, Sand Creek High School in Falcon School District 49 has enhanced its Middle Years Program, tailored for sixth through tenth grade students, by adopting an inspiring project-based curriculum.
Dozens of personal projects, a sample of more than 100 student-selected topics, culminating more than three months of research, were organized across a classroom for community members to evaluate during the Tuesday night exhibit. Continue reading
Santa’s Toy Express Helps Colorado Families
PEYTON, Colo. – “We have a sleigh on the way,” said Jim Borst, bus driver trainer for Falcon School District 49, updating people preparing a hot breakfast Dec. 8 in a colorfully decorated facility at the district’s Education Service Center.
While kindergartener Angel Lobato Rivera, 5, stepped down from his “sleigh,” a bus garnished with green garland, red ribbons and snowmen cutouts, Terry Maloney reached out with her red cotton gloves, robe and white-laced nightcap.
Maloney, a special needs bus driver dressed to resemble Mrs. Santa Claus, paired Angel with three Falcon High School students. They rushed him out of the cool air for scrambled eggs, pancakes and sausage. As each bus pulled up, a line of volunteers extended to its door. Continue reading
iPad Push Hits District 49, Advancing Plans to Reform County Education
PEYTON, Colo. – While standing in a library Oct. 31 in Falcon School District 49, Patrick Davis held up an Apple iPad, affirming its significance in education.
Surrounded by teachers and parents at Odyssey Elementary School in Colorado Springs, Davis said the tablet computer would accelerate education innovation for the Pikes Peak region. He’ll sign a check for $17,000 this week to put iPads in the school’s first grade classrooms.
“Our vision is to put an iPad, a ratio of one iPad for every four students and one for every elementary school teacher, in every elementary school classroom in El Paso County,” said Davis, Neumann Education Foundation president and CEO. Continue reading
Colorado District Celebrates New Blended Learning Facility
PEYTON, Colo. – A month after Falcon Virtual Academy’s new facility was unlocked for students, a ceremony recognized its relevancy in public education.
FVA staff and students gathered to celebrate with community members Oct. 12 in their new, brightly colored, tech savvy building. Falcon School District 49 is expanding its blended learning options for kindergarten-twelfth graders.
“I can’t tell you how proud I am of everybody,” said Susan Patrick, president and chief executive officer of the International Association for K-12 Online Learning, a nonprofit organization that facilitates collaboration, advocacy and research for online schools.
As the morning’s guest speaker, Patrick addressed more than 100 people encircled by ribbons, balloons, awards and refreshments, an event sponsored by K12 Aventa Learning. Continue reading
Mankind: Step Back, Gain Clarity
By stepping back 20,000 miles, our participation on Earth gains clarity. We see no borders to defend, no political districts to win, no homes to secure. Our manmade containers blend back into our planet’s resources. We see the sun warming Earth’s cold surface, lush forests fading into desolate deserts, prairies peacefully lifting into majestic mountains.
From the human’s perspective, we see signs explaining religious rhetoric, political rallies, state boundaries and private property. Bombs and bullets are tearing into villages. Law enforcement officers are chasing would-be migrants. Rush-hour commuters are tucked in mobile cages, hamming on horns. Activists are colliding between moral convictions. Continue reading
Colorado District Expands Online Learning Support
PEYTON, Colo. – After opening their new facility Sept. 12, Falcon Virtual Academy’s faculty immediately started using its fresh mix of modern décor and technology.
The virtual academy, authorized by Falcon School District 49 in 2010, is now leveraging instructional technologies in a renovated 21,000 square-foot facility, which triples its previous size, increases its Internet bandwidth and expands its students’ options.
Now located at 6113 Constitution Avenue in Colorado Springs, the multidistrict public school for kindergarten-twelfth grade students resembles an Internet café, where bright overhead lighting and computer workstations illuminate bistro and sofa seating areas. Continue reading
Colorado Teacher Earns State Recognition, Advances for National
PEYTON, Colo. – A teacher in Falcon School District 49 recently earned recognition as an outstanding educator of mathematics in Colorado.
Melanie Dolifka, a second grade teacher at Falcon Elementary School, found out this week she is one of two mathematics finalists in Colorado for the Presidential Awards for Excellence in Mathematics and Science Teaching.
“This prestigious award recognizes your outstanding contributions as a teacher of mathematics in Colorado,” said Mary Pittman, Colorado Department of Education mathematics content specialist, in her letter to Dolifka. Continue reading
Qatar
Qatari merchant
Mohammad Saleh Nishwar, 79, has sold merchandise at Souq Waqif in Doha, Qatar, for more than 60 years. His family-owned store, about the size of a parking space, hasn’t budged in almost 100 years. Reconstruction projects have protected its cultural merit, as part of the oldest trading area in Qatar. Across the street, soaring temples of trade, banking, hospitality and governance are rising from the desert sands, fertilized by seemingly endless fossil fuels. Aside from considerable oil reserves, Qatar has proved 900 trillion cubic feet of natural gas, the largest single gas field under the earth’s crust. Continue reading
Colorado District Opens County’s Second School Health Center
PEYTON, Colo. – Falcon School District 49 unveiled El Paso County’s second school-based health center today during an open house event.
As patrons entered Falcon Elementary School for an evening orientation, less then two weeks into the 2012-2013 school year, they received a personal invitation to tour the school’s pioneering healthcare facility with a community partner.
Peak Vista Community Health Centers of Colorado Springs earned a competitive federal grant last year to partner with three local schools, allowing it to help students get treated for acute illnesses, such as flu, and chronic conditions, including asthma, allergies and diabetes. Continue reading
Colorado School Honors Former Teacher, Fallen Airman
PEYTON, Colo. – Falcon School District 49 students and faculty gathered to unveil a scoreboard Aug. 13, mounted above the words “Some gave all.”
Students and faculty filled the indoor gym at Stetson Elementary School in Colorado Springs. Dozens of the school’s alumni joined them from nearby Skyview Middle School. They assembled to honor a former teacher, “Mr. A,” also known as “Coach A.”
Philip Ambard, father of five, died last year serving in Afghanistan. While assigned to the U.S. Air Force Academy, he worked as a substitute teacher in District 49. Continue reading
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Quotes
“Those who want to grow rich in a day live for a long time in great poverty.”
“I think people have been obsessed with the wrong question, which is, ‘How do we make people pay for music?’ What if we started asking, ‘How do we let people pay for music?'”
Dustin Senger 