Newsletters 2014-15 Focus newsletter, [2] winter | Page 3

PREPARING STUDENTS FOR LIFE PAGE 3 Students save more than $1.4 million in future tuition costs thanks to ‘College in the Schools’ program During the 2013-14 school year, 862 AnokaHennepin students earned 3,220 credits from the University of Minnesota (U of M) through the “College in the Schools” (CIS) program. At $463.85 a credit, which is the same as last year, that marks a total savings of nearly $1.5 million in tuition fees for Anoka-Hennepin students who participated. Through CIS, students can earn college credits from the U of M without leaving their AnokaHennepin high schools. The credits are recognized by colleges and universities across the nation. Taking college courses allows high school students to experience increased academic rigor, develop skills for college success and make a smoother transition between high school and college. “We’re excited that more of our students are finding success in rigorous college-level courses and also earning college credit,” said Jeff McGonigal, associate superintendent for high school education. “With college tuition at an all-time high, this kind of success in high school is very important to students and their families.” This year’s numbers also mark a 40 percent uptick in participation and total college savings from the previous year for Anoka-Hennepin high school CIS students. In 2012-13, just 1,912 credits were earned by 486 participants, good for $886,881 in tuition savings. According to the U of M, the motivated students who want to earn college credit while in high school are the students who can raise the academic bar for all students and shape a positive school culture. More than 860 Anoka-Hennepin students — like these Blaine High School students — saved nearly $1.5 million in future tuition fees through the district’s “College in the Schools” (CIS) program. Keeping these students on the high school campus benefits the whole school. CIS classes are taught by high school teachers — 22 in total in Anoka-Hennepin, with three at Anoka, four at Champlin Park and Coon Rapids, five at Blaine and six at Andover. The university-based professional development the teachers receive provides an o pportunity to build relationships with U of M faculty and other high school teachers from other schools. Those 22 teachers received a total of 500.5 total hours of U of M sponsored professional development last year. In addition to CIS, students can also earn credit through Advanced Placement courses, International Baccalaureate and a number of career courses offered at the Secondary Technical Education Program (STEP). Last year more than 6,000 Anoka-Hennepin students took at least one college credit course. For more information about CIS, students can talk to their counselors or visit the CIS website www.cce.umn.edu/College-in-the-Schools. Registration is open through February for CIS classes offered in the 2014-15 academic year. ■ Anoka Middle School for the Arts receives $23,000 Perpich grant to help fuse together math and art At Anoka Middle School for the Arts (AMSA), a strange thing has been found in the math classes sixth graders are taking this year: art. “It sounds different, but it’s wonderful,” said Jolanda Dranchak, the school’s curriculum integrator. “Art is so hands on, so it’s proving to be very engaging for students, and it’s exciting to see them so excited to learn math.” It’s all happening thanks to a three-year, $23,000 grant AMSA received from the Perpich Center for Arts Education earlier this year, Dranchak said. The goal of the grant, she said, is to create a new curriculum plan that embeds art into three different sixth grade pre algebra lessons. Tam Wicks, a sixth grade math teacher at the school’s Washington campus, is one of the two math teachers who are piloting the new math lessons this year while also writing them. She said it’s been a hit thus far. “Students — they are loving it,” Wicks said. “They’re engaged in their learning and are connecting with the lessons like never before. Kids are excited to learn math.” The first such lesson was fractionbased, Wicks said. Students created a piece of art, and were then asked to calculate the color composition of the piece they created and show it in the form of a fraction. “It’s very cool,” Wicks said. Two more lessons will be piloted this year, Wicks said. Students will be creating a sculpture using two different colors of clay in an effort to better understand ratios. Later in the year, students will create beaded bracelets while also developing a better understanding of writing expressions and equations. And they may not be done adding lessons. “We are still creating lessons this year to match as many units in the sixth grade math curriculum as we can and implementing them in the classroom,” Wicks said. “Next year we will continue to create new lessons as we reflect on and revise this year’s work.” Dranchak said the grant was totally unexpected. She was at a workshop and was talking with a colleague about the idea of developing a curriculum that fused art with math. “They mentioned that a grant may be available for such a Anoka Middle School for the Arts sixth grade math teachers Tam Wicks and Jen Pillsbury work on a dry run of the art fractions unit they created. The unit, which fuses art with math, was made possible this year thanks to a grant from the Perpich Center for Arts Education. thing,” she said. “So we put together a team, wrote the grant and got accepted.” After getting the grant, Dranchak said the plan was to spend this year writing the new curriculum and then next year piloting it. “Our teachers were so eager to pilot this year though,” she said. “So we’re writing as we’re piloting.” All told, 300 sixth graders at AMSA are going through the pilot, Dranchak said. “I’m excited for the opportunity to work with a great team and create lessons that incorporate the arts as a way to engage students in the math classroom,” Wicks said. ■ Save the date: AHEF’s Bill Gallagher Memorial 5K April 11, 2015 Have questions or interested in volunteering to help with the 5K? Contact AHEF Director Tess DeGeest, [email protected], or at 763-506-1105.