Education Commons^™

Personal Reflections / 12.14.20, José M. Torres

Personal Reflections

On Saturday, December 7, 2020, I got up early at 5:00 a.m., put on a white shirt, a black jacket, and shorts, and joined a zoom call broadcasted from Alexandria, Egypt. A longtime friend, Bill, passed away at age 90 from COVID-19 complications. Bill and his wife Peg, who passed away 12 years ago, opened their home to me in 1980, when I was only 20 years old and needed a place to stay. Six months later, I found a more permanent home. While my time living with them in their home was short, this experience and our continued relationship …

Effect Of Flour Type On Sourdough Starters, Irene (Sooah) Park, Kenith Taukolo '23

Methods in Scientific Inquiry

After deciding on world hunger as our topic for our Methods in Scientific Inquiry (MSI) project, we decided to conduct an experiment about sourdough starters. In particular, we were asking how the type of flour (ie, whole wheat and all-purpose) may affect the rise of sourdough starters. The differences in height in the different types of sourdough starters using whole wheat and all-purpose flour were identified. We used paired t-tests for deciding if the heights of the starters grew overtime and a two-sample t-test to find if the mean change in height was statistically significant between the different types of …

Introduction To Analyzing And Evaluating Medical Terminology, Sowmya Anjur, N. Brennan, S. Saiyed

Open Access Books and Manuals

Illinois CTE Endorsement Area: Health Science Technology & Human Services

Teacher and Student Editions

Talk The Talk, Freddy-May Abisamra, Natasha White

Goal 3: Interpersonal Intelligence Narrative

To give students practice having high-stakes conversations in a safe, controlled environment.

To give students an opportunity to verbalize what things they want/don’t want in relationships.

The Five Stages Of Team Development, Caitlin Collins, Ethan Castro

Goal 3: Interpersonal Intelligence Narrative

Purpose: Provide students an introduction to existing business/psychology teachings on group dynamics and the five distinct stages of team development likely to be experienced in any group setting.

Shattering Stigma: Menstruation, Pooja Haney, Jaimee Walker

Goal 3: Interpersonal Intelligence Narrative

Purpose: To educate IMSA students on a natural process of the human body in order to lessen stigma. This information is pertinent to healthy development, and stigma surrounding this topic can adversely affect the way people deal with menstruation.

Creating And Managing A Budget, Benjamin Lepak, Luis Villafuerte

Goal 2: Life Skills Narrative

Purpose: Students will be able to plan and implement a budget over the course of a month-to-month basis.

Healthy Eating And Cooking, Kevin Lim, Kristen Feigel

Goal 2: Life Skills Narrative

Specific Lesson Outcomes: Students will be able to effectively interpret nutrition labels, understand basic kitchen measuring terminology, and prepare easy and healthy snacks/meals at home or at IMSA.

Productivity Talent Show, Dane Christianson, Rafael Gonzalez

Goal 1: Social Responsibility Narrative

Purpose: Students will see how their most successful peers manage themselves to achieve academic and personal success so they can incorporate these skills into their own lives.

Life, Character , Action, Mansour Baalbaki, Stephanie Broy

Goal 1: Social Responsibility Narrative

Purpose: Transitioning to IMSA is a time of new choices, responsibility, and freedom. As a result, sometimes, students’ intentions are not always the best for the individual or the situation. Throughout the IMSA experience, students are caught in the middle of the new community’s values in which they live. Students internalize what they see their peers and role models doing and decide how to live their own lives. Every interaction that students have during their IMSA years affects how they see themselves and how they see others—helping students understand why character matters will allow them to value kindness, cooperation, sharing, …

Online Etiquette: Cancel Culture, Problematic Behavior And Social Media, Mia Pidlaoan, Rodrigo Gonzalez

Goal 1: Social Responsibility Narrative

Students will learn and partake in discussions about online etiquette, aspects of “cancel culture,” past incidents of misconduct and consequences of behavior online, real-life nuances regarding diversity, and problematic behavior.

Students are free to speak as much as they wish to. This conversation is heavily participant-based and healthy discourse is encouraged.

Unit #4: Playing With Code - Remote Learning Activities, Lindsey Herlehy, Cassandra Armstrong

Little STEAMers: Early Learning Program

No abstract provided.

Life, Character , Action, Mansour Baalbaki, Stephanie Broy

Goal 4: Intrapersonal Intelligence Narrative

Purpose: Transitioning to IMSA is a time of new choices, responsibility, and freedom. As a result, sometimes, students’ intentions are not always the best for the individual or the situation. Throughout the IMSA experience, students are caught in the middle of the new community’s values in which they live. Students internalize what they see their peers and role models doing and decide how to live their own lives. Every interaction that students have during their IMSA years affects how they see themselves and how they see others—helping students understand why character matters will allow them to value kindness, cooperation, sharing, …

Now Webzine: Self Care Program ( Asychronous), Robyn Norton, Josiah Payne

Goal 4: Intrapersonal Intelligence Narrative

Why it's so important that they can care for themselves.

Report Of The President / November 18, 2020, José M. Torres

President's Report

LEADERSHIP MATTERS

This report provides the Board of Trustees with information regarding Academy activities and the progress that we are making toward achieving our IMSA Impact and Outcomes Statement and Priority Outcomes. I organize the Report of the President, where appropriate, around the IMSA Impact and Outcomes document:

Three pillars:

1. STEM Teaching and Learning
2. Operational Capacity
3. Stakeholder Engagement

One Strategy—Strengthen Employee Engagement

1. Advance Equity and Excellence Plan: Year One of Action
2. Beyond surviving...Resolved to thrive (IMSA employees working remotely must do more than merely survive the year; we want to thrive!)

I provide information, updates and general observations with …

Topics And Challenges In Teaching Computer Science For Gifted And Talented Students, Tom Meyer, Namrata Pandya

Faculty Publications & Research

No abstract provided.

Unit #3: Simple Machines - Remote Learning Activities, Lindsey Herlehy, Cassandra Armstrong

Little STEAMers: Early Learning Program

No abstract provided.

Universal Mental Health Screenings: The Whats, Whys, And Hows, Kevin Kusy

Staff Publications & Research

According to the CDC, 6.1 million children aged 2-17 have been diagnosed with ADHD, 4.4 million with anxiety, and 1.9 million with depression. Because our schools play a pivotal role in the lives of children and families, early intervention and prevention within our schools makes logical sense. During this presentation, universal mental health screening will be discussed: what it is, why it is relevant, and how to implement it in your community.

Universal Mental Health Screenings: The Whats, Whys, And Hows, Kevin Kusy

Staff Publications & Research

According to the CDC, 6.1 million children aged 2-17 have been diagnosed with ADHD, 4.4 million with anxiety, and 1.9 million with depression. Because our schools play a pivotal role in the lives of children and families, early intervention and prevention within our schools makes logical sense. During this presentation, universal mental health screening will be discussed: what it is, why it is relevant, and how to implement it in your community.

Missed Messages: A Mental Health-Related Simulator, Mia Pidlaoan

Goal 3: Interpersonal Intelligence Narrative

About Missed Messages: Missed Messages is a visual simulation made by Angela He that stars you, a stranger, and a roommate. This story's ending is decided based on your actions and is meant to spark insightful and meaningful conversations about mental health. WARNING: This story has heavy themes surrounding depression and suicide, including verbal mentions and some graphic content. There are four possible endings. This is a guide to how to implement Missed Messages by Angela He with students.

The Cultivation Of Psychosocial Skills For High Performance Within Educational Programs, Paula Olszewski-Kubilius, Rena F. Subotnik, Katie Berger, Susan Gold, Christi Wilkins

Staff Publications & Research

Gifted specialists recognize the importance of psychosocial skills to high achievement but rarely deliberately focus on them in their programming. We present case studies of systematic efforts to cultivate these skills in three different contexts: a K-12 gifted school, selective STEM high school, and community-based program. Participants learn effective ways to incorporate psychosocial skill training into their program models.

Stress In Education: Finding Solutions To Combat Negativity And Burnout, Kevin Kusy, Sarah O'Leary-Driscoll

Staff Publications & Research

Working in education can be one of the most fulfilling jobs, but the current climate for many staff is filled with stress and frustration. With teachers feeling underappreciated and overworked, mental health issues are on the rise and the climate of many schools has had a negative turn. This session will discuss topics around compassion fatigue, negativity, not feeling connected, and overall discomfort to change.

Stem League Student Enrichment Programs, Gwen Seeley-Joosse

STEM League Student Enrichment Programs

IMSA’s STEM League programs are distance learning courses that have been designed specifically for self-motivated, independent middle and high school students. During any given STEM League, students explore a hot topic in STEM using a variety of source material which prepares them for a series of online and live scholarly discussions. STEM League courses provide opportunities for students to engage in activities that foster a deeper understanding of and appreciation for STEM content along with healthy debate of any relevant ethical considerations. Our first STEM League course, Genetics, was launched in January, 2020. IMSA has subsequently added three more STEM …

2020 Lgbtqa+ Read-In, Illinois Mathematics And Science Academy

Cultural Read-Ins

This event was co-sponsored by Peer Multicultural Educators (PME), SPECTRUM, the IRC, and the English team.

Special Guest: Yolanda Williams

4. Trauma Responsive School Implementation Assessment, Adrienne Coleman, Traci Ellis, Hannah Anderson, Katie Berger, Takeisha Rheams

Equity and Excellence Scorecard

The TRS-IA is an evidence-informed self-assessment that can be quickly and efficiently used to identify trauma responsive programming and policy domains of strengths, as well as areas with greater room for improvement.

2020 Hispanic Heritage Month Read-In, Illinois Mathematics And Science Academy

Cultural Read-Ins

This event was co-sponsored by Peer Multicultural Educators (PME), the IRC, and the English team.

Special Guest: Spoken Word Artist, Michael Reyes, sharing an original piece!!

Personal Reflections / 10.6.20, José M. Torres

Personal Reflections

Last week, I presented a webinar via Zoom for principals and school leaders in Puerto Rico, sponsored by the Puerto Rico Education Foundation, regarding leading schools in the era of COVID-19. Puerto Rico has 1,120 public schools serving 345,815 students. Earlier in the summer, on July 6, 2020, I presented via Zoom at a conference for teachers of PrepaTec, a private school system throughout Mexico. There were 1,300 teachers who participated via live stream. The pandemic has "flattened" the world even more. Before the coronavirus, if my schedule allowed, I would get on a plane to present at these …

Adaptations Of The Illinois Mathematics And Science Academy In Response To Covid-19, Sowmya Anjur, Dave Devol

Faculty Publications & Research

No abstract provided.

Pme Newsletter, Disha Dureja '22

Newsletter

Issue No. 1 | October 2020

04. Quarter, Illinois Mathematics And Science Academy

SocEnt

No abstract provided.