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Chillicothe RII News Page

CAPTION: Sheila Scott’s second grade performed a Spring time play for their parents Thursday at Field School. Chillicothe R-2 School students are on Easter break starting today. School will resume on Tuesday.

C-T Photo/Andrea Graves

Race Into Reading
Published: Thursday, March 12, 2009, C-T

CAPTION - Chillicotheans Cale (standing at left) and Chuck Aronson (not pictured), visited Field School today (Thursday) and talked to the students about the equipment used in IHRA Pro Stock racing, or drag racing. The students were allowed to look inside a trailer that, among other things, carries Cale’s race car, but received an up-close look at Cale’s car. The event was held in conjunction with Field School’s “Race Into Reading Day,” during which students were invited to wear their tennis shoes. Field School is holding its book fair this week, which runs until 10:45 a.m. tomorrow (Friday).

C-T Photo/Laura Schuler

May Day Baskets
By LAURA SCHULER/C-T City Editor, May 2, 2006

CAPTION: Members of Rosie Smith's second- and third-grade classes made sure their May Day baskets were ready for delivery before they traveled the neighborhood Monday delivering the baskets to several residents who live around Field School. Twenty baskets filled with goodies were delivered.

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Field trip to the Litton Ag Center to see signs of spring...

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'How the Penguins Saved Christmas'
By LAURA SCHULER/C-T City Editor, Wednesday, December 7, 2005

CAPTION: The third grade classes from Field School were dressed as penguins during their annual Christmas program which was titled, “How the Penguins Saved Christmas.” A large crowd of parents and grandparents attended the event, which was held at the Gary Dickinson Performing Arts Center.

C-T Photo/Laura Schuler

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Smith Named 2005 R-2 Teacher of the Year
By LAURA SCHULER/C-T City Editor, Tuesday, December 6, 2005

CAPTION: The auditorium broke out into applause as Rosie Smith (second from right) was named the 2005 R-2 Teacher of the Year during the annual awards ceremony held Monday at the Gary Dickinson Performing Arts Center. The special education instructor at Field School was among six teachers district wide nominated for the honor. As the Teacher of the Year, Smith receives $1,500 cash and $1,000 for education items from the Chillicothe Educational Foundation. Those nominated for the award received $500 cash and $1,000 for educational supplies, equipment or professional development, also courtesy of the Chillicothe Educational Foundation.

C-T Photo/Laura Schuler

Several R-2 employees and teachers were honored Monday during the 14th annual Teacher of the Year program held at the Gary Dickinson Performing Arts Center. District Superintendent Dale Wallace served as master of ceremonies and aided by R-2 board president David Williams, the two honored several district employees for their years of service. However, the highlight of the half-hour event occurred at the end of the program with the announcement of the 2005 Teacher of the Year. That award went to Rosie Smith, special education teacher at Field School.

“I never, in my wildest dreams thought something like this would happen to me,” Smith said, shortly after receiving the award. She added, “I have long believed that you're only as good as the people you work with and I've been privileged to work with a wonderful bunch of people.” As the 2005 Teacher of the year, Smith receives $1,500 cash and $1,000 for educational expenses from the Chillicothe Educational Foundation.

Ed Douglas, foundation president, made a few brief remarks and handed out awards totaling a combined $10,000 to Smith and the other teachers nominated for the award. Douglas noted that every year, he relishes the opportunity to honor the “best of the best” within the R-2 school system on behalf of the Chillicothe Educational Foundation. “What teachers do is extremely significant in that they help mold and shape our youth,” Douglas said. He explained that the foundation also works to encourage excellence in education through its Mini Grant program and the administration of several scholarships.

In announcing Smith as the 2005 Teacher of the Year, Wallace explained that the special education teacher possesses three important qualities that distinguish her as a great teacher: A truly caring attitude and willingness to go the extra mile to guide a student to their highest potential, a compelling desire to share her time and knowledge and discover, along with her students, all of the unknowns of the world, and the dedication to search for new approaches that will meet the need of every child. “The 2005 Teacher of the Year has been described in many different ways...a tireless worker, kind, professional, positive, creative, eager to help and dedicated,” Wallace told the crowd.

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Interactive Learning a Force to be Reckoned With at Field School
C-T / Laura Schuler, 11 15 05

Tracy Miller's third grade class learns about force and friction using the smart board in the classroom. There are five smart boards at Field School and teachers say the high tech equipment promotes interactive learning among the students.

Twenty pairs of eyes watched Tracy Miller as she prepared to touch her smart board screen which showed a long, curved yellow road and a horse sitting in a flagged car.

“What's going to happen when I push the yellow button to give the horse a soft push?,” the third grade teacher asked the class. Hands went up everywhere. Then, several students gave their guesses on just how far the horse will travel after they were called upon. Welcome to Miller's science class at Field School, which comes complete with textbooks, a smart board and an Internet website from British Broadcasting Company Inc. (for this particular lesson). The students were learning about force and friction - a concept long taught in R-2 third grade classrooms - and taught yesterday with the aid of high tech equipment.

The classroom is one of four at Field School with smart boards. A fifth is in the computer lab and is utilized by the teachers and students from other classrooms throughout the school day. “The beauty of the smart boards is that they can be used for any subject,” Miller explained.

Down the hall and to the right is Shelia Scott's second grade room. It's language arts time and Scott is seated at a computer near the front of the room. Her smart board reads: “The pilgrims saled in a Shiop called the mayflour across the ruff ocean.” Scott then asked her students to find any mistakes in the sentence. Hands went up everywhere. “The word ‘pilgrim' should be capitalized,” one student said. “Why do you think that?,” Scott queried. “Because its a name of a people,” the same student explained.

Scott agrees and then starts typing on her computer. Soon, the word “pilgrim” is capitalized and Scott asks students again if there are any more mistakes in the sentence. Hands go up again. 

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Second grade students at Field School celebrated the last day of school Friday by blowing bubbles during recess. Both second- and third-grade students blew bubbles during their recesses at the school playground. The 280 bottles of bubbles were donated by Susan Beck Case. Pictured, is longtime R-2 teacher Marsha Leopard, who helped the students blow bubbles. After 27 years of teaching in the R-2 school district, Leopard is retiring.

C-T Photo/Laura Schuler

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Third grade Christmas

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C-T / Laura Schuler, 08 18 04

Local members of the Hedrick Foundation toured Field School to get a first-hand glimpse of the new air conditioning system which was installed over the summer. The Hedrick Foundation funded the majority of the project ($275,000) which came with a $335,000 price tag. The air conditioning project is the second in as many years that the Hedrick Foundation has helped fund. Last summer, the foundation helped fund the installation of the air conditioning system at Central School.

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C-T Photo / Megan Neis, May 7, 2004

The second grade classes from Field School performed its spring music program at Gary Dickinson Performing Arts Center. The program was titled, "E-I-E-I-Ooops" and the students were dressed as different farm animals.

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A group of third-grade students who are participants in the reading and tutoring club at Field School, take part in the "Three Little Elephants" play Tuesday at the school. There are 24 students in the reading and tutoring club, which runs from November through April. Yesterday's plays were the last event for the club and they celebrated with pizza and soft drinks.

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Incoming R-2 Board of Education member Neal Dietz reads a Dr. Suess book to Joann Ranes' third grade class at Field School. The students there observed Dr. Suess week with special events planned. On Monday, the students were allowed to wear sun glasses for "Crazy Shades Day." On Tuesday, students were encouraged to wear sweatshirts or sweat suits for "Sweatin' with a Good Book Day." On Wednesday, the students wore black, red or white, or dressed as a cat with whiskers for "Cat in the Hat Day." Today, students wore hats and listened to guest readers. Tomorrow (Friday) is scheduled as "Read and Eat Day."

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Parents view inventions at Field School in February as students demonstrate their experiments.

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The third grade classes performed their holiday program "A Place in the Christmas Choir" Tuesday night, December 16, at Gary Dickinson Performing Arts Center. The performance featured students dressed as dogs, cats, elves, Santa and Mrs. Claus.

C-T Photo / Megan Neis

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Field Elementary School moved one step closer to getting air-conditioning installed with the Chillicothe R-2 Board of Education voting to fund whatever gap may exist between the actual cost and what will be donated. The Lawson and Hedrick trusts confirmed they were interested in participating in the installation of air-conditioning at Field School. The board proposed to give $75,000 to the Chillicothe Education Foundation this year, and an additional $200,000 next year to be used for the air-conditioning project. All of the district's schools are currently air-conditioned except for Field, Dewey, and parts of the middle school. It is anticipated Field will be air-conditioned before the start of the next school year.

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Roof Work.... July 29, 2003...Workers have begun the roof replacement project -- estimated at $116,625 -- at Field School. According to R-2 School officials, the school is one of four district buildings receiving a new roof this summer. The other buildings receiving the work include Central School (over the gymnasium/multi-purpose room), Garrison School, and the bus barn, which is complete. The bus barn was re-roofed by district employees. The total cost for all the roof projects is estimated at $155,000.

-- C-T Photo by Catherine Stortz Ripley

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Two schools in the Chillicothe R-2 School District are among the first 98 elementary schools in the state to receive grants under a new, innovative childhood reading program.

Dewey and Field schools are receiving grants totaling $36,364 to help improve reading instruction in the early grades, announced today (Tuesday) by Gov. Mel Carnahan.

Through the Read to Ready program, all public schools in Missouri can apply for four-year competitive grants to help fund reading programs for students in kindergarten through third grade.Each participating school is allowed to design its own reading improvement plan within the guidelines established by the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education. The funds may be used to help teachers implement new reading instruction methods and better techniques for assessing children's reading problems and progress, and may also may be used to purchase appropriate reading and evaluation materials.

The Read to be Ready program was established under legislation sponsored by Missouri House Speaker Steve Gaw and passed by the Legislature in 1999. Gaw said the program's purpose is to improve reading skills of Missouri's school children while providing local control and accountability on the part of the state's school districts.

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A third grade student at Field School in Dee Alden's class tells visitors about George Washington Carver, the inventor of peanut butter during a wax museum. About 75 to 100 parents and grandparents attended the event, in which students, dressed up as important persons in American History, read a biography on that person, based on research the students conducted themselves.

C-T Photo by Laura Schuler

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Science has the power to inspire students to think big thoughts and dream big dreams, said Dee Alden, third-grade teacher at Field School. Alden is the sponsor of the Adopt-A-Pig program, funded through a Single Classroom Grant.

With the grant, Alden adopts a pig at the Litton Agri-Science Learning Center. With the permission of one of the high school students involved in raising hogs, the entire class adopts this pig to study throughout the entire school year, according to a press release issued by Alden.

The third graders start out the year at the Litton Agri-Science Learning Center by doing various activities, including: weighing, measuring, drawing, taking digital photos and making observations in journals. The students also keep photo journals and written journals throughout the year. They also take numerous trips to the Litton Agri-Science Learning Center.

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