Saturday, August 29, 2015

Jade McDaniel Internship at the GRILL

Our very own Jade McDaniel, who teaches Technical Reading & Writing and English at DRSS, worked with the Gaming Research Integration Learning Laboratory (GRILL) over the summer. The GRILL falls under the Air Force Research Laboratory's (AFRL) 711th Human Performance Wing. Under the direction of Dr. Winston "Wink" Bennett, its mission is to use game-based, off-the-shelf technology to help increase the efficiency and effectiveness of the U.S. Air Force. It is located near the base at the Wright Brothers Institute.
Jade McDaniel, Technical Reading and Writing/English Teacher at DRSS, discusses her internship experience at the GRILL.
Jade's involvement with the GRILL was facilitated by one of our board members, Jennifer Winner, who works closely with the organization. Jade was working through the Wright Scholars Program, which provides internships for high school students to work with mentors from Wright-Patterson Air Force Base (WPAFB). Specifically, Jade worked closely with the Full Throttle Karting team to take one of their problem-based learning topics and create a unit lesson plan and support document that other teachers could use. Her role was to conduct a technical writing workshop for the GRILL students and provide them with feedback on their "deliverables."

Jade truly enjoyed the experience, explaining that "the neatest thing was that I've been doing project-based learning at our school for a while now, but I still learned a lot from the other educators in terms of thinking about these problems in another way." Jade used many resources from places like the Buck Institute for Education, Edutopia, and the Creative Teaching and Learning blog to help prepare for the unique experience.

Something she gained from the experience that she hopes to use in her own classroom is a better understanding of technical reports, which she plans to apply to her own classroom by having her students create Career Exploration Reports to better understand the industries and job prospects for the careers her students hope to enter. 


Find out more about the GRILL at http://www.gamingresearchintegrationforlearninglab.com/

Thursday, August 27, 2015

Alumna Profile - Kris Cindric

With Wright State starting back next week, we wanted to highlight one of our many students who have gone on to attend Wright State University for their bachelor’s degree. Today we interview Kris Cindric, DRSS Class of 2015, who was getting her textbooks this week in anticipation of classes starting next Monday. While at DRSS, Kris was in the Junior Council on World Affairs and the National Honors Society. She is now entering WSU's Biomedical Engineering program’s “traditional path” and is hoping to do work with prosthetics when she graduates.

DRSS Alumna Kris Cindric starts her first year at Wright State next week!

When we asked her to share a bit about her experience at DRSS, Kris had much to talk about. Her favorite subject? Biology. When asked why, she explained that she really "enjoys learning about the way things work in the body and why certain things in nature work the way they do." She added that “lots of questions aren’t answered up front in Biology either, and you have to do a lot of research that might last months - or even years - to come up with an answer.”

While she has a passion for science, she also developed a passion for the social sciences during her time at DRSS. One of her favorite projects that she worked on was Matthew’s Bill, a project that current Government students are continuing in which students are seeking to pass legislation (which Kris’ class drafted) that would mandate the inclusion of adult changing stations in public restrooms across Ohio for individuals with disabilities. She loved the project because "it required so much from us and empowered us by knowing that you can make a difference with such a small community, and that it can start with one person and a determination to get something fixed.”

Kris and her class with Matthew, his mother Jennifer Helton, and Senator Peggy Lehner.
You can join them for their Call to Action Rally next Monday!

As for what she’ll miss most, she says it’s the “sense of community you get at DRSS. There’s always someone willing to give up their free time to help you.” This has served her well at WSU already, and after a grueling week of 12-hour days at Wright State taking math placement tests and performing well on them, she is thrilled to find just how much DRSS helped her prepare for college - “I knew study tactics from math that I didn’t even know I had!” Kris explained.

This past summer her educational journey began to come full circle. As a teaching assistant for pre-schoolers at the Jewish Community Center, she was excited to be able to teach the children of one of her former teachers from DRSS. She hopes to continue working there while attending WSU.

Kris still has time for fun, of course, and enjoys listening to music (her favorite band is "We The Kings"), watching movies (favorite movie is "Back to the Future"), and hanging out with her parents and four siblings. She’s also hoping to be able to continue playing soccer, having played in the Huber Heights Soccer Association throughout high school.

Good luck at Wright State, Kris!

Monday, November 17, 2014

DRSS will be having an E day, Monday November 17

The Dayton Regional STEM School will be operating under a plan E day, Monday November 17.   All students should be accessing Pilot (middle school) for their coursework or Elluminate (high school) during the scheduled times.  

Thank you and be safe!

Wednesday, October 8, 2014

DRSS Economics class visits the Raj Soin Trade Room at Wright State University

Yesterday, students in Mr. Grieve's Economics class visited the Wright State University Raj Soin Trade Room. 

The high school juniors were invited by Dr. Li, Dean of the College of Business, to learn about careers in business and finance and see the state-of-the-art trade room.  Students were able to see the Bloomberg Launchpad program as well. 


Students enjoyed a tour of the campus and lunch.   DRSS appreciates the continued support from Wright State  for allowing our students to see real-world applications and learn about future careers.  



Friday, July 11, 2014

DRSS announces new administrative leadership

We are pleased to announce the appointment of Robin Fisher and Hope Strickland in their new roles at DRSS.

Ms. Fisher is now the Chief Academic Officer overseeing the daily operations of the school. She has been with DRSS since 2009 and was previously the Assistant Principal and Director of School Counseling.

Ms. Strickland is now the Principal and will focus on curriculum and instruction. She has been with DRSS since 2012 as the Assistant Principal and has over 20 years teaching experience.

Dr. Jeff Lewis, outgoing Interim CAO and Principal, moves on with our gratitude and admiration for leading the school through substantial transitions and growth.

We look forward to dynamic years ahead under the new leadership and to continuing to build on what has already become a model of educational excellence.

Congratulations to Ms. Fisher and Ms. Strickland!

Monday, March 24, 2014

DRSS students headed to the State Science Fair!


 Congratulations to following Dayton Regional STEM students who will be headed to the State of Ohio Science Fair on May 10, 2014 at The Ohio State University


Joel Baker

Cheyenne Benson
Colleen Fulton
Ean Milligan
Quan Nguyen
Jacob Penick
Vidur Prasad
Katie Robinson
Anders Sondergaard


Shari Gordnier & Nathan Keefer - team

Lauren Drewing & Dena Back - team


Sunday, March 2, 2014

E-day for Monday, March 3rd


Monday, March 3 is an E-day due to the inclement weather. 

At DRSS, when on-site classes are cancelled, middle school students use PILOT to attend classes and high school students use Elluminate and Pilot, depending on teacher preference.  MIDDLE SCHOOL STUDENTS - Must complete the assignments posted on PILOT by the deadline given by your teacher!


Elluminate sessions will be conducted according to the following schedule:
Period 1: 9:00 am
Period 2: 9:30 am
Period 3: 10:00 am
Period 4: 10:30 am
Period 5: 11:00 am
Period 6: 11:30 am

-If you are unable to get into your Elluminate Session, most teachers will have their assignments posted on their Pilot pages, so be sure to check these and complete the assignment they have posted.

-If you forget how to access Pilot, here are some instructions:


Log into: http://wings.wright.edu/cp/home/displaylogin - (Use WINGS to access Pilot, where you will find your assignments from your teachers as well as Elluminate sessions)

Instructions for accessing Pilot through WINGS
  1. Once in WINGS: enter your User Name (w###abc) and your Password
  2. When WINGS opens up, click on the Academics tab
  3. In the Academics area, click on the Pilot link (under My Courses)
  4. Select the course you are looking for in Pilot