Celebrate your counselor Top students shine in 'Spotlight' Dixie ...

wrote his or her own book and illustrated it. Children’s books typically serve
as a lesson in how to deal with an event or handle a new challenge.
“I told them that if they misspell words or make grammatical errors that the
younger students may notice that and point it out,” Duvall says.
Duvall also prepped her students with tips about serving as role models and
treating the younger students with respect. After sharing their stories, JCTMS
students enjoyed lunch at the Student Activities Center at UofL.
Duvall hopes to secure additional funds next year that would allow the
students to duplicate their books and leave a copy with the Cochran students.
The project contained some surprises. Other students who are not strong
writers enjoyed the challenge and demonstrated great motivation.
A handful of the 140 JCTMS books contain such strong plots, characters,
writing, and pacing that they are publishable, Duvall says.
“To them it was not work; it was fun,” Duvall says. “They thought they were playing the whole time.”
Kudos to staff members, volunteers,
and students at Jeffersontown
Elementary. The school hosted a
Veteran’s Day celebration in
November that honored men and
women in the United States military.
PTA parents drew the outline of the
flag on a large white sheet, and then
students wrote their first names in red
and blue ink to create a customized
flag. The school shipped the flag,
along with a substantial care package,
to soldiers in Afghanistan. A
Jeffersontown Elementary parent
directed the package, to a family
friend, who is retired from the U.S.
A detail of this student’s story is set at the
bus stop.
U.S. service members stand in Afghanistan with a flag signed with red and blue signatures
of staff members and students at Jeffersontown Elementary.
Navy but who is serving in Afghanistan along with his son. The care package included a variety of items
collected by third-grade students, such as nonperishable food items, toiletries, compact discs, toys, playing
cards, and portable electronics. The school also sent drawings and letters from the students.
Kudos to Sarah Bumpas, technology teacher at Cochrane Elementary. Using a gift card donated from
Walmart, Bumpas purchased a video camera. Her students have used the video camera to create
educational podcast videos that they published online at BrainPop, a Web site that features short,
educational videos. Students explored a variety of BrainPop’s offerings about Internet safety and then
decided to create educational videos of their own. Students developed topics based on subjects they studied
in science and social studies classes and information that did not already exist on BrainPop. Bumpas and
her students improvised by creating a green screen using poster board and using sets that they either drew
from scratch or downloaded from the Internet. Bumpas was impressed with the students’ sense of humor,
innovative nature, development of a script, and occasional improvisation while filming. To check out
CochranePop, click here.