Students sort items purchased with proceeds from the Trick-or-Treat for Kids off Their Feet project before delivering them to Peyton Manning Children’s Hospital at St. Vincent.

The Harrison Parkway School Student Council recently collected just under $700 by holding a spirit week. HPE Students were encouraged to bring in spare change in order to participate in special dress-up days. The money was then used to purchase items for Trick-or-Treat for Kids off Their Feet benefiting patients at Peyton Manning Children’s Hospital at St.Vincent.

This community service event allows student organizations to collect “treats” for children who are unable to trick-or-treat on Halloween night due to an illness, injury, surgery recovery or frail immune system. The Student Council was able to purchase 100 games and puzzles, 36 pairs of pajamas, 50 packs of silly bands, 35 coloring books with crayons and other items.

HSEHS National Merit Honorees - (Front Row) Alyson Faultless, Hannah Doherty, Kristie Hsu (Row 2) Sawyer Hitchcock, Alex Nelson, Mike Young, Chase Williams, Collin Baker, Jacob Crell.

Thirteen seniors from across the HSE district performed well enough on the Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test (PSAT/NMSQT) to be National Merit Semifinalists or National Achievement Scholarship Program Semifinalists. Both programs recognize students with elite performances.

FHS National Merit Semifinalists are Jennifer Funk, Paul Pratt, Jacob Ryan and Amanda Wiesler. HSEHS National Merit Semifinalists include Collin Baker, Jacob Crell, Hannah Doherty, Alyson Faultless, Sawyer Hitchcock, Kristie Hsu, Alex Nelson, Mike Young. Chase Williams is a National Achievement Scholarship Semifinalist.

They are invited to apply to continue in the competitions to become finalists and/or scholars when they can possibly receive college scholarships.

Approximately 16,000 National Merit Semifinalists are named across the country and compete for 8,400 scholarships announced in the spring. Approximately 1,600 National Achievement semifinalists compete for 700 scholarships.

(Front row) Jordan Rombach, Caitlin James, (Row 2) Jacob Ryan, Vince Foley, Andrew Hughel

Computer Programming students from Fishers High School and Hamilton Southeastern High School took part in Computer Science Day activities at IUPUI March 18. The day focused on careers in technology and ended with a team competition in the fields of web programming, traditional programming and game programming and design.

A total of seven high schools and over 100 students took part in the events. Jacob Ryan from Fishers High School placed first in the web programming contest, and Hamilton Southeastern High School students Jordan Rombach and Caitlin James finished second in the game programming competition. Also, placing third in game programming were Vince Foley and Andrew Hughel from HSEHS.

Student prizes ranged from X-Box consoles and games to T-shirts and grab bag items supplied by Google.

FPCP was started by eight families whose shared goal was to form a play-based preschool where they could become active participants in their children’s education. Carla Bidwell led the effort, drawing on her own experiences as a “co-op” mom and former co-op president. In its first year, the school had two teachers, three classes, and 28 families. More than 14 years later, Bidwell is still with FPCP, teaching the Koalas class for 3- and 4-year-olds. The preschool has grown along with the Fishers population, now offering four teachers and five classes for nearly 60 families. “The membership of a cooperative preschool is like a family of families, like a village,” Bidwell says. “The parents own the co-op and they participate in the operation of the school, so it really is a cooperative effort.”

Cooperatives offer a safe, secure, and gradual transition from home to school for children. Co-ops offer to parents a sense of community, camaraderie and parent/teacher partnerships unlike any other preschool experience. At FPCP, members develop close relationships with other families when working together at the school, baby-sitting one another’s children, or attending school events. “We try to make opportunities for our members to spend time together, so the parents get to know each other as well as the kids do,” says FPCP co-president Lisa Switzer. “We have special events for getting all the families together, class coffees that are just for the parents, and the occasional Mom’s Night Out too.” When everyone spends so much time together, the lines between families tend to blur. It’s not unusual to watch a preschooler curl up in the lap of a participating parent to listen to a story, or to see one mother feeding, or comforting another person’s child. “Our families are learning the habit of participating in their children’s education, and some of them are also building life-long friendships,” says Carla Bidwell.

Cooperative preschools have a positive impact on their communities. Research indicates that parent participation is a major factor in a student’s success. Parents who get involved early usually stay involved. “For a lot of co-op families, the preschool experience is just the first step on the path of involvement in their child’s school and the greater community,” Bidwell says. Co-op parents often gain a stronger sense of responsibility and feel empowered to make a difference, not just in their child’s life but in their community as well.

The Fishers Pointe community has drawn together recently as the school prepares to face a challenge. “Our landlord church is expanding its own programs,” explains co-president Courtney Floyd, “and they have not renewed our lease. As of June 1, we won’t have a location for our preschool.” FPCP’s board of directors was informed of the church’s decision, and immediately launched a relocation committee to begin the search for a new home. FPCP had experienced this situation in 2006, when the church whose classrooms it rented suddenly went out of business. “Back then we contacted literally every church in Fishers, and there just wasn’t any space available for rent,” Floyd says. “We expanded our search this time to include commercial spaces. But we’re just not finding anything that we can afford.” The preschool, a 501(c)( 3) not-for-profit organization, turned to its membership for suggestions. Steve Klipsch, whose son Zachary attends Fishers Pointe, had some advice to offer.

“I looked at the school’s current operating budget to get an idea of the possibilities, and it became clear that this move wasn’t going to work without additional funds,” says Klipsch, who is the Senior Vice President of Operational Development for Klipsch Group, Inc. “As I see it, the problem is not so much where we’re moving, but how to make the school more financially efficient.” The preschool’s income derives from the tuition its members pay, along with several fund raising events throughout the year. This simply isn’t sufficient to keep the school operating anymore. Klipsch advised the preschool’s board of directors to consider adding an alumni foundation, initiating a capital campaign, and pursuing grants. He explains, “The reality is, we’ve got to raise some money here, not only this year but going forward too.” Klipsch has applied his business acumen while serving on the board of directors of local non-profit organizations, including the Salvation Army, but he says that his motivation to assist Fishers Pointe Cooperative Preschool derives from his experiences as a parent. His younger son Leo will attend the preschool next year. “I want to make sure the school is there for Leo,” Klipsch says. In show of his support, The Klipsch Group, Inc. has pledged $5,000 to the preschool’s capital campaign.

FPCP has already begun to act on Klipsch’s advice. A letter has gone out to the school’s alumni, announcing the formation of the Fishers Pointe Alumni Association and asking for assistance. The board of directors is scrutinizing the budget, looking for cuts that will minimize operating expenses. But the one thing the school is most anxious to do is to connect with the community. “Cooperative preschools tend to be the best kept secrets in many communities,” says Courtney Floyd. “We want to get the word out about Fishers Pointe Cooperative Preschool. We need to let the people of Fishers know how important this preschool has been in the lives of our families. We also need to find a long term home in the Fishers area by June 1st”

E-mail: info@fisherspointecoop.org
Web address: http://www.fisherspointecoop.org
Phone: (317) 721-3727

Students who spelled their nine words perfectly were Yaniv Smukler and Erin Van Wesenbeeck.  Raleigh Daniel, James Knight, Melissa Riggio, Sam Smith and Zeke Willey were near perfect spellers, missing only one word.  The other members of the team were Kelaiah Awoyemi, Varu Musunuri, Serena Nayee, McKenzie Records, Dan Spall and Lily Wolf.

FHS Spell Bowl Team – (Front row) Lily Wolf, Raleigh Daniel, Melissa Riggio, McKenzie Records, James Knight, Serena Nayee, Varu Musunuri, (Row 2) Yaniv Shumkler, Sam Smith, Zeke Willey, Kelaiah Awoyemi and Erin Van Wesenbeeck.

The team is coached by Deborah Hejl and John Drozd, with much appreciated assistance from parents Mary Willey and Ellen Spall. “Since more than half of these students are underclassmen, we expect to be very competitive next year,” said Coach Hejl. FHS is undefeated in Conference or Area competition for the past four years.  “Congratulations to these fine students, who put in many long hours to study the 2,700+ difficult words on the list.” For more information, contact Hejl at (317) 915-4290 or email her at dhejl@hse.k12.in.us

“Look what I found” signals Scott Loller while taking part in an archeological dig activity.

Durbin hosted a Family Fun Night with a “discovering Egypt” theme. Students heard a read-aloud, made cartouches, constructed stained glass windows and went on an archeological dig for bones and jewels. While the students had an adventure, parents worked on reading strategies to help their children with reading at home.

Jeremiah Best, Alex Aldridge, Kyle Gabbard, Collin Denham, and James Castro.

On September 18, Harrison Parkway second graders boarded the train on 141st St. near school and rode it to Fishers’ Town Center. There they discussed the purpose of each of the community buildings including town hall, police department, fire department, license branch, post office, library and train station. Conductor Ralph Bell explained how Fishers’ name had changed over the years. He said it was originally called Mudsock, later Fishers Switch and finally Fishers.

Teacher Susan Tysen said the trip supported state standards where children are asked to ‘differentiate between events that happened in the past and recently, recognize examples of continuity and change in local and regional communities and consider ways that people and events of the past and present influence their lives.” As the train passed through Noblesville, they also talked about the town buildings, the county buildings and purposes that they serve.

Students visited The Indiana Transportation Museum in Forest Park in Noblesville. There they learned that refrigeration cars were once cooled by ice chopped out of and transported from northern lakes. They also talked about related modes of transportation such as a trolley car and mule pulled cars. Conductor Bell made sure that the students understood how and why the modes of transportation have changed over the years to best serve the needs of the people in the area. For more information, contact Tysen at (317) 915-4210 or email her at stysen@hse.k12.in.us

The run/walk will be at Heritage Park on Eller Road in Fishers. Parking is limited with a drop-off area for families at the park and additional parking and a shuttle bus at Riverside Intermediate School. Handicapped accessible parking will be available. The course is approximately 0.5 miles.

This walk-a-thon will help raise money for the students at Fishers Elementary School. All donations will go to the PTO, which directly provides funding for school activities. Registration will be available on site and through Fishers Elementary. The fee is $10 per person and a maximum of $50 for a family.

Additional questions can be directed to Kristina Riley at 1x3y@sbcglobal.net. Please come out to support our students at Fishers Elementary!

With over $815,000 raised, opportunities are still available for companies and individuals to contribute to the campaign with recognition opportunities ranging from scoreboard signs to metal plaques or engraved bricks on a donor wall. The campaign goal is to cover as much as possible of the estimated $1.7 million cost with donations. An updated donor form is also available on the district web site (www.hse.k12.in.us) with a link under “Hot Topics.” Companies interested in corporate sponsorship options should contact one of the athletic director offices at FHS (915-4296) or HSEHS (594-4196).

Dedication of Clarian Health Field and Reynolds Tigers Stadium will be this Friday evening before Fishers High School’s first home game that begins at 7 p.m.