As we begin to count down the days to Thanksgiving break, Lakota is asking staff, students, parents and residents to look back over the last year and let us know who or what makes you thankful for your Lakota experience. Post your photos that best capture the people, places, programs or things that make Lakota a better place.

“In real life, you aren’t just sitting down practicing sign language. You are doing what we are doing right here, having a conversation,” said West ASL II student Riley Sutherland. In true #WEareLakota and #WEareInThisTogether fashion, Lakota East and West ASL students came together this week for Halloween-themed Lab Days.

Did you know that bees are attracted to caffeine and can be trained to sniff out bombs? Or that they are confused by noises coming from cell phones? These are just some of the facts fifth-graders at Independence Elementary School learned during their project based learning (PBL) assignment “Save the Bees.” During her unit on ecosystems, teacher Laura Brown thought it would a great opportunity to try PBL for the first time.

From our district-wide "Stuff the Bus" food drive to "Hawks for a Cure" to Stockings for Soldiers, this month has been all about making a difference and helping others in our community. It's why we dedicated this month's social media challenge to celebrating "National Make a Difference Day" and now, this month's “Words of Wisdom” video to the importance of helping others.

Join Superintendent Matthew Miller as he shares just some of the highlights and happenings throughout Lakota Local Schools during the month of October.

Brown approached the school’s innovation specialist, Tiffany Rexhausen, during the district’s “Wednesday Workouts” learning sessions this summer. He wanted to reimagine his school’s advisory period and enlisted Rexhausen to help. Now known as RISE, Brown envisioned a program embedded in the day to encourage his staff to continue building relationships with their students.

Heritage Early Childhood School students are the first in Ohio to try out a new interactive learning tool called Norilla. The mixed-reality game bridges physical and virtual worlds, encouraging students to experiment with 3D objects as they learn basic Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) skills, along with simple physics principles like base, height, weight and width.

About this time every year, Gifted Intervention Specialist Erin Maddox shows her fourth-graders a rap video to help them learn about number place value.

In the spirit of honoring Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s values and ideals surrounding diversity and inclusivity, our community’s annual observance of Martin Luther King Day will include a new component this year. The “Celebration of Unity Expo” - to be held in conjunction with the regular MLK Day "Live the Dream: Our Declaration of Unity" march, program and lunch on Jan. 20 - invites individuals or families to share information about their culture with their West Chester and Liberty township neighbors.