When you have an activity titled "Fry Day Triple I Day", there is NO way it's going to be a bust. Mr. Allen led students in a fun food activity that taught students the methods of deep frying (while not entirely healthy, applicable learning took place!). Mr. Allen
continued the study of Black and Southern food ways by deep frying whole turkeys with students, while also frying whole chickens, Jamacian chicken pies, and for dessert, deep fried Snickers. This was a continuation of their inquiry and research ELA projects. If you weren't here, you missed out! 🦃🍗🐔
Another successful III Day in the books! Students visited different stations in the Flex Space and created various ❤️Valentine's Day❤️crafts. Students worked on nail string art, decorated sugar cookies, used the tape resist method to paint with watercolors and made heart tassels and homemade bath bombs. Students were able to leave with their masterpieces to give to a loved one or keep for themselves. L❤️VE is in the air at RAS!
We love free money! Well, we have to put some work into it, but grant writing is a quick win for us! And let's be honest, it's much easier than asking the government for more
money! PNC is a bank which offers annual grants for local schools and Mrs. Quick has been a recipient THREE times now! She plans to use this round of $750 for a three compartment sink to properly wash, rinse, and sanitize dishes during her cooking lessons. And clearly, Dash is our #1 employee and always looking for a photo op!
Our great partnership with ISU and Dr. Jay Percell continues! We welcomed 14 pre-service educators into our building today in preparation for their very first clinical experience this semester. They learned about our school and toured our facility to see all of the amazing opportunities and services we offer. Through 20 hours of clinicals, reflections, and a final project, this group will gain invaluable experience of working in a non-traditional educational setting. We are excited for this ongoing collaboration which is mutually beneficial to both programs.
Students are learning how to operate heavy equipment in our virtual reality lab today. This experience is one of many trade skills simulations we offer through our Career Labs VR software.
Every February is CTE Month, a time to raise awareness of the role that Career and Technical Education (CTE) has in readying our students for careers and college and helping our nation achieve economic success and workforce competitiveness. RAS is committed to providing students exposure to different career pathways and exploration of post-secondary opportunities.
Today, students got the opportunity to learn some survival skills with Mr. Krause. They made penny stoves to cook and stay warm with. Kaden made the longest lasting penny stove, lasting over 12 minutes! Students also learned some fire safety and fire starting skills as well. Keegan in the AM and Daveon in the PM created the best fires using the tippee method as well as a hybrid of the tippee and log cabin methods. In the words of Smokey the Bear, "Only YOU can prevent wildfires."
RAS was doing some woodworking in the Skills Workshop today. Students used geometry and measurement concepts for real life applications by designing and building shelves!
Friendly reminder: RAS staff will return to school for an in-service day on Wednesday, January 4th. RAS students will return to school on Thursday, January 5th. We hope you enjoy the last couple days of Winter Break!
🎓⭐️🎓⭐️
It’s always a combination of stress and celebration during this time. We are happy to assist 1️⃣7️⃣ students complete their requirements for graduation this semester! Achieving this milestone allows for opportunities to move on to bigger and better things! Congrats!
RAS Staff can be considered an embodiment of lifelong learning. We celebrated FIVE staff members who recently completed degree programs in education! Mr. Eddins and Mr. Krause completed their Master of Science in Special Education. Mrs. Stoneking and Mr. Keller completed their Master of Arts in Education-Secondary Teaching and Mr. Thornton completed his degree in Art Education! Education is a continuously evolving part of our society and being open and willing to learning and trying new methods is vital to staying relevant! Congratulations to OUR graduates! ❤️🤍🎓🎉🥳🤍❤️
The holidays came early for our Middle School student this year! Thanks Debbie Horvath for the generous donation of sweatshirts to our kiddos. The new attire will keep them warm through the winter, in dress code, and most importantly in class.
💚 Today, RAS Staff participated in Project Oz’s #WearGreenDay for #NRPM2022 💚
👨🏻🍳🍗👩🏿🍳🍠👨🏼🍳🍎👩🏾🍳🥖🧑🏽🍳🥔👩🏻🍳🧈🧑🏼🍳🫓We had another great Inquiry Day today as part of our III Wednesdays! Students had to take a food handlers course and pass the ServSafe exam to earn a certificate in order to participate in our holiday cooking class. Students were taught how to be cost-effective with food (utilizing local food pantries, etc), in addition to how to use small kitchen appliances to prepare full meals. We prepared a one-pan Thanksgiving meal and apple crisp, all with food from our pantry using kitchen equipment we purchased through grants from PNC and the Illinois Retired Teachers Association Foundation. Kenji, one of our ISU TCH 212 students, was on-hand to help out and offer his sous chef skills, which came in handy!
Congratulations to Nate and Hailey for completing their ServSafe Food Handler Certification through the National Restaurant Association!
🧡🌼🌹💀🕯🍬🥐 🍰🍊🎉RAS students helped prepare for Día de los Muertos, which is celebrated November 1st & 2nd. We have an ofrenda with traditional food and candy, plus photos of loved ones who have passed away. Our students have the opportunity to learn about this special holiday while at school. Our Día de los Muertos ofrenda and decor help add knowledge and color to our hallways!
We would like to thank the Men of Illinois State University’s chapter of Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity, Inc. (Epsilon Chi) for their community outreach and appreciation of our teaching staff. We enjoyed fresh, fried chicken for lunch today, which was a nice break from our boring salads and leftovers! Thank you, Damon and Kendall, for coordinating and delivering this tasty food!
Our middle school team had a fun time taking some of our students to the 14th annual BACC Career Expo! Our students got to try out several job simulations and talk to professionals in those fields. They were able to learn about cool job opportunities that were not previously aware of. It is always a good time when we can empower students to be able to think about their futures beyond their school careers! One of our students practiced cookie decorating with the BACC Culinary Arts. Another student learned how to patch a gunshot wound with the EMTs and he also learned how to give CPR to someone who is unconscious! One of our students had a great time handcuffing Mr. Krause with the BPD!
Helping our westside neighbors in Bloomington! RAS had the opportunity to visit one of our great community partners, First Christian Church, and lend a hand on a sunny day. Students and staff volunteered time for some fall cleanup work on the exterior of the property. A great day to be outside and help out!
Another successful III Day in the books! Mr. O’Kraski led two groups of students in the workshop today. Their goal was to create a stand for Mr. Keller’s classroom fish tank. Finished product coming soon…stay tuned! #SkillBuilding #workshop #LifelongSkills
