Dear Parents,

We have some great news to share in the math and science world. First of
all, congratulations to Janet Stellema and Ryan Math and Science Focus
School for earning two recent grant awards. Janet just learned that we
received the Biological Sciences Initiative cash award entitled “Exploring
Our World”. This award will help us to promote hands on-minds on science
with our students. Janet also earned the Xcel Energy Foundations
Disseminator grant for her proposal, “All Fired Up”. Both of these cash
grants are fine examples of programs that enhance our school and show the
dedication of our staff.
 

We also want to announce a new partnership with the University of
Colorado’s Integrated Teaching and Learning Program, also know as the
ITL program. Professor Lawrence Carlson and Mindy Zarskie of the School
of Engineering met with us this week to set up the exciting new development
for Ryan. Students from the First Year Engineering Projects Program,
as part of their open ended design process, will be creating interactive
science, math and engineering learning exhibits to be housed in our school.
 

These exhibits will be created by 7 teams of student engineers in the
University of Colorado program. Students will visit our school, understand
needs, and work within an engineering problem solving model to create
their exhibits. Ryan students will then be able to interact with these designs
in the main hallway at the school throughout the school year. We are very
pleased to be working with the university in this area, as it fits so nicely
with the TEAMS program already in place in our intermediate classrooms.
2nd and 3rd graders will be experiencing Science is Everywhere on January
26th. Students in these grades will have a chance to visit 5-6 different
stations and participate in science activities. During the course of the year,
we have been and will continue to provide varied math and science programs
and enhancements for all grade levels.
 

As Janet Stellema is always saying, science and math do ROCK at Ryan
Math and Science Focus School.
 

Jim Armitage, Principal