City superintendent receives 5-year contract
Team USA and Team Brazil battled it out Monday evening, not just in the athletic venues of the 2016 Rio Olympic Games, but also locally at a Bellefontaine Schools Board of Education meeting hosted by Bellefontaine Middle School.
Bellefontaine Board of Education members Brenda Sanford, left, and Joan Haushalter, representing Team USA and Team Brazil, respectively, battle it out Monday evening while Bellefontaine Middle School Principal Lynda Holycross looks on during a TECHFIT demonstration at BMS. (EXAMINER PHOTO | MANDY LOEHR)
Board members and several administrators had the chance to try out a new TECHFIT program that combines exercise and technology. The new afterschool program will be offered to BMS pupils this school year after teachers Jordan Reser, Cheryl Poppel, Nicole Winover and Sandi Chervenak received training at Purdue University during July as part of a grant initiative, recently highlighted in the Examiner.
At Monday’s meeting, players were divided into the two teams and then battled it out to try to knock the opposing team’s ball off of a pole with a foam noodle. Each of the poles and other game equipment were configured with sensors, wired by the teachers during their training.
Those who were “knocked out” of the game after being hit with a noodle by opponents then had the chance to get back into the foray by completing various Olympic-style games, such as soccer, basketball, high jump and tae kwon do.
During the afterschool program, participants will each receive an activity tracker so they can work toward various fitness goals. They also will be introduced to various computer programs and applications, including Scratch, a visual programming language, and Nano Navigator.
“One of our goals is to get more students involved in STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics), especially looking at getting more girls interested in this type of program,” Mrs. Chervenak said. “We’re really looking forward to it.”
Pupils also will have the chance to attend a TECHFIT (Teaching Engineering Concepts to Harness Future Innovators and Technologists) conference at Purdue University later this year.
Read complete BOE NEWS in Tuesday’s Examiner.
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