Hot Springs IntermediateSchool

Mr. Dudley Webb, 6th grade teacher at our HSSD Intermediate School, attended an official bill-signing ceremony at the State Capitol in honor of a new law (HB1145) signed by Governor Hutchinson to raise the base pay for Arkansas teacher salaries. Mr. Webb was invited alongside other members of the Teacher Leader Advisory Group (TLAG) organized by the Arkansas Department of Education (ADE) because of the role the group played in helping to write the Teacher Pay Increase Plan. Educators from across Arkansas on TLAG joined ADE leadership and state officials including Representative Bruce Cozart of Garland County, who helped to sponsor the legislation as Chairman of the House Education Committee, at the ceremony.

HSSD is proudly one of the few districts in Arkansas to offer EAST classes to elementary students, exposing them to cutting edge technology, self-directed learning, and leadership skills at a young age. Two projects for 5th-6th grade students in the Intermediate School EAST class with Mrs. Rakejah Wells-Williams are particularly memorable efforts to collaborate with community partners and solve real world problems. One group has created a child safety watch that alerts children and parents when a child is too far away from supervision; another is building a virtual reality game that creates interest in environmental responsibility by creating challenges out of trash pick-up.

Geography Bees, hosted for HSSD 4th-8th grade students this week at the Park Magnet/Intermediate School and Hot Springs Junior Academy campuses, are the first round in the annual National Geographic GeoBee. This national geography competition is designed to inspire and reward students' curiosity about the world. Questions cover not only geography, but also cultures, physical features, history and earth science. Winners from each HSSD Geography Bee (Milo Moore, Andrew Steven-Assheuer, and AJ Orellana) will take an online qualifying test. The top 100 scorers in the state of Arkansas will advance to the Arkansas GeoBee. The winner of the Arkansas Geo Bee will receive an all-expense-paid trip to the National Geographic Bee, which will be held in Washington D.C. next May.

6th grade students at HSSD Intermediate School had a once-in-a-lifetime experience just before winter break as they wrapped up a unit on cells and systems by dissecting sheep hearts and brains in Ms. Casey Wylie’s science class. Students had to apply to be part of the exercise, and were selected based (mostly) on a record of good behavior, and interest. Students who dissected the brains were looking at nerves and nerve chords. Those dissecting hearts learned about the circulatory system, including the atrium and ventricles. This experience was their first at HSSD with using scissors and exploring actual animal tissue.