The balloon launch from Hobart High School with Mr. Vermeulen's Senior Engineering Design class (PLTW) was a success! The weather was perfect with clear skies and low wind speed as they set out to achieve their goal of reaching over 100,000 feet in the atmosphere and a landing as far south as Logansport, IN. The team set up the launch in the Brick Yard and opened it up to the public to come and watch. Our 4th graders were bused over and joined forces with much excitement and anticipation, they made signs to cheer them on! Finally, with everything checked and approved to go, everyone started the count down 5...4...3...2...1! Off it went into the clear blue sky as they stood and watched until it could no longer be seen.

With eagerness the team hopped on a bus and with their tracking systems and devices, followed the balloon on it's journey. Many classrooms had it on their computers to watch the process of it throughout the date and updates were being made constantly. In the end the balloon reached a staggering 98,691 feet into the atmosphere and traveled over 90 miles from Hobart landing in a personal residents back yard in Kokomo, IN!! The experience was one of a kind and an inspiration to all of our Brickies - nothing is impossible! They even made the National PLTW News! Check out the video from the launch and some pictures that were taken throughout the trip below.

Stats/Facts:
Maximum Altitude Reported by APRS: 98,691 FT
Direct Miles from Hobart: 92.28 miles
Ground Miles (actually flown) from Hobart: 110.69 miles
Maximum Speed: 85mph
Flight time: 2 hours 33 minutes
Ascending time: 1 hour 59 minutes
Descending: 34 minutes
How far off of Prediction: 17 miles to the Southeast

Our 5th Grade Brickies went to Purdue Northwest for a "Walk Into My Future." Through this college and career readiness initiative, they were able to take a look into attending higher education and what it has to offer. Our students explored college life through interactive stations created by the faculty and students at Purdue. After the stations, the students took a walk around campus to symbolically take steps toward their future! It was a great opportunity and inspired our students to pursue their dreams. Checkout the highlights by watching the video below!

On November 20th, the Hobart Middle School Robotics Team participated in the 10th annual IU Northwest Indiana FIRST Lego League Indiana Qualifying Tournament. Thirty-two teams from Northern Indiana competed for 9 spots in the Championship Tournament. Students researched methods of recycling trash for this year's theme. The teams had 8 weeks to learn about Animal Allies and learn to work as a team. They also had to learn how to program a robot with Legos to run missions and earn points. Our Brickies were strong and confident! Their hard work paid off with them achieving 1st place in Robot Design Programming! The students had a great time and took home priceless experiences. Great job to all that participated and keep up the good work Brickies!

On November 22nd, 76 Hobart JROTC cadets made a trip to Ridge View Elementary School to teach about jobs, businesses, and entrepreneurship. The curriculum is called Junior Achievement (JA) which is a non-profit program with the purpose of providing young people with the skills and knowledge they need to have successful futures. The curriculum is comprised of 25 different lessons (five for each grade level) that begin with teaching about the jobs families have to provide for each other and end with students visualizing the connections made between different parts of the world to create a single product. Going to the elementary school to teach JA is one of the JROTC program’s biggest service learning excursions of the year, and several weeks of planning and practice go into the event to ensure that the kids are given substantial information as well as a fun time. Looking at pictures from the event, one would be hard pressed to say the performance didn’t exceed the expectations of the students, their teachers, and our own cadets!

Carolie Warren retired from her position as Hobart Middle School principal in the Spring of 2014. Though Mrs. Warren missed the students dearly, she was enjoying her time spent with her husband and kids. Then one day last May she came home to find that her house had been robbed! DVD's, jewelry, and a large container of change was missing from her home. After filing a report with the HPD, Mrs. Warren had the brilliant idea of calling local stores that had CoinStar machines. After reviewing the cameras at the local grocery store, she spotted her missing coin container and the 2 women conducting the transaction! From here the surveillance footage went to Detective Scott Shaginaw with the police department and 3 people were arrested that may have been responsible for 70 - 80 burglaries in multiple communities over 6 - 8 months! Though Mrs. Warren would have been a great detective, we are proud to call her a Brickie! "Once a Brickie, Always a Brickie!"

Computer Science Education Week is upon us! That means that the Hour of Code will be in full force during the week of December 5 - 11 and we will continue to code throughout the school year. The Hour of Code is a global movement reaching tens of millions of students in 180+ countries. Anyone, anywhere can participate in Hour of Code with hundreds of one-hour tutorials available in over 45 languages! No experience is needed, just visit hourofcode.org and get started! The tutorials range from pre-readers to grades 9+ and are based around popular themes such as; Minecraft, Moana, Star Wars, Frozen and also subjects like math, science, social studies, art and more! Children have got in the habit of wanting to play on the computer, so take them to hourofcode.org and let them learn while playing! The tutorials are so engaging and interactive that they won't even realized they are programming! Happy Coding! Visit our Cool Tools for a break down by grade level by clicking below.

Last month we held 2 free showings of the award-winning documentary, "Screenagers"! Those that came said it was a "powerful film" and PBS NewsHour, Good Morning America, and Dr. Mehmet OZ agree that it is sweeping the nation. THINK ABOUT DEVICES! Great takeaways include the following:
-the potential negative impact of multi-tasking,

-the need for technology boundaries,

-the use of technology by individuals to remove themselves from interaction with others.

Join the School City of Hobart on December 9th to celebrate the season right! Starting at 5pm are pictures with Santa. A brief sing-a-long followed by the free showing of Polar Express movie starts at 6pm! Concessions will be available for purchase, including hot chocolate! Feel free to come in your pajamas (school dress code applies) and enjoy the spirit of the holiday! Please enter through door #21. To better serve you, reservations are preferred but not required. Please call 942-8885 ext. 0 and feel free to leave a message with your name and how many attending!

Does your child love to dance? Have them join the Brickettes at the Holiday Dance Clinic! For 2 hours on December 17th they will practice with Coach Slater, Coach Torres, and the Brickettes for a small performance that will take place later that day at the Varsity Basketball game! It will be a great experience and fun opportunity for you little ones in grades K-5!

Register no later than December 9th to be guaranteed a shirt!

If you need a form to fill out and submit to the main office, visit hobart.schoolwires.com/danceclinic

Dr. Peggy Buffington and Sarah Ramos

The School City of Hobart does not discriminate on the basis of race, creed, sex, color, national origin, religion, age, sexual orientation, marital status, genetic information, or disability, including limited English proficiency.

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