Latest news with #WestElementary
Yahoo
16-05-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Ozark's East Elementary named one of 8 Missouri Gold Star Schools for 2025
Ozark's East Elementary has been named one of eight Missouri Gold Star Schools for 2025, which recognizes top academic achievement or high performance while serving a significant proportion of disadvantaged students. It was the only school singled out in southwest Missouri. 'These schools demonstrate that academic excellence is possible while striving to help their students find their path to success," Commissioner of Education Karla Eslinger said in a May 14 news release. "We're so proud of their hard work.' The Missouri Gold Star Schools program was established in 1991 and uses the same criteria for nomination as the National Blue Ribbon Schools Program, which will be announced in the fall. Craig Carson, assistant superintendent of learning, said this is the second time East Elementary has been on the list. The first time was in 2014. "We are grateful for the Gold Star recognition for East Elementary," he said. "The staff has worked extremely hard to ensure each child's success." Principal Karen Capen announced the honor to students, teachers and staff. The school serves students in kindergarten through fourth grade. This really speaks to the incredible work our teachers and staff do every day," Capen said, in a release. "They give their best for kids, support each other, and create a school where students can truly thrive.' In 2020, Ozark's West Elementary was named a Missouri Gold Star School and it was followed by a National Blue Ribbon recognition that same year. Missouri's other Gold Star Schools for 2025 include: Collegiate School of Medicine and Bioscience, St. Louis; Conway Elementary, Ladue; Eugene Field Elementary, Poplar Bluff; Green Forest Elementary, Green Forest; James Walker, Blue Springs; Marion County Elementary, Marion County; Steam Academy Middle School, Ferguson-Florissant. This article originally appeared on Springfield News-Leader: Ozark's East Elementary named Missouri Gold Star School for 2025
Yahoo
12-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Holland elementary school will be partially designed by students, with help from AI
HOLLAND, Mich. (WOOD) — A Holland elementary school is set to be remodeled this summer and its students got to play a role in the design process — with some help from AI. West Elementary at near Ottawa Avenue is due for upgrades to make the former middle school more suitable for elementary education. The project is part of ',' a $74.65 million bond voters passed in 2021 for district-wide improvements. As local architect company designs the space, it partnered with David Tebo, director of innovation services at Ottawa Area Intermediate School District, to find a way to use AI to help the students give input on what they want it to look like. 'It's easier when they're older, because they've got more life experience. They've got a better vocabulary. They can communicate what they like and what they don't like,' Jeff Hoag, architect and educational planner at GMB, told News 8. 'When we get into some of our younger learners, it's always been a challenge: How do we get input from some of our youngest students in a way that's meaningful, that we can incorporate into our design process?' Plan would shuffle Holland elementary schools, add early childhood 'Our theory of action was, if we give kids some tools and we let their creativity blossom, we can actually get really good feedback from a group of students that we haven't been able to get feedback from in the past in a meaningful way that would we could actually then deliver on,' Tebo said. Hoag and Tebo worked with leadership at Holland Public Schools to plan a day when they could get input from the students. As part of the school's STEM special class, they held about 17 workshops throughout the day. The students were encouraged to draw or write what they wanted in a classroom. They then brought the paper to Tebo and described what they created. He put their ideas into ChatGPT, alongside some parameters he created, and it was able to immediately create a design for the students. Does AI belong in the classroom? The kids were excited to see how accurate the image was compared to what they imagined. 'It's like it takes the picture right out of my head. It was really cool,' Alaia Folkert, a fifth grader at West Elementary, said. 'It almost did exactly what I was thinking,' fifth grader Elliegh Garcia added. 'There was some adjustments, but it did almost exactly what I wanted it to.' A lot of the students asked for details like soft seating, cubbies built into the wall and natural light. They wanted a space that had few distractions so they would be able to focus. The students also got to give input on themes. 'I wanted night time type of style,' Elliegh said. '(With) stars and cubbies basically in the wall.' 'Mine was pretty specific and a little hard to do,' Alaia said. 'It was an under-the-sea thing and I wanted a little section in the middle where it was a giant squid. That was like, you could go in it, and it's a little nook to read.' $1.25B AI research facility planned by University of Michigan Other themes students imagined included the beach, outdoors or camping, candy shops, basketball courts and outer space. 'One of them was space kittens, which I think was really a fun idea,' Alaia said. As he showed the students some of the designs, Tebo said it was amazing to hear them get excited to see their own designs come to life and cheer on their friends' designs. The diverse population, he said, came some wide-ranging results. 'One of the most powerful ones for me — and for the rest of my life I'll remember this — was we had a we had a blind student, and when he came up with his prompt, it was all about the things that those of us who aren't blind take for granted,' Tebo said. 'He wanted the room to feel a way he wanted to.' The student wanted elements like a calming lavender smell, low noise levels soft seating. After the workshop, Tebo said the student hung back so he could describe every part of the image to him. 'To be able to give voice to kids who don't normally get their voice heard in a space was probably one of the most rewarding educational things I've been able to be a part of,' he said. Holland gets grant for AI-equipped recycling trucks After the workshops, Tebo spent a few days going through everything the students came up with and input the ideas into a spread sheet to find common threads. From there, the team sent the results back to the school and the STEM teachers had a follow-up session with the kids, having them vote on a few different themes and characteristics. The project is still in the design process as GMB takes what the kids asked for and turns it into something that is code-compliant, safe and easy to maintain, Hoag explained. They are also aiming to have the designs fit into curriculum standards at the different grade levels. 'The idea is to say, how do we take all of that and create spaces that not only are fun to learn and comfortable to learn, but also can be used in a way that support educational delivery and curriculum?' Hoag said. Inside AI in West Michigan While Alaia and Elliegh won't be able to learn inside the space they helped designed because they'll be headed into middle school next year, they're excited for the students that will be able to use it. 'I think that they'll have a really good time in there,' Alaia said. 'I feel like it's a good space for people, for kids that have a hard time focusing in a classroom.' Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
17-02-2025
- Automotive
- Yahoo
Here's the latest on Lebanon Road, Central Pike, I-40 widening projects in Wilson County
A portion of Lebanon Road in front of West Elementary School in Wilson County appears to be close to a starting a widening project to address significant traffic problems, especially around school times. However, other Wilson projects, which include a large portion of Interstate 40, a new Central Pike interchange, widening an existing stretch of Central Pike and widening South Mt. Juliet Road have uncertain timelines that may be further affected by Hurricane Helene's impact in East Tennessee. The work on Lebanon Road is from Terrace Hill to Adeles Garden roads, with a center turn lane to the west of the school and upgraded retro-reflective signage, according to the Tennessee Department of Transportation. The construction bid process is scheduled to begin in May. Construction is expected to take at least a year and officials hope to complete the project by August 2026, 'pending any unforeseen issues, especially with complex water and sewer relocations in this area,' TDOT spokesperson Erin Zeigler said. Traffic congestion on Lebanon Road during school arrival and dismissal times at West Elementary often results in drivers creating makeshift lanes using bike paths and unmarked shoulders. Drivers heading east turn left from a makeshift lane on the far right to get their children to class. Mt. Juliet High School on Golden Bear Gateway, which connects to Lebanon Road just west of West Elementary, also generates traffic around school start and dismissal times later in the day. Construction bids were originally scheduled to start in the spring of 2024 but were pushed back to 2025 because of delays in ordering poles for electrical lines, Wilson County Mayor Randall Hutto said. Wilson County had four projects listed as part of TDOT's longer term 10-year road project plan released in 2023. The are: Interstate 40 widening from I-840 to U.S. 70, about 4.7 miles, from four lanes to six. The initial estimate to start construction is 2028. A new Central Pike interchange on I-40, with a construction-start estimate of 2030. Widening Central Pike (State Route 265) from the proposed interchange to South Mt. Juliet Road. TDOT's construction started estimated for 2030. Widening South Mt. Juliet Road from near Central Pike to near Providence Way, with a construction start estimated for 2032. Lebanon Road from Park Glen Drive to Curd Road in Mt. Juliet is not on TDOT's 10-year plan, but the city has moved forward with design. Mt. Juliet has created a fund dedicated to the widening of Lebanon Road that Commissioner Art Giles stated at a commission meeting has $3 million, in hopes TDOT would expedite the project. Commissioners also approved a controversial phase that will add just over 90 homes in the Silver Springs neighborhood off Benders Ferry Road that includes a developer contribution of $7,500 per lot toward the Lebanon Road building fund. An updated 10-year road project plan to be presented to the General Assembly in the spring will consider growth and change in Tennessee and could include timing, TDOT officials said. One impact could be Hurricane Helene's more than $500 million in damage to the state's transportation system in Upper East Tennessee, Tennessee Department of Transportation spokesperson Greg Summers said. Congress has appropriated a $478 million reimbursement request needed for urgent repairs after the hurricane. However, federal disaster funding is a reimbursement process that requires the state to front cash and seek federal reimbursement that could affect timing, Summers said. Mt. Juliet has been in conversations to 'stay on target' as much as possible on the Central Pike interchange and widening project and South Mt. Juliet Road, Mayor James Maness said. The city is in the process of approving a $25 million allocation to TDOT with timeline stipulations toward the Central Pike interchange in hopes to expedite the project. That has passed a first reading vote. 'TDOT is committed to working with Tennessee's local jurisdictions, municipalities, and counties to identify priorities and accelerate projects with enough identified local funding and support,' Zeigler said. Reach Andy Humbles at ahumbles@ and on X, formerly known as Twitter @ AndyHumbles. This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Wilson County road projects: Lebanon Road, I-40, Central Pike
