Two recent outstanding school achievements in Hancock County are worth revisiting today, because they highlight the hard work and ingenuity that goes into educating our children. They also illuminate an important truth about schools.
First, six county schools were named Four Star Schools by the state Department of Education. The prestigious designation is a little like a GPA in that it takes measure of a variety of factors that establish excellence.
The county’s Four Star Schools are Maxwell Intermediate School, Weston Elementary School and Eden Elementary School in the Greenfield-Central district; Mt. Vernon High School and McCordsville Elementary School in the Mt. Vernon district; and Eastern Hancock High School.
As the Daily Reporter’s Ben Middelkamp reported, one thread runs through these schools’ success: Families are partners with their children’s teachers and principals, making learning a truly team effort. “It doesn’t stop at the school door,” said Melia Hammons, the principal at Eden.
A lot of pressure is on schools nowadays to up their games. Demands in the classroom have never been greater. As these schools show, families who are invested in their children’s success are key to the mission.
The second major achievement of note was the efforts of 15 teams of county students in the recent Vex Robotics state championships at Lucas Oil Stadium. Ten teams performed so well they advanced to the Vex World Championships next month in Louisville, Ky.
The Vex program hones problem-solving and team-building skills through construction of motorized robots, which then compete in room-size arenas to pick up and manipulate objects. It’s a lot harder than it looks: Students must engineer their machines not only to obey commands, but to be durable enough to be driven around the “pit” while lifting and grasping the objects.
The program has an engineering vibe, and some of the students no doubt will go on to study engineering. But it’s also a great way to figure out how things work and why. That, of course, will be an important life skill.
Like the school achievements, the Vex kids and their faculty sponsors couldn’t do it without the support of their families. The encouragement to think outside the box and to remain encouraged even when the wheels fall off — sometimes literally — are powerful lessons for young robot-builders who will always remember these experiences.
It’s just what they — and the schools — need.
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