Last spring Rockefeller Elementary students, staff and their families, led by Instructional Assistant Teffine Green-Craig, collected over 1,000 boxes of cereal for the Summer Cereal Drive. They did so well, in fact, that they won the Elementary School Division of the competition.
The Summer Cereal Drive service project benefits summer feeding programs throughout Central Arkansas. Rockefeller Art Specialist Sharon Boyd-Struthers and a group of students and volunteers worked to decorate the cereal collection unit to look like a giant box of cereal. For their winning efforts, the entire 5th grade was rewarded with a breakfast with KTHV's Tom Brannon which was featured on the KTHV morning broadcast. Tom is shown in the photo with Rockefeller student Louis Green, who is holding the Cereal Drive trophy.
“We are very proud of the way our students and their families really pitched in, knowing that many children would benefit from their donations,” said Ms. Craig, who organized the Rockefeller effort. “This was a great project, and we look forward to collecting even more cereal this spring.”
The Little Rock School District is pleased to announce that Robin Kratzke of Dunbar Magnet Middle School recently was named 2010 Mentor of the Year by the Arkansas Department of Education. Ms. Kratzke teaches Spanish at Dunbar.
She continues a tradition. Dr. Jane Meadows (pictured at right), a science teacher at Hall High School, was Mentor of the Year in 2009. Dr. Meadows' novice teacher, Jessi Sharp, nominated her for this honor.
Congratulations to both exceptional teachers for devoting their time and effort to helping new teachers to become exceptional teachers.
In the days leading up to the first day of school, the staff of Rockefeller Elementary "hit the street" to meet and greet the neighbors and spread the word about the school. Teachers, instructional assistants, specialists and even custodians volunteered to knock on doors in the apartments and homes in Rockefeller’s attendance zone to remind families about the start of the school year and to invite their neighbors to volunteer at the school.
“We felt it was important to introduce ourselves to our neighbors and to welcome our students back to Rockefeller," said Rockefeller's new principal, Janice Wilson. "It establishes a tone of mutual respect to start the year and to build positive community relationships.”
The success of the day was evident in the many happy hellos and the exchange of handshakes and hugs from current and former Rockefeller students and parents.
Gene Williams, Science Specialist, and Charlotte Cook, Young Astronaut Specialist at Carver Magnet Elementary, recently traveled to Silverthorne, Colorado, to attend a special conference. Key Issues: Bringing Environmental Issues to the Classroom is a national teacher training institute that provides middle-level educators with the process, skills and confidence to investigate current environmental issues with their students using the Keystone Center's non-biased framework. The framework brings the process of inquiry to the study of environmental issues. They returned with innovative ideas to implement into their current lessons.
Mr. Williams and Ms. Cook attended the Key Issues Institute on behalf of 3M Little Rock.
At the annual conference for the Arkanasa Association of Educational Administrators, LRSD Associate Superintendent for Human Resources David Hartz was named the Administrator of the Year by the Arkansas Association of School Personnel Administrators. Hartz accepted his award at the annual breakfast where he was recognized for his work in the area of Human Resources as an educational leader. Hartz has worked in various positions in education in both Arkansas and Texas.