NCHS announces upcoming events
For more information on any of the events, call 577-0330 or visit www.natronahs.us.
May 12: Senior dinner, starts at 5 p.m. in school’s west cafeteria. Senior awards start at 7 p.m. in the gymnasium.
May 20: Last day for seniors.
May 24: Graduation at the Casper Events Center, 7 p.m.
May 26: Memorial Day, no school.
May 29: Last day for sophomores and juniors at 11:35 a.m.
KW plans Senior Celebration, Awards Night
Kelly Walsh High School will conduct its annual Senior Celebration and Academic Awards Night on Monday, May 19, beginning at 7 p.m. in the auditorium.
May 9 is the deadline to submit a copy of the scholarship(s) awarded to KW seniors to the counseling office for recognition during the program.
The deadline to submit scholarships for recognition in the Casper Journal and Star-Tribune is May 20.
For more information, call Patty Platt at 233-2190.
Summer school program announced
The Natrona County School District has finalized the Back on Track: Summer Jump Start Program.
Registration will be on the south side of the Central Services Facility from 7:30 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. daily until semesters are full. The fee is $20 per half credit.
Credit recovery will be offered for English grades 9-12, social studies ninth grade, world history, science, math and some electives.
The first semester will be held June 2-20, and second from June 23 to July 15. Hours will be from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., and 65 hours of instruction are required.
Busing is available, and lunch is at no cost for students.
For more information, call 261-6132, 261-6143 or 261-6122.
Nominations Sought for Wyoming History Teacher of the Year
The search is on for the top history teacher in Wyoming.
Sherry Tavegie, project director of the Wyoming Geographic Alliance at the University of Wyoming, says Preserve America and the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History will honor outstanding educators who have at least three years of classroom experience in teaching American history in middle or high school. Nomination forms are due May 16.
Winners will be selected based on their commitment to teaching American history and evidence of creativity and imagination in the classroom, Tavegie said.
Principals, school directors and department or division heads can nominate candidates. For nomination packets and other information, call Tavegie at 307-766-3213, or e-mail wga@uwyo.edu.
The History Teacher of the Year Award honors one exceptional teacher of American history from each state and U.S. territory.
The Wyoming winner will receive a $1,000 honorarium and will be in the running for the National History Teacher of the Year award to be selected this fall. His or her school library will receive a core archive of history books and materials.
Literacy Volunteers appreciate efforts
The Literacy Volunteers of Casper conducted their 21st Annual Volunteer Appreciation Dinner on April 10 at the Parkway Plaza.
Several student/tutor pairs discussed their experiences in the literacy program.
The students are Sandra Johnson, Tatiana Gomez, Carmen Ochoa and DeWayne Martinez. The tutors are Dr. Bob Brown, Kay Talbot, Melody Dugan and Carolyn Buff.
The Community Recognition Award was given to Assistant Director of the Casper Re-entry Center/Therapeutic Community, James A. Piro, for his efforts in promoting adult education.
NCHS graduate featured with Queen of Jordan
Nick Doctor, an NCHS graduate and son of Southridge Elementary School teacher Wendy Doctor, is featured on YouTube with Queen Rania of Jordan.
The queen is conducting an ongoing video series interviewing people about perceptions of foreigners in her country. Nick, an exchange student in Jordan, is the featured interview in the April 9 segment.
To view the clip, visit http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EIO60Z2en3g.
Park teachers surprised by grant presentation
Park Elementary School teachers Lynn Ahrndt and Kelly Toups have won a $5,000 grant from the Qwest Teachers and Technology grant program.
The pair learned about the grant award on April 8, during a surprise assembly at the school.
Ahrndt and Toups submitted a grant proposal to the program hoping to obtain funding for a new program for their fifth- and sixth-grade students.
"We went to a conference last November and learned about earth caching," Ahrndt told students.
"It's kind of like a treasure hunt with clues and a little treasure at the end," Toups added. "You'll get to create your own."
The grant will pay for GPS units and document cameras for the school. Students will take field trips to better understand local geology, will create their own "earth caches" by documenting areas around the school and will share their work with students at their school and around the world through the Internet.
According to Qwest's Wyoming President Michael Ceballos, who presented the award, "There's lots of info and lots of things that are really good, and sometimes there are things you have to be careful of. Your teachers can give you great ideas for how to use it and help you learn to use it right and for good purposes."
The Qwest Teachers and Technology grant program is operated in conjunction with the Wyoming Department of Education. Three schools statewide were selected to receive grants through this year's program.
Barrasso accepting military academy nominations
U.S. Sen. John Barrasso, R-Wyo., announced that he is accepting applications for nominations to the U.S. military service academies for the 2009 school year.
Barrasso nominates up to 10 people each year. Those nominated then compete for admission to the Military, Naval, Air Force, and Merchant Marine academies.
“Nominating some of Wyoming’s best and brightest students to our nation’s military academies is one of the greatest privileges I have as a U.S. senator,” he said.
Young men and women interested in U.S. service academies have to apply to members of Congress for nominations. Nominees are screened by academy officials, and students with the best scholastic and personal credentials are selected for appointment.
The nominations are based on: being a Wyoming resident, 17-22 years of age; receipt of application form and all required information; high school grades through at least the end of junior year; Scholastic Assessment Test or American College Testing scores; evaluation of leadership based on extracurricular activities, offices held, awards etc.; at least three letters of recommendation (school officials, coaches, community leaders).
Final selection and appointment is made by each service academy based on character, scholarship, leadership, physical aptitude, medical fitness, goals and motivation, and suitability for a military career.
All required information should be received by the Barrasso’s office no later than Nov. 30.
Those who are interested in obtaining a complete application packet should contact Travis Deti, 2120 Capitol Avenue, Suite 2013, Cheyenne, WY 82001 or call 307-772-2451.
Tollefson receives international affairs citizen award
Longtime Natrona County educator Ann Tollefson is the recipient of the Wyoming Citizen for Outstanding Achievement in International Affairs award.
She was honored at a dinner and reception April 9 at the Laramie Hilton Garden Inn and received a specially designed gold medal.
Tollefson is the sixth Wyoming citizen to receive the award, which is sponsored by the International Board of Advisors of the University of Wyoming.
Award winners are recognized for demonstrating internationally focused work that brings awareness to Wyoming in the areas of global affairs and business, educational exchanges or cultural interchange.
A Wyoming native, Tollefson is a UW alumna, earning a B.A. (1963) degree in French and an M.A. (1969) degree in French literature. She is a founding member of UW's International Board of Advisors.
In 1983, Tollefson was named Wyoming's Foreign Language Teacher of the Year, and in 1984 was named Wyoming's Teacher of the Year.
She was appointed to the Presidential Scholar Program in 1987 and was recognized by President Reagan. Tollefson also served in 1997 as president of the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages (ACTFL) and in 1992 and 2002 held the same position in the Pacific Northwest Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages.
Tollefson has directed several international education projects funded by the National Endowment for the Humanities. She also directed a Fulbright-Hays Group Study Abroad project in West Africa for Natrona County School District teachers and had numerous foreign language assistance projects funded by the U.S. Department of Education. Tollefson has published many diverse articles such as offering Russian through interactive video and language programs for rural schools.
Because of those efforts, the 2004 legislature established a pilot project to expand foreign language instruction in kindergarten through sixth grade. The program now offers the opportunity to learn another language to more than 9,000 Wyoming children. Tollefson served as the program's project director from 2004-2008.
Her role in expanding foreign language instruction at the elementary level has been recognized nationally. In 2002, she received ACTFL's Florence Steiner Award for leadership in K-12 education. The Department of Defense spotlighted Wyoming's elementary-level foreign language efforts by inviting her to address a national symposium in 2004 on meeting the nation's critical languages needs.
UW engineering honor society announces officers
Members of the Wyoming Alpha Chapter of Tau Beta Pi, the national engineering honor society, recently elected new officers for the 2008-09 academic year.
Gina Bertoglio, a chemical engineer major from Casper, will be the Joint Engineering Council representative.
Tau Beta Pi is the only engineering honor society representing the entire engineering profession. Wyoming Alpha is the state's only Tau Beta Pi chapter.
It sponsors tutoring for underclassmen, hosts blood drives, coordinates the College of Engineering spring banquet and hosts community projects.
Casper student wins free summer tuition
Kendra David of Casper won a semester of free tuition and fees in a drawing to promote the University of Wyoming's 2008 Summer Session.
David’s name was drawn during the Summer Session Lunchtime Jam Wednesday in the Wyoming Union.
With a double major in psychology and biology, David plans to take nine credit hours this summer to get ahead on her two majors.
“I'm a non-traditional student, and taking the courses this summer will allow me to graduate sooner," said David, a junior who currently is enrolled at both Casper College and the UW/Casper College Center. She will attend the Laramie campus this summer.
WITH TWO PICS
UW College of Arts and Sciences names top grads
Two students from Casper have been selected by the University of Wyoming College of Arts and Sciences as Casper Arik W. Smith, a zoology/physiology major, and Dane R. Taylor, graduating with a degree in physics and electrical engineering will be recognized at the college’s commencement ceremonies on May 10 in Laramie.
Each year, the college's Scholarship Committee selects the outstanding graduates from among top students nominated by their advisers and instructors. The scholarship committee comprises faculty members from each of the college's divisions.
The names of the outstanding graduates have been engraved on a bronze plaque mounted in the lobby of the Arts and Sciences building.
UW students elect president, senators
University of Wyoming students voted for the president and senators for the Associated Students of the University of Wyoming (ASUW).
Kelsey Day of Cheyenne will preside over the student government that oversees a budget of more than $1 million.
Paul Gallegos of Casper will represent the College of Arts and Sciences as a senator.
The new ASUW senators will serve on various committees and represent their colleges in budgetary and policy matters affecting all UW students.
Bucklin joins Phi Kappa Phi
Sarah Bucklin of Casper was initiated into the Phi Kappa Phi Chapter at the University of Wyoming on April 7.
Bucklin is a graduate student, under the Department of Zoology and Physiology, studying greater sage grouse and the role that insects play in their life cycle. She has maintained a 4.0 GPA throughout her graduate degree.
Phi Kappa Phi, founded in 1897, recognizes and encourages superior scholarship in all curricula of the colleges and divisions of the university. No other honor society has higher academic standards for admission.
UW/CC students honored
Fifteen students from the University of Wyoming/Casper College (UW/CC) Center were honored recently for their academic achievements and community service.
As recipients of the Myra Fox Skelton Foundation scholarships, the students expressed their gratitude to the foundation for allowing them to complete their education while participating in their children*s lives and serving their community.
Scholarships are awarded annually to single parents who achieve academic success at the UW/CC Center and participate in community service activities. The monthly awards allowed students to reduce workloads, giving them time to study and spend with their children.
Myra Fox Skelton, the benefactor of the funds, dedicated her life to church, education, and charity. She was elected superintendent of schools in Hot Springs County at age 23 * the youngest person to ever hold that office in Wyoming. Upon her death in 1986, Skelton*s estate was entrusted to the foundation for annual distribution toward the causes to which she felt endeared, said Donald Chapin, a Myra Fox Skelton Foundation trustee.
The 2007-08 Myra Fox Skelton scholars are: biology major Kelly Keenan of Avinger, Texas; secondary science education majors, Kayci Stripling and Jamie Short, both of Casper; elementary education majors, Andra Arnold, Kymberly Kirkham, Jamie Stockwell and Justina Wallis, all of Casper; psychology majors, Angela Fankhauser of Casper and Amanda Annis of Glenrock; social work majors, Traci Gardner and Elizabeth Restad, both of Casper; secondary English major Andrea Barelle of Casper; secondary Spanish major Andria Fowles of Casper; criminal justice major Ashley Hayden of Casper; and social science major Lisa Roth of Casper.
NCSD opens book discard to public
The Natrona County School District’s annual summer book discard is coming soon.
The district will offer to the public textbooks, reference books and other materials that are no longer in use in district classes. This summer's event is expected to be especially large, as there was not a winter discard this year.
The book discard will be open to the public from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. June 4-6 in the board room at the Central Services Facility, 970 N. Glenn Rd.
Scholarship Available in Memory of the Late Gary Beach
The Wyoming Natural Resource Foundation will once again is granting a $1,200 scholarship for the 2008-09 school year, in honor of the late Gary Beach and his work for Wyoming’s natural resources.
Beach worked for the Department of Environmental Quality and as administrator of the water quality division was instrumental in working with local conservation districts to establish the local watershed planning approach to address Wyoming’s impaired water-bodies.
University of Wyoming students focusing on natural resource management are encouraged to apply.
In order to be eligible for the scholarship, the following criteria must be met: the applicant must have completed at least 59 credit hours (be enrolled at the junior level or higher) and have a cumulative grade point average of at least 2.5.
The applicant must be enrolled at the University of Wyoming in one of the following academic majors: environment and natural resources, water resources, rangeland ecology and watershed management, or a related field.
Applications and scholarship criteria can be obtained by contacting the Wyoming Natural Resource Foundation at 307-632-5716 or www.conservewy.com.
Individuals applying for the Gary Beach Memorial Scholarship will need to send the application form, copy of transcripts from all colleges or universities attended and one letter of recommendation no later July 31, 2008, to the Wyoming Natural Resource Foundation; Bobbie Frank, Executive Director; 2304 E. 13th St.; Cheyenne, WY 82001.
Questions regarding the Gary Beach Memorial Scholarship or the Wyoming Natural Resource Foundation can be directed to Radona Williams, foundation coordinator, at 307-738-2385 or radona@williamsgrassfed.com.
Thomas scholarship applications due by June 2
Anyone wishing to apply for a scholarship from the Craig and Susan Thomas Foundation must submit an application by June 2.
For more information, call 307-634-8195 or log on to www.thomas-foundation.com.