Tyler Morrison receives Student Spirit Award for constructing new gardens at Garfield

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Gardens constructed by Tyler Morrison at the new Garfield STEAM Academy

By: Virgil Noah, Staff Writer

The regular monthly meeting of the Sand Springs Board of Education was held Tuesday in the Charles Page High School Performing Arts Building. The meeting began with the recognition and presentation of awards to several people.

Garfield STEAM Academy lost its garden after undergoing an extensive remodel, but that problem was fixed when student Tyler Morrison volunteered to be the eagle scout for the school, put together a plan and build the gardens. "It was really busy but it was a lot of fun. I had a lot of help and I definitely couldn't have done it without help." Tyler was presented with a Student Spirit Award and a gift card to Rib Crib.

Sand Springs Education Foundation Director Sylvia Fooshee was presented with a Sandite Spirit Award for her contributions and dedication over the years to Sand Springs Schools.

Board of Education President Mike Mullins was recently recognized with the Oklahoma State School Board Association Distinguished Service Award. Mullins, who recently gave up his gavel as President of the OSSBA, received the award at the annual OSSBA/Cooperative Council for Oklahoma School Administration (CCOSA) conference in Oklahoma City. The award is given to only one individual a year. Mullins was also presented with the Sandite Think Right Award for his 19 years of service on the Sand Springs Board of Education. 

The Sand Springs School district set a goal of $65,000 in fundraising for the STEM initiative this year. STEM stands for Science, Technology, Electronics, and Mathematics. Several local businesses and organizations have made donations to the program. The Sand Springs Home was recognized for their $10,000 donation and LD Kerns Contractors was recognized for its work on the Garfield Renovation Project and a $500 donation to the STEM Initiative.

The Board approved out of state travel for several Sandite extra curricular events. The varsity Cross Country teams will be traveling to Fayetteville, Arkansas in October for the Chile Pepper XC Festival. The Dance team will be attending Dance Nationals in Orlando, Florida in February. The CPHS band will be headed to the Alamo Showcase of Music in San Antonio in April. Sandite Baseball will play in a Spring Break Tournament in Phoenix, Arizona in March. 

Sharon James, Matt Watkins, and Heather Miller are attending a Literacy Conference in San Diego, California later this month. Kristen Tanner received a $1,240 Scholarship from Engineering in Elementary to attend their workshop, Linking the E & M in STEM, in Boston, Massachusetts in November.

Garfield Elementary receives new name to go with new improvements; district embraces STEM initiative

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By: Scott Emigh, Editor-in-Chief

The Sand Springs Board of Education held their regular monthly meeting Monday evening. The session was held at Garfield Elementary in the newly finished Lloyd Snow Media Center. The Board held a ribbon-cutting ceremony prior to the meeting.

The school itself has been undergoing extensive remodeling over the summer and is nearing completion. In addition to the new library, the remodel also includes a new music room, four new kindergarten classrooms, and a new dining space and kitchen. The project is part of an $8.8 million bond election, with $6.5 million going to Garfield.

The remodel is accompanied by a slight rebranding. Garfield Elementary will now be known as “Garfield STEAM Academy.” STEAM is a slight modification of the acronym STEM, or Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics, with the addition of the Arts.

This fall will see all Sand Springs elementary schools participating in the STEM initiative with curriculum from Project Lead the Way. The initiative will cost the school district approximately $65,000. That money isn’t coming from the schools, however, but from donations from community businesses and education foundations. Most recently, Webco made a $10,000 donation to the initiative, leaving the district just $4,000 short of their goal.

The district is also increasing the number of STEM electives available at Clyde Boyd Middle School and Central Ninth Grade Center.

Monday night’s meeting included presentations from three groups of STEM involved students.

Zachary Sprague, Connor Tanner, Isaiah Uebelhart, Grant Shelton, and James McDougal presented one of their creations. Subtitle Glasses for the Hard of Hearing were created as a solution for hearing-impaired movie-goers. By wearing lightweight plastic glasses, similar to the glasses one would wear for a 3D movie, an individual can see subtitles on screen that are invisible to the naked eye.

Aden Baughman and Greg Bodi presented a holographic projector that they built with their group including Aaron McKnight, Will English, Chase Smith, Nathan Richards, and Stephen West.

Samantha Pidcock, Ayden Meade, Breanna Biggs, Alesha Milsap, and Mason Curren presented an improved design for CNGC’s electromagnetic door locks.

Sandite Spirit Awards were given to Dana Weber and Kristen Valentine for their work in STEM Initiative fundraising.