POINTS of PRIDE: BCLUW

Spring 2015 - a visit with Cari Teske

BCLUW's Mission:  Providing a learning environment for education excellence and motivation to continue a lifetime of learning.  It is a district that believes, "Education is not the answer to the questions.  Education is the means to the answer of all questions."

Who is BCLUW?  The communities of Beamon, Conrad, Liscomb, Union, and Whitten! The counties of Grundy - Hardy - Marshall!  Organized since 1986.

Demographics:
Over 600 in grades PreK-12
Free and Reduced Lunch 34%

Auditorium

BCLUW was the fifth district in the state to begin a 1-to-1 initiative.  In 2013-14 BCLUW was named a Distinguished Apple School because of its commitment to the seamless integration and creative use of technology.  Their laptop of choice:  MacBook Pros.  Their 1-to-1 initiative was culture changing including a survey by Apple and six days of professional development training with Apple.  Technology is embedded across the curriculum including activities such as writing their own ending to the movie The Lady and the Tiger and picking tracks to make into a silent movie.  The Family Consumer Science Classes create infomercials related to their studies.  The staff uses Twitter and Zite to communicate with the public. A subscription to Zite brings into the classroom multiple sources to use.  The Language Arts classes used a tweet to develop a team teaching partnership with Peter Noonan, a noted educator in Sweden.  6-8 students made a visit to Sweden for a in-person meeting.  They read about Hemlet and then in the spring made a visit to Hamlet's Castle.  Social


Studies and Language Arts participated in "Book 'em" where they collaborated with Pekin completing interviews with people on 9-11 and documenting it in a book.  Blender is loaded on all computers with an independent course organized around this program.  VREP is used to design and create while students are training others.  They have a 3D TV and 3D printer.  Those in nurses' training were given the problem that they needed to design a way to seal the IV bags used in their practice.  The students used a 3D printer to create a plug to solve this problem.    They have designed curtains, blinds, phone covers, and developed robots through STEM. 

The Industrial Arts teacher has a CNC Plasma cutter where Blender was used to create a fire ring design, and the cutter was used to create their product.  These were sold to the community to raise funds to further develop their projects.
The Media Center boasts a Coffee Shop, is in the process of "unplugging" by creating maker space areas for inventing, and also has a Green Screen area for recording video presentations.



The day I visited was the community lunch provided by the Food Managenebt Class complete with a Disney theme and viewing of a movie as a delicious lunch was served in the Comet Cafe.  

Denise Long was a graduate from this area and was known as a phenomenal 6-on-6 basketball player. leading her team to both a runner up and state girls basketball championship.  She prepared for games by shooting 500 buckets a day in the park.   Her contributions are displayed in the hallways of the high school.

BCLUW is known for its positive supportive staff that works closely in professional learning communities where the gap between what's taught and what's measured is discussed.  It is a framework that creates a bridge between curriculum and core standards.  It is within PLC work that Intervention Time is set up, also called Comet Quest, where students receive small group instruction as well as enrichment opportunities.  Students receive reteaching if their skills are lacking and then attend an At Risk study hall if they are behind on their work completion.  All work is focused on creating successful learning experiences for all students.  It is the belief of BCLUW that "Teachers open the door, but you must enter yourself." (Chinese Proverb)