Goshen Community Schools

Today we visited 8th grade classrooms to see what GMS 8th graders are studying, and how much difference there might be between the 7th graders that we saw last week and the 8th graders today. First we visited Mrs. Terry Hussey and Mrs. Brandi Sapp’s combination class called Math/Lit. (English).

When we got to the classroom, Mrs. Hussey was working with the students on the math Warm-up. She was using words like table, slope, function, and rate of change.

She asked the class “Function or equation, which one do you want to start with?” And then after some work, “Which one is proportional? Point your finger in the direction of the one that is proportional. Everybody pick one. Okay, raise your hands instead…Alright, finish this for homework tonight. If you don’t understand a problem, circle it. I want to make sure you understand things; if you don’t, I need to know.”

Then Mrs. Hussey moved on to another section, and shared the objective for this day and for the next day. “Today we are looking at parallel lines, tomorrow we will look at at perpendicular lines.”

Mrs. Hussey began a working a problem and leading a discussion on lines and slopes. She asked the students “What is the slope, positive or negative?” When she called on a student and he didn’t know the answer, she stopped and said “You don’t know? Okay, let’s go back over it. We don’t want to move on until you know it.”

While the students were working on a problem, Mrs. Hussey explained to us that this particular class is called Integrative Math, which is a combination of Geometry and Algebra. “When the students are done with the class, they can take the exams for both Geometry and Algebra and can earn high school credit for both classes. They don’t have to take the Geometry exam, but they do have to take the Algebra exam.”

She also noted that even though the class is a class for 8th graders, there are currently two 7th grade students taking the class as well.The 7th graders in the class are pictured below.

While she was working problems and explaining concepts, Mrs. Hussey was also moving around the room, checking to make sure that all students were taking notes, working the problems, and staying engaged in the discussion. She encouraged them to “put those words down on your papers. Those papers are for you. I’m telling you, this chapter is going to get difficult, you need to take notes and be prepared.” At one point, she added “I already did this math alone in school. I’m not going to do it now. Let’s do it together….We’re in Geometry class, we can prove everything! Don’t believe me? It’s okay, I can show you.”

As the students worked on graphing, Mrs. Hussey asked them, “Who else loves graphing?!! I love to graph.”

As they continued to work on their problems and take notes, Mrs. Hussey reminded them that “this is Math/Lit. so please write your observations in complete sentences!”

Mrs. Hussey asked them to work on two problems at the end of class, saying “I want you to do these two problems before you leave, and then I will collect them and look at your work tonight. I want to check your graphing and make sure you are doing it correctly.” Throughout her class period, Mrs. Hussey encouraged participation in the discussion, even if some of the students were not completely sure of their answers. The math curriculum seemed quite rigorous, but with Mrs. Hussey’s examples, teaching, encouragement, and persistence, the students appeared to be taking it in and grasping the concepts.

We stopped at Bryan Kauffman’s classroom next, to see what the 8th graders are doing in U.S. History. As you can tell from the pictures below, Bryan’s room has a number of posters that will let students know for sure that they are in a U.S. History classroom!

Another item that was front and center in Mr. Kauffman’s classroom was a picture from last year’s 8th grade trip to Washington D.C., and information about the upcoming trip in the spring of 2019. The trip is somewhat of a tradition at GMS, and is packed with plenty of sightseeing and learning.

The class started by working on an entrance ticket, and then looking at “Journal Entry 1”, before they began to talk about moving on to Journal Entry 2. Mr. Kauffman said “How you did on your first journal entry will influence your work on the second entry.” He encouraged the students to look at his feedback on Journal Entry 1 before they started the next Journal Entry, and told them that they would have the full period to work on the second entry.

The objective for the day was: You can understand the critical events of time period number 2, and reflect on the events through the viewpoint of your character as evidenced by completion of Journal Entry #2.

(The students were all given characters in history, and were then given the assignment to write about specific historic events from the perspective of their character. The characters they were assigned included The King, a patriot, French fur traders, British citizens, loyalists, Native Americans, and free black colonists.)

Mr. Kauffman reminded students to use their rubric when working on their Journal Entries, and asked them “Do you remember what all was in your rubric?” After some thought and discussion, the students came up with all of the parts: The entry must be five paragraphs, you need to tell what happened, you need to tell why it matters or why it was important, and you need to illustrate what led up to the event.

As students began to work, one of them asked if they could listen to their music. Mr. Kauffman said  “You can listen to music as long as you are being productive.” And honestly, the students were quiet and very focused on their work throughout the class period.

Through the use of their technology, the students could choose to sign up for a mini workshop with Mr. Kauffman to get additional help with some of the ideas they had been working on in class. One such idea was the use of repetition, or repetitive phrases, in writing.

In the small group workshop, Mr. Kauffman asked the students “Why do we use repetitive writing?” Following discussion among the teacher and students, they came up with this reason: The use of repetitive phrases plants the idea firmly into the listeners’ brains. It makes the idea stick.

Mr. Kauffman noted that when the students go to the GCS elementary schools to share their stories with 5th graders, the use of repetitive phrases will help the 5th graders remember more about their stories.

Then all of the students worked on their writing assignments, with occasional reminders or remarks from their teacher such as “Make sure you are embedding history into your story.” and “Some of you have the model right next to your writing, what a great way for you to work!”

While the students worked, Mr. Kauffman strolled around the classroom, providing counsel to those who had questions or who just wanted to bounce ideas off of their teacher.

Mr. Kauffman told us that what he likes about these kind of writing assignments is that he can give the students direct feedback. For example, “I tell them, here is what you did in your writing assignment, and here is the next step to take in your writing…I don’t know when I first got this type of feedback or instruction in learning how to write, not this early, but we really want to develop strong writers here, so this is important stuff.”

Again during this visit to GMS, we noticed that the students continue to grow and take enormous steps (perhaps leaps?!!!) along their educational journey. Their teachers challenge them with rigorous curriculum, but they also provide enough support and encouragement to keep them moving forward and learning more.

Thank you to Mrs. Hussey and Mr. Kauffman, for letting us observe in your classrooms. There are definitely exciting things happening in your classrooms, and your students will be well-prepared for high school. And to the students, thank you for allowing us to watch as you worked, and questioned, and answered, and thought in deeper ways than you might have thought were possible. You are well on your way to educational success!

10-12-18 PRESS RELEASE

Text Messages Shared with Local Authorities

On October 11, 2018, Goshen Community Schools leadership was made aware of texts that were sent from a paraprofessional at the high school to one of the students.  Since the content of the texts was inconsistent with policy, the district immediately placed the employee on a leave of absence and contacted law enforcement to review and investigate the messages.

“Our priority is always the wellbeing of our students,” stated Dr. Diane Woodworth, Superintendent of Schools.  “In today’s world, we work closely with our local authorities when an issue like this arises.  In addition, we provide additional support and counseling for any students if it is needed.”

District officials noted that since this is an active investigation by law enforcement, all further questions should be directed to the local authorities. If anyone has additional information of concern regarding this incident, the Goshen Police Department should be contacted.  If individuals have academic or school questions, they should not hesitate to call the Superintendent’s office or contact their building principal.

“We will conduct our own internal investigation to ensure that district policies are followed with regard to the paraprofessional,” noted Superintendent Woodworth.  “If at any point parents have concerns around text messages or inappropriate use of social media by any member of our staff, we ask that you share those concerns with our district leadership.”

Goshen Community Schools is committed to reminding all employees about the importance of using text messages and technology appropriately and professionally.  In addition, the district will continue to provide orientations and professional development activities that help employees understand both the dangers of technology and how to engage it appropriately.

Superintendent Woodworth emphasized the year is off to a great start, “In spite of this unusual situation, we are off to a great 2018-19 school year.  I am so impressed with how our students strive for excellence in all that they do. Truly, our students and alumni are enriching the world, both locally and globally.”

To read the parent letter in Spanish or English, click on the link below:

10-12-18 Letter to parents English and Spanish

So much excitement seeing preserved Mastodon bone fragments, tusk pics and Peat under microscopes at Merry Lea. Over heard from an excited table of 3rd grade boys, “I could stay and look at these all day!” Right on kids, go Science! #sciencerocks

GCS and Goshen Middle School are pleased to announce that GMS School Counselor Jan Desmarais-Morse has been named an American School Counselor Association (ASCA) Counselor of the Year Finalist. Congratulations, Jan!

The American School Counselor Association (ASCA) is pleased to announce the six finalists for the 2019 School Counselor of the Year awards program (#SCOY19). The award honors the school counseling professionals who devote their careers to serving as advocates for the nation’s students, helping them achieve success in school and in life.

The six finalists are:
Roberto Aguilar, Milwaukie High School, Milwaukie, Ore.
Brian Coleman, Jones College Prep, Chicago, Ill.
Jan Desmarais-Morse, Goshen Middle School, Goshen, Ind.
Desire DeSota, Waianae High School, Waianae, Hawaii
Sarah Kirk, Monroe Elementary School, Norman, Okla.
Nwakaego Edordu Oriji, Dr. Billy E. Dade Middle School, Dallas, Texas

From these six finalists, one will be named the 2019 School Counselor of the Year.
Nominations for the School Counselor of the Year awards program were submitted by the state school counselor associations. The School Counselor of the Year awards panel was composed of representatives from AASA: The School Superintendents Association, ACT, the College Board, the National Association for College Admission Counseling; and representatives from: Brambleton Middle School, Ashburn, Va.; Chicago Public Schools, Chicago. Ill; Dominion High School, Sterling, Va.; George P. Mullen Elementary School, Manassas, Va.; Georgetown Middle School, Georgetown, Del.; St. Theresa School, Ashburn, Va. The panel selected the finalists based on several criteria, including school counseling innovations, exemplary comprehensive school counseling programs, leadership and advocacy skills and contributions to student advancement.

“The School Counselor of the Year award is an esteemed recognition for our profession,” said Richard Wong, Ed.D., ASCA executive director. “School counselors make significant contributions to the overall well‐being of students and their success. Their unique qualifications and training allow them to support students’ academic achievement, career development and social/emotional needs. This award highlights their commitment, dedication and excellence.”

The finalists and their principals will travel to Washington, D.C., in late January for special celebratory and educational events. The finalists will be honored in an award ceremony and be formally recognized at a black‐tie gala.

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About the American School Counselor Association:
The American School Counselor Association (ASCA) is a nonprofit, 501(c)(3) professional organization based in Alexandria, Va. ASCA promotes student success by expanding the image and influence of school counseling through leadership, advocacy, collaboration and systemic change. ASCA helps school counselors guide their students toward academic achievement, career planning and social/emotional development to help today’s students become tomorrow’s productive, contributing members of society. Founded in 1952, ASCA has a network of 52 state and territory associations and a membership of more than 36,000 school counseling professionals. For additional information on the American School Counselor Association, visit www.schoolcounselor.org.

Today we visited GMS again. This time to observe what 7th graders are learning and doing. We started off the morning in Mr. Brenton Fish’s Pre-Algebra class. We knew we were in Mr. Fish’s class because of the big wooden fish in the room (below)!

There were also a couple of signs on the wall made by New Tech students. The signs appropriately show the level of excitement Mr. Fish displays for math, as his students were engaged and attentive as he taught.

The students were watching as Mr. Fish worked on this math problem: What is the distance between -13 1/4 and 2 3/5 on a number line? Mr. Fish was walking around with some sort of technology/pad and as he wrote, the information showed up on the screen. As he talked about the problem and walked around, he worked out the whole math problem. (The answer: the distance is 15 17/20.) At one point he asked the class, “How many of you are having difficulty understanding what we are doing? Be honest.” When about 1/3 of the class raised their hands, he went over the problem again, and explained how to break the problem down and how to organize the work. “You need to keep your work organized. As you get into more difficult math, you will need to show your organization in order to help you figure problems out.”

Next, the class worked on a partner activity. Mr. Fish explained that the students would work together, with one person writing out the answer for the odd problems and one person writing out the answer for the even problems. When the students had a problem completed, they would go to the front of the room and have it checked by Mr. Fish. If it was correct, they would move on to the next math problem. If it was not correct, he would give them feedback and have them watch a short video that explained how to work the math problem, and then they would go back to Mr. Fish and explain to him what they did wrong and tell him exactly where they made their mistake.

When the students came up to Mr. Fish to check their work, he said things like: “Nice job….If you can’t name you mistake, you can’t learn from it…..I will give you the key code to watch a video so you can figure out what you did wrong….Where was the error in your thinking?…I agree with the value, but is that simplified?…When you watch the video, what is taking place in the process?…Good work.”

When we commented to Mr. Fish that this type of math probably used to be taught in about 9th grade, he agreed. “Oh yes, things have definitely changed. I have also had to change the way I teach math now.”

In teaching the students how to work the math problems, Mr. Fish shared one last example with us of a student he had last year. “The student was a good student, but not in the High Ability classes. He used to turn in his work and he would be correct, but he wouldn’t show his work. I told him he had to be more organized and show his work because his math classes would only get more difficult as he continued through school, and he would eventually come to a point where he couldn’t get the answer without working the problem in an organized fashion. In other words, if a student is smart but he doesn’t know how to work, it will eventually catch up with him. The student started showing his work in class, and he ended up getting the 5th highest score on the ISTEP test!”

Below are a couple of examples of the problems the students were working on in their partner exercise.

When we left Pre-Algebra, we went next door to Mrs. Kelly Shoup-Hill’s English class. The first thing one notices upon entering Mrs. Shoup-Hill’s classroom is her extensive library. She said that she has been teaching for 18 years, and she just keeps buying books for students to borrow.

The first thing Mrs. Shoup-Hill did was to take attendance and ask each student to tell her how many pages they had read toward their weekly goal. One student said they had met their goal, so she asked the student what he was reading now. When the student told Mrs. Shoup-Hill the name of the book, she said “I will let you read that book this time, but you need to read harder books, that is written for elementary students, you are in 7th grade.”

Mrs. Shoup-Hill stated that the students had just finished up a project entitled “Readers Wear Many Hats”. Along with the hats that the students had made, they had written reflections about their different books. She indicated that the hats and their reflections were going to be sent to the public library and the elementary schools. However, she told the students that “you still need to do some refining on your projects and your reflections. We need them to be great before we send them out to the library or to other schools.” Their hats are pictured below.

After Mrs. Shoup-Hill gathered the information about their reading goals, she had the students switch to new seats. “New project, new seats”. She introduced a new book that they would use in their new project entitled REFUGEE by Alan Gratz. She told the class, “I read this book over the summer and chose it for my classes this year. Now, I found out that the book is the 2018 book chosen for the Global Read Aloud in October. So that means we will be reading this book with classrooms around the world. Now how smart was I to choose this book?!!” When one student clapped for her, she laughingly thanked the student for acknowledging her forethought.

She then told the students that they were going to be analyzing how a book’s setting impacts a story, and she talked to them about questions that they would be answering. “The questions are guiding you, to find the evidence to support and/or explain your answers.” She handed them a copy of the front cover of the book, and asked them to look at the book’s cover and write down (on the copy) every single thing they noticed about the cover….”This exercise helps us start thinking before we even open the book.”

After spending three minutes making their own observations, they shared them with the class: There is light that could perhaps indicate hope; the water is black, like a storm is coming; is it an actual storm, or a metaphor?; it looks like the boys is trying to reach an island where he is hoping to find safety; the boys is really gripping onto the boat; the boat is red, what does that mean?; red could symbolize blood, or safety like the Red Cross; everything is purposeful and thought-out if it is put on the cover of a book; there is a rope in the boat, why is it there?; it is raining; it is a young boy in the boat; the boat is made of wood and doesn’t look very sturdy; the boy’s clothes look dirty like he has been in the boat for a long time; he doesn’t have any food or drinking water. At that, Mrs. Shoup-Hill stated “very good, it is good to notice what you don’t see, as well as what you do see.”

The students watched a 90 second video trailer about the book, and then Mrs. Shoup-Hill asked them to discuss the trailer with the other students at their table group.

Lastly, Mrs. Shoup-Hill discussed with the students the fact that there have continued to be refugees from countries around the globe throughout history. “What haven’t we learned? What could we do to make a small dent in the current refugee crisis?” Then she introduced two questions to lead into their next project:

What responsibility do individuals have to respond to the needs of refugees? What can an individual do to help?

What can we do in 7th grade to make a difference?

Wow, what impressive students these 7th graders are! There was a noticeable difference in their classroom behavior, their attention span, and their participation in class discussions; something that perhaps 6th graders are still learning as they move from class to class in their first year at GMS. But aside from their behavior, the students are learning from a very rigorous curriculum, and are seemingly doing just fine. As much as the students have increased the difficulty in their instruction with each grade, we cannot even begin to imagine what the high school students must be studying! But stayed tuned, we’ll get there.

Thank you to Mr. Fish and Mrs. Shoup-Hill, it was an extreme pleasure to visit your classrooms today. And thank you to the 7th graders for showing the Goshen community once again how much learning and growing is taking place within the walls of Goshen school buildings.

The October 8th GCS board meeting was held at Model Elementary, and Model principal Tami Hicks talked about what the students have been learning and doing since the beginning of the school year. She said that “Of course we are always trying to grow our students academically, but this year we added something new; we committed to the 21 Days of Kindness Challenge. Starting on September 1st, our students and staff looked for ways to be kind to each other and to express our appreciation for people in our building, in the community, and at home…Parents took pictures and used a hashtag to let others know what their students were doing at home too….You may have noticed the kindness links lining the hallway, those each represent an act of kindness in our school.”

Ms. Hicks then recognized several students who went “above and beyond to be kind or helpful.”

School Counselor Shelly Banes introduced Model’s 5th grade Leadership students, who also took the board members on tours of the school prior to the board meeting. She said that the students have been very busy so far this year, and have been excellent leaders. Among the things that the leaders do are: Teaching other students the Bulldog Beliefs; helping with Kindergarten Blast Off; Helping kindergarten students after school for the first few days of school, to make sure they find the correct doors for the bus, parent pick up, or the crossing guard; Reading the daily announcements; Putting the flag up in the morning and taking it down in the afternoon, Helping to organize Red Ribbon Week; and Being a buddy to struggling students.

The students then read their statements about what being a leader means to them. Several of the students read longer essays that they had written when they participated in the C.L.A.S.S. leadership training in Indianapolis over the summer.

Lastly, Dr. Woodworth introduced GMS math teacher Terry Hussey. Mrs. Hussey was a top ten finalist for the Indiana Teacher of the Year. Mrs. Hussey was nominated by Dr. Steve Hope, and together with Dr. Hope, Terry filled out an extensive questionnaire. When she was named a finalist, Mrs. Hussey traveled to Indianapolis to be interviewed by the selection committee. While she was ultimately not chosen as the teacher of the year, Dr. Woodworth reported that she had heard from some officials on the selection committee and they told her that Mrs. Hussey was “an amazing educator and that they were very glad to have met her.”

GHS has a new head volleyball coach this year in Mike Howard, who was approved at a school board meeting on April 23, 2018.

Below are sections from the Goshen News interview on the date of Mr. Howard’s GCS appointment:

Howard feels two elements are key to taking the GHS program to a higher level. “Hard work and a participation fever for the sport from the elementary schools to the middle school to the high school,” the coach said. “Success feeds upon success, but only if in the level of participation rises. We need to be aware of social-economic situations and make sure we give kids that can’t afford to play for an elite travel team the chance to participate in our program.”

Due to his time at Warsaw, Howard feels comfortable stepping back into the NLC and its high-level of competition. He mentioned league teams like Memorial, Concord and NorthWood.

“There are some very good programs in the NLC,” he said. “Plymouth has some fine young athletes and could be one of the better teams over the next couple of seasons.”

The new coach felt it was too early to talk about any changes in the GHS program. “We want to keep what is good,” Howard said. “One of the things that sold me on coming to Goshen was administration members like Barry Younghans (Goshen Principal) and Larry Kissinger (GHS Athletic Director). Both of them have an excitement for young athletes.”

Howard will teach social studies at GHS.

With Coach Howard’s permission, we observed a GHS volleyball practice to get more of a sense of how he runs his program. The following are observations from that practice and from attending volleyball games throughout the coach’s first season at GHS.

When the volleyball players entered the gym for practice, they began going through some stretches and warm-ups on their own, seemingly knowing what was expected of them in order to be prepared for practice.

One of the first drills they did as a team was a scrimmage drill. They started with the score at 20-20 and played to the end of the game (in volleyball, of course, the winner has to win by two points). The losing side had to run lines. We noted that while the losing side ran lines, the other side stood, watched, clapped, and encouraged the ones running lines. Later, the coach explained that he will also stop the “end-of-the-game” drill and make the girls run lines if they simply let a ball drop because they are not communicating, don’t give a good effort, or don’t pursue the ball.

The assistant coaches used an iPad to videotape the student-athletes as they worked on drills, serving, spiking, etc… The coaches then either pulled individuals aside or gathered the whole team together to watch the video; showing them what they did wrong, or explaining their body mechanics when they did it correctly. The use of the video provided an instant, visual way to provide feedback to the players.

Another interesting observation was that the assistant coaches were participating in drills/scrimmages with the girls; spiking right at them, serving, and blocking the players’ spike attempts. When asked why the assistant coaches participate the way they do, Coach Howard said, “We don’t have enough depth.  And, we need the coaches to play at times because they better replicate things we will see from other teams, like Warsaw for example.” You can see in the picture below that one assistant coach is standing on a box to spike balls at the JV team.

At one point during the practice, the coach pulled the varsity players together to talk to them. Among the things he said to them: “What is your goal for this week? What is you goal for this season?…We need more leadership, and more accountability. I know what my plan is, but I don’t know how important it is to you….If you don’t know what I expect or how to do something, ask…We’ve been drifting through sets instead of playing with intensity. If I have to intervene as a coach regarding intensity, that is never a good thing. It has to come from you…If you want to be on the court, you need to serve the best, hit the hardest, and have the best energy. And I need to see it in practice to put you on the court in the game.” (The coach later said that his talk with the varsity “was in response to having to ask two girls to leave practice a few minutes early the night before. We needed to talk about that”.)

During some of the drills, several of the girls were playing with bean bags sitting on the back of their neck/shoulders. When asked why only a few of the players were using the bean bags, the coach said “It is used mostly by need or by position. A couple of the girls have trouble staying in posture. The bags provide feedback by falling off when you come up out of posture.”

Another observation of the practice: The volleyball managers are pretty much always in motion, gathering up balls to put in the ball carts and then returning the carts to the coaches. Nice job, managers!

(Game pictures below by photographer Branden Beachy)

Mike Howard’s first GHS varsity volleyball team has just two seniors, meaning that he has a couple more years to work with some young, talented athletes. The players have also had some time to learn the coach’s expectations and to understand their individual roles on the team. Fortunately, they still have plenty of time left to represent GHS and their coach. We believe that there are some good years ahead for the RedHawk volleyball program, and we invite you to stay tuned as they continue to grow and improve!

The varsity will take on Warsaw in sectional action on Thursday, Oct. 11 at Elkhart Memorial. The game will be played at 6:00 p.m. We hope to see you there!

Today we visited a couple of Goshen Middle School New Tech 6th grade classrooms, to get a glimpse of what 6th graders are learning and doing in GCS. The Social Studies and English classes of the 6-1 team are currently working on a project about Dia de los Muertos (the Day of the Dead). Each student group chose one Hispanic person who had positively shaped the world to study for their project. They will showcase their current projects on November 1st at the Dia de los Muertos: A Showcase of Hispanic Heritage. The showcase will be open from 6:00-7:30 p.m., and will give students a chance to speak to attendees about the person they have chosen to study.

The students in Mrs. Krista Troyer’s class were working on the vocabulary associated with their project, looking at words such as globalization, cultural diffusion, and duality. One specific word that the students were learning is ofrendas, which is the tradition connected with the holiday that includes building private altars to honor the deceased. Once the students choose their important Hispanic figure, they research the person so that they can then develop an ofrendas for their chosen person.

The students played a team vocabulary game on their computers where they had to match vocabulary words with the correct definitions. The students played in different teams, and could see on the big screen which group was leading at all times. The game was set up so that if the students missed a definition, they got sent back to level 0, so while speed was a necessity, so was accuracy. The students played several rounds of the game, which got faster as the students became more familiar with their vocabulary words.

Mrs. Troyer and Mr. Jared Leaman are both teachers on the 6-1 team, and both of them had these 6-1 Team Norms posted in their classrooms: Be prepared; Pay attention to the speaker; Respect others and materials; Be honest and truthful; Practice a growth mindset; and Use downtime to thrive.

As part of their Ancient History state standards, the students are looking at how Dia de los Muertos evolved between the Catholic church and the Aztecs from Central and South America, and how the (now) Mexican holiday, which typically runs from October 31-November 2, coincides with Western Christianity’s All Saints Eve.

As the students research their historic Hispanic figure, they are looking for the following information: Who? What was his/her early life? What is he/she famous for doing? Where in the world were they famous/where did they spend their time? Character traits, and Fun Facts about their chosen figure.

Mr. Leaman said that the students use their computers to research their subjects, but that he provides the students with a list of approved sites because “if they simply google someone, they may come up with 7 or 8 inappropriate or unreliable resources before they find credible, appropriate websites that they can really use.”

This student hadn’t thought about it, but the other students at his table thought it was pretty funny that he was wearing a skeleton shirt while working on a Dia de los Muertos project.

In Mr. Leaman’s classroom, the students were using Flexible Seating as they worked on their projects, which provided several opportunities for students to work in the ways that made them more comfortable. The norms for using Flexible Seating: Use items to help all learn; Flexible seating is a privilege, not a right; and All students have flexible seating needs.

In Mr. Leaman’s room, there was also a #classroombookaday chart. When asked about the chart, the students explained that Mr. Leaman reads one book aloud to the class every day, and then they discuss the book together. Mr. Leaman then puts a small “cover” of the book in a square for each school day. It is a good way for students to hear and learn about new books, keep track of days, and to know where they are at in the school year.

Goodness, 6th grade students seem very busy! They are learning about ancient civilization, learning new vocabulary words in both English and Spanish, using technology to build their research skills, completing writing assignments, and managing a new schedule where they move from room to room instead of staying with just one teacher. 6th grade can be a challenging year for students with lots of changes and transitions, but just a couple of months into this current school year, it seems like these 6th grade students have adjusted and are well on their way!

The Chandler Chase 5K Run/Walk will be held on Saturday, Oct. 6, 2018 at 10:00 a.m. at FIDLER POND, located at 1349 Lincolnway East, Goshen, IN.

Participants will follow an 8-foot wide, crushed-stone track around the pond. It is a 1.5 mile long loop. 5k runners will complete 2 laps. Walkers will complete 1 lap. This run is FREE but your donations will help Chandler Elementary School get a much needed new playground! For a $15 donation you will receive a student-designed T-Shirt. Shirts will be available at the school 2 weeks after the event.

REGISTER online at: http://RunSignUp.com/Race/IN/Goshen/ChandlerChase or on the day of the event starting at 9:00 a.m. Online registration ends October 4, 2018.

Water and a snack will be provided. QUESTIONS? Please contact Megan McClellan (mcclellanniger@gmail.com).

Goshen High School student actors and staff directors are currently working on the GHS Fall Play Agatha Christie’s Appointment with Death. We encourage you to put this on your calendar now so that you don’t miss it! Show times and ticket prices are listed below.

November 16 & 17 at 7:30 p.m. and November 18 at  2:00 p.m.

Tickets will be available at the door. The cost of tickets: Adults:$ 8.00, Students/Seniors (65+)= $5.00, and Families: $20.00.

If you have questions, you may call Goshen High School at 574-533-8651.