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.

Hot Springs Intermediate School Student Council volunteered at the Jackson House earlier this month. The HSSD is so proud of the many ways our students across schools serve and support our wonderful Hot Springs community. This group is hosting a Silent Auction on Friday (12/21) in the Park Magnet School lobby from 1:30-3:00. All proceeds will benefit the Jackson House - a Hot Springs homeless shelter, food pantry, and crisis intervention center, and the Student Reward Fund - which pays for special student field trips to reward good behavior throughout the school year. Please join us for bidding!

At the Hot Springs Intermediate School, a special club is changing perspectives for 6th grade girls by way of a dedicated study in leadership and community service through the practice of good etiquette. The P.I.N.K. club, which stands for “Proud, Intelligent, and Noble Kids,” is led by 6th grade teacher Mrs. Wilda Hughley. Members, reserved only for 6th grade girls, meet twice each month after school for one-hour meetings and meet for service projects. One meeting is dedicated to coordinating service projects in the community. The other meeting is set aside for a guest speaker and rotating lesson theme. The club provides a foundation in a girls-only setting for friendship, manners, discipline, gratitude, confidence and work ethic.

Last week, the HSSD hosted three spelling bees across the district for 1st - 8th grade students. HSSD Gifted and Talented Coordinator Mrs. Laura West coordinated the spelling bees, which are exciting competitions for students to improve their general spelling, vocabulary and language skills in a fun competition with their peers. All nine of our finalists (the top three from each bee) will advance to the Garland County Spelling Bee on January 24, 2019 at the Gospel Light Baptist Church Auditorium (600 Garland Avenue, Hot springs) at 9:00 a.m. HSSD Spelling Bees are held in coordination with official rules and scripts from the Scripps National Spelling Bee so that they are uniform with those hosted across the U.S.

The HSSD is a diverse community of student groups, talents, and organizations. We look forward to each holiday performance and event throughout December. Don’t miss a thing, with an all-inclusive HSSD Holiday lineup, below. All events hosted at HSSD schools, as well as the Holiday Extravaganza on 12/6, are free to the public and open to all.

For Giving Tuesday, the Little Rock-based professional tap dance company Untapped sends dance instructors to schools across Arkansas at no charge to work with students in dance classes. Savannah Boyce and Michael Roberson, professional dancers and dance instructors with Untapped, worked with HSSD dance students across the district today. They brought hands-on tap sessions and brief discussion of tap history to our classrooms.

A new after school care program at Mid-America Science Museum, entitled Science After School, is being planned in collaboration with the HSSD. To launch this project, a pilot program will be conducted beginning on January 7, 2019 and will be offered Monday through Friday from 3:30 pm to 6:00 pm until the end of the school year. At this time, Science After School will only be available for a maximum of 107 K-6 HSSD students. This pilot program will be the first of its kind in the state of Arkansas. Forms and fees are due December 10, 2018.

During National School Safety Week, officials across the U.S. work to educate students and staff about best safety practices for school buses. HSSD Deputy Superintendent Lloyd Jackson and Transportation Staff are working in all HSSD schools to ensure that every student has been updated on bus safety practices during a school presentation this week. Students are then also completing a live evacuation exercise where they exit a bus just as they would during a live emergency scenario.

This month, 70 students (57 from 4th-8th grade and 13 from 9th-12th grade) from our four HSSD Beta Clubs attended a regional Beta Leadership Summit. It was a record breaking year, as HSSD clubs took home seven awards and qualified to compete at the National Beta Club Summit in five categories. Student groups are from Beta Clubs currently established at Park Magnet (4th-5th grade students), Oaklawn (4th-5th grade students), a combined team from Hot Springs Intermediate School (6th grade students) and Junior Academy (7th-8th grade students), and Hot Springs World Class High School (9th-12th grade students).

Thanks to the Hot Springs/Hot Springs Village Symphony Guild, Garland County 3rd - 6th graders experience a memorable performance by the unforgettable Arkansas Symphony Orchestra every year in Hot Springs. This year musicians presented Story Time, which connected the excellent musical performance to favorite literary tales. The annual student concert is tied to curriculum customized for the performance. Development of the curriculum is heavily influenced by our own HSSD teachers including Mrs. Sue DeLeon, Mrs. Becky Counts and Mrs. Casey Wylie, who help write the majority of the Student Journal portion.

5th-6th grade students with no office referrals for the first nine weeks were rewarded with a special extra recess at Family Park. 423 out of 474 HSIS students were eligible to attend, which is almost 90% of all HSIS students.

Students across the U.S. are getting ready for Red Ribbon Week® 2018! This year’s theme is: Life Is Your Journey. Travel Drug Free. At all HSSD schools, students will engage in activities that promote a drug free and healthy lifestyle. Please partner with us and discuss this message at home, at the dinner table, at family outings, and with friends and extended family. Students can be part of the celebration by enjoying themed dress up days for all schools which are included here.

Pumpkin Light Night is a FREE event for the whole family, on October 23. This gathering celebrates the programs, clubs, organizations, and many offerings of the Hot Springs School District. Bouncy houses, pumpkin displays, booths and activities, food trucks (food trucks charge for food), and entertainment fill our Trojan Field. Be part of celebrating HSSD students and the HSSD community at the 4th annual Pumpkin Light Night!

6th grade literacy teacher Mrs. Veronica Sanders guides students in Character Analysis projects that challenge them to take an in depth look at main characters in the novel Stargirl. “Character analysis helps them to understand what motivates her actions, and why she experiences different social situations in reaction to her behavior,” says Mrs. Sanders.

6th grade EAST students worked this week in Mrs. Rakejah Williams’ class to complete first steps toward identifying service-based projects for the school year. Service-based projects are part of EAST curriculum, and require that students collaborate with individuals or businesses to identify projects that meet needs in the community.