Around Canal Winchester

Canal Winchester Sertoma Club meets at 6:30 p.m. on the first and third Wednesdays of each month at Donatos Pizza, 6310 Prentiss School Drive, Canal Winchester. Sertoma’s main sponsorship focus is speech and hearing. Sertoma exists for the noble purpose of "Service to Mankind" by communication of thoughts, ideas and concepts to accelerate human progress in health, education, freedom and democracy. Call Kim Hoffman 837-7504.

At Wagnalls Memorial

The following activities will be held at The Wagnalls Memorial Foundation, 150 E. Columbus St., Lithopolis (for information visit www.wagnalls.org):

•Gentle Yoga with Gail Sky, Saturdays from 9-10:30 a.m. $10 each class. Call (614) 235-7369 for information.

•Belly Dancing Exercise Class Mondays 10-11:30 a.m. $7 each class.

•Art Classes with Teresa Satola, $10 per class or paid monthly.   For information, or to register for either class, call 837-4765, ext 127. Adult class is 6-8 p.m. on Wednesdays. Juvenile class (ages 8-13) is 4-6 p.m. on Wednesdays.

•Photography Class (no charge) at 2 p.m. or 6:30 p.m. on  Feb 7. Register at circulation desk or call library extension 127.

•Family Story Hour Sundays from  2-3 p.m. Volunteer readers needed, call (614) 837-4765 ext, 118.

•In the Wagnalls Auditorium – Auditions for "The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe" on Feb. 17-18 at 7 p.m.  Cold reading. Bring headshot.

•In the Wagnalls Auditorium – Elimination round for "Wagnalls Star Search" on Feb. 17 & 18 at 6:30 p.m.   Audience admission is $3 adults and $1 for kids 12 and under.

CW chamber events

The Canal Winchester Area Chamber of Commerce (CWACC) announces the following events (for information call  Kim Rankin at (614) 837-1556):

•Feb. 27 at noon – Gender Road Business Alliance Luncheon at Butch’s Italian Cafe, 6394 Gender Road.

•Tune in every Thursday at 3:45 p.m. for The Canal Winchester Chat Chamber Radio Program on WFCO fm 90.9 Call to find out how you can be a guest. Listen live on your computer www.wfcofm.com

CW chamber annual dinner and business expo

The Canal Winchester Area Chamber of Commerce’s annual dinner and business expo, "Sailing to Success!", will be held March 14 at Pope John XXIII Parish with the expo from 5-7 p.m. and dinner and awards at 7 p.m. Dinner ticket is $40. The event will also feature a 50/50 raffle, Chamber cruise raffle, silent auction, and expo exhibitors. For information call Kim Rankin at the chamber at (614) 837-1556.

CWHS Madrigal

Tickets are now on sale for Canal Winchester High School’s 18th annual Madrigal Dinner, William Shakespeare’s "A Midsummer Night’s Dream."  Performances will be Feb. 16 at 7 p.m. and Feb. 17 at 2 p.m. in the high school cafetorium. The shows include a professionally catered five course meal on Feb. 16 and luncheon on Feb. 17.  Tickets are $15 for Feb. 16 and $10 for Feb. 17 and can be reserved by calling (614) 836-1448.

Blood drive in CW

The Gender Road Business Alliance will hold a blood drive in the Winchester Square Shopping Center on Feb. 12 from 1-7 p.m.

Dunsmore exhibit

The art of John Ward Dunsmore (1856-1945) will be on exhibit in the Gallery Room of The Wagnalls Memorial Foundation, 150 E. Columbus St., Lithopolis, during  February.

Dunsmore, born near Oxford, Ohio, specialized in historical subjects and exhibited his works in the U.S., England, and France.  This exhibit will display a majority of artwork depicting scenes from the American Revolution. Many are oil sketches in preparation for the full size art pieces he later painted.  

The Gallery Room is open Monday through Thursday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. and on Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Wagnalls Family Theatre

Wagnalls Family Theatre is presenting "The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe" by Joseph Robinette, on May 9-26.  Auditions will be held Feb 17-18 at 7 p.m. in Wagnalls Auditorium, 150 E. Columbus St, Lithopolis. For information call (614) 837-4765 Ext 106 or e-mail Karen Edwards, theatre manager, at kiki38@earthlink.net.

CW kindergarten

Canal Winchester’s Indian Trail Elementary will hold kindergarten registration on March 17-20 for the 2008-09 school year. Call (614) 833-2154 on or after Feb. 19 to schedule an appointment for one of the following sessions: 9:30 a.m.; 10:45 a.m.; 1 p.m. and 2:15 p.m. Your child must be age 5 before Aug. 1, 2008 to be eligible.

Warm hearts, warm coats

Students at Winchester Trail Elementary learned lessons in civics and in leadership while helping others who need a warm coat for the winter. 

Gifted class teacher, Paula Cronan, with the help of third grade teacher, Mary Brown, created a project which challenged students to stretch their academic as well as civic muscles.

Students were in charge of the project which collected coats, hats and mittens for St. Stephen’s Homeless Shelter. The organization, publicity, and actual collection of the coats was completely headed by the students. 

Students wrote and delivered their own announcements. They learned how to hook an audience and include practical facts in the text and learned public speaking skills when delivering them. 

Cronan stated, "This project teaches values and leadership, as well as citizenship."

Students learned how to create a project and then try to create a community inside and outside of their school.

"This project made me think about others and what it would feel like if I didn’t have a coat," said student Ashton Brown.

Students set up a collection box in the lunchroom. The box was wrapped like a gift so that students would understand the nature of the present they were offering others. 

Brown added the idea of mittens and hats to the project and encouraged students in the third grade to be a part of a community. 

"This makes academics come to life," she said.  "It shows that anything academic can be tied to service in the community."

Added Cronan, "I believe that children know that real leaders are helpers. They have learned the relationship between support and leadership. Our class is taught in such a way as to facilitate this idea of helpfulness and cooperation and commonality as well as responsibility for others. At the same time they are taught that acceptance and understanding of the individual needs of others is part of being well-educated."

Students investigate math

The three R’s aren’t what they used to be. 

Students at Indian Trail Elementary are learning arithmetic in an entirely new way as teachers have begun their second year of a new "Investigations" curriculum which encourages students to become mathematical thinkers, not just doers.

This new math curriculum enables students to teach each other and to test out theories on solving problems. 

Deanna Somers, the math coach at Indian Trail stated, "It’s amazing to see how giving students more possibilities in math allows their natural ability to shine through."

The program focuses on developing a number-sense, an understanding of how numbers work together, before asking students to memorize those numbers. 

"This math takes students from where they are comfortable with problems and builds mathematical knowledge from there," said Somers.

The math includes game play which reinforce the lessons the teachers want the students to learn.

Elizabeth Welsh, a second grader, said, "These games are both challenging and fun."

Students play a dice game with plastic money and practice addition skills without even realizing it. Students roll dice and then pick out the correct change from a bowl. The first student who adds up his money to twenty-five cents or fifty cents is the winner.

"I learn how to count money and it will help me at stores.  It’s fun too," said second grader DeShawn Williams.

The other major part of this curriculum is the work they do on what are called extended responses. Students are asked why and how they reached a particular answer and are asked to defend that answer to the teacher and to the class.

 The practice helps on achievement tests and builds student confidence.

This year, students took the math diagnostic test. Teachers noted that they weren’t anxious about all of the different types of questions they saw. They had already practiced trying new ways to solve problems and could put those skills to work on the test.

The students are enjoying math more than ever and without even realizing it, are learning an entirely new way to look at an age-old topic.

Moodle classroom encourages learning

Technology teacher Nancy Huskey uses Canal Winchester’s online classroom, Moodle, to help her students prepare for the Ohio Achievement Test (OAT).

The Moodle classroom is an online recourse for students and teachers which can be used to set up quizzes, post homework, provide links for students to find on their own, and even create journals.

The online classroom has a forum section in which students can post. Huskey designed a forum based on questions from the OAT.

First, she gives students an extended response question, just like they will see on the OAT.  She then asks students to answer the question in a on the forum section of her Moodle classroom. This secure classroom forum then allows other students to comment on that answer. Students give positive feedback to other students and help them improve their answers.

This assignment allows students to teach each other and to use critical thinking skills to evaluate the types of questions which they will see on future tests. It also allows students to practice their test-taking skills in a controlled environment. 

"I like that the students can help each other and become peer evaluators," said Huskey.

Students can access their Moodle classroom from home and monitor both the forum site and their assignments. They can also upload class work when they are absent.

But, by far, the idea of posting opinions on the forum is their favorite pastime.  Huskey said students are constantly asking if they can use their free time to check the forum and see what input other students have given them on their answers. 

"They love seeing what others have written and they are very good about being helpful with their postings," said Huskey.

Another benefit of the Moodle classroom in general and the forum in particular is the practice that these technology students get. They practice keyboarding, uploading assignments, and work on overall computer skills. 

Huskey stated the greatest benefit is that students become better at computer skills and better at the test taking skills which are necessary in taking the standardized tests they will see in the future.

College planning meeting