Huron School Board takes on Destination Imagination

HURON — A lively meeting was held Monday evening for the Huron School Board, with presentations, demonstrations and challenges given by staff and students.
Destination Imagination’s team brought a project to the board the evening before the team takes off to Knoxville, Tenn., for the Global Competition. The school board won a six-minute challenge against Destination Imagination’s team, “It’s F’abaling.” They were challenged to build a free standing structure out of a provided bag of materials which included paper, straws and tape, that had to hold a ping pong ball, with specific measurements for the tower structure.
The demonstration was part of a good news report given by Kari Hinker, about the ESL program. Hinker discussed how participation is important in the community. Program coordinators, Colleen Jensen and Bobbie Matthews, are attending the trip to Knoxville and expressed gratitude to all who made this opportunity possible. The team members all shared their experiences of Destination Imagination, and what they have learned from the program, “It helps us to develop real world skills in addition to what we learn in school,” said team member, Katherine.
David Wheeler said, “We always enjoy when Destination Imagination is here showing us all their different skills they work on. It is a great program.”

The board also heard a presentation by Laura Petersen and Teresa Smith, who attended the National American Choral Directors Association Convention in March, and shared some of the techniques they learned about while at the convention and have been practicing with the choral students.
A vocal demonstration was given by seventh- and eighth-grade students to show concentration techniques used to practice singing and movement at the same time, breathing, and timing. The demonstration was based on a workshop that Petersen and Smith attended, “Dalcroze Eurhythmics,” which combines rhythm, structure, and musicianship.
Huron High School’s Tri-M Music Honor Society also gave a presentation based on a project the students worked on in connection with Sunquest Healthcare Center, where the student’s practiced music therapy techniques with nursing home residents with Alzheimer’s Disease. The Healthcare Center selected 10 residents with Alzheimer’s, and the residents’ families also helped arrange playlists on mp3 players with types of music that are personalized to the individuals tastes, to which then positive responses were recorded. The students shared their experiences and a video was viewed of one resident’s positive response after receiving her personalized mp3 player. The music started playing and she sang along to the song “Amazing Grace,” demonstrating how music triggers memory.
The project was described as wonderful by David Wheeler, and Terry Nebelsick referred to the project as “an example of authentic learning.”
The Superintendent’s report highlighted the goals meetings to take place in June, where the board will hear reports from administrators about how their goals for the year were met. The board sets goals every summer for the upcoming school year and administrators visit with the board regarding the goals and carry out processes with staff throughout the year to meet them.
“Many goals sustain themselves year after year because they are universal; other goals are particular,” Nebelsick said. “It is important for the community to know that the board of education spends a lot of  time visioning what they want their schools to look like and their students to be able to do.”
Congratulations were extended by Nebelsick to Employees of the Year, announced at the Employee Recognition Banquet, May 10; best wishes to all the retirees this year, Cole Korkow for being named ESD Champ in long jump two years in a row; and other successes in the district. Also approved by the board was four new hires, one contract, five resignations, and a request to apply for grant funding from United Way for Destination Imagination.