MOKANE, Mo. - South Callaway sixth-grade student Katy Dixon read her poem, "Always my father but never my dad" as she stood in front of theboard of education Wednesday night. The sixth-grade class held a poetry slam last month as a PBL - problem or project-based learning unit.
For the project, students had to research poets and different styles of poetry. Then, they had to write their own and present it before their classmates and a panel of judges.
Dixon won first place for her poem, which was dedicated to and inspired by a friend of hers. Classmates Sierra Merrit and Dustin Russell, second- and third-place finishers, also read their poems for the board.
Danielle Hector, the middle school's instructional coach, presented the board with information on the PBLs, which focus on critical thinking and problem solving. The school hopes they will help increase its test scores.
For their PBL project, seventh- and eighth-graders in a weekly health class were paired and assigned jobs - one as a fitness expert and the other a nutrition expert. They were given the profile of an individual and had to research and create a one-week exercise and nutrition plan for them.
A seventh-grade social studies class has been learning about the basics of government this year. The latest question guiding its PBL is: How and why do citizens choose political party affiliation?
Seventh grade students are working together to create their own political parties and will hold a political party convention next month. The students will create displays to include their political party's symbols and platforms. Hector said parents, community members and other classes who attend the convention will be given a ballot and asked to "vote" for the top five political parties.
In other action, the board approved a bid of $169,348 for two 77-passenger buses to be purchased from Midwest Transit.
Low attendance again was a key part of administrators' reports to the board Wednesday night. Middle school principal Gary Bonsall said the school's attendance took a hit again in December.
"We had 30 or 35 kids gone every day for what seemed like weeks," Bonsall told the board Wednesday night.
Across the board, schools in the district reported a high number of absences due to illness last month, which led to lower attendance rates in December.
The district made attendance a focus in August 2013 and has continued to focus on increasing its attendance rate this school year. South Callaway earned 95 percent of possible attendance points on its Annual Performance Report this year compared to 75 percent last year.