“I like to do things differently,” said Union Gifted Intervention Specialist Amy Alexander. “I like to have my students start with the dessert and have their veggies at the end.” Instead of projects being the ‘dessert’ where students demonstrate mastery at the end of a unit, she often starts math lessons with a project. Alexander finds that students can learn a lot just by playing around with new concepts. Then, after ‘dessert’, students do exercises and worksheets (aka veggies) using the knowledge they gained from the project.

Have you ever wondered why boxes are made of cardboard, why tigers have stripes, how skyscrapers are made or who invented numbers? These quandaries - and so many more - are what fill the minds of kindergartners in Christa MacFarlane’s class at Liberty Early Childhood School. The best part of all: They’re getting answers.

Journalism class is back at Lakota West High School this year, but with a twist. “The students didn’t want to sit in a traditional English class,” teacher Mary Mahoney said. “So I threw my lesson plans away.”

School announcements are coming to life over at Ridge Junior School thanks to this year’s video announcements. Principal Ben Brown wanted to give students a chance to “tap into the personal learning aspect of students following their interests during RISE time.” RISE time is the school’s advisory period and is an acronym for Realize, Innovate, Serve and Empower.

What if you could build a better world? Where would you begin? The Super Cheetahs, a team of Cherokee fourth-graders, took on this challenge as part of a FIRST LEGO League competition.

Sixth grade science classes at Endeavor are using 3D printers to make crystals for a presentation on rocks and minerals. Lakota East high school students are using 3D printers for projects in nearly every subject area -- they even used their creativity and knowledge of 3D printing to make ornaments for a holiday tree in the school’s Innovation Hub. Examples like these are happening more often now thanks to the GE Additive Education Program.

Several times a year, Lakota produces a community newsletter to help parents and residents stay informed about important district-wide news and updates. This issue brings Lakota’s emphasis on “Personalized Learning” to life, sharing examples of the district’s four different “plays” in action.

Keeping our students healthy during this time of year can be a challenge, but Lakota has put many safeguards in place to keep illnesses from spreading.

Lakota’s strategic plan calls for an in-depth assessment of our facilities, with the end goal being to build a plan that protects our district’s most important assets and supports the type of learning that will carry our schools into the future. The first community meeting on Jan. 28 will share data that the committee has gathered so far to help devise a plan.