Donnie Bickham Middle School
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| PRINCIPAL’S MESSAGE February 10, 2010 The groundhog may have seen his shadow indicating 6 more weeks of winter, but things are heating up at DBMS. Since our Rick Rowe special on KTBS Channel 3, we have been featured four more times in the local media. Channel 3’s Jan Elkins came out on November 30th to award Ms. Elizabeth Vance the coveted One Class At a Time grant worth $1000. Ms. Vance intends to use this money for her state-of-the-art hydroponics unit that she and her students are using to grow plants and vegetables without the use of soil. Next, KTAL Channel 6 reporter Kerry Charles featured DBMS teacher, Arden Guglielmo, in his newscast on teachers who go the extra mile by working with extracurricular activities. As you know, Mrs. Guglielmo is the sponsor of our award-winning Patriot Belle danceline. While Mr. Charles was on campus, he was so impressed that he sent reporter Amber Miller back out to film a special on our parental involvement program that is directed by DBMS teacher, Kathryn Young. Ms. Young’s Parent T.I.P. S. Saturday workshops are the envy of the parish in terms of establishing positive relationships and productive meetings with parents. Finally, KTAL morning anchor Shelli Briery came out to film DBMS Louisiana History teacher, Janet Nash, teach a special lesson incorporating the success of the New Orleans Saints and the rebuilding of the city of New Orleans. As you can see, DBMS is definitely the place to be when it comes to high quality education and positive community relationships. We have also recently begun our efforts to attract and recruit the best and brightest students in our area. We held our first Open House in mid-January and have our second Open House planned for Tuesday, February 16th. At these meetings, we debunk myths about DBMS and spread the excitement surrounding our recent academic success and our new programs and technology. Below I have listed just a smidgen of our presentation: * For the 2008-2009 school year, we made the largest academic gain of any school in Caddo Parish. * We have established our new Gateway program and look forward to expanding opportunities for these students. * We have a new Spanish teacher, French teacher, and have been named a pilot school for the Rosetta Stone program. * Along with our Talented Arts program for visual, musical, and performance arts, we have also established art class to meet the needs of our exceptional visual artists. * We now have the following technology on campus: 6 computer labs of 30-35 computers each, 35 SmartBoards, 25 Airliner tablets, 30 Elmo document cameras, 6 C.O.W.s, 40 iPods, and much more. Our plan is to submit a proposal for a Technology Magnet Component this Spring. As I said before, the information listed above is just a smidgen of the experiences and opportunities available for our students. We are extremely excited about the direction of DBMS, and we look forward to future. |