Jessica Snider SMT Writer
Recently, Dexter T.S. Hill Middle School has made a decision that has made lots of students very happy. They have decided to include National Junior Beta to their school.
The mission of the National Beta Club is to promote the ideas of academic achievement, character, service and leadership among elementary and secondary school students.
Beta Club is one of the nation’s leading youth organizations. Academic achievement is the first requirement of membership in the Junior Beta Club. Apart from academics, Junior Beta members are also required to keep good attendance, and have good character in and out of the school.
“We are jumping in feet first! After a lot of research and looking into it, it’s going to be a great fit for our Middle School,” says T.S. Hill Middle School Principal Scott Kruse.
Junior Beta Club will require and help the students learn: leadership, service, academics, character building, and also the incentive to excel in the classroom/ school.
The students of T.S. Hill Middle School are very excited about this new addition. There are over 260 students who have received invitations and the response has been outstanding.
Some of the Middle School sponsors for Junior Beta Club include: Mr. Kruse, Mrs. Duncan, Mrs. Boles, Mrs. Cato, Mrs. Thurkill, Mrs. Delay, and Mrs. Thurmon.
Kruse says, “The Dexter School Board and the superintendent need to be thanked for supporting ideas like this!”
Kruse also mentioned that he was proud to be apart of the addition of National Junior Beta Club and looks forward to a ton of great moments these kids have through the club.
Written by
Jessica Snider,
story submitted by eMule Newsletter
Thirty years ago when Alana Robertson, Poplar Bluff school board member, began teaching in the school district, there was not one computer in the whole building.With no computers in the building, there of course weren’t any in the classrooms, which is totally different from today’s classrooms.
Recently, 100 MacBook Airs have been distributed to the students in Junior High at Poplar Bluff as part of a pilot program. The pilot program causes the laptops to be rotated in each of the classrooms for two-week periods.
Kathy Beck, junior high social studies department chair stated, “I’ve always been interested in incorporating technology in the classroom. I was one of the first in the building to use PowerPoint, and I immediately noticed students’ scores go up.”
The main goal of this digital conversion initiative is to get a computer in the hands of ever junior and senior high student by the 2014-2015 school year.
Superintendent Christ Hon first conceived the initiative among reading in education digests about how Mooresville Graded School District in North Caroline provided a laptop to all fourth grade students, and has since seen their academic achievement increase significantly.
During the Missouri Association of School Administrators conference in March, Hon and assistant superintendent met with Mooresville Superintendent, Dr. Mark Edwards, the pioneer of the one-to-one laptop initiative.
After speaking among teachers and school board members, it became obvious that almost everyone was all for the initiative and thought it could only improve the academic studies of the students.
Each student would be supplied a special backpack in which to protect the laptop that they will also be allowed to bring home. Additional insurance policies will be offered for parents to take out on the devices. A fee of $50 is likely for the laptop usage, with payments plans or school service options available.
Greater Poplar Bluff Area Chamber of Commerce President Stave Halter stated, “I am thoroughly excited about this program and glad to see Poplar Bluff R-I be proactive on any issue that deals with technology. I think his will help give our students a competitive edge.”
One of the arguments used to gain the computers for each student was that many times when asked to do a project at home, some students would bring in work that looked like it came straight out of a print shop, while other students used paper and crayons. It is said that providing the computers will close the gap between the have and have-nots.
As Poplar Bluff school district takes the first step in participating in the laptop pilot program, many other school districts have their eyes focused on getting involved as well.
It is true that in a few years, some schools may be guilty of getting rid of all or most their textbooks in order to send children home with a computer to do homework.
Technology is truly changing society one school district at a time!
Jessica Snider SMT Writer
Yesterday some very deserving students at Dexter T.S. Hill Middle School enjoyed an afternoon off from school and headed to Beggs Family Farm.
To meet the requirements to enjoy this outing, the students in 6th-8th grade must have C’s or better on their report card, missed fewer than three school days (21 hours), and had zero discipline referrals.
For the first quarter of the 2012-2013 school year, there were 249 students who qualified for the “Headed to the Top Incentive.”
Headed to the Top is an incentive for all TS Hill Middle School students to do the right thing and excel in the classroom. Each quarter there will be an incentive trip of some kind in order to reward those students who have shown they are truly Headed to the Top of the class!
Shown in the photo above are some of the students picking out a pumpkin. The picture below shows the whole group of students who got to enjoy the outing to Beggs Family Farm.
The ShowMe Times would like to encourage all of our readers to support our local school system. The education and growth of the young people in our community is important to everyone's future.
We would like everyone to join us as we encourage these young people in their pursuits. So lets get involved by supporting the events at our schools.
ShowMe Times would like to encourage all our readers to get involved with our public schools.
The upcoming activities are posted weekly in hopes of encouraging more people to get involved in the academic and athletic growth of our school system.
