Innovation

This week, I had the honor of helping three Innovate WithIN teams participate in the regional competition at the University of Evansville. Innovate WithIN is a state-wide, high school pitch competition aimed at promoting entrepreneurship opportunities and mindsets.  Innovation and entrepreneurship creates pathways to economic success for our students and our communities and it provides authentic, engaging learning opportunities for our students!

The competition was a great experience for our students as they stood on stage and shared their "pitch" with four other entrepreneurs who were judges. Perry Central had 3 of the 10 entries and we were the only school that had students who had engineered their own product and presented working prototypes.  We didn't come away with first place, even though I thought we should have, but our students grew in confidence.

It was refreshing to see students who were passionate about a product they created to help better the lives of others. Students had the opportunity to develop problem-solving and communication skills, empathy and purpose as they found real solutions for real problems.   Even though they didn't win, they will be back!  Our students will continue to shine.

By providing students with opportunities like internships, community service, career pathways, dual credits, and other authentic/innovative learning strategies, we are helping redefine education.  The traditional public schools teach students how to sit, comply and take a test. . . but by investing our time and energy into innovative educational approaches, we are not only making learning engaging but we are changing our students' lives and making our community stronger.  I can't wait to see what the future holds! 

Important Information: 

Grades:  Reminder that the grade book closes on Wednesday, March 11th at 11:59 p.m.  Report Cards will be ready to hand out on Friday.

Junior High Community Service Day - This Friday (the 13th, full moon, day before Spring Break. . .) all of our students in grades 7 & 8 will be participating in a community service activity.  In their houses, students have teamed together to make a decision about who they want to help and how it will be accomplished.  We have projects anywhere from creating a welcoming committee at our school, building bird house boxes for the parks,  helping the Derby Community Center and more!   Community Service is one of the best ways to instill happiness, create social connections, reduce stress and develop leadership skills, according to Forbes.  Thank you to Shelly Kunkel and all of our teachers for making this day happen! 

CELL Rural Early College Grant Update - This week, our CELL Leadership team traveled to Indianapolis for a state meeting.  We had a great time networking and gaining ideas from across the state to help us strengthen our Early College High School Program.  It is a great reminder of the lives we are changing by providing this service to our rural students.  One of the project ideas we had was to gather testimonials from our students about how dual credits have impacted their lives.  Maddie Labhart was the first to respond and you can see her video above!

Interested in being a dual credit teacher?  To teach dual credit, teachers must have a master's degree and then 18 hours of master level classes in the subject area they want to teach for dual credits.  Perry Central will pay teachers (for pre-approved classes) $500 for completed course and will pay for the course if it is towards the specific 18 hours needed to teach the class.  This opportunity will only for sure be available during the years of the grant.  So get started now!!!!  See Jody for specifics!

Aspire - On Wednesday, March 11th, all 10th grade students will be participating in the Perry County Career program called Aspire.  Over 60 local community members will be on hand to speak directly to students about their careers and opportunities in Perry County.  Perry Central will be hosting the Perry Central, Tell City and Cannelton boys, while Tell City will be hosting all of the females.  It is always a great event!

Next Level Grant - We are excited that we have received a Next Level Planning Grant from the Department of Workforce Development to expand our Construction Pathway with Ivy Tech.  On the Monday of Spring Break, Dana, Josh and Jody get to travel to Indianapolis to learn more.  Even though we have to give up a day of break, we know that it will be beneficial to our students and our school community.  This grant is an effort to help schools be better prepared for students to earn credentials while in high school that are beyond a high school diploma.  Perry Central continues to be a leader in these opportunities. 


Spring Break is Next Week!!  Hope you have a wonderful break - you deserve it!! To celebrate, we will make this jean week!  (Please remember to make your jeans look professional!)