8th Graders Tell History Through Comics

An example of the comics students created during last year's Revolutionary Comic Book project.

By Apurva Makote

The 8^th graders at STEM are working on a project for U.S History. The purpose of the project is to depict the American Revolution in comic book format. 

“This is one of the 'original' projects [at DRSS], meaning that it has been a staple in the 8th grade since the school has had an 8th grade class,” says Ms. Durkee, 8^th grade U.S History and high school government teacher. 

“While I can’t speak to why it was created, I can speak to why it’s stayed a staple project and that’s because of the enthusiasm the students at DRSS have for comic books. Superheroes, Manga, and other comic stories are found everywhere in DRSS, and so applying that fun hobby so many students have to a project just makes sense.” Students in the past have displayed their comic books at the Gem City Comic Con.

There are 3 parts to the comic book:

• The causes of the American Revolution
• During the War
• After the American Revolution

Students started the project by first learning about the different causes of the American Revolution. Then the students chose one of the cause event for their comic book. They wrote a script and created images of the cause even. 

Right now the students are learning about the different battles that took place during the war. The students are writing the script for the battles that they chose. They will later create images that go along with the script. 

Moving forward, the students will learn about what happened after the war and do the same process of writing a script, revising the script, and creating images for that section. “I hope that students realize that history is complicated and real. Many approach history thinking that it’s a bunch of old stuff that doesn’t impact them,” explained Ms. Durkee “I like to think that this project proves that notion wrong in that the humanness that was our country’s founding is still very much a part of our politics and world today.” 

Students and Teachers Give Grid Learning a Try

 By Katie Jones

There are many different styles of teaching. The Dayton Regional STEM School is known for its project-based learning approach to education, but this year’s juniors in Mrs. Kancler’s chemistry class are trying a new way of learning for their next unit: grid learning. 

Grid learning is where students learn a topic at their own pace. Students start the class by writing a goal for themselves, and then when the class ends, they reflect on how well they accomplished their goal. Grid learning is set up in levels, with each level becoming progressively more in-depth on the topic.

For example, in the juniors’ new unit, there are five levels. In each level there are a certain number of tasks that each student must complete before moving on to the next level. In order to move on to the next task, students must complete the previous one with an 85% or higher. If they don’t get an 85%, they have to retake the assignment until they do. However, even if they do reach the target score, they can continue retaking until they get a 100% if they wish. 

An example of Grid Learning from Chemistry class.

In addition to the levels, grid learning is unique because of the way that students communicate with the teacher. Instead of raising their hands and waiting for an answer as done traditionally, students are given three cups. These cups are green, yellow, and red. Students will place one of the cups on top, based on their current need. The red cup is used when someone is completely stuck on a problem or needs to have something checked or graded. Yellow is for when they need help on something, but can continue on their own until they get help, or for when they need something checked. If students are doing well, then they put up the green cup.

The red and yellow cups are also used when students write their goals. After students are done writing their goal, they put up the yellow cup. Once everyone at their table is done, they have a discussion about their goals and whether or not they are reasonable ones. Then they put up a red cup to signify they’re finished, and the teacher comes to check off their goals.

One of the interesting parts of grid learning is that because each student is able to go at their own pace, they create their own timeline for completing the unit. Because of this, students can choose to work on other classes’ work if they wish. For example, some students have chosen to study for upcoming tests or finish particularly hard homework during the class instead of working on the chemistry assignments. However, this doesn’t mean they fall behind. Students can also choose to work on the assignments in their free time.

Juniors have mixed reactions to this new teaching style. Bri Perkins is looking forward to trying it, saying “I’m really excited to start this different kind of learning. I think it will allow students to work at their own pace. It also helps the students go to the teacher for help instead of their peers. This can clear up a lot of confusion that some students might have.” 

Grid Learning was introduced to teachers at DRSS by Chad Ostrowsky, founder of The Grid Method, who spoke at the last Project:WRIGHT Symposium. Other DRSS  teachers have begun to experiment with the approach as well, so Grid Learning may be coming to a classroom near you soon! 

First DRSS Annual Fundraising Campaign Successes

By Neeti Prasad, 8^th Grade

This year DRSS organized a fundraising campaign. To learn more about this fundraiser, I talked to Mrs. Sara Collins, Director of Development. I asked Mrs. Collins about why our school had to set up this fundraiser this year. “To understand why we had to assemble a fundraising campaign this year, it’s important to realize how DRSS is funded.  DRSS is a public school, and our operating revenue comes from the State of Ohio in the form of per pupil funding.  While the state funding helps to sustain our operations, DRSS wants to grow.  We have a strategic plan, and we pay close attention to long-term sustainability. That includes continuing to provide students with innovative curriculum and programs and enhancing their educational experience with technology and rich learning opportunities,” she told me. 

To raise additional operating support, conventional public schools are able to have levy taxes since their students all go to one district. However, DRSS is a regional school which means that we are have students from more than thirty districts, making us ineligible to have a tax levy. For all those reasons, DRSS organized the first ever, community-wide fundraiser. “We asked all of our stakeholders – parents, partners, volunteers, staff, board, and alumni –  to participate and invest in the school’s long-term success.”

Everyone tries to plan ahead for any big event that they are hosting. It wasn’t any different for this campaign. Mrs. Collins and her team started assembling for this campaign about a year ago. During this time, she worked with staff, board members, parents, and community partners to look at and understand the school’s financial needs, prepare a timeline for the campaign, create a plan to communicate this fundraiser to others, and developed a compelling case to persuade donors to donate to our school. She also set up a “secure and convenient way” for donors to make donations online.  

“It was critical to speak with many people and create awareness of why DRSS needs to conduct an annual fundraising campaign for operating support.”  To communicate and create awareness about this campaign she visited and talked to the staff, board members, parents, and community partners. To spread the awareness to stakeholders, she created weekly “special messages” for each group of stakeholders through e-newsletters and social media. Every week she would update them on our progress toward our overall goal of $25,000, to encourage them to support us. 

“One of the most exciting parts of this year’s annual campaign was working with our community outreach director, Arch Grieve, to create a list of “Fifty Reasons the Future is Bright at DRSS.” Those Fifty Reasons had photos, video clips, testimonials from students, teachers, community partners, parents, and alumni. The Fifty Reasons were shared on social media, showing the different educational experiences and successes that students have at DRSS. This helped build more support for the campaign.

Mrs. Collins clearly dedicated a lot of time and hard-work to make this fundraising campaign possible, but was there a lot of success? “The first community-wide annual fundraising campaign was a success in multiple ways.” She was very happy that the school exceeded its goal by raising a total of $28,000 from donors.  “We had 100 percent participation from DRSS staff members and Board of Trustees members, as well.” 

DRSS welcomed 12 new donors to its Innovator Level of giving, which means that they made a donation of $1,000 or more. She also said that this campaign has given awareness to the DRSS community of the exceptional education DRSS students receive and why “additional operating support is critical to the school’s continued success.”

“It was a pleasure to witness the success of this first annual campaign, and I offer sincere appreciation to everyone who participated this year.  Every gift made an impact on the students and school, no matter the amount, and because more than 200 members of our community donated, we exceeded the campaign goal.  That’s amazing, and the future is bright for DRSS!”

I would personally like to thank every donor who supported our school to better our education. I would also like to thank Mrs. Collins for putting in so much work and effort to make this campaign successful for our school. 

You can learn more about the campaign and continue to donate online at www.daytonstemschool.org/annualcampaign.

Ones and Zeros

This year students are coding their digital portfolios using HTML.

By Mackenzie Howard  

This year, the students of the seventh grade at the Dayton Regional STEM School are using the language of the computer to build a website or portfolio about themselves for their STEM Foundation class. The students will start learning HTML, one of the languages of coding, to build their websites.

To create their website, students must start from scratch. Students must be creative and insert images from previous projects from throughout the year. Students will also be adding in examples of ways they have improved over the course of the year, like their Collaboration Logs, group projects, partner work, etc. 

This project will be great for the students because it gives them the ability to show them how much they have grown over the first half of the year!

The 7th grade STEM Foundations (SF) teacher, Maria Cockroft, explains, “This project will make us better problem solvers and critical thinkers so that we are all prepared for any future job, even the ones not created yet.”

Another exciting part of this project is that the students will get to tie in there superhero teams to add some extra fun to this project. “Clues will be hidden inside the coding software and in hidden code messages. The point of the game is to learn the coding content but also to have fun. And to catch the bad guy!” Ms. Cockroft explained.

Packed House at DRSS Exhibition Night

Visitors to DRSS getting some refreshments from the 6th grade Economics Project booths.

By Mackenzie Howard

Last night on December 8, 2016, the Dayton Regional STEM School hosted yet another amazing exhibition night to show off all of the student accomplishments from the first half of the year. 

Many parents, students, partners, and others showed up to this cheerful event. There were many booths and exhibits to be shown all around. 

Many parents were exited to see all the thing that the students at DRSS have been working on and were amazed to see all of the projects and events happening.

Students in Chemistry had a chance to show their parents what they have been doing!

One of the parents who attended the Exhibition Night was pleased to have the opportunity, explaining, "I thought it was a great experience. I liked how they showcased an event like that to show everyone what the students have been working on. I thought it was a good bonding experience for my daughter and I to get to do things together. And I was excited to see what she had been working on. I think it is a great opportunity for the kids that go to that school, and it will set them up for a life time of success." 

Besides the fun exhibits, there was a lot of bonding with family at this event. Children enjoyed showing their accomplishments throughout the year and making their parents proud!

Harlem Renaissance Gala

By Trinity Minus

In Mr. Pant’s 9^th grade U.S. History class students are coming to the end of their African-American history unit. To cap off the unit, students participated today in the "Harlem Renaissance Gala." This Gala assessed students' knowledge of the famous person they chose and demonstrated their understanding of the Harlem Renaissance.

The students started this unit by learning about African-American history, beginning with slavery. They then moved on to Jim Crow laws and The Great Migration. The Great Migration was the movement of African-Americans from the South to the North through many modes of transportation. Along the way the students completed journal entries based on the chapters for the book Journey to Freedom. 

The Renaissance Gala will be similar to a project Mr. Pant did two years ago when he was a 7^th grade teacher. All of the students will be required to come dressed as their famous person or as a representative for them (ex. Their Agent). The students will also need to make an artifact. The artifact will be something related to their character. If a student chose a painter, they could bring in a picture of one of their paintings. If they got a musician, they could bring in some music or perform the song themselves. 

The students also had to make a new part in their digital history museums using Unreal. Unreal is a video game program that Mr. Pant has been using all year to link all of the units together. This is the first year that Mr. Pant has used it. At the end of the year, the students can go into their levels and walk through all of their units from the year. Lastly, students have to write a research paper that explains the importance of the Harlem Renaissance. 

Today at the gala, students put up their handmade decorations and mingled and talked with one another just like if they were at an actual gala. On Thursday, December 8^th, some of the students will show off their Unreal levels and what they did at the Gala, including a Mannequin Challenge video!

Exhibition Night Almost Here!

Join us for Exhibition Night on December 8 from 5-7PM! Find our event on Facebook here.

By Saarah Brock

STEM exhibition night is upon us! It is this coming Thursday, December 8th. It starts at 5PM and ends at 7PM, but it is an open house so you can come anytime in between. Family and friends are more than welcome!

But you may be wondering what exhibition night is. Well, exhibition night is where students from each grade come and present projects that they have done throughout the school year so far. It really just gives students a chance to show of what they have accomplished this year.

So that you know what events are going on, here is a sampling of the projects being displayed by grade level:

• The 6th graders are doing the Economics Project. 
• The 7th graders are doing the Storybook projects. 
• The 8th graders are doing The Plate Tectonics Models and Explanations. 
•  The 9th graders are doing the Collaborative Novelette Project. 
• The 10th graders are doing Healthy Living Events in three different rooms. 
• The 11th graders are doing Presidential Election Infomercial. 
• And finally, the 12th graders are doing the Biorhythms Project.

These are just some of the many projects the students are presenting. Here's a map of everything going on next Thursday!


So come to exhibition night to see some of these amazing projects!