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Highlights from the April 18, 2023, School Board meeting:
- To celebrate Month of the Military Child, Meadows Elementary School Principal Angie DeAguiar introduced several students to talk about the “Lunch Brigade,” where members of the Joint Base Lewis-McChord 1-2 Ghost Brigade connect with students during lunch to play games and have conversations.
- The Board recognized several staff members and students for achievements, including:
- Aspire Middle School physical education teacher April Gibson for becoming a National Board Certified Teacher, one of 123 teachers with this distinction in our district.
- North Thurston High School students Timmy Nelson and David Bligh and teacher Aerial Edwards for their commitment to being a Unified Champion School. Timmy and David recently attended the first-ever Youth Leadership Experience put on by Special Olympics of Washington.
- The River Ridge High School cheerleading team for winning the state championship in the 2A/3A Game Day Large division.
- North Thurston High School student Sadie McKune for winning the individual state championship in the bars competition.
- North Thurston High School wrestlers Annika Lee and Aidan Anderson for earning first place at the WIAA State Wrestling Mat Classic Tournament.
- Nisqually Middle School Principal Courtney Crawford shared a mural project that several classes undertook to celebrate Earth Day. Also, several Nisqually students shared updates and reflections with the School Board about their work on student clubs, including the Health Occupations Students of America, Black Student Union, and Equity Council clubs.
- District staff updated the Board on efforts to increase the percentage of students engaged in solving relevant challenges within the classroom, school, and community (Strategic Plan Goal 2, Outcome b). We want every kindergarten through 8th-grade student to participate in collaborative problem-solving learning activities as part of their core math and science instruction. Career and technical education middle and high school students will also engage in community, industry, and entrepreneurship opportunities. Just a few examples of how we’re achieving this outcome:
- Implementing new field studies for third, fourth, and fifth-grade students.
- Piloting new biology and chemistry STEM field studies.
- Growing the number of CTE courses to more than 90.
- Implementing Building Thinking Classrooms, a collaborative problem-solving instructional model in several secondary classrooms.
- The Board issued a Determination on Career and Technical Education programs, including the skilled trades, as a result of the March 21 Community Conversation at River Ridge High School.
