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School News - Tip Sheet - 2/5/2008

Super Fat Tuesday: Casting Ballots & Beads 

2/5/2008, All day

New Orleans comes to Tulsa as Owen Elementary School celebrates a combination of Mardi Gras and Super Tuesday on February 5.

Owen art teacher JoAnn Caldwell says students learn about Mardi Gras and Fat Tuesday annually in an effort to teach diversity. A recent event added a poignant quality to the lessons.

“We have staff members who are Katrina survivors and after our ice storm this year,” Caldwell wrote, “it is a particularly heartfelt day of appreciation and celebration that we are can share together.”

Owen is also home to a local polling station and since the fifth is Super Tuesday—the date when 24 states across the country hold primary elections—Owen administrators thought they’d combine the two and make it “Super Fat Tuesday.”

Students have been creating artwork for the event, teachers have purchased beads and Cajun music will be piped through the halls during the day making it, at the very least, one of the funkiest voting experiences most constituents will ever have.

 

IDU Kids On9: Read on for Translation 

2/7/2008, 6:30 p.m.

If you had trouble reading the above title, you may need help from Memorial High School and the Tulsa Police Cyber Crimes Unit.

The explosion of social networking sites like MySpace has opened a whole new world of communication, much of it wildly popular with teenagers. But this exciting technology also carries risks. Memorial High School’s PTA is teaming up with the Tulsa Police Department to address these and more cyber-crimes issues.

The meeting, set for February 7 at 6:30 p.m. in Memorial’s Call Hall, features a question and answer session with Scott Wanzer, a detective in TPD’s Cyber Crimes Unit. The meeting will also give parents tips on other modes of communication, like text messaging. The event is open to the public and there is no cost to attend.

Title Translation: I don't understand kids online.

 

Little (School)House on the Prairie 

2/7/2008, 8:15 a.m.

Lee 2nd graders will celebrate Laura Ingalls Wilder’s birthday on Thursday, February 7th by dressing up in pioneer-style clothes, making wagon train dolls, making bread, churning butter, and having a picnic. This is a day of reflection on the life of Laura Ingalls Wilder and a study of how things were done in pioneer times.

 

Kids, Kows, and More  

3/13/2008, 9:15 a.m.

TPS third and fourth graders are invited to participate in a program that gives a hands on agricultural experience.

“Kids, Kows and More” is sponsored by the Tulsa County OSU Extension Service, Southwest Dairy Association and the Texas Extension Service. An expo on March 13 in Tulsa provides up-close and personal experiences for students, parents and teachers from the area.

The exhibits and demonstrations include dairy, cotton, beef, swine, wheat, sheep and wool. Students attending the expo are encouraged to write an essay called, “What I learned about agriculture on my field trip to Kids, Kows, and More.” Essays are evaluated on agriculture knowledge, originality, creativity and mechanics —including grammar, organization, and punctuation. The winning student will receive a $100 savings bond and the class will receive an ice cream party. For more information, contact the Tulsa County OSU Extension Center at 746-3709.

 

Art Ambassadors on the Move 

4/9/2008

Beth Howard, art teacher at Mark Twain Elementary and mentor of the Art Ambassadors, continues to blaze a trail of creativity. Her workshop proposal has been picked for next year’s 19th Annual National Service-Learning Conference, Youth for a Change.

The conference is billed as the largest gathering of youths and practitioners involved in the service-learning movement. The 2007 conference drew attendees from across the United States and 19 other countries. The event provides access to new ideas and networking opportunities, with more than 200 workshops and countless opportunities for informal meetings.

The conference runs from April 9-12 in Minneapolis. Archbishop Desmond Tutu of South Africa and urban educator Pedro Noguera are delivering the keynote addresses.

Howard is used to awards. In 2006 she was named the Oklahoma Elementary Art Teacher of the Year. She mentors the Art Ambassadors, an organization of students attempting to bridge the gap between school and community with art that beautifies and teaches us all to give back.

 

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