Good morning, good morning, good morning. Welcome, welcome, welcome time for part two of our community connection right here on K one, the one you trusted, and we are talking with Martinsville Public Schools and Public Schools Foundation. Loadonna Lar, How are we doing? Today's doing great? Wow? You know some people would say, well, we're about halfway through summer, but really it's a little bit more than half.
Right, Yes, literally, we have four weeks from tomorrow is the first day of school. Oh I thank you August fourteenth, Oh my goodness, sakes, that was a fast summer.
Yes, oh my goodness. What can we expect new this year?
So the first thing that comes to mind is Ranch Heights. The expansion project at Ranch Heights will be completed, so have some new classrooms. Our early childhood classrooms will be new there with pre k and kinder gardens. So and then a new library. So that'll be very nice, very nice, looking forward to that.
Oh right, what's the what's the We're going to get back to this year a little bit, but I want to even know what the foundation has been up to. How is it your?
Yeah, So summer is kind of our planning. We're in planning mode for summer and gearing up for stay of the schools. So that's coming up on August the sixth, that's the Wednesday, the week before school starts, and you might remember, but it's a great opportunity to kind of get together and kick off the school year as a community. Our superintendent will give his annual update on kind of a review of what's been going on this past school year and what's coming up for the current school year.
So just a great opportunity, whether you've been before or not, whether you have kids in the district or not, to come together and hear about what's going on in our schools, figure out how you can get engaged. It is a fundraiser for the foundation. It's our biggest fundraisers, so a great way to kind of get us in the position to fund all those teacher grants and bruins on the run and all the things that we're doing for our students and teachers every year. So again, that's August the
sixth at the Bartlesvielle High School. Comments Tickets are available on our website Bpsfoundation dot org and we still have some sponsorships available. But with that event comes an online auction where we have a lot of Bruin themed activities and experiences like exploring our aviation's flight simulators. We've got a beach house in North Carolina from one of our retired teachers this year. I know, and go ahead, and but your been in on that now, so it's our
biggest auction yet. But again all kind of related in some form to our Bruins and alumni. And then we have che Chef Nook is our executive chef for the district. I know everybody in Bartlesville knows Chef Nook, so he's now our executive chef with child Nutrition and so he's going to be putting together a great meal for all of our guests.
My goodness sake, I don't know how you got that done, but wow, that is that is really something else, so ladatta. Besides you know, buying a ticket for the Silent Art.
Right this year. So we have excited about some of our programs expanding at the high school. So our construction program that we started new last year, if you remember that, so we already have grown enough that we've added a second teacher to that program. So yes, so we're looking forward to that, and of course they already outgrew the space that we put them in initially, so we're going to be moving them out to the original AG building, so we'll have a bigger shop area and bigger classroom
space to accommodate the growing program. And then our aviation program is going into its fourth year this year, so we continue to see growth in that. We have over one hundred students who are enrolled in that program, so this will be since it's year four, this will be the first year that we'll have students who have participated in that program for all four years of high school, who would have started as freshmen and get to work at the whole program.
That is really nice, a little bit different that I think it's going to be quieter around school.
Yes, thank you. We are updating our cell phone policy and the biggest difference that students will see is at the high school level. So we had already had this policy in place at the elementaries and the middle schools, but at the high school is going to be a
change this year. So following new state legislation, we will students will not be allowed to have their cell phones out from Bell de Belle and Bell de Belle is defined as from the first bill of the day until the last bill of the day, so throughout the whole school day, cell phones will be put away. The only exceptions are emergencies or if a student has a medical need that's tied to their phone. There's some health monitoring
some students. Okay, so those would be the exceptions. But that's definitely a big change, you know, it'll be an adjustment. Change is not easy, but looking forward to the results that our students and teachers will see in the classroom once they get in this new habit, I really think everybody is going to find that the classroom experience is going to be better for everybody, students included.
Oh yeah. The first thing is going to prove is the posture, absolutely, and then the second thing is that kids are going to remember that the reading is fun to mental. They'll rediscover actually taking a look at a textbook again.
Well, and hopefully their intention spans will improve, they won't have all those distractions. I know, as a parent of incoming sophomore, I'm thrills. It's kind of just reinforcing what we're trying to do at home, right, It's reinforcing that. And I like that you said it was a habit. So I think it is about breaking a habit, and at first it might be rocky, but I know I'm going to start talking to my kids about it now so that they can start, you know, getting that expectation
in their head. Hopefully that will help. But my middle schooler, when they kind of made the transition to not having cell phones, that went, I think much smoother than maybe anybody expected, just because if everybody does it together, then you know you're on the same boat.
So well, this is going to be interesting. I really hope this pays off because I had our last one just graduated.
Yes, congratulations, thank you made it empty nest after seven kids you all day.
I have no clue what I'm going to be doing world. Yeah, I wasn't paying for college for her and her sister anyway, but I witnessed with the last I guess the three girls that we that changes took place, like attention span and getting worried about this that or the other that really was meaningless or unimportant, and being anxious about missing something on their phone. Right, And I am very thankful that this policy is kicked in so that these kids
can learn how to breathe. It can relax, forget about anxiety, and then you know, maybe just enjoy being a kid.
Completely agree. So I mentioned the classroom experience. You know, I think that we'll see a better classroom experience for both students and teachers. But I also think, you know, reading the research and around the impacts of so much time spent on screens and social media that just personally kids, I'm looking forward to seeing the change in their relationships with other students.
You have to talk to people, right, awkward.
That's another thing that's going to be a change, and it is probably going to be a little bit awkward. What is lunch going to look like? It's going to look a lot different than it has, you know, the last several years. I think that's a good thing. It will be a challenge, though, but we're up for it. That's right, We're up for it.
Right up there. Give them a little bit of a face masks the food fight, you know, because kids got the jitters and never mind, I don't think that's going to happen. But I think probably with it about six weeks, you're going to find a bunch calmer good.
Yes, yes, completely agree. I think probably the first three weeks will be the toughest, right, that's you know, that'll be the toughest for everybody. And then after that, hopefully it becomes routine and becomes a little easier. But maybe I'm being optimistic and shooting for just three weeks things. Yeah, the test.
I just think the idea is wonderful. Whatever it takes, it's going to work. And I got nothing but high praise for our lawmakers putting that together and for our schools for implementing it.
Yes, thank you.
I do appreciate the work.
That the legislature did this year in supporting this policy change. So it's needed and it gets everybody. I mean, I think it's what's goes for our kids, so I appreciate their support for that.
And once again in the big.
Event, stay to school super cool.
So we're going to get that taken care of. Folks. Thank you for being with this year on Community Connection on K one, the one you trust.
This note that the COPE and Senior Citizens Center will be closed for the