ARCHBOLD WEATHER

AHS Considering Teaming With NSCC For Credit Classes




Royal Short, Archbold High School principal, said the high school and Northwest State Community College are working together to provide students an opportunity to earn high school and college credit at AHS.

Currently, AHS students can attend classes at NSCC through the PSEO, or postsecondary enrollment option program. However, PSEO students must attend classes on the Northwest State campus.

Many leave school during the day to travel to the community college.

Speaking to the Archbold Area School Board at its Monday, Oct. 22 meeting, Short said the new program would allow students to earn NSCC credit, without having to leave campus.

He said there are students who don’t want to leave the high school environment, but want the opportunity to earn college credits.

The first class being developed is Composition 1, a first college writing class. Short said Comp 1 was chosen because almost every major requires the basic writing class.

Three AHS teachers are designing the course, he said.

By next semester, they should be ready to offer the course on a pilot basis.

By working with NSCC, there will be no cost to the school district, but students may have to pay a small fee.

Other classes that could be taught on a dual-enrollment basis include Accounting 1 and Computer-Aided Design, or CAD.

The program is a win for the school district and the college, he said.

He said school officials involved in similar programs advised that AHS should not restrict itself to working with one college or university.

Netbooks

Ben Gericke, a seventhgrade science teacher at Archbold Middle School, and Eli Miller, one of his students, gave a presentation on the use of small “netbook” computers in the classroom.

Gericke told board members he has 25 of the small computers in his classroom, which students may check out during the day but not take home.

Miller said students work in class on the machines four out of five days per week.

Students work on assignments and projects, uploading projects to the Internet using a web-based service called Moodle. Other students, teachers, and parents can view student projects over the Internet.

For example, students were asked to write an answer to the question, “Does air have weight?”

Gericke reviewed the answers. If they answer the question correctly, they can move on to the next topic. If not, he works out a lesson plan to illustrate the point.

“It’s a good gauge of what they did and did not know,” he said.

Brent Gnagey, district technology director, said the philosophy at the middle school is to use the best tool for the grade level.

“Moodle works well for the seventh-eighth grade level. It’s matching the right tool at the right time,” Gnagey said.

He now has 210 of the small computers, “but two of them are sick.”

R.O.C.K.S.

Michelle Bagrowski, district curriculum director, said there are 51 students enrolled in Archbold R.O.C.K.S., which is now in its sixth week.

R.O.C.K.S. stands for Recreation, Opportunity, Community, Knowledge, and Success.

It’s a before- and afterschool program offered to students.

At the program’s first family night, 73 people were in attendance.

Students have built kites from scratch, and are learning to play chess. Soon, they will begin working with robotics.

“It’s going well,” Bagrowski said. “It’s nice to see the kids come in.”



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