Thursday, December 31, 2015

VEX Robotics Competition - January 9 at Patriot High School

from Prince William County Public Schools

VEX Robotics Competition Set for January 9 at Patriot High School

The next VEX robotics competition for middle school students will take place on Saturday, January 9 at Patriot High School in Nokesville. The all-day event will begin at 8 a.m.

In VEX robotics students design and build robots that play against each other to complete challenging tasks against the clock. VEX is just one of nine robotics platforms that is currently in place within Prince William County Public Schools. For more information about any PWCS robotics programs, contact Denyse Carroll, Regional STEM Education Coordinator (carroldm@pwcs.edu).

Thursday, December 17, 2015

Falls Church City Public Schools Seeks STEAM Volunteers


Falls Church City is in need of volunteers who can help with two great projects at Mary Ellen Henderson Middle School in Falls Church.

1. Science Fair Judges for 7th & 8th grade Science Fair projects. Thursday, January 21. The judging process will involve viewing student projects, interviewing students about their work, and evaluating the projects according to a rubric.  Judges should plan to arrive at MEH around 11:30 for lunch and an informational session about the judging process.  The judging will begin around 12:30 and will run until about 3:00.  Register to be Science Fair Judge.

2. Meet with & mentor students on their Exploravision Science Contest  entries. Students are imagining ground-breaking science and technology. They are thinking outside the box as they develop proposals to describe and show their creative ideas. They need mentors to meet with them during the first two weeks of January to talk about the specifics of the proposals. If you've got any expertise at all in any of these areas, please think about helping out. We need dentists, doctors, engineers, fingerprint experts and more! Available dates are 1/4, 1/6, 1/12, 1/14 , 1/19, 1/21, and 1/25 from 11:30 a.m. - 1:00 p.m.
Check out the Student Exploravision Proposals  and contact Marybeth if you are interested.

Please share this message with your colleagues, family and friends. The more volunteers we have for this event, the better!!

Marybeth Connelly
Business and Community Partnerships Falls Church City Public Schools 
office: 703-248-5691  

Friday, December 11, 2015

SeaPerch Volunteers Needed in Prince William - March 11

Northern Virginia's Regional SeaPerch underwater robotics competition will be held on Friday, March 11th at the beautiful Manassas Park Community Center. All Prince William County high schools, Manassas Park High School, Osbourn High School in the City of Manassas, Seton Senior High School will participate.

It’s a large event, and so a large number of volunteer judges are needed! The open shifts are 8am-12pm and 12pm-4pm. Volunteers do not need to know how the robot works to judge the pool competition but will carry a stopwatch and time each team as they complete assigned tasks. Instructions and judging sheet will be provided, along with a stopwatch.

In addition to a great time, volunteers get a free lunch and free SeaPerch polo! (Dress for a hot and humid pool-side!)

If you or someone you know is available, the link to register is below, as is a summary of each of the open activities for which volunteers are still needed. Thank you in advance for participating in this great day!
www.mysignup.com/seaperch

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Volunteer Positions Needed: 

Thursday, December 3, 2015

ACTE report: ESEA Reauthorization Bill Passed in House

Posted by ACTE: 03 Dec 2015 05:52 AM PST

The U.S. House of Representatives voted last night to advance the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA), a bill to reauthorize the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) developed by a joint conference committee and backed by leaders in both parties and chambers of Congress. After debate and consideration on the House floor, ESSA passed through the full chamber by a vote of 359 to 64 and now awaits consideration by the Senate.

If the legislation passes both chambers and becomes law, it would mark the largest overhaul of federal K-12 education policy since the passage of No Child Left Behind in 2002.

Because of its significance for students nationwide and far-reaching implications for education policy, ESSA has received substantial media attention. Education Week, a national publication covering education topics, published a piece on its High School and Beyond blog that included reference to ACTE’s endorsement and a deep dive on the CTE-related components of the bill.

ACTE is proud to endorse ESSA, which places unprecedented emphasis on the critical role that CTE has in every student’s education for college- and career-success. As we previously reported, ESSA includes key provisions to advance and strengthen CTE in secondary schools nationwide.

In preparation for the vote, ACTE worked with our champions in the House to gain their support, and called on ACTE members to contact their Representatives and voice their support for the legislation. We will continue to advocate for ESSA as it advances to the Senate, and encourage ACTE members to visit the CTE Action Center to tell their Senators to vote Yes on ESSA!