Prairiefire Horses

By Devin D.

            History and science come to life at the Prairiefire museum. From dinosaurs and prehistoric creatures to horses and insects, the museum has many exhibits that ASOP high school students enjoyed. When high school students arrived at the Prairiefire museum, on December 3rd, 2015, they were greeted by a life-size skeleton of a T-rex. It reminded me of “Rexy” from the movie, The Night At the Museum.

After being welcomed, the museum docent took the group into the exhibition hall to see the horse exhibit. The exhibit started with the early horses. Something I thought was interesting was that the first horses lived in what is now present day Nebraska. When the climate began to change, they migrated over to Eurasia (presumably by crossing the Bering land bridge). They didn’t migrate back, until the Europeans brought them back over. The exhibit ended with the modern day horses and a group photo of the us for the yearbook.

Before we went back to the school, we took a tour of the Discovery Room and got a chance to complete some interactive activities. A few students got to hold a real, live Madagascar Hissing cockroach and got to touch a corn snake. Although I didn’t want to hold the cockroach, I enjoyed the geology section. I learned that the amethyst is a kind of quartz, and it gets its purple color from iron impurities.          

Halloween Celebration

By Kathryn J.

    Calling all zombies, hoboes, jokers... you get the idea! Check out the results of the ASOP halloween party! A plethora of students and teacher walked into school last Friday dressed up in an assortment of costumes. We had pizza (courtesy of Jane)  and judging to follow.
  

  

  There were three groups:  the middle schoolers, the high schoolers, and the staff.  All three were judged by the yearbook staff after they paraded their unique costumes into the classroom. Judging was based on several preset rules: costumes had to be school appropriate, the costume had to be based on a well know figure/persona or cartoon character, and finally, the costume had to be unique, and mostly put together by the student, not purchased. The winner of each group was awarded two movie passes.

    I think it is nice we can have a party the day Halloween before so the celebration can be spread out over two days. I enjoyed making my costume and looking at everybody else’s costumes.

   

    Winners:  High School --   First Place was Nick for his Smarty-pants Panda.  Runners-up were Nolan as a Zombie, Grayson as the Joker, and Darien as Guy Fawkes.   MIddle SChool --  First Place was Priscilla for her original creation of “Jack.”  Runner-up was Kat as a Zombie. Staff -- First Place was Carie as Miss Frizzle from The Magic School Bus.  Runners-up were Sara Goldstein as a text message, and Amanda as Bob the Builder.

   The yearbook staff also recognized Zen, an elementary student as worthy of a win for his firefighter costume.

    Runners-up received candy and a homework pass good for the future.  

Lara’ s Presentation: The Peres Center for Peace

         

          The presentation by Lara to my fellow students and me was really quite interesting. Lara told us about her work with the Peres Center for Peace. This program gave us some insight about the advancement of peace between two very different groups of people. The term “different” represents why these two ‘factions’ are socially prejudice to one another.

          In Lara’s explanation she did not focus on how they are different but how they are similar. She focused on the similarities between the two. In the grand scheme of things it really seemed like the similarities outweighed the differences. This Peres program looked like it was bringing about change in the people who live so close together but who are separated by fallacies.

I really enjoyed her presentation; the videos she showed us told me that this really was making a difference. I applaud her and the people in this program for doing such important work in such a quarrelsome environment. I hope the people of this city and country can all realize we are the same on the inside. I would love to have her present here again.

                                                                    

 By Mason C

Thank You To Our Wish List Donors!

Many thanks to Richard Gilman, DDS, for his donation of five Mac Mini computers and two Apple laptops to the school.   The laptops are being used by the Yearbook staff.  The other five computers are being placed in various sites through out the school. His donation continues to help the school in its goal to upgrade and enhance our technology.  

Also thank you to all the donors who helped with this year's Wish List needs.  Thanks to you we have new microwaves for student use, televisions for classroom work and many school supplies.  

The school still needs to purchase a new van for student transportation, as well as upgrade the security system.  If you are interested in helping with these two ‘wishes’ or if you are interested in donating to other areas on the Wish List, please contact Jane or Ellen for a copy of the list.  Call the school at 913-341-6666.

The Dinosaur Exhibit at Prairie Fire Museum

When we went to the Museum of Prairie Fire, the theme was dinosaurs. The first thing we learned about was how the t-rex moved and what it ate.  There  even was a model of the t-rex that you could see. Next, we learned about the behavior of the t-rex. Moments later we learned about the tracks of the dinosaurs. Consecutively, we learned about the defensive part of some dinos, they had models of what their heads looked like. Nearing the end of the tour we saw a giant diorama of what it would look like in the past.  My favorite part were the giant cockroaches.

The final part of the tour was seeing how the world ended for the dinosaurs. Later, we went in to the interactive area where they had a scavenger hunt, a hedgehog, a dino that you had to put together, and a building area where you can build with foam bricks. I built a wall of bricks before we had to leave. Overall it was a very interesting place and I would love to go there again.

-Will A.

8th Grade

Shawnee Indian Mission Field Trip

Recently our students went to the Shawnee Indian Mission in Prairie Village, Kansas.  The following is the account of the field trip by one of our fourth grade students:

When I went to the Shawnee Indian Mission, I was very excited to learn about the Indians. We got to sit on a real buffalo rug. The tour guide told us about the Indian houses. One of the houses had a long entry. It was used to keep the animals inside during the winter so they wouldn’t freeze. Another one was built very big. All the family members slept inside.  There could be 15 to 21 people in that house. They all had a hole in the middle. It was above the kitchen. It was used to get the smoke out. The women would build the houses while the men hunted. We got to see mini versions of the houses.

                      

After that, we sat at a table. We had a sheet that had pictographs with what they mean below them. We had to make a story using them. I made a story that goes like this. A twister was coming. Two brothers saw it. It was stormy, cold, rainy, and much more. After it ended, they got many fishes. It follows the fish phenomenon that in a place when it rains, fish come down.

After we did the pictograph part, we got to be in a group of three. One of us would be the writer. I was the writer in my group. We got to examine the items and we would say if it was a tool, item, or both. We also got to put what it was. We got some of it right. Most of them were wrong. That happened to the rest of the groups. It was time to leave after that. This was one of my favorite field trips. I would love to go here again.

By Sydney N.

4th Grade


This is an account from one of our high school students:

A Day on the Frontier

by Devin D

Students from Accelerated Schools of Overland Park stepped back in time when they visited the Shawnee Indian Mission on Thursday, April 9th. At the Mission, located at 3403 West 53rd St. Fairway, Kansas, students learned what life was like for American Indians and families traveling West.

When they arrived at the mission, students were separated into three groups; two high school and one middle school group. One high school school group was sent upstairs to learn about the history of the Mission while the other two groups were busy doing something else. They learned that between 1839 and 1854, it was a 2,000 acre establishment with 16 buildings. There are only three large brick buildings still standing today.

Students learned many other facts on this trip, for example, that 200 Indian boys and girls. aged 5 -23,  attended school there.  The Mission also served as a supply store for families traveling on the Oregon and Santa Fe trails.

Later, the group switched with the other high school group and went out back to see a replica of the type of wagon families would take on the Oregon trail. The Santa Fe trail was used by merchants,  and they used large Conestoga wagons like the ones on display at the Alexander Majors Home..

The Oregon trail was normally used by families moving west. They used wagons that would be considered today as the “pickup of the 1840’s,” according to the tour guide. They were a lot smaller and were used only to carry the items necessary for traveling on the trail. Family members walked alongside the wagon the whole trail, sometimes up to 18 miles per day. To get a clearer picture of how many supplies could fit in the wagon, the group got a chance to step inside the wagon, which was about the size of a 4 by 8 foot sheet of plywood.                                                                                                               

Summer Programs Planned for 2015

ASOP will offer its summer programs from June 8 through July 31, 2015.

Students in high school, entering grades 9 - 12, who want to advance their class work ,or perhaps retake a class, can attend credit classes in social studies, science, math, English, Spanish, health and art.  Students can earn up to 1 1/2 credits during the summer.  Each half credit requires 60 hours or three weeks of classes.  Students must attend a minimum of three weeks of summer school.  All high school classes are accredited by the State of Kansas and AdvancED.

Students entering grades 4 -8 can participate in the school's Academics & Arts summer camp program.  Students attend 2 1/2 hours of individualized tutoring each day, as well as activities involving creative expression.  Students must attend a minimum of three weeks of summer camp.

Cost for both programs is $325 per week.  Students attend from 9 am until 1 pm, Monday through Friday.  Transportation is available at an additional cost for students attend the weekly programs.  Although students must take a minimum of three weeks of camp or classes, they do not have to attend consecutive weeks.  However, the weeks must be determined in advance.

For more information about the school's summer programs, day school and tutoring, please go to our website at www.AcceleratedSchoolsOP.org.   Camp and Summer School flyers are available by clicking on the icons at the top right of the home page.

Welcome 2015

The Accelerated Schools welcomed the new year with several changes!

First a welcome to two new staff members, and a farewell to two staff who retired in December. Both Gay and Carolyn retired after eight years teaching at the school.  We wish them much success in this new stage of their lives.

Barb Weatherford is the new language arts teacher.  She has years of experience in the Blue Valley School District as a reading specialist. Cortney Manning, a 2010 graduate of ASOP and a 2014 graduate of Park Univesrity, is coming on staff as a para-professional.  We are happy to welcome them both.

Over the past two months there have been 12 new students at the school.  We welcome them as well. With all the new faces, came need for a bit more space in the art room.  Over winter break, the art room was enlarged by combining it with an office space.  Go to our Facebook page to see a photo of the new space.

Everyone at ASOP looks forward to a wonderful year of learning!

October Was A Very Busy Month

So much happened in October!  Just a few highlights:

ASOP Receives Grant from Gould Charitable Foundation for Science Lab!!

A giant thank you to the Gould Charitable Foundation for a grant to fund the ASOP's Virtual Science Lab!!

With this funding the school will create an innovative, "hands-on" science lab program that provides a solid science foundation for all high school and middle school students. We expect the addition of these science labs to our current science curriculum will provide our students with real-world scenarios that will help them understand science concepts by actually, "doing science," rather than just reading about it. 

Students will use online science programs through a science website that provides labs that are accredited for elementary, middle and high school students. We believe with the use of these online labs, students will have an enhanced science experience and learn more effectively through doing.

THANK YOU Gould Charitable Foundation for making the virtual science lab become a reality!!

Royals Spirit

In honor of the Royals victory in the Wild Card game and Pennant win.   Students and staff wore their Royal blue clothes and gear in support of the Royals.  School and team spirit were evident!

Bowling  Tournament

Students at ASOP go bowling several times a year.   On October 30, the students held a Bowling Tournament sponsored by the Year Book Staff.  Winners were:  Gabe and Hunter for middle school;  Noah B., Isaiah, Ryan, Pablo and Nick for high school.  Top scorers were Lane for middle school and Ryan for high school

The Annual Halloween Events

Once again students at ASOP had great Halloween spirit.   Students and faculty dressed up and celebrated with a pizza lunch and costume contest.  This year’s winners were:  Amanda, staff, Energizer Bunny;  Hunter,  middle school,  Illuminati;  Sarah, high school, Zombie from the Walking Dead.

Three-D Printing

by Hannah Pj

From printing small insignificant items to full-sized automobiles, a relatively new, technological advancement will change the way people look at printers forever. At Science City, Accelerated School students recently observed a new dimension of printing... not with just a normal printer, but a printer that can print  3-dimensional objects!

Guided by an instructor at Science City, everyone in the class designed their own 3-D figures and watched them magically come to life. Using MacIntosh computers, students used an online program to design objects such as signs,  symbols, dogtags, or keychain fobs. Objects needed to be small so that there would be enough time for each individual object to actually print.  Most of the projects took 15-20 minutes to print.

The 3-D printers utilized melted plastic to recreate  students’ designs that had been made on the computers. Students were fascinated to see their designs appear as layers of plastic were applied by the many moving parts.  They also learned that not all 3D printers function perfectly, as some malfunctioned and did not print projects correctly.

Three-D printers vary in cost, from about $1,200 for low-end models to thousands of dollars. The models at Union Station were in the low range, but were impressive to watch.  Students were entertained by the experience.  Kimberlyn V. said, “Personalizing my name on the keychain and watching it print was my favorite part of the field trip.”

Another student, Josh J. commented, “ Since we got to design what we wanted, I printed a tag for my keychain that refers to an old video game that I like to play.”  

Prairie Fire Museum Field Trip, by Lily O., Junior Yearbook Staff

Appearances can be deceiving, that statement comes to life at the Prairie Fire Museum at 135th and Nall. A building made of 10,000 hand painted metal panels and over 258 one-of-a-kind dichroic sheets of glass. How it looks on the outside is quite different to the inte­rior view. The use of individual sheets of dichroic glass creates a contrasting color depending on the light­ing. So while the outside resembles a prairie fire consisting of warm oranges, golds, reds, and yellows, when one steps into the museum the glass takes on a colder hue with shades of blues, purples, and grays.

Heather Manning said, “I really liked the exterior of the building because I thought the way the glass changed colors from the outside to the inside was very pretty.

This unique building cost $30 million to create.  The students of Accelerated Schools of Overland Park had the pleasure of touring this new addition to the Midwest on September 11. The museum houses unique expositions on loan from its affiliated museum, New York Museum of Natural History, which is the famous museum in Central Park that is the focus of the 2006 movie, “A Night at the Museum.”   Each exhibit remains at Prairie Fire for 4 to 5 months. When an exhibit arrives it is displayed in an 8,000 square foot room for visitors to enjoy.

When the students were visiting Prairie Fire, the exposition was “Mythic Creatures.”  It featured information on dragons, unicorns, and mermaids. The exhibit rooms were full of interesting facts, many life ­size sculptures, and an enormous amount of information for the students to read or watch via video. While some of the information is created from pure imagination, most of the myths were also tied to something factual. The students were able to explore the exhibits that included multiple artifacts. Roaming around the room students stopped to appreciate the visuals, interactive games, and facts given at each station. All in all this field trip was a success with each student leaving having learned something new. The Prairie Fire Museum offers unique sights that everyone can enjoy.


(Photo by student Heather M.)

Changes As the School Year Begins

The 2014-2015 school calendar has been finalized.  Students will return to school on Thursday, August 21 for a half day.  

There are several changes to the school's calendar this year: 

First,  the school day will be 15 minutes longer. Monday through Thursday, full-days will dismiss at 3:15 pm, while early dismissal days and Fridays will end at 1:15 pm. 

Second: Three days have been added at the end of the school year, May 26 - 28, which are designated Emergency Closure Days.  These days will be used if there are closures due to unexpected emergency and/or inclement weather this school year.  So the school year could last until May 28.

Third:  Students will no longer have early dismissal on both final exam days. They will only have an early dismissal on the last day of each semester.

There also has been a major change to the daily report card program.  Instead of only reporting on the core classes - the first 5 classes of each day- the new report cards will provide a report on the afternoon elective classes as well.  The new daily report cards will account for a student's entire day at Accelerated.

This change will mean that students will no longer receive their payment at the end of the day.  Instead, students will still receive their report cards to take home at the end of the day, but will not receive their payouts until the next day.

We hope everyone has a wonderful year of learning at the Accelerated Schools of Overland Park.

Summer Programs Continuing

As the fifth week of summer school and camp starts, older students are keeping busy with their high school credit courses, while lower/middle schools students are focusing on individualized studies and art and computer activities.

Many art projects have already been completed.  Student learning continues. Several students have already earned 1/2 credit for high school classes completed in the first three weeks.

Summer programs continue through August 8.  Students can sign up at any time for a minimum of three weeks.  If you are interested, please check out the website at www.acceleratedschoolsop.org, or call the school at 913-341-6666.

Thursday, May 15, Graduation Day!

     Twelve students began the evening as high school seniors and ended the evening as graduates.  They worked incredibly and diligently to earn their degrees.  And each student deserves a large applause for completing high school.  Their proud families and friends and teachers were all able to see them make this major transition. One student was unable to be at graduation, but he was there in spirit. In all 13 students graduated from the Accelerated Schools of Overland Park this year.
    Graduating senior Tyler started the evening with a reading before dinner.  Seniors, families, friends, staff and faculty all enjoyed a wonderful dinner before the main celebrations began.  After dinner, students were awarded certificates for good/perfect attendance, wonderful results in standardized testing.  Siarah was awarded the Faculty Appreciation Award, a honor voted on by the staff.   Dimitri was awarded the Presidential Award in Education.  Nakysha presented the Senior Speech.
     Leonard Zeskind,  a 1998 John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation Fellow, was the commencement speaker.  Mr. Zeskind  has devoted his life to the struggle for dignity and humanity for all people, and works to curb the influence of racism, anti-Semitism and white surpremacist groups.
    During his commencement speech, he told the students that although he has spoken to Parliament in England, Police and elected officials, speaking to them made him a bit nervous.  He told them that they had already accomplished so much with completing their degrees, but they had become life long learners, and lifelong teachers.  Their role in the future was to help the people of the world work together.  As the United States becomes a country made of minorities, everyone must learn to help each other.
   And then the students were presented their diplomas by Sara and Bob, while Jane read off their names.  Each student was greeted with applause as he or she received a diploma.  It was a wonderful evening of celebration.

Annual Award Banquet

Annual Award Banquet

The Annual Award Banquet was a wonderful event!

Twelve eighth grade students graduated into high school!

Nine students performed four musical numbers for the wonderful crowd of  students, parents, family members and staff who attended.

Every student received an award based on his or her special talents.

 Two students received special recognition: Zach was named Middle School Student of the Year; Heather was named High School Student of the Year.

Ten students were recognized for excellence on National Test Scores.

Four students had perfect attendance awards;  24 were awarded for their great attendance.

Every student at the school deserves praise and recognition for their excellence this school year!

     Due to the five snow days that the Accelerated School was closed this winter, two days that were originally designated as vacation days were added back to the calendar.  Students already came back a day early from Spring Break.  School started on Monday, March 24, instead on March 25.

     Students will also lose a vacation day in April.  Instead of enjoying a four-day weekend from Friday, April 18 , through Monday, April 21,  students will return to school on Monday April 21. However, they will still have a vacation day on Friday, April 18.

     With the addition of these two days,  students will not have to go to school beyond the original last day scheduled for Thursday, May 22.    Final exams will be held, as planned, on Wednesday, May 21, and Thursday, May 22.  Teachers will report to school on May 23 for a Professional Day.

Senior graduation is set for Thursday, May 15.

Seeing Dracula, the Ballet

Dracula, by Middle School Student Lily H.

Our school had the opportunity to go to the Kauffman Center to see Dracula.  This story about Dracula was performed as a ballet.  It was an amazing performance.  Everybody seemed to enjoy the ballet.

Several students and teachers commented on the ballet:  Dana said her favorite character was Dracula. She also enjoyed watching the dance moves that she cannot do.  Zach said his favorite character was Van Helsing.  London's favorite part of the ballet was the fire alarm!

Sara B. said,  "I really enjoyed Dracula's performance.  Even when he walked onto the stage to take his bow, he remained in character.  He was awesome.  I would say that it was well done: the music, the dancing. It was amazing."

I believe that seeing a ballet or any kind of performance enriches our lives.

Dracula, High School Student Heather M.

I really enjoyed the opportunity to see the Dracula ballet with school. I adore both the worlds of literature and theatre, so this was a fun activity for me. It was fascinating to compare the ballet to the original novel, and to find that the production did a mostly accurate job of portraying the story.

Because the ballet contained no dialogue, I found it interesting to discern which dancer was which character and what point in the plot was being represented. I enjoyed examining the costumes and scenery, and all the abilities of the talented performers. 

Overall, it was a very fun field trip, and one I would enjoy attending again. 

High School Resource Officer Speaks At ASOP

 

   

  Officer Jose Carrillo, from the Overland Park Police Department, recently spoke about bullying and the importance of attendance at the Accelerated Schools of Overland Park.

       The School Resource Officer at Shawnee Mission West High School, Officer Carrillo spoke to both the middle school and high school students in two separate groups.  He explained that being bullied is not a reason to miss school and gave ideas to help if this is an issue.  Both groups had many good questions for Officer Carrillo, but the middle school students were especially engaged by the program.

      Officer Carrillo’s visit to the school as a guest speaker was arranged by Principal Sara Tate Goldstein.  “Principal Julie Crain, of Shawnee Mission West, graciously loaned the school’s resource officer to the Accelerated Schools for this program,” said Sara.

      “The biggest benefit to the students was learning that it is a priority of the community and the police officers to help students stay in school,” said Sara.  “The police officers want students to understand the benefits of being in school.  But most important, students need to realize that staying home from school because they are being bullied is not the answer to bullying. It is best to find a safe adult, who the student trusts, to get help.  A school resource officer can be this person if needed.”

        The Accelerated Schools is considering having a DARE/Resource Officer at the school one half day a week next school year.  “We are trying to determine the cost and work it into our budget,” said Jane Curran, ASOP Director.

        If any parent, current or former, would like to help underwrite this program or a part of this program, please contact Jane or Ellen Portnoy at the school:  913-341-6666.

2014 Summer Programs Set

 Looking for a summer camp program for your child that combines art and academics?  If you have a child entering fourth through eighth grade, who needs a little extra help during the summer to keep up with academics, but also loves art, computer graphics, video production and photography, then sign up for the Accelerated Schools’ program. 

Offered from June 2 until August 8, 2014, the Academic and Arts Camp is in session form 9 am to 1 pm, Monday through Friday.  Each day, campers spend 2 ¼ hours in individualized tutoring and 90 minutes in creative expression. Students must sign up for a minimum of three weeks of camp.  Start and stop dates are optional within the camp schedule.  Go to this link to see the camp flyer:  http://www.acceleratedschoolsop.org/assets/Uploads/middlecamp.pdf.

High school students, entering grades 9 to 12,  looking to take extra credits during the summer….or to improve a grade, can also attend the Accelerated Schools.  Accredited by the State of Kansas and AdvancED, the school offers high school credit in a variety of courses including math, science, social studies, English and Spanish. Students can earn up to 1 ½ credits during the summer.  Each class takes three weeks, or 60 hours to complete.  Students are in a classroom setting, learning from an accredited teacher.

The high school summer school program is also offered from June 2 to August 8, 2014.  Students must enroll for at least three weeks. Weeks do not have to be consecutive, but dates must be determined in advance.  Go to this link to see the High School Summer School Flyer:  http://www.acceleratedschoolsop.org/assets/Uploads/summercamp.pdf

Students who just need some extra tutoring over the summer, but do not want to be in a set program, can participate in private tutoring at the Learning Center.  Information about the tutoring programs can be found in either summer program flyer.

If the links do not work, you can go to the school's website at www.AcceleratedSchoolsOP.org to see the camp flyers.

If you have questions, please call Jane Curran at 913-341-6666.

Computer Curriculum Updated!

      Digital photography, computer animation, graphic design, video production, video game design and Photoshop are all part of the Accelerated Schools’ elective computer classes.  For the past three years, students have been able to learn these skills on MacBook Pro laptop computers.

      With small classes of no more than nine students in each class, both high school and middle school students are able to learn new computer skills based on their abilities.  Students learn about photography, how to use special effects with photos, make simple animated videos, film and edit green screen video, and about the elements of graphic design.

     These classes are offered as part of the Accelerated Schools’ elective classes held each afternoon from 1 to 3 pm.  Students have a choice of electives including art, drama and music, besides the computer classes.

      Besides these computer classes, the Accelerated Schools, through the help of wonderful donors, was able to purchase 24 Google Chromebook computers this past summer.  One of the things the students use the Chromebook computers to work on is Study Island,” an online standards mastery and test preparation program built from state standards.,” as stated in its teacher’s manual.  “The program allows teachers to customize instruction to students’ needs while allowing students to study in standard test format.”

      The use of Study Island and the Google Chromebook computers has enhanced the schools ability to provide each student internet connection and a computer.

      The Chromebooks are also used for NWEA testing; for the Create A Book elective, a creative writing class; and for English composition classes.

       For more information about the Accelerated Schools of Overland Park, or to schedule an appointment, call Jane Curran at 913-341-6666.