Thursday, April 16, 2015

SCHOOL ZONE 4-16-15



TOUR OUR NEW SCHOOL
The community is invited to take a short tour of the new Vermilion Elementary School facility on Douglas Street.  The building will be open to visitors on April 25 from 10:00 AM to 1:00 PM.  Stop in and visit before or after attending the Vermilion in Bloom Gardeners Fair at Sailorway Middle School.

SAILORWAY IS FOX 8 ‘COOL SCHOOL’
Congratulations to Sailorway Middle School for being chosen Fox 8 “Cool School” of the week this week.  A film crew came to the school on Wednesday and our school was featured on the Fox 8 morning show on Thursday.  This is always a wonderful and positive experience for our students.  View the full report at the following link: 



PARKING LOT IMPROVEMENTS
As the weather begins to improve, we have been getting questions about the timing of filling potholes and improving the driveways and parking lots around our buildings. The work has been scheduled by our Operations Department and will be done in the very near future. 

IMPORTANT END-OF-YEAR DATES
The school year is winding down quickly, but we still have many athletic and other events going on in the schools.  Check our website for a complete list of activity dates and times, but here are a few highlights:
VHS Fine Arts Fair – Tomorrow – Friday, April 17, 3:30 to 7:00 PM
VHS Prom, Saturday, May 16
EHOVE Graduation, Friday, May 22
Relay-For-Life event, Saturday, May 23
Last day of School, Friday, May 29
Commencement, Sunday, May 31

END OF YEAR TESTING
Vermilion High School students in grades 8 to 11 will complete this year’s mandatory PARRC tests the week of May 4.   We worked very hard to complete these requirements as efficiently as possible to reduce the stress on our students and staff.  Coordinator Heidi Riddle and the entire teaching staff did an outstanding job of helping students and handling the additional duties with professionalism.  We have very much appreciated the cooperation of our students and parents during the testing periods. 

SEEKER, DOER, GIVER, PONDERER
A recent New York Times article about billionaire mathematician James H. Simons brought to mind the importance of fostering creativity in our students.  At the age of 14 Mr. Simons was fired from a part time job for his forgetfulness.  His employer was shocked when he told them he wanted to study mathematics at MIT.  However, excellent test scores and the recommendation of a high school adviser got him into the mathematics program, and he graduated in three years.  He received his doctorate at age 23; advanced code breaking for the National Security Agency at 26; led a university math department at 30; won geometry’s top prize at 37; founded Renaissance Technologies, one of the world’s most successful hedge funds, at 44; and began setting up charitable foundations at 56.  Today he is a star of mathematics and private investment who often wins praise for his financial gifts to scientific research and programs to get children hooked on math.  He is well known for his gift of creating success by encouraging the talents of others.  The priority of encouraging creativity and talent is important for all teachers, and is something that we strive to achieve in all our schools.  Our hope is that our students will become the seekers, doers, givers and ponderers of the future.  Check out the New York Times to learn more about this extraordinary individual.    

1 comment:

  1. WOW! This is such an inspirational story. It is exactly the type of real world story that I look for to share with my middle school students to help support our goals in our Leadership program. These are all positive traits that should be encouraged and fostered. Thanks for sharing!!

    ReplyDelete