The Migrant Education Program celebrated another year of summer learning by four weeks of traveling around the world.

The program has served 29 preschool, 108 elementary and 65 middle school students. During the summer learning program, students learned about different countries including; Italy, Japan, Australia, Mexico, and Tanzania. In addition, students were able to experience folkloric dances, art, music, PE, and STEM as part of their elective classes.

On the last day of the summer learning program, parents, community partners, and staff celebrated alongside the students during the National Summer Learning Day. During this day, students performed authentic dances and sang songs for parents to show what they had been working on during the last four weeks. Parents had an opportunity to travel around the world with their children and visit the countries each classroom has been working on.

With the wide range of kids High Desert Education Service District serves through local schools, there’s one idea educators have in common: A person’s challenges or limitations don’t define them.

Sierra Abbott, who recently graduated Bend High School with honors, is a perfect example of that. Sierra excelled in her classes, took International Baccalaureate courses, and ran and skied on the school’s cross country sports teams. This fall, she’s headed to Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah, where she wants to study to become a history teacher. Sierra also has albinism and is legally blind.

Albinism is a genetic condition that reduces the amount of melanin, or pigment, including in the skin, hair and eyes, according to the National Organization for Albinism and Hypopigmentation. People with albinism are extra sensitive to the sun’s effects and have vision impairment.

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The HDESD Vision Team was excited to host its second annual Vision Adventure Day Camp on June 18-20, 2019. They partnered with Oregon Adaptive Sports and had a warm, fun-filled day at Prineville Reservoir. The students tried kayaking, paddle boarding and straddle boarding. The students planned a lunch for the following day and went grocery shopping. In addition, they made slime and stepping stones during their adventure camp. The last day they partnered with Northwest Association of Blind Athletes and enjoyed a day at Sam Johnson Park in Redmond playing beep soccer, beep baseball and kickball. The day ended with a barbeque dinner with students and their families.

Photo: Student reading a Braille sign at Sam Johnson Park in Redmond

Revamping a school starts at the top. But it also begins with small change.  For teachers, educational assistants, counselors and students to feel like they can make a difference with their ideas, they need a leader who will support them.

High Desert Education Service District offers a fellowship through the d.school at Stanford University that encourages leaders to do just that. School Retool, a professional development fellowship created by the d.school, IDEO and the Hewlett Foundation, gives educators the chance to reinvent their school culture using a change process inspired by design thinking.

For the second year in a row, HDESD gathered about 15 educators nominated by their school districts to take part in the School Retool fellowship in Central Oregon, which lasts from January to April.

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Together, the High Desert Education Association and the leadership of the High Desert Education Service District stand in solidarity for the need for stable funding and stronger investment in K-12 education. We also stand for this being the time to speak up. At the same time, we recognize that we serve the most vulnerable students in the region which is why we will be holding a “walk-in” together at the beginning of the day on May 8th. We believe that a “walk-in” will allow us to advocate for our students with a unified voice for bringing more public attention to the need for increased investments to early learning, k-12 education, and our community colleges, while also ensuring our students do not miss valuable instructional time.

#RedforEd

Central Oregon STEM Hub invited Crook County Middle School Computer Science (CS) students to experience the coding of music and lights. Each student was given a doll part to code and then come together to make the dolls appear to be dancing to the music. This innovative way to teach code is through a partnership with Western Oregon University who is combining theater and CS as a way to showcase CS in a different way!

Congratulations to Anna Higgins on receiving the Bend Chamber Community Hero award. This award acknowledges women who are making outstanding contributions to their community. Community Heroes demonstrate how people with passion and determination can use their lives to make a difference in the community.  Anna is HDESDs Director of Innovation. This photo is fitting of Anna’s passion…working and pitching ideas on improving education.

Photo: Anna, center, is photographed with district leaders

For more information on this award and others, visit www.bendchamber.org

On Wednesday February 13th, the HDESD Vision Team partnered with Oregon Adaptive Sports for an exciting snow filled skiing/snowboarding day for our students. We all got to experience more than our typical vision loss due to the white out conditions! We had some thrilling firsts – first time snowboarding, and first time up a lift! Another student really enjoyed a full day of sit skiing. Students were asking what our next vision adventure will be and hoping it was soon!

During one of their monthly Math in Real Life (MIRL) meetings, local math, science and career and technical education (CTE) teachers became students for the day and were taught how to read blueprints and construct a model shed out of balsa wood. This day also provided teachers with an opportunity to think about how they can use new technology ideas, such as SAM labs, in their classrooms to increase student interest and make math more meaningful. SAM lab kits are wireless electronic blocks that have lights, motors and, buzzers. With an app, students can code the behaviors of the blocks.