Schools Abuzz with Spelling Bees

During the past few weeks, many of our schools held local spelling bees as a precursor to the Scripps National Spelling Bee, which has a ninety-year tradition.  This national excitement promoting literacy skills is expressed on the Scripps Spelling Bee site,"Every year, students from all walks of life have the opportunity to participate in the Scripps National Spelling Bee, one of the nation's oldest and most iconic competitions. They progress from classroom to cafeteria, from auditorium to civic center, delighting friends, family, sponsors and fans, just as millions of other students have done before them"  (find more information here:  http://spellingbee.com/). 

The students of the school spelling bees went through quite a few hurdles before being named their school's winner.  All three elementary schools, as well as our middle school, held classroom competitions, followed by their school bee, which culminated in a school champion.

• Cahaba Elementary -Pierce Heinzman
• Magnolia Elementary - Vivian Westin
• Paine Elementary - Anna Green
• Hewitt-Trussville Middle School - Ethan McCullough 

These four students will participate in the Trussville City Schools District Spelling Bee on January 4, 2019, at the BOE.  All of the competitors represented their schools well, and we are so proud of the literacy skills displayed in these bees. 

We appreciate the efforts of all of the teachers who had classroom bees, as well as our spelling bee coordinators, as they worked hard to organize their school competitions.  School coordinators:  Cahaba Elementary - Stephanie Rosetta; Magnolia Elementary - Ryan Hook; Paine Elementary - Amy Ramer and Donna Brumlow; and HTMS - Brianna Oliveira.

The winner of the TCS District Spelling Bee will move forward to the county bee on February 8, 2019.



    Pierce Heinzman, Cahaba Elementary Winner



Cahaba Elementary Spelling Bee Participants

                                                                              

Vivian Westin, Magnolia Elementary Spelling Bee Winner  
   

     Magnolia Elementary Spelling Bee Participants      


Anna Green, Paine Elementary Spelling Bee Winner 
(shown also with Mrs. Donna Brumlow, assistant principal; Jack Reeser, Paine First Alternate; and Ms.Catherine Finkley, assistant principal)



Paine Elementary Spelling Bee Partipants























Ethan McCullough, HTMS Spelling Bee Winner

HTMS Spelling Bee Participants 

                                                   

Jerry Tracey Visits Paine

The 4th graders in the classes of Mrs. McKinley and Mrs. Waites celebrated their current nonfiction unit and shared their research on Extreme Weather topics. Special guest, Mr. Jerry Tracey, chief meteorologist  from WVTM 13, visited Paine to enjoy and learn from the students. Mr. Tracey was impressed and commented on their depth of knowledge with their topics! 

Twenty-two Trussville Teachers Attend Serravallo Workshop in Auburn

Trussville City Schools had twenty-two educators from the elementary schools and middle school attend Jennifer Serravallo’s “Reading and Writing Strategies and Structures:  Connecting Assessment and Instruction” conference in Auburn, Alabama, December 6.  TCS teachers have studied Serravallo’s work as a way to improve literacy for students.  The conference provided time to explicitly work with key strategies that can be used in the classroom, as taken from Serravallo’s  The Reading Strategies Book and The Writing Strategies Book.  Teachers were able to go through some specific ways to help students grapple with both fiction and nonfiction texts.  In addition, participants were directed through writing prompts, requiring all to take on the role of writers, just as they would have students do.  It was a powerful practice reminding participants of the challenges and victories students experience in their classrooms.  

HTHS Takes on Coding and Cookies!

Trussville City Schools celebrated Hour of Code this week.   Why is coding important? There are currently 5, 456 open computing jobs in our state with 503 computer science graduates.  TCS is striving to help students see the value in these potential careers and wants to provide opportunities for more exposure to these pathways.    See chart below that provides some national statistical data regarding careers in this field (cited https://code.org/promote):

Hewitt-Trussville High School held an Hour of Code Celebration during Husky Hour this week. Current computer science students were encouraged to bring a friend to join in on the fun!  They spent their free time completing introductory coding activities on Code.org.   Some students gained programming experience while others learned about coding for the first time. Erin Cornelison, HTHS Computer Science teacher said,  "We even celebrated with sweet treats.....cookies with cookies!"  A winning combination.  

Recess 2.0

Take a look at activities Tiffany Reed's students are completing during indoor recess at Magnolia!  Students are using their engineering skills to build and design.

Trussville City Schools Teacher of the Year Announced

Congratulations to the Trussville City Schools Elementary Teacher of the Year, Jaime Giangrosso, and Trussville City Schools Secondary Teacher of the Year, Brandon Peters! Their applications will be reviewed by a district-level Teacher of the Year selection committee for Alabama Board of Education District 7.  Each committee will select a district elementary TOY and a district secondary TOY, for a total of 16 district honorees.

TCS Academic Support Specialists Present at Conference

Fran Box and Amy Meredith, academic support specialists for Trussville City Schools, typically work with students who need additional and specialized reading support.  Today, though, they are sharing their expertise with other professionals at the "Unlocking the Mystery of Developmental Disorders Conference" in Birmingham.  Their presentation includes a summary of how students are identified and how sensory integration plays a role in working with students who exhibit characteristics of dyslexia. 

Alabama Bicentennial Information

Click on the link below to see the list of 2019 Bicentennial Summer Institutes.  You can view the complete list of locations, dates, and workshop descriptions for all of the 2019 summer sessions.  Registration is open from now until January 18, 2019.

http://www.alabama200.org/educators/professional-development/2019-summer-institutes/ 

Check out a new app that is designed to help users discover historic sites in each of Alabama's 67 counties. The PastPort app ensures that anyone, anywhere can make a virtual visit to the state’s historic destinations. The app is available now through iTunes and Google Play. To download the app on an iPad, refine your search results to include iPhone apps.  PastPort can be used to plan a Sunday afternoon drive, summer vacation, or family reunion.  

Click here to access the PastPort Education Guide that has lesson plans and resources for grades K-12.

Click here to access a look at a print copy of Alabama PastPort.  

HTHS Preparing to Utilize Data to Inform Instruction

HTHS administrators, counselors, department heads, and leadership team members are preparing a plan for taking a hard look at how they will support students in their learning and increase achievement as evidenced by ACT, WorkKeys, Scantron, and PreACT assessments.  The group will share information with the whole staff Thursday, November 7.

Districtwide Elementary Collaboration

Teachers and administrators met Monday, November 5, to plan and collaborate at Magnolia Elementary.  Staff members from each of the three elementary schools meet together three times during the school year for collaboration and learning.  The collaborative groups updated pacing guides for literacy and math, created unit assessments, and learned about EnRICh, Dreambox, ESGI, Argument Driven Inquiry, and techniques for working with special education students.