Henderson 7th Graders Learn AI Skills

Students in Dr. Susan Jinks’ 7th grade class at Henderson Middle School took on learning AI skills during Computer Science Week. Students need to understand what data is being collected during any instance of AI use and be able to evaluate the results of AI use to determine if there is any bias embedded in the AI tool. The students of Dr. Jinks learned how to use a live video of their faces to play a balancing game. Students choose random objects to balance virtually.

Mustangs Make Mark At Track & Field Season

The inaugural Indoor Track & Field season kicked off last week in cold and windy conditions, and the Mustangs had some impressive performances. This was the first track & field meet for many Mustangs, but 17 were scoring finishers, with ten regional qualifying marks.

Henderson 8th Graders’ Food Truck Project

8th grade Family and Consumer Science students recently completed a design cycle project on food trucks. Students researched existing food trucks, chose a theme and twist for their trucks, then created unique logos, designed their 3-D truck’s exterior, developed a menu, and wrote a letter to an investor for start-up funding.

As a culmination of the project, Jordan Robarge (Meridian graduate and son of retired art teacher Marc Robarge) talked to the kids about his experience starting a food truck business in Pittsburgh (Revival Chili). Jordan told students “No single task for running the food truck is difficult by itself; the hard part is keeping track of and completing all of the tasks together to keep the truck running!” The class reflected on how this is true of most things in life.

MHS Design Students Visit West Falls Site

The Bozzuto Construction Management team invited Meridian students in Design classes to a site walkthrough at the West Falls project adjacent to the secondary campus. Students began their trip with a presentation on the project’s scope, Bozzuoto’s role as a general contractor, and all of the career opportunities in the construction field. Students then did a walkthrough of the site, including stops inside a precast garage, transformer room, and apartment building, seeing all states of construction, from exposed mechanical systems to nearly finished units.

1964 Graduate Shares FCCPS Integration Story

Thursday night’s instrumental music concert, “Show Me The Light,” was a spectacular showcase of musical diversity, showcasing classical, rock, jazz, and contemporary genres. The wind ensemble’s masterful performance of “The Nine” by Randall D. Standridge commemorated the nine students who integrated Little Rock Central High School in Arkansas in 1954.

F.C.’s own trailblazer, Marian Selby, spoke beforehand about her experience as one of the first Black students to enroll in FCCPS in 1961.

Selby told the story of boarding a silent bus the first morning, navigating hostile hallways, and learning to rise above name-calling and bullying. She challenged the audience and the community to commit to improving how we treat one another.

Henderson Teacher’s 26 Years of Caring

For the past 26 years, Henderson Middle School Special Education teacher Mr. Werkman has exemplified the IB learner profile attribute of caring, by creating a supportive and nurturing classroom environment where students feel valued, safe, and understood. He’s built meaningful connections with hundreds of students by recognizing each student for their unique strengths, challenges, and interests. In alignment with the FCCPS mission statement, he “personalizes learning to meet each child’s unique needs” by first and foremost always striving to foster a relationship with each and every student as a means to motivate them to succeed. Firm, yet unwaveringly fair, he is highly principled and holds students accountable to be responsible, caring, and internationally-minded citizens. Long after students have left middle school, students regularly re-visit his classroom as testimony to the impact he has made on them.

From an instructional lens, he uses students’ strengths and interests to make what he is teaching relevant and engaging for his students. Additionally, Mr. Werkman is very artistic and uses this talent to create elaborate concept maps on the whiteboard that facilitate student understanding of the teacher’s notes. Furthermore, he is able to help make abstract concepts concrete for students by incorporating relevant examples, stories, and current events that highlight key points. Lastly, he imparts on students a genuine love of learning, encouraging them to always be curious and inquisitive about the world around them.

MHS Students Empower Mount Daniel Pupils

Meridian computer science students from Cyber Patriots, Robotics Club, and Girls Who Code Club visited Mount Daniel for the school’s Hour of Code event. At Mount Daniel, students learn to code in a variety of ways: through apps via their Technology classes, completing unplugged coding challenges, and learning how to code and debug BeeBots in their STEAM classes.

FCCPS Employee Award Nominees Announced

Principals and Directors have announced 34 nominees for four FCCPS employee awards, representing every school and department. Now it is the community’s turn to submit Letters of Support for the nominees. Is there an employee on the list who has made a difference for students, staff and community? Everyone in the community is invited to submit letters explaining why nominees deserve an award. All nominees are listed, along with a link to submit a Letter of Support (deadline January 12), at fccps.org/page/employee-recognition-awards.

OSE Fourth Graders Bring History to Life

Fourth Grade students at Oak Street Elementary created an artifacts showcase after a trip to Jamestown. Tasked to create artifacts that could have been found in or around the Jamestown area, students discussed and explored fundamental concepts of change and causation through the lens of the earliest inhabitants of Virginia, then retold a small part of their stories with the artifacts they created and journals they wrote from the perspectives of the two cultures that met in Jamestown in the early 1600s.