2014/2015 Mini Courses BUDGET Our budget for mini-courses was $2,000. We came in around $1,750. Following is an explanation of the mini- course process, course description, course cost and recommendations for next year. TIMELINE October: we presented the 6th grade students with an interest survey. (See attached) In addition to circling their top five interests, we asked the students to number their top three. They also had an opportunity to write in any other suggestions. January: Begin procurement of mini-courses. Week before Spring Break: Pass out sign-up sheets and have them returned with parents signature. Friday before Mini-Courses start: hand out class assignments. Hold onto sign up sheets incase there are any issues. Also compile lists for each 6th grade teacher and each instructor. Also make a master list of all students (when and where) for Reed in front office for dismissals and Mrs. Galloway. Based on the results from the survey, the courses that received the most interest were: Military 55 Go Karts 52 Cooking 28 Project Runway 26 Minute to Win It 25 Robotics 25 Photography 24 Gaming 24 Babysitting 16 Geocaching/outdoor Adventures 16 Ping pong was written in with 14 people interested. MILITARY: This is a popular and inexpensive class. Coach Cence does a fantastic job leading it. You can find a substitute for him to assist Ms. Sokol through the Physical Ed. Liaison. The class can be held both weeks to accommodate the interest. Up to 20 kids can attend each class but 14 or 16 ensures everyone has time to climb the high ropes. An even number helps since many of the games are comprised of competitive teams. The activities include: obstacle course (Coach Cence develops this), capture the flag, "Search and Rescue" find toy soldiers that Coach Cence has hidden and "Unbroken" game devised by Coach Cence with hoola hoops and nerf balls. One day each week Mr. Hedrick takes the class to climb the high ropes. Ask Mrs. Galloway Galloway which days are best to schedule that. Schedule military speakers on the days the class plays "Unbroken" and the obstacle course as these activities do not require a full period. Past speakers have included Mr. Dearman, parents of CBS students, MB police department with military background and asking the recruiting offices directly. The class begins with the talks lasting about 15 minutes with an additional 5/10 minute question and answer. Topics include personal experience and career opportunities etc. Then the students head to the field for their activity. This class meets in Mrs. Fuentes room as there is quick access to Page 1 of 4 the playground. RECOMMENDATIONS: Popular, easy and inexpensive. Cost only for soldiers and Popsicles for kids ($50) Check with Coach Cence because he should have bucket of 2,000 soldiers from this year. GO KARTS: Michael Smith from the tool rental department of Home Depot store on 280 has the order form from this course. Although they give us a discount, this is the most expensive class and uses the majority of the budget so we felt it was fair to charge 15.00 per student for the course. Students are notified on the sign up sheet before choosing the class and letters are sent to the students who are ultimately chosen for the class. The PTO bookkeeper tracks the checks. The class can be offered both weeks with a max of 10 students each class. The wheels should be ordered online through Caster Connections. They also have our order listed under Cherokee Bend Elementary. Get a tax exemption letter from the school bookkeeper which also helps significantly with these purchases. Students are to bring their own duct tape for decorating their Karts. They will also need to bring a bike helmet for safety on the days they ride. The schedule is as follows: Michael Smith and associate work with the students on Monday and Tuesday. Wednesday a parent volunteer works with the students on attaching the seat and rope steering. The kids can begin decorating while they await their turn. Thursday the students finish decorating and ride their karts around campus. (Hill by the playground track has proven to be the most fun) On Friday schedule a speaker from Barber Motorsports to speak. Most race car drivers began as go Kart riders and they bring in an electric go kart for the kids to see. Kelly Stewart 702-8729 arranged for Lee Clark and Mitch Cobb to speak. You will need to have an aide in the class Mon, Tues and Friday. The class meets and stores their karts in the WOW room but all work should be completed outside in the amphitheater. Directions for go Kart are in folder and can be found online at stormthecastle.com. RECOMMENDATIONS: This is an expensive class ( $1,200) but the kids love it. Stress to Michael not to rush on Monday and Tuesday. It is best for Barber Motorsports to come on Friday but you can rearrange schedule to accommodate. If work has to be done inside due to rain a tarp MUST be used to ensure the carpet stays clean. If you can think of another woodworking project that is more cost effective and can include more students, you may want to consider. ROBOTICS: This is an easy, fun and inexpensive course. Mr. Salvant from MB Jr. High put the class together, supplied the robots and came on Monday to introduce the class. The PAGE teacher can lead the class for the rest of the week. The class is held in her room. RECOMMENDATIONS: This class is free! The only negative is that only 8 kids can participate. When assigning kids to classes, I signed up Non PAGE students first since the PAGE kids study an entire unit on robots. PHOTOGRAPHY: Year after year this class is a hit! Alison Gault who no longer has kids at CBS agreed to return to teach the class. She prefers a small class. 15 is absolute maximum but 10 is ideal. Only sign up kids who marked it as their first choice. Need a parent or aid to assist the entire week so that Alison can concentrate on teaching. The class can meet in a 6th grade classroom each day with the art gallery in the library on the final day. Check with Alison on special notes she likes sent to the parents of the students before the class begins. RECOMMENDATIONS: Check sooner rather than later with Alison. In case she is unavailable, you can find another instructor. Cost is about $100 for supplies (sharpies, double sided tape, 8 by 5.5 multi colored card stock and photo processing, food for art show) Check PTO cabinet for left over card stock. GAMING: Mr. Salvant organized the content for this class and introduced it on Monday. It was very difficult to find an instructor for the class. The class was self led/taught so Mr. Haller graciously agreed to monitor. It was held in the computer lab. Page 2 of 4 RECOMMENDATIONS: This class showed high interest in the survey but only about 8-10 students during sign up. I would recommend combining this class with coding next year. Begin early locating a teacher. It is a great choice if the interest is there because it doesn't have a cost associated with it and can fit up to 20 students in the class. Make sure you offer opposite week of Robotics as Mr. Salvant introduces both classes. GEOCACHING: Initially we worked on offering a babysitting course but couldn't find the time or instructors to certify the students on skills or CPR. The logistics made it too difficult. So our back up plan was Earthapalooza. On Monday and Tuesday we had an individual from Ruffner Mountain (Mandy Nobles) teach geocaching, on Wednesday we had Taylor Steele ( 414-3962) from Botanical gardens talk about pollinators, on Thursday we had Conrad Blunck from Jones Valley farm ([email protected]) talk about "seed to plate" and construct herb gardens and on Friday we had a Mom, Emily Christian, teach yoga outdoors and make bath salts. You will need an aide or parent volunteer with the class Monday thru Thursday. It was held in the science lab classroom. RECOMMENDATIONS: Ruffner cost $50 and Jones Valley Farms cost $50 for his visit. $114.85 for herb garden supplies for 13 students. 12 max for this class. I was a little disappointed with Geocaching. This is Mandy's third year with us yet a majority of the kids are still waiting around on Tuesday to geocache. I recommend working out a plan beforehand such as bringing more volunteers and/or involving the aide on day 2 so that all groups are hiding caches for first half of class, then finding them second half. Or Mandy can hide them on Monday for all to search on Tuesday. I would also have Conrad teach his class outside as filling the herb gardens with soil was a little messy. PING PONG: We secured the tables through Brooke Gibbons at the junior high. Mrs. Galloway wrote a work order for them to be delivered. We had Bumper Nets lead the class the first three days and members from the MBHS Ping Pong Club lead on Thursday and Friday. We had 4 students per four tables. Obviously this was held in the gym. The students loved the music playing and ending the days with round robin contests. We supplied ping pong balls. They are being stored in the PTO cabinet. An aide or parent will need to supervise the entire week.