Goessel board hears about plans for bond election preparation

Written by Cynthia Goerzen Tuesday, 19 March 2013 13:46

The Goessel school board heard an update from Super­intendent John Fast at its March 11 meeting about the upcoming bond election for the KIDS project: Keep Improving District Schools.

“The committee is very positive,” Fast said.

A number of community meetings have already been held to inform the public of the building and remodeling needs. Another meeting is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, March 26, in the high school gym. Building tours will be available that evening, as well as refreshments.

Fast said a tri-fold display explaining the school needs has been set up at various places in the community, including the bank, credit union, Keith’s Foods, city building and the library.

He also showed the board the flier that would...

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Pathway enrollment at 94%

Written by Aleen Ratzlaff Tuesday, 19 March 2013 13:46

Principal Max Heinrichs reported 94 percent of Hillsboro High School students are enrolled in at least one class that is part of the 20 Career and Technical Education Pathway programs offered by Unified School District 410.

“For every hour our students are enrolled in one of our CTE classes, approximately $250 is generated toward our CTE funding,” Heinrichs told USD 410 Board of Education at its March 11 meeting.

“We’re looking to improve what we have,” he said.

With recent word of USD 410 receiving a $57,800 grant, Heinrich said four instructors—Lance Sawyer, Creigh Bell, Sonya Roberts and Ruth Baldner—will receive training to teach Project Lead the Way curriculum at HHS.

PLTW, a nationally recognized program, provides...

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‘Project Projectile’ targets hands-on math learning

Written by Don Ratzlaff Tuesday, 12 March 2013 14:17

Graham Pankratz loads the T-shirt cannon while project teammate Kale Arnold calculates the trajectory needed to come close to the target. The object was to shoot the projectile over the 10-foot wire with streamers and have it land in the small basketball goal or near the rug in front of it. Near the basket are shot markers Tyler Funk and Josh Wiebe. Enough projectiles were flying through spacious Robert C. Brown Gym­nasium last Wednes­day morning to put every passerby on alert.

It wasn’t an athletic practice or a student riot. It was a math class—but definitely not your father’s math class.

Rather than listening to lectures and deciphering equations on worksheets, students in Lance Sawyer’s fourth-hour Tech Innova­tions class created homemade launchers to compete for points—as well as a grade.

The purpose of the new Pathways course is to allow the students to develop answers to problems using hands-on activities, according to Sawyer.

“We try to build their creativity while designing and producing solutions to problems,” he said. “The students also...

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Kyle to deliver TC address at commencement

Written by Hillsboro Free Press Tuesday, 12 March 2013 14:07

Richard G. Kyle, history and religion professor at Tabor College, will deliver the commencement address for the college Saturday, May 18.

The ceremony will be at 10 a.m. in Joel H. Wiens Stadium. In case of inclement weather, the event will be in the gymnasium.

About 130 candidates are eligible for degrees from the Hillsboro and Wichita campuses.

Kyle, or “Doc Kyle” as he is known on campus, earned his bachelor of science degree from Kutztown University. He also holds a master’s degree from Temple University in history, a master of divinity from Denver Seminary, master of theology from Princeton Theological Seminary, a doctorate from the University of Mexico, and a post-doctoral study from Princeton Theological Seminary and...

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