Fowler USD #225
November 2017 Newsletter
Fowler Schools
Email: erarden@usd225.org
Website: www.usd225.org
Location: 100 E 8th Ave, Fowler, KS, United States
Phone: (620) 646-5661
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Fowler-USD-225-121272627970328/
Gemini Project Plan
A community meeting to discuss and offer input into the Gemini School Redesign Project will be held on Monday, November 6 at 6:00 p.m. in the high school library. Come hear the ideas and offer input as we begin to formalize and finalize our "Redesign". Many people have already shared ideas and have been a part of discussions, but you can still be a part of this process as well. Hope to see you there!
#KStotheMoon ~ T-minus one year and counting
By Scott Rothschild, KASB
This time next year, at least 14 schools in Kansas are going to operate a lot differently. That’s because Kansas is embarking on a venture that state officials say is not happening anywhere else in the country.
The schools are being redesigned within existing resources to fit the needs of each student with the end goal of producing a successful Kansan.
The effort entails “making sure the whole student is taken into account within the school system,” said Tammy Mitchell, who along with Jay Scott , serve as the school redesign specialists with the Kansas State Department of Education.
Kansas Education Commissioner Randy Watson describes the project as among the most important that the state can tackle.
Today’s jobs require more skills and economists forecast that changes in the economy, especially in the retail industry, will displace thousands of workers due to automation.
In 1979, the average 30-year-old with a bachelor’s degree earned 17 percent more than the average 30-year-old with high school diploma. By 2004, the gap had increased to 50 percent and now it is more than 80 percent.
“The pace at which this is happening is so fast,” Watson said. Kansas students sittng in class today will be working in fields that don’t even exist now. They must be prepared for this environment, Watson said.
Mission Control
Mitchell and Scott are working with seven chosen school districts that will each overhaul an elementary and secondary school. The districts, which volunteered for the mission with the support of their school boards and teachers, have taken the operational names of the Mercury 7 astronauts.
In meeting with school officials, Mitchell said, “The enthusiasm is off the charts.” Scott said a teacher with Liberal USD 480 told him, “This is not just a school effort; it’s a community effort, it’s a state effort.”
When Watson became state education commissioner in 2015, he criss-crossed Kansas conducting meetings where people were asked what makes a successful Kansas student. Kansans said they wanted less emphasis on state and national testing and more emphasis on the whole student.
The input resulted in the Kansas State Board of Education approving the Kansans Can goal of Kansas leading the world in the success of each student. To meet that goal, the State Board approved five major outcomes. Those are improvements in early childhood learning, high school graduation rates, social and emotional growth, individual plans of study and post-secondary achievement.
The schools will build the plan, then test strategies, finalize that plan and it’s lift -off time the next school year.
Redesign redesigned
When the Kansas State Department of Education requested applicants for the Mercury 7 project, it received applications from 29 districts. So after the seven districts were selected, KSDE decided to extend its assistance to the other districts too if the districts wanted it.
Twenty-one districts joined the effort and have been dubbed the Gemini schools, after the second group of astronauts.
Mitchell and Scott will video conference with those schools every two weeks and those schools can launch their redesigns no later than 2020.
In their redesign meetings with teachers and staff , Mitchell and Scott say they have been overwhelmed by the enthusiasm for change and the faith and trust displayed in local school leaders. “That speaks highly of the kind of climate and culture that is already in place in order to move initiatives like this forward,” Mitchell said.
Gemini Project Schools
• Ashland USD 220, Ashland Elementary and Ashland Junior-Senior High
• Basehor-Linwood USD 458, Basehor Elementary and Basehor-Linwood High
• Beloit USD 273, Beloit Elementary and Beloit Junior-Senior High
• Burrton USD 369, Burrton Elementary and Burrton Middle School/High School
• Canton-Galva USD 419, Canton-Galva Elementary and Canton-Galva Junior-Senior High
• Chaparral USD 361, Harper Elementary and Chaparral Junior-Senior High
• Dighton USD 482, Dighton Elementary and Dighton Junior-Senior High
• Durham-Hillsboro-Lehigh USD 410, Hillsboro Elementary and Hillsboro Middle
• Fowler USD 225, Fowler Elementary and Fowler Junior-Senior High
• Geary County USD 475, Westwood Elementary and Junction City High
• Kingman USD 331, Kingman Elementary and Kingman Middle
• Leavenworth USD 453, David Brewer Elementary and Leavenworth High
• Newton USD 373, Slate Creek Elementary/Santa Fe 5-6 Center and Chisolm Middle
• North Lyon County USD 251, Americus Elementary and/or Reading Elementary and Northern Heights High
Make online Christmas shopping count!
- Go to www.usd225.org
- Click on SchoolStore.com on the left hand side of the page
- Click on Merchants
- Choose the store you'd like to shop at, such as Wal-Mart, Target, or Kohls.
- Click on "You must first select your school" and find Fowler
- Proceed to the desired website, shop, and checkout as normal
Thank you in advance for supporting our school!
Daylight Savings Time
Thanksgiving Meal
Thanksgiving Break
Winter Sport Pictures
Congratulations! 1st Quarter Honor Roll for 6th-12th Grades
- Avery Bollinger
- Alli Granados
- Lia Granados
- Aiden Holt
- Jacelyn Huelskamp
- Diego Medina
- Abby Zortman
- Elijah Zortman
- Ethan Boese
- Ryleigh Foster
- Samanta Granados
- Madison Hayes
- Caleb Heinz
- Charlie Littlewood
- James Littlewood
- Zach McLachlan
- Carlos Mendoza
- Adrian Mendoza
- Nathan Peters
- Israel Reimer
- Simeon Reimer
- Joselyn Romesburg
- Alexa Snook
- Madison Sutterfield
- Kimberly Velez-Prieto
Kansas Teacher of Promise
Fowler USD 225 is proud to announce that Megan Adams, 7th-12th grade Language Arts instructor, has been named a Kansas Teacher of Promise. Twice each year, Kansas colleges and universities that offer teacher preparation programs are invited to select two teacher education students to participate in a specific professional learning and recognition opportunity.
Ms. Adams is currently participating in the Transition to Teach program through Fort Hays State University. As part of her award, she will attend a workshop presented by the Kansas Teacher of the Year Team and be recognized during the Kansas Teacher of the Year State Awards Banquet in November.
Good Luck JH Basketball
Family Dinner Night
Book Fair
Fowler Grade School will host a Scholastic Book Fair on November 27 to December 1. Funds raised will help purchase books for the library. Families, faculty, and the community are invited to attend this fun reading event that helps inspire children to become lifelong readers.
The Book Fair offers specially priced books and educational products, including popular series, award-winning titles, new releases, and other great reads from dozens of publishers.
If you are unable to attend the Fair in person, we invite you to visit our online Book Fair at scholastic.com/fair. Our Online Fair is available from November 22 to December 5.
We look forward to seeing you and your family at our Book Fair! Remember, all purchases benefit USD 225.