Content about schools

At Morgan Elementary School, one of the smallest classes of fifth graders completed their school year in May.  The kindergarten class that has registered for the upcoming 2013-14 year is about 20 students larger than the fifth graders that recently completed the school year, said Principal Tim Wolff. The 116 registered kindergarteners represent a typical class size, Wolff said.  The 2012-13 kindergarten class was large with 128.   

Summer is always such a great time of year.  In education, summer signals a time for celebration.  At this time of year we celebrate the end of another successful school year, the excitement for a change of pace, and the collective pride as a group of young adults graduate and start adventures of their own.  Summertime in education is also frequently a time to say professional goodbyes to colleagues who are leaving our schools.  

“If you keep doing what you’ve always done, you’ll keep getting what you’ve always got.” 

The Morgan School Board recognized three distinguished residents during the annual Morgan High School graduation ceremonies held at the Dee Events Center on May 24.  

Morgan High School held its annual Scholarship Awards Night on Tuesday, May 7, 2013.  Parents, families, teachers and community members all gathered to honor the nearly 100 members of the Class of 2013 who received scholarships to help them pursue their dreams of gaining a post high school education.  

A huge reason we have so many individual success stories in our special education program at Morgan Middle School is because of the success of our peer tutor program.   These students play a vital role in the success of some of their fellow students.

It was standing room only in the Morgan City offices for a town hall meeting with six resident panelists prepared to offer options to the voted local levy.

Instead of just another field day, the students and faculty at Morgan Elementary School participated in Relay Recess, raising money and awareness for the American Cancer Society.

The role of a successful teacher extends far beyond the classroom.  

On Tuesday evening, the Morgan High School Scholarship Board held their annual scholarship awards night.  Parents, patrons, sponsors, school officials and students gathered for this prestigious evening.

Ken Adams, the current Morgan County School District superintendent, will retire from his post in June.

Interscholastic extracurricular programs are vital to the positive social, physical and educational development of our students. These activities offer opportunities for service to the school and community; develop fellowship and goodwill; promote self-realization with physical, mental and emotional growth; and encourage the qualities of good citizenship. 

Carolyn Dee Morrison will graduate with a Bachelor of Art Degree from Weber State University on Friday, April 26.  She received her Associate Degree in 2011.

Many different opinions were aired at the last community meeting hosted by the Morgan County School District discussing the voted local levy. The April 18 meeting was held at Morgan Elementary School and was one of the last of the 18 meetings the district scheduled to disseminate information regarding the levy that will be on the June 25 ballot.

 
Natasha Andersen, daughter of Lance and Janel Andersen, has been selected as Morgan High School’s English Sterling Scholar.  Natasha has loved taking art, choir, English, and creative writing classes because they allow her to express herself.  She loves reading and writing, drawing and painting, and participating in choir, soccer, and track.  Natasha has been involved as a member of FBLA, National Honor Society, choir, Academic Decathlon, Academic Olympiad, and the soccer and track teams.  She currently serves as the Interact Service Club President, an NHS president, an Ovation! choir section leader, and a Seminary Council member.  Natasha is proud of her accomplishments of being selected as a National Merit Scholarship Finalist, getting a 36 on each section of the ACT, and being selected for Academic All-State in girls’ soccer.  Natasha plans to attend either Brigham Young University or Utah State University in the fall and major in English. 

This school year I have had the opportunity to participate in a Principals Academy for the elementary math and science core curriculum. One of the presenters at the academy asked,with all of the expectations we have on teachers in regards to high-stakes testing and student growth, why do we set elementary teachers up to fail? He went on to explain that traditionally elementary teachers are expected to teach multiple different subjects yet are expected to provide the same quality instruction in each of those classes as a teacher assigned to teach one or two subjects. While listening I found myself wondering what we could do at MMS to help our sixth grade teachers and students have the greatest opportunity for success. During a recent PLC I shared with the sixth grade team the things I had learned and was thinking about to get their ideas on how we could make changes to enhance student learning.

The Morgan County School District announced its selection for its next superintendent of schools.

We have had a lot of success this year with our Science Olympiad program. The students worked hard for many months. I am so proud of their hard work and dedication. The following paragraphs explain what this program is about.

Morgan County School Board members, teachers and residents are talking about a website created by Morgan community members that voices opposition to the voted leeway that will come before voters on June 25.

Taylor Preslar, son of Mark and Vinda Preslar, is Morgan High School’s Business Sterling Scholar.  Preslar has been involved as a member of Academic Olympiad, Academic Decathlon and the debate team.  He has also served in leadership positions including National Honor Society vice president, debate president, FBLA officer, Valley United soccer captain and cross country team captain.  Last year he attended Boys’ State, a camp that involves students in simulated government processes.  

The fourth quarter started this week for all schools within the Morgan County School District on the traditional quarter system.  Fourth quarter at Morgan Elementary School is often our busiest time for learning.  Along with end-of-level state core tests and the final academic push for the school year, many exciting learning activities dominate our calendar.  The following is a sample from just the past four school days!

A fun and learning experience was had by all when the fifth grade participated in a wax museum project last week at Mountain Green Elementary School. Every fifth-grader was required to read a biography and memorize a few fun facts about the person they chose to read about.  Then the fun began.  

In an effort to help provide relief from the devastating aftermath of the Sandy Hurricane, Mackenzie Cannon initiated a fundraiser called “$ents for Sandy.” Her goal was to make a meaningful contribution through the Red Cross to help rebuild lives shattered by this natural disaster.  

Joey Skinner exchanged one public figure hat for another when he was named Morgan Utah’s new stake president and resigned from his position on the Morgan County School District Board of Education all within the same week.

 
“Once Upon on Time” was the theme at this year’s junior prom. 
The spirit of Morgan was shown in the diversity of personalities this year.

On April 8, the testing window will open in Morgan School District for your children to take the Utah mandated computer based Criterion Referenced Tests (CRT). The testing window will end on Friday, May 10. The week of May 13-17 will be used to allow students to take the test that they may have missed taking during the regular testing window.

Last Friday, Morgan Elementary students participated in an assembly featuring the wildly popular young adult fiction series of Michael Vey written by bestselling author Richard Paul Evans. 

During the month of February, fifth graders at Mountain Green Elementary participated in a school-wide reading marathon leading up to Dr. Seuss’ birthday on March 2. In honor of Dr. Suess and his amazing contribution to literature, students have been learning about his life and reading his books. One book some of the students read was “Bartholomew and the Oobleck.” These students then participated in a science project to understand the physical and chemical properties of “Oobleck.” Cornstarch and water were mixed together to create the “Oobleck.” The non-newtonian substance that was created acted very strangely as the students proceeded to test, with their hands, if the substance was a liquid or a solid. 

After months of practicing, the Morgan High Jazz Band was able to show off their skills, play some great music and take home top honors at the Region Jazz Festival. Held Wednesday, March 6 at Ben Lomond High, MHS band members played songs such as State Street Stomp, Mambo Hot and All Night Rain to the approval and top scores of the judges.

We help students get excited about science through an after-school program that teaches students to think for themselves and to solve problems in science.  The students do a variety of activities from November to March. We prepare students in various categories so that we can compete against other schools throughout the state. March has been a great month for all students interested in science. We have just attended our first Regional Science Olympiad at Westminster College. Our second regional will be held on March 23rd at Weber State University and State will be in April at the U of U. Any students in the middle school are able to participate.

Each year 4-H students compete for the honor of being one of only eight people chosen statewide to represent their hometown as a student ambassador. 

At the advice of the Utah School Boards Association, the Morgan County School Board passed a new employee personal firearms policy.

As school district officials make final touches to documents they plan to use when educating the public about the June voted leeway, they have mentioned which programs may suffer if the leeway doesn’t pass.

In the wake of the Sandy Hook school shootings, the Morgan School District is updating its emergency preparedness plan and evaluating the safety of its schools.

Peter Christensen, a student at Morgan Middle School, not only won the school-level competition of the National Geographic Bee on Jan. 10, 2012, he also earned a chance at a $25,000 college scholarship.  The school-level bee, at which students answered oral and written questions on geography, was the first round in the annual National Geographic Bee.  

The Trojan Century Center will be open for senior citizens and others who would like to walk in the late afternoons or early evenings from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m., Monday through Friday.  This will continue until spring weather is more conducive to use of the Morgan City walking path (Mikelsen Mile).

 
“If Morgan School District is having financial challenges, why did the Board of Education build the Trojan Century Center and transportation facility?”

Due to budget cuts, many schools throughout the nation are electing to eliminate arts programs to save money. As a result many children who may not have access to after-school private lessons miss the opportunity to develop the critical skills taught through exposure to the arts. On Tuesday night, Feb. 19, the students of Morgan Middle School and their families were brought together in a Celebration of the Arts focusing on the talents and skills they have been developing. The students and faculty of MMS showcased their passion for keeping the arts alive here in Morgan, and invited those in attendance, including Superintendent Ken Adams, to celebrate with them.

The Morgan County School Board is gearing up for a June 2013 voted leeway.

It has been said, “That if you fail to plan, you plan to fail.”  Contest management at any level of high school sport competition requires preparation and planning in order to increase the enjoyment of the spectators and to enhance the safety for attendees, supervisors, officials and participants. The main purpose for high school sports/activities is educational based activities that are directed by the mission statement and objectives of the local school board and implemented by school administration and teachers. As administrators, we deal with our share of sportsmanship issues and people that lose focus of what our activities and sports programs are about. 

Shire, a global specialty biopharmaceutical company, is pleased to announce that it has launched its 2013 ADHD Scholarship Program.

A survey about dual immersion is available on the Morgan Elementary and Mountain Green Elementary websites. Paper copies are also available in both school offices.  The brief survey, only 10 questions, will determine if and how a dual immersion program will be available for students in the Morgan School District.  Results of the survey will be used to help determine which elementary school the program would be hosted by as well as the preferred language to be taught if a dual immersion program is implemented. The survey is available to parents of children who will be entering elementary in the Morgan County School District. It will be available online until Feb. 5, 2013.   

Morgan Elementary Students have had the opportunity to give back to our community though the month of December by collecting food items for the food bank.  They have been so excited to see the piles grow each day!   It is amazing that such small acts of service can make such an impact on others lives.

The horrific tragedy that swept over the nation this past week with the senseless loss of innocent lives at Sandy Hook Elementary has saddened all of our hearts.  Our thoughts and prayers go out to the families and friends of these children and to the heroic efforts of their teachers and principal who gave their own lives trying to protect them.

Once again the spirit of our community has reached out to provide service and assistance to families through the annual Giving Tree project.  This annual event is directed by students and advisors in the FCCLA, FFA, and National Honor Society.  Help was also received from Morgan Middle School student officers and the PTSO’s in the elementary schools.

I start this week’s article with a confession.  I love elementary school libraries.  A great school library serves as the figurative, and occasionally, the literal center of the school.  Many of the highlights of my career have happened in school libraries, from staff celebrations to parent committee meetings; from sharing my favorite book with students to listening as they share theirs.  The elementary school library, in my mind, is the family room of the school.  So, with this obvious bias, allow me to explain why Morgan Elementary’s library is an essential part of our system.

Language arts teachers from both the middle school and high school met with Christelle Estrada, Language Arts Specialist from the Utah Office of Education, on Nov. 29 to receive training and insight to assist with the implementation of the new Language Arts Common Core. From this, the teachers planned and shared resources to meet their goals.

Honor Roll

Morgan’s High FFA and FCCLA organizations are teaming up with the Student Body Officers, MMS, & MES for this year’s Sub for Santa. These two groups have helped Morgan County residence for the Sub for Santa program for several years. These two high school organizations have divided up the responsibilities for those who need help for Christmas. The FCCLA organization is responsible for collecting items for families who have asked for assistance in bringing Christmas to their family. The FCCLA will have a tree in the Morgan Ridley’s with requested items. A person or an organization may take a request to fill and then return the tag with the item back to Ridley’s or bring it to Morgan High before the deadline that will be stated on the tree. The tree will be set up for two weeks or more in Ridley’s during the month of December.

“The child’s first and most important teacher is the parent.” 

Morgan County School officials promised constituents they would look into a dual immersion language program at area elementary schools.  As part of that promise, the community councils at both Morgan and Mountain Green elementary schools have written a survey to measure interest in the area.  

NRCS participated in the annual Environmental Immersion Day sponsored by the Fairchild Challenge, Thanksgiving Point and USU Extension.  An estimated 330 high school students from 10 schools gathered at Thanksgiving Point Gardens on Oct. 3 to gain some hands-on experience in various science disciplines dealing with the environment.  The Fairchild Challenge began in 2002 to foster interest in the environment by encouraging students to appreciate and value the beauty of nature, develop critical-thinking skills, and to understand the need for biodiversity and conservation.

Low participation in past years, along with parent opposition to future administrations of the survey, spelled doom for the Student Health and Risk Prevention survey in the Morgan County School District for 2013.

Learning.  This term can mean so many things, but in the Morgan FFA we strive to learn all we can in every possible way.  Over the course of the last several weeks, FFA teams have been practicing all across Northern Utah to compete at the renowned Snow College Competition.  Competitions here focus on real life agriculture with areas of study such as agronomy, dairy cattle, horses, range, floriculture, soils and more.  Your very own students here at Morgan High School have been learning more and more about each of these individual subjects through the Morgan FFA all in the end goal of competing at Snow College.  “The FFA trip to Snow College was a worthwhile experience.  The participating team members participated in a challenging and educational experience.  Additionally, we were able to meet new people and have a good time,” says Daxton Rowser, Morgan FFA member, when asked about the competition.  Also, the Morgan FFA chapter would like to thank every person who has ever coached one of our teams; you’re guiding hands have taught us a great amount.

On occasion we find inspiration from unexpected sources. I did when I listened to 150 third grade children powerfully express themselves through a remarkable musical journey. The songs employed meaningful lyrics with messages intended to build confidence, provide strength, help people achieve their potential, dream big, and to stay optimistic during difficult times. The lessons are simple, but universal.  

In the hustle and chaos of our daily lives, it is easy to have tunnel vision and focus either on everyday tasks or on the little negative things that can sometimes overwhelm our days.  So in this issue, I’d like to focus more on a couple of really positive activities that have happened recently at Morgan High School: our “Anti-bullying” and “Think Pink” events.  First, I must admit that young people continue to amaze me in their generosity and willingness to stand for their convictions.

Friends and family of Morgan Elementary students fell into fun at the fall festival.   The rain didn’t keep the crowds away from the party set up in the school’s gym, cafeteria and hallway.  Over 300 children and adults attended the fall festival making it a huge success.   

The Morgan County School Board is considering administering the Student Health and Risk Prevention survey to students in select grades in February or March of 2013.  In years past, some parents have objected to the content of the survey and claimed the schools did not properly follow through on the “opt in” parent permission procedure.

 
Now that school has been in session for a few weeks, it’s a great time to take a few minutes and review with your children some safety guidelines about going to and from school.  The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children found that approximately 36 percent of attempted non-family abductions happened when a child was going to or from school, or a school-related activity.  With this fact in mind here are a few tips for parents that will help our school children with a safer journey.

In 5th grade, the students at Mountain Green Elementary School learn about American history. Near the beginning of their studies are early explorers. Students were put into pairs and chose an explorer to research about. They needed to find out the basic birth/death date, birthplace and what country the explorer sailed for. They also had to find why their explorer started their voyage, what they discovered, what they are most famous for and other interesting information about that explorers life. The students had four days to research information from websites, short readings and the encyclopedia. Students then used the information they gathered to create a poster and present their explorer to the class. The class took notes on each explorer. This information will later be used to write an informative essay on “Why People Explore.” Students discovered many interesting things such as Christopher Columbus was not actually the first European to land on the Americas, how America got its name,  how the lack of vitamin C caused the dreaded scurvy, how some explorers mysteriously disappeared, and how some men even spent months searching for cities of gold or a fountain of youth.  This was a very fun learning activity for the students.

Morgan Elementary School , Middle School, and Morgan High School will be having an evacuation drill at 9:45 a.m. Oct. 10, in preparation  for a chemical spill or events such as a dam break.  Superintendent Ken Adams, staff from the district, the schools and Morgan County Sherriff’s office will be along the route to maintain order for approximately 1,600 students. They will be leaving the schools and meeting above Wilkinson’s Construction on 1st South.  Please treat this area as a school zone to help us make this a seamless evacuation.

I want to start off by saying how excited we are at Morgan Middle School for the start of a new school year. It is great to see our students and staff in the halls smiling, renewing old and making new acquaintances. We are happy that school has started and are eager to teach the children of our community.

Ten art students from Morgan Middle School have been selected to send their artwork to Japan for the International Children’s Art Exhibition.   Students enrolled in Art II classes at the middle school were invited to participate.  Each student created an original work of art following this year’s theme “Vehicle.”  Works were made from a variety of media: pencil, charcoal, watercolor, pastels, chalk, and colored pencil.  A panel of judges made up of administration and faculty then selected 10 pieces to represent the school at the exhibition.

Teachers and administrators across the district are working together in enhancing student learning in all schools.  Small groups of educators are meeting each Wednesday, focusing their attention on best practices and remediation strategies for students under their care.

The Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act was approved by the federal government and is now law.  Morgan School District, and many other districts in the state, participate in the national school lunch program and are required to comply with the new standards and guidelines set by the government.  The new lunch menus are now aligned with this law. We will be offering more fruits and vegetables, whole grains, and fewer desserts.  Students participating in the school lunch program must choose at least one fruit or vegetable, plus two other food items.  They may also choose to take all of the food items offered which would include both the fruit and vegetable.  This change will help ensure that students will have on their tray a healthy, balanced meal everyday that meets federal government guidelines.

As we begin a new year at Morgan High School, I am excited to renew many of the relationships I have with our wonderful students.  As staff members of Morgan High School and Morgan School District, we are always looking for ways to improve our school system and continue to provide the students of this great valley a top quality education.

With the beginning of the school year upon us, there seems to be a growing concern in the community about speeding problems.  Commuter time overlaps school bus schedules and inevitably, people will be in a hurry during prime commuting time.  However, residents need to remember that there are precious little ones lining these streets during these times as well.  

Sometimes there are misconceptions about PTSO.  Courtney Gualco, the new MES PTSO president, wants everyone to know what PTSO is all about.  “We’re a support to the parents, teachers and students of our school,” Gualco explained. “We try and help make school a pleasant experience.   Any parent can participate in PTSO and there are many ways to help.”   

Morgan Middle School is excited about this new school year. We have lots of fun things planned. The sixth grade will have their back to school night on Aug. 22 at 5:30 p.m. to get things started. Aug. 23 will be the first day of school and will be a full day of school. Our PTSO is sponsoring a Back to School Bash fund raiser on Aug. 24 from 2:30-4:30 p.m. at the middle school. The Bash costs $10 to attend and there will be activities and megatoys. Those who attend should plan on getting wet. There will also be drinks and food for an additional cost. For more information on the bash, contact PTSO President Shalece Sanders 801-876-3458.

It is exciting to start our fifth year at Mountain Green elementary school.  As you can tell from all of the new homes being built, our school is growing.  This year at Mountain Green Elementary, we will be having our teacher professional training days on the same day of the week as the rest of the district.  Therefore, early out day will be on Wednesdays at 1:15 p.m.   We will be starting each day at 8:30 a.m., which is five minutes earlier this year. The normal time for school ending has not changed, ending time is at 3:20 p.m.  

With the commencement of the 2012-13 school year a rudimentary form of Professional Learning Communities  will be implemented in all schools within the district.  Presently, Morgan Elementary School, Mountain Green Elementary School, and Morgan Middle School employ basic models of PLCs.  Morgan High School has had periodic departmental planning sessions, but nothing continuous or direction focused.

The new Trojan Century Center has become an unnecessary stumbling block in discussions regarding the need to increase property taxes to fund education.  

Every year local youth look forward to an appearance from one of our very own Utah Jazz players.  This year, local Jr. Jazz participants will meet Jazz forward, #3, DeMarre Carroll.  Carroll was born July 27, 1986, is 6’8” and just finished his third year in the NBA and his first year with the Jazz.

Tyson Butterfield, Keaton Cox, Haskin Hardman, Morgan Kotter, Darrin Nielson, and Cameron Skinner from Morgan High School were among the 222 students excelling in math and science who attended Utah State University’s 21st Annual Engineering State program in Logan, UT, June 11 – 14, 2012.