Leading The Way

By Anna Crichton

Nearing the end of their junior year, students begin the hunt for scholarships to college. Each scholarship looks for certain things in its applicants, and in this case, the Kettering Rotary Youth Leadership Award was looking for Fatima Boumahchad’s impressive leadership skills. 

Fatima Boumahchad is in her junior year at the Dayton Regional STEM School.

Fatima is currently an 11^th grader at DRSS, and has been attending the school since the 9^th grade. Ever since then, she has exhibited wonderful leadership skills. She is an active member of NHS, Keyclub, Student Government, and various other school organizations. You can always find her helping out a student or a teacher, and just being an overall positive person. So it comes as no surprise that she was nominated by teachers of the Dayton Regional STEM School for the Kettering Rotary Youth Leadership Award.
 

The Rotary Youth Leadership is a scholarship that gives students the chance to go to a camp between April 15^th and April 17^th. At this camp, students are given the chance to meet other like-minded people from various schools, discuss ethical and social issues of today, as well as participate in a variety of activities focused directly on leadership. Students attending this camp will focus on becoming better leaders to their peers. They will learn skills such as fundamentals of leadership, ethics of positive leadership, qualities of a "servant leader," importance of communication skills in effective leadership, conflict management and problem solving, and elements of community and global citizenship. At the end of the camp, students will attend a luncheon and be awarded a certain amount of scholarship money to help them further pursue their dreams of college. 

This is an amazing opportunity for Fatima, as it will expand her leadership skills and give her a step closer to getting into the college that she wants. When asked about what she was most excited about in regard to receiving this amazing opportunity, she said “I really do enjoy being a leader and I feel like this opportunity will help me learn more skills that a leader should possess.” Congratulations to Fatima for receiving this amazing award.

It's A Wrap!

By Chloe Johnson

After making abstract posters capturing the reality of genocides, the tenth graders will show off their artwork to the public. On Wednesday, April 27, 2016 from 5-6PM, Mrs. Bange, Director of the Educational Resource Center at Wright State University, will host a closing reception for the genocide posters. The event will be held at the Charles and Renate Frydman Educational Resource Center (ERC) on the campus of Wright State University. The resource center is connected to the College of Education and Human Services. Interestingly, the ERC also houses the Dayton Holocaust Resource Center. Furthermore, the ERC was named after Charles and Renate Frydman, both Holocaust survivors. Uniquely, between the months of April and May, the Jewish Holiday Yom HaShoah, or "Holocaust Days of Remembrance" is celebrated. Mrs. Bange said, “In 2016, it will be observed on May 4^th. We will have the artwork on display from mid-April- through mid-May.” From five to six, the public will be able to view the posters and hear testimonies from the tenth graders about the project and what it means to them.  For the past six years, the genocide posters have been displayed by the ERC. Mrs. Bange believes “there is nothing that is more special than seeing something artistic created by a young person.” Similar to the tradition, this year’s tenth graders will be displaying their work for the public to see and marvel about. 

Fatima Boumahchad explains to DRSS Board Member, Jennifer Winner, what her poster is depicting last year during the same event.

Additionally, the genocide poster project memorialized genocides using metaphorical images and bold slogans and statistics. This project has been going on for quite a while, and each year, students have different opinions on what their favorite part of the project was. For Brianna Perkins, a tenth grader who attends the Dayton Regional STEM School, her favorite experience was “portraying what she wanted to show about the genocide she read about.” The students read books that were connected to the genocides they portrayed in their posters. She also added, “It [the posters] did not have to be about people dying or be about a certain thing.” For example, her group’s poster was about the landmines that are still in Cambodia from the Cambodian genocide. 

Many students came to the event to talk about their artwork with guests, including many parents who came to see the posters.

In addition, this project is special because not every school teaches about genocides. The tenth graders are exposed to eight weeks of information about devastating genocides to compose an informational poster. This year, the genocide posters have lived up to expectations that previous classes before them set. Mrs. Bange stated, “Each year, these posters have been outstanding, perhaps each year better than the last.” The tenth graders are looking forward to this event. According to Katie Jones, a tenth grader who attends the Dayton Regional STEM School, she is mostly looking forward to seeing other peoples’ work because she did not get to see as many during the process of making the posters.

In summary, it is important to share these posters with the public because as a STEM student, we are taught to share our work and teach others. Like many students, Katie learned “They [genocides] happen more often than you think, especially now.” Sharing the posters with the public is significant for the tenth graders because they want people to learn what they have learned by participating in this project. 

If you are interested in seeing the tenth graders’ posters, come out and support them on April 27^th at the Charles and Renate Educational Resource Center on Wright State University’s campus. You won’t be disappointed.

Facing The Community

By Katie Marker

The seniors of Ms. McDaniel’s English 1100 class are participating in an interesting new project called The Facing Project. This project inspires writers to connect with people in the community and present their stories to increase awareness for issues in the community. The project’s aim is to make connections between humans, and share stories of “triumph and tragedy, of loneliness and community, of hate and happiness, of deep depression and lofty goals.” Wisdom between students is shared, helping them learn and prepare their counterparts for departing to college by increasing social awareness.

Abby and Anders Skype with their partners at Milton-Union.

The project began on March 8^th, with the STEM seniors researching the project and viewing example stories. They also practiced interviewing techniques and drafted questions. The seniors from STEM went on to interview seniors in the English class from Milton-Union High School, taking turns as interviewer and interviewee. Methods of communication included Skype, text messaging, and phone calls. “Some of the students have related this to a game of telephone,” quotes Ms. McDaniel. “You're listening to someone else's story and trying to tell it yourself, putting yourself in someone else's shoes or looking at life from their perspective.” The interviews cover a variety of topics and struggles, from college debt, and moving away from home, to LGBT community harassment, social standing, and living with chronic illness. One of the seniors, Hope Ezell, says that “compared to other projects I’ve done, this has allowed me to use the most creativity. Previously I had been told what my topic would be and choose a thesis, however in this project I was able to pick whatever topic I wanted to discuss as long as it related to college life.” The seniors will continue on to write and share their partner’s story, and it will appear on the Facing Project website. Visit the website at http://facingproject.com/

Cheyenne uses her phone to Skype with her partner at Milton-Union.

The Facing Project is a piece of a larger, multi-genre project that will be taken on by the English 1100 seniors. After completing their story for the Facing Project, they will choose a topic about college to research and present, using multiple genres. Although they must present their topic in narrative, persuasive, and informative form, they can use any genre they wish to do so. Campaign speeches, myths, diary entries, and flyers are just a few examples of the genres they’ve chosen to include. This project is meant to answer the driving question: "How can we help future seniors navigate the task of entering the university?" Presentations are taking place around the school today and tomorrow as students share their knowledge with both seniors and juniors.

The Renaissance Comes to DRSS Once More

For the second year in a row, students in Mr. Pant's 7th grade world history class are taking part in their annual Renaissance Dinner Party. Invitations to the event invited guests to "The Regional School of Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics," located in "the village of Dayton in the land of Ohio."

Christopher Columbus and Has Holbein discuss the Renaissance.

What guests found when they arrived were not 7th graders, but "scientists, artists, statesmen, and explorers" who embodied figures from the Renaissance. The preparations for this party utilized Project-Based Learning to allow students the opportunity to take on the personalities of famous individuals from the Renaissance, including people like William Shakespeare, King Ferdinand, Niccolo Machiavelli, and more.

The party featured five "Acts," beginning with introductions. After having the opportunity to get to know one another, guests transitioned to Renaissance conversations, which featured discussions about different accomplishments. Christopher Columbus, for example, thanked King Ferdinand for his "generous gift" that allowed him "to explore the New World." Next came the "agreements/disagreements" portion of the discussion. During this time students talked about who they would agree or disagree with at the table, learning about what beliefs they may share with others and who they may be at odds with. This was followed by a discussion of their impact and legacy on the world and ended with time for each guest to reflect and write about what they learned from the discussion.

This dinner project came from the mind of Nick Pant, who wanted his class to understand how to empathize with historical figures and understand the effects of cultural diffusion. This year he said he tried to improve upon the project by having students "make connections between their lives and the Renaissance." One example of this included a "Modern Mona Lisa" project, which featured students bringing the Mona Lisa into the 20th century, complete with one student's depiction of the Mona Lisa selfie.

Peter Cooper's "Modern Lisa"

The event was made possible with the help of many parent volunteers who gave up their time to come in and serve the dinner party guests.

Mr. Pant with parents Tanya Groff and Robin Stankas and their daughters, who came in to help serve!

Another special guest was University of Dayton Professor, Laura Hume, who came in costume as Isabella d'Est, a "powerful female figure" from the Renaissance "who turned out to be more politically astute than her husband." Dr. Hume teaches Renaissance and Reformation history at UD. When asked how learning about the Renaissance through this type of activity differs from the traditional way history is taught, Professor Hume explained, "the doing (as opposed to just the seeing and hearing) is a different level of engagement, and it engages the kids in a way that makes them understand that these figures were real people; people who had an impact on our lives today. These were people who ate, talked, corresponded, and interacted; often with each other. They were real human beings, not just two-dimensional people from a book." Asked why she likes helping with the event, Professor Hume explained that it's a "delightful experience," and that these experiences are "meaningful" and "make an impression," and for some of them, which "may spark an interest in the period, or history in general."

Dr. Hume (AKA Isabella d'Est) discusses with students how Humanism played a large role in shaping attitudes and beliefs during the Renaissance.

For next year, Mr. Pant is working with Dr. Hume and looking for ways to diversity the roles students play by trying to find more female historical figures for students to portray. After the success of the Dinner Party for the past two years, it's clear that this will not be the last time these historical figures gather at DRSS to share a meal!

10th Grade Comic Life Project: A Bridge Between History & Chinese

By Katie Jones and Bri Perkins

For nearly a month, tenth graders have been working on an integrated project between their Chinese and History classes. This project is called the Comic Life Project. The Comic Life Project is an assignment where students create a character and show their experience in a specific event that they learned about in their History class and put it in a comic book. Students have been studying Modern China in their History class, including key figures such as Chairman Mao. In their Chinese class, they have been learning about different perspectives of key events that happened in Modern China. For example, Yuli Wang, one of the tenth grade Chinese teachers, gives perspective on China. Another Chinese teacher for the tenth grade, Lily Chen, gives the perspective of Taiwan. 

A sample of the English/Chinese comics students are creating in World History and Chinese.

That's not the only thing students are doing though. Have you seen tenth graders with little red books? This is just a small part in this project. When asked about the red books, Mr. Nuñez, the tenth grade History teacher said, “Ten years from now most my students will forget dates and names, but I’m confident they won’t forget being terrorized for two weeks just to carry around a little book.” When asking a tenth grader how she felt about the little red books, Anjali Phadke said, “I really like the fact that it’s roleplaying. It’s really annoying for me right now because I don’t want to have to carry my red book everywhere, but it’s showing us a time where people actually had to do this.”

During the Cultural Revolution, Chinese people under the leadership of Chairman Mao were forced to carry around little red books, a rule enforced by the Red Guard. When asked to summarize what the Red Guard was, Phadke responded with, “The red guard were usually teenage students who were basically brainwashed with the fact that Mao was this amazing person. They would be able to see who did/didn’t have their little red book, and they could execute or beat them up.” For tenth graders, a select few students and teachers were chosen to be the Red Guard and randomly book check students at any time in the day. “I love how frantic some of my students have been during the red book checks. I can almost see some real terror in their eyes when I catch them off guard in the hallway or before and after school to check for their red books,” Nuñez added.

Another part of the integrated project is being able to choose what event they want to make their comic strip about. These events include the Mukden Incident, Chinese Civil War, rebellions, and the Tiananmen Square Massacre. They also get to choose a key figure in Modern China to include in their comic. When asked where the idea came from, Chen responded with, “I had this idea six years ago when I met Mr. Grieve, who was the history teacher at the time; he was teaching Modern China, and I was working on Comic Life Binder to help teach Chinese. I thought, ‘Wow that might be a good match.’”

When asked their favorite part of the project so far, teacher Yuli Wang and Shivani Selvam, a tenth grader, had similar responses. “My favorite part of this project is to be able to provide students ‘insider’ perspectives of the historical figures/events,” responded Wang. “I like the fact we get to choose our event and the people who are in it. I also like how we get to create our own character, put them into that historical event, and make our own situation,” was Selvam’s response.

To summarize the entire project, all teachers said the same thing: that making it an integrated project allows for students to gain a better insight than they could in individual classes. Wang said, “We decided to make it an integrated project because of the authentic connection between the Chinese class and the modern China unit in History class.” Chen added, “The most important thing is to build a bridge, connecting culture and language because culture plays such a big part in learning a language. Culture is something accumulated through history. That is why I think this project is important for students learning Chinese.” Along the same lines, Nuñez said, “Making this project integrated with the Chinese classes adds so much more than I would be able to offer myself. All year students have been getting tastes of Chinese culture just from learning the language, and now we have been able to show students the history that formed this culture.”

Music in STEM

By Katie Jones

Music has come to DRSS. As a technology-based school, STEM has not had a music program until this year. Principal Strickland started the program, partnering with Complete Music Education. Complete Music Education was already teaching a few students who went to DRSS, who mentioned that DRSS was looking for a way to start a music program. After that, the director of the program, Ms. Emily Fetters, reached out to Principle Strickland and came up with a way to give students here an opportunity to learn music. As director of the program, she will be overseeing all of the teachers and making sure everything is organized. She will also help modify and add to the program as it grows.

Seven teachers from Complete Music Education will give private lessons as well as offer band and choir. Students will be able to learn a variety of music from every time period and genre. According to Ms. Fetters, this is because "It's important to study not only contemporary repertoire, but also classical pieces as well, because each genre brings a new technique or skill to the table." The students will also have a chance to choose what songs or pieces they want to learn. There are currently plans for an end of year concert and a private lessons recital. Ms. Fetters also stated that "We would like to add choir come fall and possibly music theory classes as well."

This is a new and exciting program that has come to STEM. Students, Ms. Strickland, and Ms. Fetters are excited for it to start, as summed up with this quote by Ms. Fetters herself, "We are very excited to be working with all of the students and we look forward to watching the program grow."

Mollie Emrick: The Great Achiever

By Shetasia Akridge

Mollie Emrick is an eighth grader at Dayton Regional STEM School (DRSS). She is well-known for her academics, as well creating programs to raise awareness for the school that she believes in. Mollie is hardworking and a dedicated student at DRSS. 

Molly Emrick is in the eight grade at DRSS.

This year, Mollie created a human trafficking awareness day at the DRSS. She created this program with input from a few of her friends who had ideas about how to spread raise awareness of the problem of human trafficking. During ACE Month, Mollie and her friends would read statistics over the intercom at the end of the day.  They even started an Instagram account to raise awareness of statistics about human trafficking.

Many students just attend DRSS, but Mollie Emrick also spends time to help develop programs to improve student’s math skills. Mollie has helped introduce the MathCounts club to DRSS, an after-school program where students compete against each other and other school districts. Not only does she care for her school but she cares about the education of other students as well.

In addition, she is also a student ambassador at DRSS. A student ambassador is someone who shows visitors our school and speaks on behalf of the school on special events. Outside of school, Mollie volunteers at Community Harvest Church as a Sunday School teacher, where she teaches  2^nd and 3^rd graders. She also attends her church's youth groups as a student leader and enjoys helping with the library and nursery at her church.

Mollie is transforming into a stronger women with great leadership, confidence, and power and demonstrates the power of peer-to-peer education. Her confidence allows her to stand up for the rights of others and not to let anyone discourage her beliefs. She is making real changes in the world and at DRSS.

Once Mollie becomes a freshman in high school she is also interested in becoming a part of Key Club. She would like to continue with MathCounts during her high school experience. Currently, her main goal is to learn how to do American Sign Language (ASL) to teach people with disabilities from ages 2-20. In addition, she wants to maintain her current academic standing while exploring the life of being in high school at DRSS.