Kimmel Farm Hosts ActivCarolina Event

https://picasaweb.google.com/swalker021/ActivCarolinaConference
Approximately 200 educators from 22 school districts (North and South Carolina were invited) gave up their Saturday to attend the ActivCarolina Conference hosted by Kimmel Farm Elementary and Promethean - the company that manufactures the interactive whiteboards installed in all our classrooms.
Thanks to the planning and collaboration with Promethean's Matt Barfield and confined inside the walls of out school here are some of the "tweets" that went out gWSFCS's Department of Instructional Technology (DIT) the conference - focused on building capacities using the ActivBoard and its ancillary products was a huge success!

Educators had the opportunity to attend five sessions, each with their own theme to add to their knowledge base, skill level, and learn new tips and tricks of which they might not have been aware.

I've blogged recently on the NCTIES (North Carolina Technolohy in Education Society's) 2011 Conference Blog about how good ideas need the opportunty to "collide" and that was exactly what was happeing Saturday at Kimmel Farm. We were also proud that eight faculty members presented at the conference. In less than two years these dedicated educators were confident in their skills to share their ideas with others. Educators/Trainers from WSFCS's DIT also conducted some sessions. The event was repeatedly referenced on Twitter, which just shows the power of sharing ideas wasn't confined to the walls of kimmel farm. Here are a few of the "tweets" shared globally.

Helping 100 on Day 100

February 11, 2011 marked the 100th day of this school year and classes all over Forsyth County did a myriad of activities all involving the number 100. At Kimmel Farm Elementary the first grade students and teachers took celebrating the 100th day as a time to give back to the community. The first grade team (Ms. Raiford, Ms. Brodeur, Ms. Stowe-Hosch, Ms. Miller, Ms. Hayes-Foutty, Ms. Kibler, and Ms. Terreni) all got their students engaged in making 100 sunflower butter and jelly sandwiches to help the homeless.

One student in Ms. Raiford's class said, "I feel great doing this because I'm helping people I know need the help." Another student from the same class said, "It feels good helping the homeless people."

According to a story in the Winston-Salem Journal, the Triad’s job market improved slightly during December, with the unemployment rate declining 0.2 percentage points to 10 percent, as reported by the N.C. Employment Security Commission at the beginning of February. The Forsyth County rate fell to 9.1 percent from a revised 9.4 percent in November. Our community is in need.

"I've been doing this for about five years now, " said teacher Denise Brodeur. "I just have a passion for helping people who don't have anything, so I like to teach we do for ourselves, and we do for others. When we do this we learn about 100, and we celebrate the 100th day of school, but we're also giving back to others. It's a great character education as well as math lesson for our students."

Students work to make 100 sandwiches which are then delivered to Samaritan Ministries in downtown Winston-Salem. Samaritan Ministries is an interdenominational, volunteer based Christian ministry in Winston-Salem/Forsyth County serving hungry, homeless and people in need, 365 days a year. Their programs include: Samaritan Soup Kitchen, Winston-Salem’s only soup kitchen, Samaritan Inn, a 69 bed homeless shelter for men, and Project Cornerstone, a residential substance abuse recovery program for men.

Safely Surviving and Thriving in a Social Media World

This Tuesday February 1, 2011 from 8-9 PM Kimmel Farm Elementary will host "Safely Surviving and Thriving in a Social Media World" a special presentation where all stakeholders in the Kimmel Farm community will learn about social media from an educational perspective. We will cover social media, what web 2.0 really is and what Kimmel Farm's long-range plans are for addressing the issues of digital citizenship. Parents, aunts, uncles, are all invited. Door prizes will be given away including gift gift cards and a digital camera. Science Fair projects will also be on display.


Via: Online Schools

WXII Meterologist Teaches Weather to 2nd Grade

Today we had a very special visitor at Kimmel Farm- Lanie Pope, chief meteorologist from WXII 12, paid us a special visit. Having her as our guest was a real treat. She shared some great information with students. Her presentation included how different types of precipitation develop, how to keep safe in severe weather and she also talked with students about the different tools used to forecast weather. This was a wonderful opportunity for students to extend their knowledge about a topic we've previously studied in our science curriculum. What a great way to connect school and community. - by Mrs. Fala (second grade)

Holiday Performance 2010