Twenty-six students attended Endicott Clay’s Manufacturing Day. The purpose of Endicott Clay manufacturing day is to expose students to manufacturing in our community and to promote the different jobs available at the plant. Students from many local schools got the opportunity to see first hand how the manufacturing of bricks takes place. Endicott Clay manufactures over 100,000,000 bricks per year. If you do the math and each brick is worth 40 cents, that equates to 40 million in sales. Endicott bricks are shipped all over the United States and Canada. Endicott bricks are used in many huge structures such as Yankee Stadium. The plant never shuts down with three shifts running all the time.
Endicott Clay employs around 350 workers. The students got to see many different jobs at the plant. Starting wages for first shift are $11.00 per hour, second shift $12.00 per hour, and third shift $13.00 per hour with overtime at time and a half after 40 hours. Endicott Clay has workers in office positions, sales, engineering, plant management, heavy equipment operators, machinists, welders, artists, carpenters, and maintenance to name a few.
Students got to explore the manufacturing lines where they saw many different processes. Robotics is used extensively at the plant. Robots lift heavy bricks and place them on carriages where they will go into a kiln for firing. It takes over two days for the bricks to be fully fired. They also have an art mural department where artists carve green bricks. It is there that the bricks are numbered and the mural is disassembled and shipped to the customer. Fairbury students also got to see one of the original “bee hive” kilns that were used in the making of the bricks back when the company was first in business.
It was a great day and a positive experience for our students. At the end of the tour, there was a question and answer session with the President and CEO of the company, Ryan Parker. He answered many questions. He also told students that a 2 year degree is very helpful in getting a job at the factory. A group photo was even taken in front of two huge Caterpillar scrapers that they use in the mine. Thank you to all that went. Fairbury was well represented!
Third graders at Jefferson Intermediate School are learning to Code in their Enrichment class with Mrs. Shinn. Maybe you are wondering why students should learn to code. Well, coding, also called programming, is a skill set that students could use for a future career in a world that has a shortage of skilled coders and programmers. However, coding can also help students in their other subjects, too—coding can improve skills like perseverance and problem solving. Coding is can also be beneficial to students who are struggling with reading and math. In addition, students often feel empowered when they can create using digital media and share it with others.
The earlier we introduce children to coding, the more comfortable they will be when presented with it in middle and high school. Also, early exposure to coding helps teach children how important it is to understand computers as the valuable tools they are rather than merely fun playthings.
When students learn the fundamentals of coding it will help provide students with skills that will benefit them in any career they choose. Plus, there a lot of excitement in a room full of students learning to coding in a 3rd grade class.
These third graders want to learn how to code. They are motivated to learn how to make tablets and computers do useful things and they want to learn how to build programs and websites. To them it is actually a very cool thing to learn how to do.
However, while “cool” is nice, what really matters are the life long benefits of building these skills:
Lately, students in the 6th grade have been working on basic ear training skills in music. Given a sung or played musical pattern, students use colored cards to transcribe what they hear. Possible rhythms are written on the cards, and the colors of the cards indicate the pitch (high or low, do/re/mi, etc.) The development of these skills is crucial to attaining independent musicianship, which allows students more opportunities to explore and understand the music they love.
Mrs. Carly Winter’s block 7-8 class worked on the basics of JavaScript coding today using the Hour of Code from BitsBox.
Students received a basic introduction into the world of online coding. With BitsBox, students are learning to build their own apps from scratch. They are given a few basic lines of code to get started, along with a virtual tablet that allows them to see how the apps would play out in real life.
Fun was had by all during the Fall Family Festival for all preschool families on Thursday, October 5th. The children painted pumpkins, got their faces painted, went on a scavenger hunt, rode bikes through an obstacle course, made a yummy snack, and ate supper provided by the school.
The evening goal was for parents to complete a ticket with their preschool student. They began at any station. Once the ticket had all the punches, they were traded in for a free Book at the Welcome Table.
On Wednesday, September 13, the Fairbury FFA chapter attended Husker Harvest Days near Grand Island. A total of 38 members attended to learn more about the different careers in agriculture. Along with great experiences and talking to experienced workers in the ag field, there were many different opportunities to meet new people from other chapters, see some old friends, and gather great souvenirs from every agribusiness company. It was an educational day for all of the Fairbury FFA members to learn more about the future of agriculture.
On Wednesday, October 4th the Fairbury FFA Chapter took four teams to the Southeast District Land Judging Contest by Tecumseh, Nebraska. The contest was a great learning experience for all of the FFA members who went. This contest teaches students the value of soil and the use of each land capability class. It also teaches students what land treatments should be applied to the land in each class. The day consisted of walking through fields and getting their hands dirty as they try to find the soil texture and the permeability of the soil in each of the soil pits.
Ashley Griffee and Taylor Runge Received a Red Ribbon while Jason Hughes, Sara Huss, and Konnor Hasselbring received a white ribbon. The goal for next year is for Fairbury FFA to send a team to the State Land Judging Contest. This experience will be very valuable to these members.
Teams included:
TEAM 1
A. Riley Wood
B. Harlie Blas
C. Taylor Gustafson
D. Sarah Engelman
TEAM 2
A. Austin Massa
B. Konnor Hasselbring
C. Brooklen Bear
D. Kaycee Riggle
TEAM 4
A. Isaiah Weers
B. Cashe Kroll
C. Trevin Arnold
D. Tori Likens
TEAM 5
A. Kaylee Sipek
B. Delaney Miller
C. Sarah McCown
D. Ashley Griffee
TEAM 6
A. Olivia Koop
B. John Kerwood
C. Joe Melcher
D. Dalton Peterson
TEAM 7
A. Jason Hughes
B. Kennedy DeBoer
C. Taylor Runge
D. Sara Huss
The Jr/Sr High School Media Center is always striving to promote a reading and learning environment for students that they enjoy! We have added a new reading corner for the students that is the perfect place to “Curl up with a good book and read”. Come check it out today!
Amid all the renovations and new policies at school this year, the FHS administration has also come up with new ways to recognize academic success in the student body. One of these ways was to begin a new program called ‘Student of the Month,’ where two high school students will be honored each month for showing excellence in and out of the classroom. These students are voted on by the teachers.
“Through our shared document for the JEFF program, teachers can make a nomination.” Principal Nicholas Kroon said, “If we have multiple nominations, I will put a vote out to the teachers to determine student of the month.”
Kicking off the year are September students of the month Jacob Johnson ’18 and Macy Ohlde ’18. Congratulations, Jacob and Macy!
Original Article: https://fhsxray.com/2017/10/03/fhs-recognizes-excellence-in-students/
