A joint project between CHS and NCCC construction stu-dents with Hi-Lo Manufacturing has proven to be a win-win situation for everyone involved, including the taxpayers.

This year the students built lockers the traditional way for the NCCC baseball fields. Then they teamed up with Hi-Lo and learned how to build band lockers for Royster Middle School using state-of-the art technology.

Jeff Caldwell, general manager at Hi-Lo, showed students how the new-to-the-industry technology and equipment al-lows Hi-Lo to custom make cabinets on a large scale.

“The fully automated computer controlled machines used to produce the new band locker components are only installed in a few places within the U.S.,” Caldwell said.

Hi-Lo produced the components, at their cost, and deliv-ered them to CHS, where the students put them together and then installed them at the middle school.

“The goal is to provide students with “exposure to as much real-world learning as possible,” said Caldwell, who also serves on the school board. “The project provides multiple learning opportunities including practical application of math, con-struction processes, understanding business processes, computer aided design, and communication ... It also enables the students to have a real-world preview of the types of jobs that could be available to them both locally and world wide.”

As an employer whose been in business in Chanute since 1975, Hi-Lo was given the opportunity to get students excited about staying local and pursuing manufacturing as a career.

“We have all kinds of jobs available at Hi-Lo and place a high value on individ-uals with a broad skill set,” Caldwell said. Jobs range from finishing, machining and production specialists to computer programmers, engineers, customer ser-vice and sales.

“We want to be sure we have the right people with the right skills for many years to come,” Caldwell said. “We appreciate the unwavering support of the community and it makes perfect sense to work together whenever possible.”

Construction collaboration with Hi-Lo

Chanute

Public Schools

S p r i n g , 2 0 1 7

Inside this issue:

Preparing students

to be career and

college ready

2

Science pathway

reveals career

possibilities

2

Publishing The Comet

requires teamwork

2

CES third graders start

business and contribute

to community

2

CHS students map out

plans toward

career choices

3

Local manufacturers

discuss job skills with

students

3

Fourth graders confront

problems while building

bridges

4

Where Students Come First!

Electronic Enrollment for 2017-2018 to begin in July rollment forms from a link on the school district’s web site. They can then review the forms for demographic, food service and transporta-tion information, and change anything that is inaccurate. Parents of elementary children will have the added benefit of knowing who their child’s teacher will be, once they enroll online. Parents can still come to the school and pay with cash or a check, but they have the option of paying online with a credit or debit card, with no extra fees. Parents and guardians without internet access from a computer will be able to come to school starting Aug. 3 and register their child(ren) using the school’s chrome books.

Electronic enrollment for next school year offers parents the abil-ity of completing the required forms when it is convenient for them, enrolling all their children at one time and paying their fees as well. Open enrollment is scheduled to begin July 17. On that day all returning students, for which the district has an email address, will receive a message that enrollment is open. If the parent’s email ad-dress has changed, use this link https://goo.gl/forms/hxVvgh1hXQDn03ja2 to update it, or use the QR code above this story. That will ensure an email is received on the 17th announcing that fall enrollment is open. Parents of new and returning students will be able to access en-

Page 2 Graduation is “not the end of the road”

Trail Mix Business Two classes of third graders talked with a bank official this year and re-ceived a loan for a start up business to make and sell trail mix.

“They learned about expenses, profits, loans, what it is like to be an employee, and most importantly how

to work together to do good for our community,” said CES teacher Heather Grady.

The students created advertising and then stirred together batches of trail mix to package and sell at NCCC ballgames, earning enough money to repay their loan and purchase a bench for the Unity Playground at Katy Park.

“I thought it was going to be hard because we had to make the trail mix and then sell it,” said third grader ElizaBeth Emery. “I learned that if we work together we can get it done.” “I learned that working together always works,” said Jacelyn Cameren.

By 2020,

71% of jobs in Kansas

will require postsecondary

education, but not

necessarily college.

Post-secondary can mean

two-year certification

programs, technical training

and associate degrees.

Randy Watson Commissioner of Education

From elementary to senior high school classrooms, Chanute Public School teachers are making an intentional effort to connect practical lessons, projects, and field trips with life skills that will transfer to potential careers or job opportunities.

A shift towards emphasizing these soft skills alongside academics began in 2015, following the results from a series of public meetings held by the Kansas Department of Education. Su-perintendent Richard Proffitt recognized the need for a curriculum that would prepare stu-dents for all kinds of careers, as well as forging partnerships with the local and area business community.

It’s important to have a rigorous curriculum that prepares students for all options, from technical and associate’s degrees to a four-year college, and at the same time find a way for them to gain employability skills while they’re still in high school,” Proffitt said.

“We’re going to have to build partnerships that go beyond the district. The kids have to be involved in the community and the community has to be involved in the school and there has to be interaction between the school, local business and local industry,” he added.

In this issue are examples of how teachers are incorporating real-world experience into their curriculum and preparing all students to be college and career ready.

Publishing The Comet demands teamwork In the CHS journalism classes where the award-winning student newspaper, The Comet, is put together, students learn many of the soft skills employers are seeking in graduates.

“The class itself is a good one to be in,” said editor-in-chief Annie Brazil. “It’s really good at teaching you how to work with others,” as well as leadership skills.

All these skills they’ve learned working on The Comet “translate to whatever they decide to go and do with their lives,” newspaper advisor Dustin Fox said. “They are learning to lead other people, to work with other people, meet deadlines, and all the frustrations and joys of being a part of team.”

critical thinking, communication, teamwork, citizenship, dependable, goal-driven, self-discipline, persistence, work ethic

Pathway opens possibilities

Students who’d considered nursing as a career now envision endless possibilities in health care since taking Principles of Bio-medical Science at Chanute High School. “The activities and projects introduce stu-dents to human physiology, basic biology and medicine,” instructor Mandy Duling said. After the introductory class, students un-derstand laboratory protocol and how it can validate or eliminate a suspect in a criminal case, confirm or rule out a possible disease, and why the real world expects them to test and confirm. The class incorporates many soft skills that are important if students are to succeed in the work force. “It is an engaging, hands-on, activity based program that is struc-tured around collaboration, which is a very powerful soft skill for our students,” instructor Tonya Frederick said. “They must learn how to question one another in a respectful manner, and disagree and come to an agreeable understanding. All of these skills will help them thrive in college and in the work force.” Both Duling and Frederick look forward to exposing the students to different avenues in the medical field, and are excited about the possibilities of future working relationships with the local medical community.

EKG Testing in Lab

Page 3

Students map a path towards ‘career readiness’ This year, CHS students began using Kuder Navigator to make a four-year plan towards a career or job they want to pursue after high school. Outlining a series of tasks with deadlines for each grade, the high school counselors’ goal was to get the freshmen focused on ca-reers and make sure the sophomores, juniors and seniors stay focused. The first step re-quired all students to complete an assessment survey to identify their interests, skills and what they do well. Once completed, the pro-gram suggested potential careers to match their survey and interests. Some were surprised at the answers. “I didn’t see myself doing that,” Alejandra Cervantes said about a job in organization when she’d prefer something in the medical

With an educational shift towards making students career ready, the CHS counseling department planned tours this spring to show students what kinds of jobs are “out there” and the variety of skills required.

“You can’t be ready for something you don’t know exists. We need to show them their options,” said counselor Jessie Fewins.

CHS students signed up for an automotive/diesel field trip, manufacturing field trip and another to Flint Hills Technical College. Students interested in nursing visited the health services program at Pittsburg State.

B&W Truckbeds, Humboldt, first stop on the manufacturing tour, provided a reality check for students, emphasizing the importance of making wise choic-es and the soft skills so important to employers.

“This is what we expect as an employer and this is what we look for,” the students were told, about the importance of showing up to work on time, meet-ing deadlines and communicating well with customers and employers.

Walking through the different manufacturing facilities the students could see the range of job opportunities, from assembly line, to secretarial, communi-cations, human resources, sales, and shipping.

Even students who leave to get technical training or a degree “can go to school, get training and even come back,” Fewins said. Dustin Stanley, a Hum-boldt Cub went to Allen County Community College, then Kansas State for his engineering degree and is now Vice President of Operations at Chanute Manu-facturing. Fredonia Yellowjacket Jonas Fink got his engineering degree and is now the Program Manager at Orizon, on 21st street in Chanute.

Though his job is to “manage” all the new work that comes to Orizon … the skills he uses on a daily basis are written and oral communications with custom-ers and employees, Fink said. Besides directing the internal engineering team, he has to “ensure the supply chain is purchasing all the detail components … required for the assembly, work with production to determine if new employees will be required and develop the schedule to deliver the assemblies on time.”

Fewins hopes these tours will motivate students to think about potential careers and find something that interests them. “Some of these businesses will even provide the training,” she said.

“It can tell you

careers you

didn’t know

you’d be good

in,” Justin Isle

said. “So you can

think about them

or do something

else.”

Area manufacturers open doors; discuss job skills with students

Dustin Stanley, Vice President of Operations at Chanute Manufac-turing, tells students that the majority of employees hired by the fabricator of heat transfer and steam generating equipment are welders, but they also employ data entry, IT personnel, and design-ers who know AutoCAD. Below, tracking inventory is crucial at Orizon, Program Manager Jonas Fink tells students on a tour of the plant on 21st Street that manufactures complex subassemblies for the aerospace industry.

field. “This time, I’m thinking about it more than I did,” as she plans to retake the survey. For Kaitlyn Olberding, the results pointed her towards a new possibility. “I’m taking a psychology class and I really don’t like it anymore and I thought that was what I wanted to go into,” she said. The as-sessment results suggested accounting. “I like math,” she said. “I may look into that.” Once they select an interest area or poten-tial career choice, the students figure out the classes they need to get there. Next, they re-search training and schools, develop an indi-vidual plan of study and create a portfolio. “We want to make sure you know what

you need to do to get there,” Fewins said.

It’s a stepping stone to the future

Continued on Page 4

Results from Kaitlyn

Olberding’s survey

suggested she might

like accounting.

“I may look into

that,” she said.

315 Chanute 35 Parkway

Chanute, KS 66720

Administrative Offices 432-2500

Superintendent of Schools: Richard Proffitt

Assistant Superintendent: Kent Wire, Ed.D.

Chanute High School: 432-2510 Principal John Lawrence

Assistant Principal David Brown

Assistant Principal/AD Ryan Luke

Royster Middle School 432-2520 Principal Lori Kiblinger

Assistant Principal Landon Diveley

Chanute Elementary 432-2530 Principal Gary Wheeler

Principal Jim Goracke

Assistant Principal Matt Koester

NBA/Virtual Education 433-1902 Director Bill Woodard

PR/Newsletter editor 432-2550 Connie Woodard

Unified School District 413 Empowers each student

with the knowledge and skills needed

to be a productive citizen and a life-long learner.

C h a n u t e P u b l i c S c h o o l s

Chanute Public Schools meets the needs of all students through its philosophy, policies and practices. USD 413 is a Students First! school district.

Follow Our Schools on Facebook

and at www.usd413.org Get sports scores

@CometAthletics

Residential Customer

Fourth grade teams build bridges Using a team approach was what fourth graders Ramona Weeks and Braeden Akers liked about the bridge project their teacher Miranda Luke gave them. “We got to work on our (communication) social skills with each other and know what the other people in our group would be thinking,” Weeks said. The alternative was “we would have to (do) group work and we’re not good at that,” Akers added. The students recognized their task, to build a bridge that incorporated a simple machine in its design, would require a lot of problem solving and they needed everyone’s ideas. Secondly, they had to pose a question, like how much weight will it support or will it with-stand a hurricane, and test that following con-struction. Weeks, Akers and Aiden Luna designed a three-section draw bridge with a pulley that sup-ported only 14 - 16 cars. “It didn’t work because the middle wasn’t stable,” Weeks said. “Next time we’ll have to make sure we measure it and get every single piece right so it can hold more cars,” Akers said.

Support Chanute Public Schools through http://usd413foundation.com or USD413Foundation on Facebook

Fourth graders discuss possible solutions while building bridges in Miranda Luke’s class.

The majority of students pick a college based on where their parents went, where their friends are going or what is closest to home. Then they pick a major or career. About 45 percent of those students don’t graduate from college. Fewins recalled a girl who wanted to go to Pittsburg State and major in speech pa-thology. Then she finds out PSU doesn’t have a speech pathology program. “Instead of getting excited about KU or K-State or Pitt State, we want you to get excited about a career and what you want to do,” Fewins told the freshmen. The Kuder Navigator program helps the students find a career they will be happy doing and then find a school with that ma-jor. “We want to see you go on to get some sort of training beyond high school. We want you to be prepared for that but we want you to love what you do … then it won’t feel like work,” she added.

Mapping route to careers Continued from Page 3