Lanier Primary School has been up to some good things according to a presentation given during the Board of Education meeting on Feb. 28.
During the meeting, LPS teacher Nicole Riggs presented information on the school’s newest technological system, called Turning Point. She showed the board and meeting attendees how the program was used with a 1st grade class to help them with their dictionary skills.
"Turning Point questions come after a class discussion," Riggs explained. "After they do the Turning Point questions, graphs show automatic feedback on how the students score. Teachers can really tell right away whether or not their students understand what’s been taught."
Riggs said reports on student performance can be done individually or for a group. It shows the question, what the responses were and the percentages of answers.
"It also shows the Georgia standards and shows your report based on whether or not a student has mastered the standards within a particular lesson," she said. "The other interesting part is Turning Point Anywhere. You can pull up anything and still create reports or make a general quiz in Word, etc. You need a participant list in order to show individual results, or you can just do it with general answers."
Riggs also presented a slideshow on behalf of Iris Simms and what’s she’s been doing as a gifted teacher at LPS. Simms has created a ‘GSI’ science program for her students, as a spin-off of the television series CSI. Simms has her students participate in crime scenes with full investigations. Students examine evidence and the science behind it, conduct tests and experiments and check for fingerprints."The students get really excited each time they have another case to work on," Riggs said. "Next up will be the case of the missing leprechaun. The program teaches a lot of higher order teaching skills."
Board Chairman Eddie Warren was recently at a technology seminar and during the presentation, he commented on how important new technology is for Bryan County students.
"What we teach our children today will be obsolete in about two years," he said. "This is great."
In other good news:
- Justin Bostick and Miguel Moore were presented with their awards for being the winners of the 2007 Georgia Stock Market Game, put on by the Georgia Council on Economic Education. "We got to pick certain companies to buy and we did well with it," Bostick said.
Moore added that he was very thankful for the award. Principal Harold Roach said the boys made money while the market was going down, so he was hoping for some tips. "These young men worked very hard with their teacher and achieved what many people wish they could achieve in the stock market," he said.
- Jessie Elmore was recognized as the 2007 Special Education Teacher of the Year for Bryan County. Director of Special Education Frank Williams accepted the award on her behalf.
"It’s always a difficult decision to narrow it down," he said. "This year, we allowed anyone in the district to help us nominate someone. We had several nominations and Mr. Roach nominated Jessie Elmore. She’s more than just a good person at what she does; she’s just a good person. She is an advocate for her boys and girls."
- Ron Lewis was recognized as the 2007 3A Athletic Director of the Year. Roach said Lewis has been a wonderful leader, building relationships with his kids that last a lifetime.
- 2008 Star Student for Bryan County High School Howard Amelsberg said he has made some bad choices early in his high school career but turned things around, with a little help from 2008 Star Teacher Michael Owens.
- Ashley Barfield was recognized as the 2007 Softball Athlete of the Year by the Hinesville Umpires Association.
- BCMS math teacher James William has become a National Board Certified teacher. Principal Debbie Hamm said he’s always looking for ways to improve his instruction.
- The Southern Association of Colleges and Schools visited Bryan County schools last week and Brewer said there were several comments about the many resources Bryan County teachers have available. "SACS were very complimentary and they were tickled pink to be here," Warren said. "It’s a great system and we want to keep it that way."
- A bid was accepted in the amount of roughly $51,000 from NorCross Georgia for Hewlett-Packard servers for the technology department, which passed unanimously.
- A bid was accepted in the amount of almost $28,000 from OCS Construction for the RHHS baseball field netting project, which passed unanimously.
- The board accepted donations from the BCES PTO for more than $1,300 for a Turning Point unit, $500 for a Fun Saturday, and $1,500 for field day t-shirts.