Letter to the Editor: Having Trouble Understanding School Board’s Decision
By SUE and RUDY HENNINGERTo Dr. Kevin Honnell
March 13, 2014
Dear Kevin,
This letter has taken so long to compose because I was so angry about our school board’s treatment of Dr. Schmidt that I have needed time to be more civil. You are our representative, and having worked with you on the Barranca Mesa Pool Board I have seen that you have the capacity to consider things carefully. I am therefore hoping that you will take our comments to heart and consider what we have to say.
When we look at the last five years we see so many positive things that have happened in the schools due to Dr. Schmidt’s Read More
Pi-rates Celebrate Pi Day at Los Alamos Middle School
Alleah Garcia, custodian (and Pi-rate) Alfredo Tena, Assistant Prinicpal Anna Vargas-Gutierrez. Photo by Bernadette Lauritzen.
Pi Day t-shirt. Photo by Bernadette Lauritzen
Student Ruby Selvage celebrates Pi Day with a piece of pie. Photo by Bernadette Lauritzen.Internships Target Migrant/Seasonal Farmworking Students
NMSHSA News:
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Five migrant/seasonal farmworker college students will be selected to live and work in Washington, D.C. for an intensive eight week internship and professional mentoring program. The goal is to provide life altering experiences and networks to help students make the intellectual, cognitive, and emotional transition from agricultural life to that of a professional.
Instead of youth working in the fields harvesting fruits or vegetables in the sweltering summer heat, they will live with host families, be placed in positions from the Department of Read More
Kids Become Inventors and Engineers at Build It!
The youngest Big Sky campers build working boats at last year’s Los Alamos Build It! camp. Photo by Bonnie J. Gordon/ladailypost.com
A camper puts her robot through its paces at the 2013 Build It! camp in Los Alamos. Photo by Bonnie J. Gordon/ladailypost.comBig Sky Learning Build It! Summer Camps will return to Los Alamos this summer for three weeks of fun and learning this July. Art meets science in thee one-week sessions, divided into nine camps.
Campers can attend all three weeks or one or two weeks as they choose. Each week, three Read More
LAHS Color Guard: ‘Try It Night’ March 20
LAHS News:
Calling all high school students (home schooled included).
- Want to be in a sport but wanted more self expression?
- Ever thought that being in a Marching Band would be cool, but don’t play a Marching Band instrument?
- Looking for a new and fun way to display those moves?
- Like to travel and compete as part of an award winning group?
- Just want to learn something new?
- Looking for a way to fill one of the LAHS arts credit?
Well, here is your chance…
The LAHS Color Guard is looking for students to join them in the 2014-15 school year. Everyone is welcome.
As an integral section of the Topper Read More
Finalists Announced For Los Alamos High School Principal
LAPS News:
The selection process for the next principal of Los Alamos High School is proceeding according to schedule. A committee of parents and teachers screened nine applicants for principal and made their recommendations for finalists for the position. A student committee also screened the applicants and made their recommendations. Based on this process the following candidates have been selected to interview for the position Monday, March 24:
- Deborah Belew-Nyquist, Silverdale, Wash.,
- Callie Jacobs, Woodbury, Minnesota; and
- Michael Johnson, Los Alamos.
Belew-Nyquist has 14 Read More
Five LAMS Students Win Regional National History Day Competitions
From left, Caroline Haagaenstad, Antonio Dowdy, Thomas Chadwick, Zoe Hemez, Miriam Wallstrom, Ruby Selvage and Julia Agnew. Courtesy photo
LAMS News:
Five students from Los Alamos Middle School participated in the recent National History Day regional competitions and each one placed in his or her category. All five students are moving on to compete again at the statewide competition April 25 in Albuquerque.
The National History Day competitions allow several types of entries including websites, documentaries, papers, performances or exhibits. Each entry is thoroughly researched Read More
Aspen Students Create Rubik’s Cube Mosaics
Aspen Elementary School Librarian Jeff Lloyd with a mosaic of Principal Kathryn Vandenkieboom on display in the school’s library. Courtesy/LAPSFLAPSF News:
Did you ever solve a Rubik’s Cube? It’s not as easy as it looks. Before Suzy Koehn started teaching a unit on the Rubik’s Cube, she had only ever solved one side, but the novel toy intrigued her as a teaching tool.
A Rubik’s Cube mosaic created by Suzy Koehn’s GATE students at Aspen Elementary. This Abraham Lincoln mosaic was recently on display at Mesa Public Library. Courtesy/LAPSF
As a GATE teacher at Aspen Elementary Read More
LAHS Students to Compete at Intel International Science and Engineering Fair in Los Angeles
From left, Coleman Kendrick, team members Esteban Abeyta and Ashvini Vaidya and second alternate Devon Conradson are heading for the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair May 11-16 in Los Angeles. Courtesy photo
LAHS News:
Los Alamos High School students qualified last weekend at the Northeastern New Mexico Regional Fair for the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair May 11-16 in Los Angeles.
Coleman Kendrick and the team of Esteban Abeyta and Ashvini Vaidya won Grand Awards and both projects qualified for the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair. Devon Read More
NJROTC Hosts Pasta Night Thursday
NJROTC News:
The cadets of the Naval Junior ROTC unit from Los Alamos High School will host their first ever Pasta Night 5:30-7 p.m., Thursday at Immaculate Heart of Mary Catholic Church on Canyon Road. Tickets are $10 per plate and can be purchased from NJROTC cadets or at the door.
The meal will include pasta, salad, bread, dessert and a drink for $10 and every penny goes directly to supporting the needs of the unit.
“The unit needs as many resources as possible so that we can continue to do all the activities we plan,” Cadet Public Affairs Officer Rachel Barthell said.
The drill, physical fitness Read More
Education Funding 101: Governance of K-12 Education
Education Funding 101:Because of recent public discussion about the roles of the School Board and the School Administration, we are re-running a column we published Oct. 20, 2013 that discussed School governance. We expect to be back in this space with a new topic next week.
It’s easy to become overwhelmed when trying to understand who’s making the major decisions that impact your children’s educational experience. The education professionals you interact withon a daily basis are your children’s teachers. You might be unaware Read More
Jeff Mousseau Named LAESF Scholarship Chair
Jeff Mousseau
LAESF News:
Jeff Mousseau, Associate Director of Environmental Programs for Los Alamos National Laboratory, is chairing the 2014 Los Alamos Employees’ Scholarship Fund campaign.
Laboratory employees contributed $308,000 to the campaign last year, and Los Alamos National Security, LLC, through its employee match program, gave $250,000.
The 2014 LAESF campaign begins May 19. Scholarship awards range from $30,000 to $1,000 to help students in the seven counties of Northern New Mexico pursue a higher education.
“As the father of five children who have college degrees, I know Read More
Letter to the Editor: Community Should Consider Superintendent Matter Done
By JIM HILLFor a community of purportedly intelligent people, the demands for the School Board to say more about the circumstances leading up to Dr. Schmidt’s resignation as superintendent are depressingly repetitive in their overlooking of the simple truth that as a personnel matter, Dr. Schmidt and his performance are not subject to public discussion by the board.
There is exactly one person who can reveal what happened in the closed sessions and that is Dr. Schmidt himself. Since he has chosen not to, I suggest that the community consider the matter done and begin Read More
Master Gardeners Donate Books To LAMS Library
Los Alamos Middle School Librarian Lisa Whitacre, left, and Los Alamos Master Gardeners member Coleen Meyer. Photo by Elizabeth Watson
LAMG News:
Los Alamos Master Gardeners (LAMG), an educational and outreach branch of the County Extension Office, funded by New Mexico State University, recently made a donation of books to the Los Alamos Middle School Library.
The titles donated include: Gardening in New Mexico, Guide to Rocky Mountain Vegetable Gardening, Growing Food in the Southwest Mountains, Gardening in the Southwest andSouthwest Fruit and Vegetable Gardening: Plant, Grow, and Read More
Los Alamos Speech and Debate Guild Hosts New Mexico CHILE Qualifier
Los Alamos speech and debate participants from left, Jemima Spill, Anna Tompkins and Andrew Hollis, Courtesy/Diane TompkinsFor three days last week, 42 home educated speech and debate competitors participated in the National Christian Forensics and Communications Association (NCFCA) New Mexico CHILE Qualifier.
The Los Alamos Speech and Debate Guild (LASDG) hosted the event, held Feb. 27, 28, and March 1 at Crossroads Bible Church.
Students traveled from Montana, Utah and Colorado to Los Alamos to vie for a limited number of slots that would advance them to the
Letter to the Editor: Displeased With School Board? Run in Next Election!
By SHELBY REDONDO I was surprised by the uproar over Superintendant Schmidt’s resignation and the implication that the School Board is “hiding behind a law purposefully designed to give them political cover” as quoted by the Los Alamos Monitor publisher Ben Carlson. In fact, Mr. Carlson noted that the School Board can not publically discuss personnel matters and, in fact the law was specifically designed to provide protection for the employee. However, nothing is preventing Dr. Schmidt from sharing this information if he so desires.
Having spent 24 years as a teacher in the district, Read More
2014 Excellence for Student Achievement Award Winners Announced
LAPS News:
The Los Alamos School Board has announced its selections for the 2014 Excellence for Student Achievement Award.
The theme for this year is “The Year of the Student.”
“Our selection for 2014 was to highlight the many good deeds done by our youth in service to their school, their fellow student body and in turn, their community,” said Bernadette Lauritzen, a member of the selection committee.
The committee selected four students from Los Alamos High School and an interesting twist to this year’s choices is that the committee chose to honor two student duos who are close friends Read More
LAPS Foundation Grant Brings Hands-on Physics to Barranca Elementary
Barranca Mesa second-grader Emma Frost uses a flashlight and a diffraction grating to separate white light into the colors of the rainbow. Courtesy/LAPS FoundationLAPS News:
Light diffraction, gravity and black holes might be typical subjects for a college lecture hall ─ or a second grade classroom at Barranca Elementary School.
This semester students in Melanie Haagenstad and Kay Swadener’s classes have begun a six-lesson program introducing physics. This unit is made possible through a Los Alamos Public Schools Foundation Great Ideas Grant awarded to Haagenstad in the fall. Read More
