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PSD Connectivity
Dedicated to excellence
February 12, 2016
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| Pictured above: Don Jackson and Shelley Woodke |
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District selects elementary and secondary Teachers of the Year
Brouillet Elementary teacher Don Jackson and
Kalles Junior High teacher Shelley Woodke have been selected as the 2015-16
Puyallup School District elementary and secondary Teachers of the Year.
They each received a standing ovation by their peers recently during impromptu surprise announcements held at their schools. The meetings were attended by school staff, administration, and family and friends.
Superintendent Yeomans presented each of them with a plant basket.
The Teacher of the Year awards program is designed to recognize professional classroom teachers who have made an outstanding contribution to the education of children.
Jackson and Woodke will be recognized by the
Puyallup School Board at their meeting on April 18 at 6:00 p.m. at
Stahl Junior High.
Don Jackson, Brouillet Elementary
"When I think about a teacher who exemplifies everything that I think an educator should be, I instantly think of Don Jackson. He is a man of great integrity," read Jackson's nomination for Teacher of the Year.
Jackson has been teaching in the Puyallup School District at Brouillet, for 21 years. His entire adult life has been in education. He taught in the Vancouver Public Schools before coming to Puyallup. In his spare time Don enjoys gardening and raising Pygmy Goats for show.
He teaches the
Excel/Self-contained Medically Fragile students. When asked what he enjoys most about teaching Jackson said, "Getting to know and develop relationships with both the students and their families, and working with such dedicated adults."
Jackson said he enjoys working at Brouillet. "It's such a positive learning environment for the entire range and abilities of all the students."
"I feel so fortunate to be able to do the work I do, surrounded by some very special children, and adults who truly enjoy this very special population of students," he added.
Brouillet Principal Nancy Strobel said Jackson communicates amazingly well with his students, even though most of his students are nonverbal. "For kids who can't easily communicate their needs and wishes, it is so important to have a teacher like Don who pays close attention to their feelings and perseveres until he understands what they're trying to communicate. Don's influence on his students and their families is long-lasting," added Strobel.
"His classroom and everybody that works with him can attest to his gentle, kind, and humorous nature," read his nomination.
Shelley Woodke, Kalles Junior High
"Shelley Woodke makes a positive difference each and every day," wrote Kalles Principal Guy Kovacs in his nomination of Woodke for this year's Teacher of the Year award.
Woodke has been teaching math in Puyallup for 30 years. All of those years have been at Kalles Junior High. She currently teaches seventh grade Math 7, Honors Math 7, and Math Lab 7. During her career she has participated on numerous district math committees and is currently on the Math Audit Committee. She also helps facilitate the seventh grade math collaboration meetings for the district.
Woodke was raised in Puyallup and attended Riverside Elementary, Aylen Junior High, and Puyallup High. "When I was hired at Kalles, I was so happy to be coming home to the district I grew up in as my first teaching assignment. Little did I know that I would be still teaching here 30 years later," she stated.
Outside of the classroom, she enjoys quilting, hiking, photography and traveling with her family.
When asked about her success in the classroom Woodke said, "I try to model positive attributes to my students. Respect, responsibility, kindness, good manners, and a strong work ethic."
She praised both the Kalles staff and students.
In respect to students, Woodke said "Kalles has amazing students. I run a tight ship in my classroom, but we have a lot of fun. I love laughing with the kids." She believes all students are capable of learning math. "I encourage students to always do their best, no matter their math level."
The support and praise for Woodke by Kalles staff during her award presentation was evident. "Kalles has a family atmosphere. The staff enjoys working together and everyone plays a vital role in the success of our students," said Woodke.
Kovacs praised Woodke's teaching success. "Her personal mission is to support every one of the students in her classroom. She sees their academic growth as her responsibility and she finds impressive success."
"Shelley is a quiet hero in our building. She is incredibly worthy of representing all of the inspiring secondary teachers in our district," wrote Kovacs. "When it comes to teaching, she does it right and does it so very well."
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Changing instruction and Empowering Puyallup
Puyallup students will soon find their classroom is better equipped to meet their learning needs, and Puyallup teachers will soon find that their instruction can better engage today's learners. These are the broad goals of a new school district initiative called
Empowering Puyallup is an initiative designed to maximize Puyallup School District students' opportunities for collaboration, communication, and extended learning through the use of technology. Although the initiative features technology as a facilitator of that kind of student achievement, technology is not the focus of Empowering Puyallup. The focus of Empowering Puyallup is the way students learn, the way teachers interact with students, and the way parents stay engaged in their student's education.
As technology is rapidly changing, so is the way that students learn.
What students are learning is changing,
how students are learning is changing,
where students are learning is changing, and
when students are learning is changing.
Previous generations were generally tasked with being able to do well what they had already been taught to do. Current and upcoming generations are now learning how to do well what they have not yet been taught to do. With these rapid changes in technology and education as a focus, the Empowering Puyallup initiative was presented to the school board in September 2015, and gained their approval in December 2015.
To extend learning and maximize student's opportunities through the use of technology, Director of Instructional Leadership, Mark Vetter, had been tasked with seeing how technology could advance student instruction and growth. The Empowering Puyallup initiative team is looking at how a
new Learning Management System (LMS),
a roll out of 1:1 devices for students in secondary schools, and digital curriculum could enhance the ability for teachers and students to interact and engage in a learning environment.
Vetter explained, "Empowering Puyallup is about the extending and enhancing of relationships between teachers to students. The technology is second to and supportive of the student-teacher relationship."
The
selection of a new LMS
will be carefully considered to ensure the software will align with the district's strategic direction of improving instruction and student growth and achievement. Vendors from Canvas and Schoology presented to groups of staff, students, and parents on February 6. "The input from each group will be an invaluable resource in selecting which software vendor is chosen, said Vetter
Vetter went on to say, "The selection of a new Learning Management System will focus on a system which enhances quality instruction, and is a highly effective communicatio
n tool for students, teachers, and parents to collaborate and communicate. The LMS will be the platform through which we extend the time, place, path, and pace of the learning."
Empowering Puyallup
strives for teachers to have a single platform for all district-approved resources. Effective collection and management of learning resources will create opportunities for teacher, student and district created content, continuous quality improvement, and the inclusion of Open Educational Resources
(OER). OERs are freely accessible, openly-licensed materials found online which are useful for teaching and learning.
The new LMS, which will soon be selected, will be implemented at the beginning of the 2016-2017 school year. At that time, the 1:1 devices for secondary students will be selected, and in 2017, 7th
graders from the graduating class of 2023 will be the first group to work with the 1:1 devices. By the 2021-2022 school year, students from 4th
grade through seniors in high school will all be working with 1:1 devices.
The goal of the Empowering Puyallup project is to extend the ability of every student to access resources, demonstrate learning, communicate collaboratively and develop ownership over their own learning.
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The Puyallup School Board is considering the commissioning of a Bond Oversight Committee to oversee and make recommendations to the board regarding the implementation of the voter approved 2015 School Construction and Facility Improvements bond.
The board heard a detailed report on the proposed committee during its February 1 meeting, presented by Chief Operations Officer, Rudy Fyles. During the report Fyles indicated there are a number of steps required for administration of the bond. It is important to oversee the bond program with respect to scope, schedule, and cost of the projects.
The proposed charter for the advisory committee is to oversee the projects funded from the $292.5 million November 3, 2015 bond measure. The approved bond projects will allow the district to replace
Firgrove,
Northwood and
Sunrise elementary schools, remodel and expand
Pope Elementary, and build a
new elementary school on undeveloped district-owned property on 144th Street near 80th Avenue, west of Meridian.
The committee will make periodic reports to the board as to the progress of the bond program and make recommendations as to any changes to the baseline of the scope of work.
The advisory board would provide transparency in reporting to the board on bond progress. They would track documented sequence of projects, scheduled opening dates, and report on revenue, expenses, and contingencies.
Fyles recommended a 13-member committee consisting of nine community members appointed by the board and four staff members.
The report recommended having the committee commissioned and staffed by the end of April 2016.
The board is expected to formalize the decision at its next regularly scheduled meeting on February 22 at 6:00 p.m. at
Stahl Junior High, 9610 168
th St. E., Puyallup.
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District develops partnership with local high school newspapers
The days of reading printed news exclusively are gone. In today's world there are many ways to stay informed, and digital communications and social media provide us with current and relevant news at our fingertips. This is old news for high school journalism students. High school newspapers are still printed for campus distribution, but journalism students are finding online forums to be an effective way to extend readership.
To capitalize on this trend, communications coordinators in the Puyallup School District are finding ways to partner with local high schools and make better use of existing online newspapers.
The Puyallup School District
Communications and Information Department staff have recently visited newspaper staff members at each of the three local comprehensive high schools to initiate a partnership in communications. The common goal is exposure.
Editors for each high school paper include:
Sarah Archer, Commoner editor
Aneyceia Brim, Commoner editor
Kaitlin Nguyen, Commoner editor
Jiannaka Limonta, Jagwire editor
Bryanna Putman, Jagwire editor
Kyle Smith, Viking Vanguard editor-in-chief
Suzy Stone, Viking Vanguard print editor
Jaxon Owens, Viking Vanguard web editor
Bailee Doman, Viking Vanguard digital media editor
"The motivation for developing partnerships came when reading an article in the Viking Vanguard," said Executive Director of Communications Brian Fox. "Clearly, we have very similar goals in the work we do," Fox went on to say.
In the
October 2015 print issue of the Puyallup High School newspaper, the Vanguard staff laid out their goals for the year. Goals included:
- Become more well-known
- Update the website regularly
- Include more student opinion
- Remain accurate and relevant
- Maintain a professional appearance
"These goals align nearly perfectly with ours," Fox commented. "We have a common desire to publish current and relevant information. As a department, we aim to inform and engage staff members, students, parents, and community members in a variety of formats. We encourage teachers and principals to update their websites often and maintain a professional tone in communications."
The district team met with staff for each high school newspaper, including the
Jagwire (Emerald Ridge),
Viking Vanguard (Puyallup), and
Commoner (Rogers). Editors and writers seemed interested in developing a mutually beneficial partnership.
"We hope to reach more stakeholders in our community," said Fox. "We also think student writers in our high schools deserve to be highlighted for their excellent work."
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New vaccine requirement impacts high school students
The
Washington State Department of Health has issued a new school immunization requirement which will affect all high school students beginning this fall.
Beginning fall of 2016 all students in 9th through 12th grade will be required to have two doses of the chickenpox vaccine Varicella instead of the current requirement of just one dose.
The vaccine prevents chickenpox and its serious complications. Since teens are at higher risk of severe complications if they get chickenpox, the Department of Health is targeting young people for their protection.
Washington State required for 2015-2016 students in kindergarten through 8th grade to have two doses of the chickenpox vaccine. Beginning with the 2016-17 school year all students in kindergarten through 12th grade will be required to have two doses. The new requirement is based on national recommendations from the
Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices.
All students in grades 9 through 12 will need two doses in order to attend school in the fall. Students who already have two doses of the vaccine do not need to repeat it.
Parents are encouraged to schedule vaccinations now rather than waiting until August.
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ERHS senior teacher puts students into a financial game of life
with BECU visit
On Thursday November 12th, Christi Horton, the business and financial literature teacher here [at
ERHS], partnered up with local
BECU, a non profit credit union to help teach the students the reality of how budgeting can effect your life either negatively or positively.
Each of Horton's classes at the start of their period meet in the library and were greeted by employees who handed each student a BECU bag. The bags held an assortment of items, the most important being a small booklet.
Much like
the game of life, (without the colorful board) the booklet gave each student a new "identity" - it included a job, post education, money, and of course debt. Before they started the simulation, they took a pretest about different aspect with dealing with money, and then after the simulation they would take the test again to see what they learned.
The students were given a task to stay in their budget for a month while maneuvering through different stations that dealt with real life struggles, such as food, transportation, houses, and miscellaneous problems we all have to face eventually.
The students had two payment options; credit or debit. After half of the period was over, each station turned into a personal finance station that went over the students and their spending to see if they were successful with staying in their budget. If they weren't they had to go back over each of their purchases and try to redo different sections to stay in their monthly budget.
The booklet as well as the tests were collected and given to Horton to review the student progress. BECU will return to help teach healthy financial habits which will stay with the students for life.
This article, wirtten by Social Media Editor Moe Braun, was originally published in the ERHS JagWire online on November 20, 2015.
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Message from the superintendent
In the fall of 2015, a new
Data Dashboard was created online. The infographics used help viewers better understand data such as test results, graduation rates, district demographics, and other information often requested by the
PSD Board of Directors.
Superintendent Tim Yeomans states, "The purpose of this tool is to provide our community with a transparent, dynamic and interactive data set to help visualize the progress we are making toward our strategic directions."
The video below is an introduction by Dr. Yeomans. To visit the PSD Data Dashboard, click the link below:
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See what's happening on our social sites:
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Puyallup School District
302 2nd St. SE Puyallup, WA 98372 | Phone: (253) 841-1301 ww.puyallup.k12.wa.us
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Puyallup School District provides equal opportunities in education and employment and does not discriminate on the basis of sex, race, creed, religion, color, national origin, age, honorably discharged veteran or military status, sexual orientation including gender expression or identity, the presence of any sensory, mental, or physical disability, or the use of a trained dog guide or service animal by a person with a disability in its programs and activities and provides equal access to the Boy Scouts and other designated youth groups.
Questions or complaints of alleged discrimination may be directed to:
Puyallup School District
302 2nd Street SE
Puyallup, WA 98372
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