Students make gifted-program presentation to Jackson School Board

Games, stories and the coding behind them were part of a Tuesday presentation to the Jackson School Board by five middle-school students enrolled in ALERT, or the Advanced Learning and Enrichment through Research and Technology program.

Rachel Glisson, who teaches fifth-, sixth- and seventh-grade students in the ALERT gifted education program at the middle school, said there is a different curriculum theme every quarter.

This quarter, it was engineering and computer programming.

"And we used Scratch as our platform to explore the skills that were needed in those career pathways," Glisson said.

Scratch is a program that can be used to create interactive stories, games and animations, according to its website.

Each student showed board members their games and animations, explaining their projects as they went and the glitches they ran into.

Glisson said the students "really loved it" once they got the hang of it, and wanted to work on their ALERT projects all the time.

"It feeds their creativity while still being structured and relevant to their growth," she said.

The students presented a thank-you card to the board for new computers, as well.

In other business:

• The board heard from parent Brad Noel during the public comment portion of the meeting about Common Core Standards. Common Core is included in the Missouri Learning Standards, a set of "high-level academic expectations" in English, language arts and math, according to information on the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education website. Common Core defines the knowledge and skills students should master by the end of each grade level to be "on track to succeed" in college and their career, the information said.

In his remarks, Noel asked the board to hold one or more open forums so parents, taxpayers and stakeholders may express how they feel about "what is going on right now, express to you how they will stand alongside of you in the defense of our right as a community to direct the education of our children." He said the district would have "the backing and full support of this community should you decide to, at the very least, put a hold on this Common Core implementation."

Associate superintendent Matt Lacy said the district began implementing Common Core in 2012 and has been slowly putting it into place throughout the grades. It is supposed to "go live" in the 2014-2015 school year, Lacy said.

Board member Alaina Hinze wanted to respond to Noel, but was told she could not because it wasn't on the agenda. However, she was told she could meet with him after the meeting.

• Heather Brune, director of donor relations at United Way of Southeast Missouri, received a $25,030 check with the funds having been raised by the school district.

Brune thanked the district for making a "huge difference."

Merideth Pobst, director of foundation/communications for the district, said United Way usually augments the amount the district raises.

rcampbell@semissourian.com

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