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Education
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Written by Kevin Gray
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Wednesday, 13 May 2009 08:00 |
Osawatomie High School co-valedictorian and Governor’s Scholar Dakota Hunke also can be described as salesman. While living in Lawrence last summer at his mother’s place, Dakota knew he had to find a job.
In one day, he got up, found an ad for a sales job, called about it, went for an interview, was hired and went to work.
“When I got out of the interview, I said to myself, ‘I think I’m selling knives, and I was,’” he said.
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Education
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Written by Kevin Gray
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Wednesday, 13 May 2009 08:00 |
Osawatomie fine-arts students were honored at an awards event that was followed by performances last week. 
Musical pieces were performed by the Jazz Tech class, two women’s ensembles, the Oz Singers, the men’s ensemble, the concert choir and the concert band.
Instrumental Music Director Michael Packard presented the prestigious Louis Armstrong Jazz Award to Jerome McKain and the John Philip Sousa Band Award to Ben Davis.
Vocal music students who received II (excellent) ratings at the Kansas state music festival were recognized. They included:
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Education
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Written by Kevin Gray
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Wednesday, 13 May 2009 08:00 |
At the fifth-grade vocal and band spring program on May 5, the band,led by Band director Michael Packard led the group through several songs, including “Hot Cross Buns,” “Au Claire De La Lune,” “Frere Jacques” and “Merrily We Roll Along.”
Soloists included Jacoby Greenwood for “Home on the Range” and “Theme and Variations by Mozart,” Josephine Johnson playing “Theme from Symphony No. 9” by Beethoven, Harleigh Kitchen playing “Morning Mood,” and Briley Beets playing “Mexican Hat Dance.”
The vocal students directed by Maggie McKain and student teacher Sarah Odum performed “O Music” by Lowell Mason, “Ching-A-Ring Chaw” by Aaron Copeland, “The Blue-Tail Fly,” by Jill Gallina and “Rhythm of the Rain,” by Jerry Estes.
In “Rhythm of the Rain,” students Haley McDougal and Joseph DeLeon played woodblocks, Ashley Hay played the drums, and Chance Homrighausen and Darbie Ramsey played shakers. Justin Sheehan and Zach Cole played triangles, while Jessi Beets and Ryly Joeckel were on xylophones. Glockenspiels were played by Allison Lickteig and Brian Hall, while Audrey Robinson played the metallophone.
McKain said the fifth-graders experience general music lessons in class and get to see what it’s like to sing in a choir.
“Unless the children sing in a church choir, they don’t know what to expect in middle school or high school choir classes. Music is not just about sound and rhythms, but making history come alive,” she said.
The students learn about the background, McKain said, and the origin of every song they sing.
“For example, ‘O Music’ by Lowell Mason, was written by the first public school music teacher in the U.S.,” McKain said. “He believed all children should have the opportunity to experience music without paying for private lessons. ‘Ching-a-Ring Chaw’ and ‘Blue-Tail Fly’ are Southern folk songs. The children learned about how slaves used music for communication and telling stories through song.”
“Listen to the Rain” used Native American Indian melodies, and instruments were added for sound effects.
“The children always enjoy playing instruments because playing instruments helps to develop coordination skills and working together as a team,” McKain said. |
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Education
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Written by Kevin Gray
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Wednesday, 29 April 2009 08:00 |
“Where do balloons go when you let them go free? It can happen by accident. It happened to me,” Kansas Sen. Pat Apple asked while reading to students.
“Do they tango with airplanes? Or cha-cha with birds? Can plain balloons read balloons printed with words?” the Louisburg Republican recited from a Jamie Lee Curtis children’s book during a visit with Head Start students last week at Osawatomie’s Swenson Early Childhood Education Center.
The April 22 event helped teacher Brook Douglass and Miami County Head Start director Tammy Agidy celebrate the Week of the Young Child, an annual commemoration sponsored by the National Association for the Education of Young Children.
“Senator Apple did a great job with reading to the kids and answering their questions,” Douglass said. “He also handled it quite well when they got excited.”
The Head Start teacher added that she and Agidy invited Apple to come to the school to “celebrate children learning. We also wanted to show Senator Apple how the Osawatomie Head Start collaborates with USD 367, as well as how public dollars are being spent on early childhood education.”
After Apple finished reading to the students, he and each youngster were given a helium-filled balloon.
“We went outside and released the balloons together,” Agidy said. “It was the perfect day for a release. The balloons went straight up.”
Inside each balloon was a note requesting that anyone who finds one of the balloons contact the school, Douglass said.
Apple said he had a great time, adding that he can tell a lot about a school by the feeling he gets when entering the building.
“At good ones, like the Osawatomie Head Start and Swenson, you can tell when children are loved and well taken care of,” he said. “The teachers and staff in this building have made a friendly environment and do a wonderful job.”
The senator also said he liked the concept of placing a Head Start room within an early childhood building and as a part of the public school district.
“If children need special services, this will happen faster, and it will make transition to kindergarten that much easier,” he said. “A loving environment will pay dividends down the road.” |
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