Battle Ground Public Schools

8 | BATTLE GROUND PUBLIC SCHOOLS CTE PROGRAM RECEIVES STEM LIGHTHOUSE SCHOOL GRANT The Center for Agriculture, Science and Environmental Education (CASEE) has been hailed as a guiding light among Washington's STEM programs. CASEE was among a handful of Washington programs named a STEM Lighthouse school and given a $20,000 grant to mentor other schools that are developing science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) education programs of their own. The high school program offers classes on an 80-acre campus amidst greenhouses, research ponds, agricultural and forest land and traditional classrooms. Students spend a half day on the campus immersed in a science-based curriculum that includes biology, wildlife, food science and other topics integrated with English, and then attend their home high school for a half day to round out their studies. CASEE teachers work with industry partners to equip students to be catalysts for sustainable environmental awareness and stewardship and ensure that the program's curriculum is relevant to research happening in the field. The partnerships allow students to engage with scientists and conduct relevant research in the region. CASEE is a part of the district's Career and Technical Education (CTE) department, which gives high school students practical experience toward a future career. The Center for Agriculture, Science and Environmental Education (CASEE) has been hailed as a guiding light among Washington's STEM programs INSPIRING STUDENT LEARNING INNOVATIVE, CREATIVE EMBEDDED PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT PROMOTES BEST PRACTICES Battle Ground Public Schools moved its training program toward a model of embedded professional development by hiring instructional coaches to work with teachers in the classroom as they teach. The instructional coaches supported primary teachers this year as they implemented new writing curriculum. The coaches promote best practices in teaching by visiting classrooms and providing feedback to teachers on their instructional techniques. TECHNOLOGY=EDUCATIONAL TOOL Battle Ground Public Schools' students reach for technology nearly as often as they do pencils and paper. Our teachers strive to seamlessly integrate online applications such as blogs and other technology into lesson plans for a variety of subjects. In this way, technology becomes a tool that is used as it is in the workplace. From art and writing to math and U.S. history, there isn't any subject that doesn't support 21st century learning for all Battle Ground students. INNOVATIVE ED: INSPIRING CREATIVE LEARNING AT LAURIN MIDDLE SCHOOL Laurin Middle School teacher BJ Rush asks his fifth graders to write their book reviews as a blog for other readers who might be interested in the same type of book. Also check out our series of INNOVATIVE ED videos at: http://tinyurl.com/bgpsInnovativeEd http://youtu.be/E8pYYjb5jsQ

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