Board Briefs is published by the Richland School District Communications Office, 967-6008. www.rsd.edu

News Update Richland School District May 18, 2017 Moody's Investors Service (MIS) has assigned the Aa2 rating to the Richland School District’s General Obligation Bonds expected to be issued in the amount of $62 million. These bonds from the February 2017 bond election also received the Aa1 enhanced rating of the Washington State School Bond Guarantee Program. According to MIS, the Aa2 underlying rating reflects the District's sizeable and expanding tax base, strong demographics profile, and sound financial position. It was hands on learning for some Richland High School science students on Monday. The Ecology & Biodiversity class traveled to the Hanford Reach National Monument North site to learn more about how the basalt lava flows and last ice age floods impacted the current biodiversity of the local shrub steppe. “This course offers students the opportunity to study the forces that have shaped the earth,” explains teacher Audra Richter. Among the learning activities at the Hanford Reach, students analyzed quadrat vegetation between the river and the trail to determine wildflower species population coverage (more details and photo gallery).

KNDU-TV filed this story about the shrub steppe field trip.

Excellent progress is being on the addition of 12 classrooms at both Hanford and Richland High Schools. Each of the modular buildings is 16,500 square feet in size.

The RHS modular addition is located just west of the 2000 Building.

The HHS modular is located just east of the library. If you want information on RSD test scores, demographics, graduation rates, etc., you can access that data at this report card link. Another creative way to get kids reading took place at Wiley Elementary School where teacher Diana Anderson and librarian Rhonda Deniston created the Tournament of Books. Based on March Madness, there was a bracket of 16 books. Each week, third thru fifth grade students read the bracketed books and voted on which books were moving on to the next round. “The kids really got into reading and were excited to find out

Board Briefs is published by the Richland School District Communications Office, 967-6008. www.rsd.edu

each time which book made it to the next level,” explained Anderson.

Wings of Fire won Wiley’s Tournament of Books. Lewis & Clark fifth grade students performed original music compositions last week at a lunch with special guests Superintendent Rick Schulte and Richland School Board members Brett Amidan and Heather Cleary. The fifth graders have been learning how to write music under the tutelage of Lewis & Clark music teacher Carri Rose. The students composed short pieces for violin, bass, ukulele, and xylophone (photo gallery).

Carmichael Middle School teacher Maribeth Smith is celebrating her 45th year of teaching at Carmichael. Maribeth is shown here with her sixth hour Hi-Cap History class holding the John Clement print she received from the District in recognition of this milestone. But there’s more to the story. This print helps replace a similar print that Maribeth lost when her apartment building caught on fire a number of years ago.

The National PTA has announced that Noelle Kolbinger, second grade student at Jason Lee Elementary School, earned an Award of Excellence in the Primary Literature division at the National PTA Reflections Contest. Noelle’s winning poem is titled “This Is Me” (read her poem here). Noelle’s poem will be displayed at three locations: the U.S. Department of Education, a traveling Reflections art exhibit, the National PTA online gallery.

Thanks to the Girls on the Run club at White Bluffs Elementary for taking on the school pantry as a service project. The girls collected food and then made up take home bags for families.

Board Briefs is published by the Richland School District Communications Office, 967-6008. www.rsd.edu

A Richland High School team earned the CEO of the Year award at the Junior Achievement regional High-Tech Business Challenge at Tri-Tech Skills Center (details here). CJ O’Connor delivered the winning presentation supported by teammates Makenna Lakey, Emma Hibbs, and Tatum Gauf.

RHS Junior Achievement team RSD community members are invited to review proposed instructional materials for high school AP English, Speech, and Science Fiction. Materials are available May 22 through May 26, 8:00 am to 3:00 pm, or by appointment, at the TLC building located at 415 C Wright Avenue. For more info, call Briana Hickman at 967-6080