The commitment of a mother-son teaching duo to combine technology and project-based learning created positive learning experiences spanning multiple grade levels. Based on the stages of child development, Lakota East psychology teacher Jared Haynes challenged his students to develop a how-to manual for parents. Students developed videos and websites to help guide parents through the stages of infancy to the teenage years. To put their theories behind moral reasoning development to the test, they also created a series of questions that they shared with students in Jenny Haynes’s technology classes at VanGorden Elementary.

By the end of the school year, about 1,000 Lakota eighth-graders will have visited a local business for a taste of what their future career might entail. It’s all part of Lakota’s continuing partnership with Junior Achievement to bring students a “Job Exploration Day”. More than 500 students from Plains and Ridge junior schools participated in the job shadowing event at one of 20 partner businesses late last month. Students at Hopewell and Liberty junior schools will enjoy the same experience next month.

Career Readiness Academy (CRA) Science Club students are not just talking about topics like going green, eliminating waste, and reducing chemicals found in foods. They are working together to take on a major project that addresses all three topics - creating a sustainable garden using chemical-free, pesticide-free resources and materials.

Lakota families are invited to help build commUNITY on Earth Day 2018. Together with the West Chester Liberty Chamber Alliance, Lakota Local Schools will host a family friendly afternoon on Sunday, April 22 from 2 - 4 p.m. at the Square at Union Centre in West Chester.

Lakota Local Schools held its first annual military commitment ceremony on April 5. Thirty-three seniors from both Lakota East and West high schools, who have committed to entering either a military academy or branch of service after graduation, were recognized before a near capacity crowd at the Lakota East Freshman building. (A video and Facebook album of the event are now available.)

As a way of recognizing the Class of 2018 as role models for their younger counterparts, Lakota is gearing up for another “Parade of Graduates.” On Thursday, May 3, all 10 of Lakota’s elementary schools will welcome a group of this year’s graduates in fanfare fashion.

There are many different components included in the safety and security protocols at Lakota Schools. In addition to the safety drills practiced throughout the school year, periodically our partners at the Butler County Sheriff’s Office bring in K-9 units to perform drug searches at the high schools and in the student parking lots.

Lakota Local Schools, in partnership with Greater Cincinnati’s Grant Us Hope, is proud to bring Hope Squad to students at both Lakota East and Lakota West high schools. Preparation for full implementation in the 2018-19 school year is beginning now with student, staff and parent informational meetings. Lakota is one of over 20 schools in the Greater Cincinnati region to pilot the national school-based peer-to-peer suicide prevention program in southwestern Ohio. Hope Squad members are students nominated by their peers who are then trained to identify at-risk students, provide friendship and seek help from an adult.

The Lakota Calendar Committee is preparing a 2019-2020 district calendar recommendation for the Board of Education. But first, the group is soliciting community input. Lakota staff, students, parents and community members are invited to review the current draft before any final recommendation is presented to the school board in May 2018.