Career and Technical Education Month is February.  In honor of this, we will post a blog about something Opelika High School is doing in one of the six Career Tech Programs offered.

Part 1 of 4: Opelika Middle School Career Tech Expo

Part 2 of 4: Fantasy Football Marketing

Part 3 of 4: Health Sciences

Part 4 of 4: Early Childhood Education

It seems a little crazy to be thinking about the 2015-2016 school year in January, but students will be registering for classes in the upcoming weeks.  That means that every 8^th grade student and parent of an 8^th grade student is about to go through the transition from middle schooler to high schooler.  This move can sometimes be a little confusing, intimidating, and nerve wracking for both students and parents.  This is why Opelika City Schools offers a variety of opportunities for parents and students to make that transition a little bit easier.  For instance, on February 10 the OMS PAC Meeting will be focused on registration for 8^th grade parents.  Staff from Opelika High School will be present to help fill out the documents needed to ensure upcoming 9^th graders have the classes they need and want.  Parents will also have the option to sign up for an individual meeting with their child’s Guidance Counselor  to help ensure each schedule is correct.  For those that can’t make the February 10 meeting there will be similar meetings held on February 18 at the Opelika Learning Center on Jeter Avenue and February 19 at Carver Primary School on Carver Avenue.  Prior to the start of the 2015-2016 school year, all upcoming Freshman and parents can attend the “Freshman Orientation” held at Opelika High School.  This experience will provide parents and students a chance to get to know some of their teachers, see where their classes will be located, and gather information about life at the high school. 

One of the first things that happens to prepare 8^th grade students for classes at Opelika High School happened on January 26 and 27.  We call it the OMS Career and Technical Education Expo.  We use this event to help all 8^th graders experience some of the elective courses they can take as Freshmen.  Teachers from Opelika High School select student leaders from their class to come to Opelika Middle School and make a short hands-on presentation to small groups of 8^th graders as well as answer any of their questions.  It is a great opportunity for OMS students to see the many options available to them as they begin their high school experience.  It is also a great opportunity for Opelika High School students to practice the leadership skills they have been learning about in all of their Career Tech classes.  OMS students leave with a better understanding of what courses they are interested in as well as what those courses involve.  It always amazes me that there are some students who do not know that they will be expected to put their hands in dirt if they take a Horticulture class.  Our main goal with this event is to help students get interested and excited about coming to Opelika High School in hopes that they will take the classes that interest them the most.

The video below is a 4 minute summary of what all 8^th grade students experienced at the OMS CTE Expo. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yr2aLLCsLM0

What is This Math??

We have many questions about how math is being taught and why it "changed".  Information is increasing at a very rapid speed.  We must prepare students for jobs that have not yet been created!  What a daunting task -- to provide students with the information they need even as information is increasing exponentially and to also teach students how to use the information in ways that do not even exist.

When I was in school, personal computers were not available or even talked about.  Cell phones?  Nonexistent.  School prepared us for either college or a blue collar job in a local factory.  People entered the work force either after high school or college and stayed in the job for 30 years and then retired.  People had a career -- one career.  The information we were taught was to prepare us to get into college or to give us enough basic information to learn a factory skill.  Factory jobs allowed you to begin work - often at the bottom -- and work your way up if you had basic skills and a good work ethic.  College allowed you to begin work in a field that you "learned" in your last two years of college.  Those days no longer exist.

While the above is a simplified scenario, it nevertheless conveys the "big picture."  Today, people entering the work force will most likely have multiple jobs and multiple careers.  Working in the same job type and especially with the same company is a rarity.  Jobs are much more specialized, and more and more companies are providing the specific training needed for their company.  So what do students need to have?  An in depth understanding in different content areas that will allow them to use the information -- use the information in ways that we do not know yet.

All of that leads up to why we teach math differently.  Many students have gone through math classes and learned formulas, short cuts and catchy phrases in order to perform well on a math test.  However, knowing the formula and applying the formula are totally different.  Here are two basic examples:  Elementary students often learned how to "borrow" by "going next door", "marking the number out and putting a one up top", or any number of other tricks.  When it came to understanding place value and why the tricks worked, students did not understand.  So the student is then not able to use that information in any other context except stacking two numbers on top of each other and subtracting.  A second example is the Pythagorean Theorem, a² + b² = c² .  If a student only knows the formula but has no idea how to use it, the theorem becomes just a formula.

To compete for jobs that do not yet exist and to be able to use information that is rapidly expanding, we must teach students mathematics concepts.  Students must understand the how and why in order to be able to use the information to solve problems.  And, not to just solve problems that say "solve using the Pythagorean Theorem, but problems that require knowing that the Pythagorean Theorem is what is needed to solve the problem.  (Example: A newly-planted tree needs to be staked with three wires.  Each wire is attached to the trunk 3 ft. above the ground, and then anchored to the ground 4 ft. from the base of the tree.  How much wire is needed for 6 trees?)

Preparing students for the future means teaching math differently.  It means teaching students the why and the how of how math works.  And, that looks different.

Opelika Middle School: Young Entrepreneurs Academy and Project Lead the Way

Every now and then teachers have those days where they can see the light bulbs turning on in their students’ heads and connections between “real-life” and school are made.  It is those days that teachers strive for, and it is those days that get teachers through the days where nothing goes as planned.  In my current role as Curriculum Coordinator and Career Technical Director, I am not delivering instruction on a daily basis so I do not get to have those days with students anymore.  However, there are occasions where I get to share in those experiences when teachers have them.  One of those occasions occurred when Ms. Clarinda Jones, Opelika Middle School’s “Young Entrepreneurs Academy” teacher, collaborated with Ms. Melanie Montel, Opelika Middle School’s “Project Lead the Way” teacher, to allow their students the opportunity to mimic a situation that occurs every day throughout our community. 

Ms. Jones' student had been working on his business idea in the YEA class at OMS for many months and was getting ready to present his idea to a panel of investors.  He was given the opportunity to work with a student in the PLTW class who had been learning to design and model in 3D using AutoDesk Inventor.  I watched these two students who had different skill sets discuss the dimensions and shape of the "T-Bone Slider".  The final step in this process came when Mr. Josh Lackey was brought into the situation to teach the students how to take the 3D design and put it into the 3D printer software so it could be printed.  In two class days, I watched two 8th grade students work together like so many of our community members do to design and create a prototype of an idea.  It was truly one of those teaching moments where I couldn't stop smiling. 

We like to say that we are preparing students for their lives after school.  After watching how these teachers collaborated in order to provide their students with an authentic "real world" experience, I could not think of a profession, school system, or community I would rather be working and living in.  I truly believe Opelika is a great place to work, live, and raise a family. 

Video Link

Did You Know?

Opelika City Schools is proud of the many outstanding employees that serve our students each day.  To "educate every child every day", we must have highly qualified, dedicated teachers in every classroom.  While we know that degrees and certifications are not as important as classroom teaching ability, for those of you that do not know our teachers and administrators, these degrees help tell our story.

Did you know that of our teachers and adminstrators:

• 7 have achieved National Board Certification

• 54% have a Master's degree and 10% have Educational Specialist and/or doctorate degrees

• 57% have over ten years of experience

• 25% have over twenty years of experience  

• there are 19 teachers that have 30+ years of experience, and of those, 3 have over 40 years of experience -- Wow!  

• that 15% graduated from Opelika High School

We are blessed to have such a wealth of knowledge teaching "every child every day"!

Community Members Contribute to Students' Education

Over the past few weeks community members have been engaged with Opelika City Schools students to expand their understanding of school and community relationships.  Rusty Melnick, OHS graduate and community businessman participated in two of these events.  His thoughts about his experiences are listed below after a brief description of the events.

Opelika City Schools worked with the Opelika Chamber of Commerce to offer the Young Entrepreneurs Academy (YEA) to our students.  We are currently offering this program through one of the technology classes at Opelika Middle School.  YEA is a national program that teaches young people how to take an idea and develop it into a business.  YEA utilizes community members to teach the process of beginning your own business.   

Opelika High School tenth grade English teachers recently asked Patsy Boyd Parker, Rusty Melnick, Wilbert Payne, and Frances Capps-Palmer, who were OHS students during the desegregation era to form a panel to discuss how segregation and desegregation impacted their lives. This panel discussion was an activity to coincide with their reading of Warriors Don’t Cry.

Rusty's comments:

OMS - When I was asked to speak with the YEA class at the Middle School my first thought was, “how could students this young be interested in a presentation on business insurance.” After about five minutes into my presentation my question was answered, and it was not the answer I was expecting.  (They were interested because of what they had been learning in YEA.)  The students were extremely attentive and respectful of not only me but of their fellow classmates. Their interest prompted them to ask questions during the presentation instead of waiting until we finished. I was absolutely blown away by their questions which were specific to their business exposures and were thought provoking. The students’ attention and participation far exceeded my expectations!

OHS - I was excited when asked to participate on a panel concerning my experience during integration of the Opelika School system. Prior to the first panel session I was not sure what to expect from the students as far as their interest in this subject. The session started with each panel member sharing about a couple of the experiences we had during the beginning of integration in Opelika. The students were attentive during our opening remarks, then the floor was opened up for questions and the students came alive! Questions came from all students, male, female, white and black asking questions that were sincere and looking for honest answers. After the session was over, numerous students approached each panel member to thank them for sharing their experiences and also to ask additional questions. I would definitely say I benefited more than anyone at the session because of what the other panel members had to say and from how the students were respectful and genuinely interested in learning more about the integration process in Opelika - based on the quality of questions they asked!

Thank you Rusty for your involvement and these comments.

Robotics - A Student's Perspective

Opelika High School and Opelika Middle School both have a Robotics Team that recently competed in the War Eagle BEST Robotics Competition sponsored by Auburn University.  For this event, teams receive a challenge.  This year students were challenged to build robots that could transport and assemble parts for windmills.  These teams work for six weeks to construct a robot that will be able to complete the challenge.  Not an easy task.  Below are a student’s thoughts on this process.   

My name is Codey Bracknell, and I’m a sophomore at Opelika High School.  The reason I got involved with the robotics’ team is because I wanted to try something new. I am in the Project Lead the Way engineering class, and one day Mrs. Howell was explaining how robotics worked.  I wanted to try it out and see if it was fun, and I also wanted to meet new people.   The main thing I like about robotics is being able to design and share ideas.  Even if your idea is not so great, it can still be a good idea because it might have a little piece in it that the team can use.

            When we started to design and build the robot, our main focus was on what type of wheel design we needed and what the shape of the claw would be.  Our prototype’s claw couldn’t pick up any of the game objects but the way we had the wheel system setup was perfect. So we kept the wheel design and changed the claw’s shape and how it worked.  We made the claw into a hook that rotated up and down kind of like a dump truck picking up a big trash can.   Our team won the 2^nd place Founder’s Design Award for our robot design.

One challenge that our team had was how we would approach the game field and how many points we could score in 3 minutes. So, the team came up with the strategy of picking up 1 chicken, hitting the permit switch with it, and then getting that chicken out of the way.  We would then move the other chicken out from in front of the bridge and open the bridge crossing gates.  After that we just started picking up windmill objects and taking them to the other side since they were worth 30 points apiece.  I was the first driver at the competition on Saturday, and I followed our strategy.  But when I picked up the chicken and rammed the permit switch, the chicken came off and fell on to the other side of the game area.  After I was finished I got all the other drivers together and told them we needed to go with a different strategy and just pick the chickens up and get them out the way instead of trying to perform tasks with the chickens hanging on the hook.  We went with our new plan and it worked.  We were #4 out of 22 teams in the seeding matches and advanced to the semi-finals (top 8 teams).   We tried to use the same strategy again and it almost worked, but we just didn’t do as well driving and ended up 5^th or 6^th and didn’t advance to the finals.  This year’s robot was a success, because it could consistently do everything we designed it to do.

The things I learned from being on the robotics’ team are that no one is perfect and no one is too smart. Everyone has flaws in life and everyone has their good and bad days. Another thing I learned is that duct tape does not, I repeat does not, fix everything. Being in robotics inspired me to go ahead and keep doing robotics next year because the best thing I like about it is designing and building the robot and seeing if the idea works. Once you do it and it ends up working you get to say “hey, I helped design and build that robot”.  So, the biggest thing I learned is take pride in your work whether you win or not; if it works in your head you’re still number one. I keep saying that no idea is too good and no idea is too bad and don’t be afraid to comment or share ideas that you have because you never know when one of your ideas might help more than you think.

We are proud of the hard work our teachers and students put into this endeavor.  This work is done completely after school and receives no state support (locally funded).  Below is a picture of Axle, the OHS robot.

Think About It

     Once upon a time, gathering information for a report entailed looking the topic up in the World Book Encyclopedia or the Encyclopedia Britannica.  These information sources were known to be true, reliable and up-to-date (if you purchased the yearbook each year).  Today, however, our students "Google" everything from "who won the football game" to "what caused the Spanish American War."  And, many students (and adults) think that "it must be true if I found it on the Internet."
     News flash:  Not everything on the Internet is true!  So, how do we teach students to be critical readers?  How do we teach them to discern fact from fiction?  How do we help them navigate the abundance of information that is literally at their fingertips in order to use the good and true information to solve problems and make good decisions.

     One way that we teach critical reading is to have students identify questions as they are reading. What information is missing?  What question does this bring to mind that was not answered in the text?  Is there a resource to back up what is being said?  Students often use sticky notes to make observations and record questions.  Then, these sticky notes can be a springboard for class discussions, ideas for more research, or small group discussions with other students.  Students will not always be able to have every question answered, but it allows them to make some decisions about how reliable a source is based on what is or is not included.
     This same procedure is used when teaching novels or other fiction materials.  Sticky notes may contain a note such as "this makes me think about a time that...", or "this makes me wonder about..." or "I don't understand what this means..."  In other words, it's not just about reading; it's about thinking.
     
     Another example of how to teach critical reading it to cite text evidence.  As students answer questions about the text they have read, they are asked to find the evidence in the text that supports their answer.  Instead of just trying to remember what happened in the story, students may be asked to find the answer in the text and "cite the text evidence that you found."  Often students use markers to highlight the evidence.  When students form opinions about a character or situation, they are asked to cite text evidence to support their opinion.  Again, it is not about just reading; it is about thinking.

    We want our students to be prepared to handle the bombardment of information that they get on the Internet, news sources, propaganda, and even textbooks.  We want students to be able to make their own informed decisions and to not just believe everything they read.