Donnie Bickham Middle School
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.