From the Flight Deck
March 2018 Staff Newsletter
From Frank
Dear Sycamore Staff:
First, let me thank each of you for your dedicated and compassionate service to our students. We have weathered the challenges of winter (we will see what Wednesday brings!) and kept our students engaged in their learning. I so appreciate your collaborative efforts with each other to best serve of students, families and each other.
We continue to move through our Master Facility Planning process. We have held over 10 engagement sessions with targeted groups with many more to come. We should approach above twenty of these sessions before this phase of the process is completed. On April 24 and May 1, we will hold open engagement sessions for anyone in the community who did not have the opportunity to engage us in the more targeted sessions. Both of the above identical sessions will begin at 6:30 pm in the EH Greene Cafeteria. Please come join us if your schedule allows.
In early to mid-April, we will begin the Educational Visioning portion of our process. We will ask 50 - 60 students, staff, parents and community members to help us visualize our instructional programming as it relates to what our facilities have, don’t have and/or need. The community engagement and educational visioning should conclude by the end of the school year. We will then take time over the summer to consider concept options based on the feedback we received. Another round of engagement will take place in the fall to gather feedback on the options being considered.
So, our process is moving forward with much to do. I commit that I will keep you fully informed of our process in this very important community conversation. Have an awesome spring break; one filled with rest, relaxation and recharging. I truly appreciate all you do.
Outstanding Business Operations Manager of the Year!
Steam Showcase
Sycamore Community Schools' STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, Math) Team is excited to announce the 1st Annual Sycamore STEAM Showcase on May 12th from 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. at E.H. Greene Intermediate School. The purpose of the event is to spotlight district-wide STEAM learning and local STEAM companies. The showcase will consist of project-based learning activities, booths, demonstrations, and presentations throughout the day.
We have so many exciting STEAM opportunities going on in our school district and our community! We are seeking STEAM-related classroom projects, businesses and organizations to participate in this event. Please fill out this brief form to express your interest in being a part of the STEAM Showcase and tell us a little about your classroom project/company/organization. We welcome you to showcase your STEAM-related work through a number of ways: poster displays, booths, live demonstrations, design challenges, hands-on activities, etc.
Please help us create a day of STEAM fun by “showing off” the many exciting STEAM opportunities for our students.
While teachers presence is encouraged at this event, attendance is not mandatory. Our district "pony" will pick-up materials and transport them to EHG for Friday's set-up. Teachers are simply asked to query their students to see if they would like to "show off" their work and to help them organize their materials for the pony pick-up.
For questions, please contact:
Brad Williams, K-12 S.T.E.A.M Supervisor
Engineering Instructor
(513) 686-1770 ext:3133
Cell:(513) 253-1082
Fitbit Challenge - Update
Seven Sycamore teams "stepped off" on March 5th for the second of three Fitbit Challenges, offered by the Butler Health Plan, promoting wellness for staff.
It was announced today, after two grueling weeks of competition, that Team Pink (BA & DO staff) is the winner with 203,772 total steps and a daily average of 13,585. Second place goes to Team Green (HS) with 187,992 total steps and a daily average of 12,533.
Sycamore is leading the Butler Health Fitbit Challenge!
Out of the 11 school districts we are #1 followed by #2 Fairfield then #3 Talawanda.
We averaged 11,868 steps per day as a district and walked 5,699 miles during this competition! Congrats and thanks to all that participated.
The third challenge will be an individual competition and starts April 9th.
Let's finish strong!!!