TCS Wins Best Community for Music Education!

For the third consecutive year, Trussville City Schools has been named a Best Community for Music Education! The Best Communities for Music Education acknowledges schools and districts across the United States for their commitment to and support of music education. We are fortunate to have such a great staff of music educators and supportive administrators across our district. A press release from the NAMM website is below. There are 583 school districts recognized from across the US and only five from Alabama (Albertville City Schools , Auburn City Schools, Hoover City Schools, Vestavia Hills City Schools and Trussville City Schools).

Trussville City Schools has been honored with the Best Communities for Music Education designation from The NAMM Foundation for its outstanding commitment to music education. 
The Best Communities for Music Education designation is awarded to districts that demonstrate outstanding achievement in efforts to provide music access and education to all students. To qualify for the Best Communities designation, representatives from Trussville City Schools answered detailed questions about funding, graduation requirements, music class participation, instruction time, facilities, support for the music program, and community music-making programs. Responses were verified with school officials and reviewed by The Music Research Institute at the University of Kansas.

This award recognizes that Trussville City Schools is leading the way with learning opportunities as outlined in the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA). The legislation guides implementation in the states and replaces the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) which was often criticized for an overemphasis on testing-while leaving behind subjects such as music. ESSA recommends music and the arts as important elements of a well-rounded education for all children. 

Research into music education continues to demonstrate educational/cognitive and social skill benefits for children who make music. In a series of landmark studies by scientists and researchers at Northwestern University a link was found between students in community music programs and life-long academic success, including higher high school graduation rates and college attendance. In another study from the University, it was discovered that the benefits of early exposure to music education improves how the brain processes and assimilates sounds, a trait that lasts well into adulthood.

HTHS Engineering Academy News

From Jason Dooley and Tom Moulton, HTHS Engineering Academy Instructors


On April 6, 2018, the Engineering Academy sent 5 teams (12 total students) to compete at the State Science and Engineering Fair at UAH. Students who participated have already placed in the regional fair at UAB. We have never had this many teams compete at the state level. Students have been working hard on their projects all year, following the engineering design process to develop a working prototype to solve their chosen problem. We are very proud of all of our students, as they represented our school extremely well.

1st Place in the Energy– Hayden Parks, Drew Kinzer, and Nathan Feagans with their emergency solar panel umbrella system. Their design is a folding solar umbrella that can be deployed after emergency situations such as hurricanes and tornadoes. The umbrella folds up into a compact box for easy storage and deployment. This one umbrella can generate 100 watts of power, which would be able to charge up to 109 cellphones after one day of sun.
Awards: (Total Winnings $250)
1st Place in the Energy Category
Association of Energy Engineers Special Awards in the field of Physical Energy
2018 Alabama Science and Engineering Fair Positive Community Impact Trophy
United States Air Force Certificate of Achievement

3rd Place in the Biomedical Engineering Category – Long Nguyen, Ethan Swatek, and Cannon Riccio with their 3D printed affordable leg braces. Their design provides custom fitted leg braces that can be 3D printed. This will provide a custom fit and a cheaper alternative to the expensive leg braces currently sold by the medical industry.
Awards:
3rd Place in the Biomedical Engineering Category
United States Air Force Certificate of Achievement

4nd Place in the Embedded Systems/Systems Software category – Vraj Patel and Emily Coggins with their prototype that utilizes microwave sensors to add blind spot detection onto existing cars. Their design has a new dashboard that has LED indicators and an LCD readout screen alerting drivers of cars that are in the blind spot area.
Awards: (Total Winnings $125)
4th Place in the Embedded Systems/Systems Software category
The United States Army Certificate of Achievement for an Outstanding Science Fair Project
Boeing Certificate of Recognition and Achievement in the area of Embedded Systems
2018 Alabama Science and Engineering Fair Positive Community Impact Trophy
2018 Toyota Science and Engineering Fair Excellence in Science Research Award
Senior Best of Show Award from Armed Forces Communications and Electronics Association

4th Place in the Engineering Category – Jacob Hayes and Joseph Seagle with their automatic drink lid dispenser. Have you ever had to pull apart drink lids at a fast food restaurant and wonder who else has been touching your lid? Their design allows drink lids to be dropped into the customer’s hand by simply waving your hand under the dispenser.
Awards: (Total Winnings $100)
Association of Energy Engineers Special Award in the field of Engineering Mechanics

4th Place in the Engineering Category: Ian Knapp, Michael Rodriguez, and David Murrell with their design that can retrofit an existing longboard with brakes. Their design incorporated a handheld grip that allows the rider to stop their longboard using an under mounted braking system.
Awards:
4th Place in the Engineering Category
Boeing Certificate of Recognition and Achievement in the area of Embedded Systems

Quotable Quote

“The only way to do great work is to love what you do.” —Steve Jobs (1955-2011) Co Founder Apple Inc.

Summer 2018 Flex Days Information

Trussville City Schools is committed to ensuring success for all students by applying high standards for professional learning for everyone who affects student learning.  Trussville City Schools understands the need to differentiate professional development for teachers.  For the 2018-19 school year, August 3, 2018 and May 28, 2019, will be deemed as flex days; however, we strongly recommend that you take advantage of the multiple summer PD opportunities before returning on August 6th.  Each school principal will provide a Google link to his/her teachers for teachers to sign up for Summer PD by May 12th.  To earn the credit for the two flex days, you must complete 12 hours of professional development outside of the school day.  Flex days are designated for professional development.  However, you are given flexibility regarding the professional development.  Each year you will work with your principal to develop a professional development plan that meets your individual needs as well as aligning to system and school goals.  Trussville City Schools will offer professional development opportunities throughout the summer.  Facilitators for professional development will vary depending upon the topic.

Click here to take advantage of a helpful video tutorial to gain specific information about the TCS Flex Day process.