Hatfield & McCoy Feud on the History Channel

As you have probably heard, The History Channel will be airing a special on the Hatfields & McCoys beginning on May 31.  The series stars Kevin Costner (Devil Anse Hatfiled), Bill Paxton (Randall McCoy) and many others.

While working in Mingo County over the past few weeks, I have spoken to several people who were interviewed for the series.  They report that the show portrays the events fairly accurately and does not show people from the region in an especially unflattering light.

As a resident of West Virginia, I would suggest that we watch the Hatfields & McCoys.  The previews look excellent.

An interesting article on the Hatfield-McCoy Feud can be found on the West Virginia Archives and History website.

Presentation to the Professional Development Schools Conference

On February 29, 2012, Kellie Wood and Danielle Bray presented our coal project to the statewide conference of Professional Development Schools at Flatwoods, WV conference center.
Their session generated a lot of interest and was well attended. This sort of thing is a great was to showcase the success of our project.
Thumbs up to Danielle & Kellie.

Congrats to Rick Sharpe!

Thumbs up to Rick Sharpe, his team teacher, Carla Snell and their HHS students. They were recently honored in Wasahington, DC at the White House Science Fair!

Rick & Carla's hands-on approach to science and their belief that students can achieve to their expectations make this a well deserved honor.

You can read the story in the Herald Dispatch.

Coal Project in The Parthenon

Our Cabell County Coal Project got some good press on the front page of the Marshall University newspaper, The Parthenon. The story was written by Hilary Freeman, the daughter-in-law of one coal teachers, Steven Freeman.

The article conveyed the purpose and implementation of the project well.

You can read the article HERE.

Reminder that applications for the 2012 Experiential
Learning project, Forestry and Rail Transport, are due to Karen no later than
5:00 pm on February 16, 2012.
We would love for everyone who completed the Coal Project in
2011 to apply for the 2012 project.
Please keep in mind that participation in the 2011 project is not an
automatic indication of acceptance for the 2012 project. Everyone will need to apply.
Applications will be reviewed by a committee and successful
applicants will be notified promptly.
If you did not receive the application from Karen, you can
download it here:
2012 Forestry and Rail Transport Project – Cabell County
Schools/June Harless Center-Marshall University

I will look forward to seeing your application soon.

http://db.tt/N6qZVNAB

Coal Garden

Kellie Wood reminded me that I had promised to post a recipe for a coal garden to our project blog.

I have done these crystal gardens many times and they work every time and the students love to watch it grow and change. This can stimulate so many lessons. Students can explore the chemistry behind the changes taking place on the coal as the crystals form. Another interesting discussion is the "growth" of the crystals. Students can be asked to defend whether the crystals are alive based on the growth.

Other than the coal, the ingredients are available at most grocery stores. If you are younger, you may have never used bluing in laundry. However, bluing is available in laundry areas of many grocery stores, especially older stores.

The easy instructions are HERE.


http://www.easy-homemade-recipes.com/crystal-garden.html

2012 Dates Announced

Applications for the 2012 collaborative project are available to you for preview HERE but will be released to all Cabell County science, math and social studies teachers on February 1.

Classes will be conducted at the Cabell County Central Office computer lab from 3:30 - 6:30 on the following Thursdays:

• March 1
• March 8
• March 15
• March 29

These Thursday classes will be structured much like the classes in 2011 and will include a mix of instruction in science and history, technology and guest speakers.

In addition to the Thursday classes, field work will take place on Saturday, April 21. This session will allow participants to conduct environmental evaluation, including water quality work similar to the 2011 project. A study of local trees will follow in the field.

The culminating field trip is set for July 15-21 and will include stops around the state of importance to the rail and forest products industries.

As with previous projects, applicants must agree to participate in all aspects of the project including the Thursday and Saturday classes, the July culminating experience, development of an educational blog and production of lesson plans that are implemented in the classroom.

While it is hoped that participants from the 2011 Coal Project will apply, please keep in mind that no one is assured a spot in the 2012 Forest and Rail Transport Project. All applicants will be selected on the basis of the application.

Application for the 2012 Project

Applications for the 2012 experiential learning collaborative between Cabell County Schools, Marshall University, the June Harless Center and the Rahall Transportation Institute are now available to participants in the 2011 Coal Project.
Applications are due in to Karen McClanahan no later than 5 pm on Thursday, February 16, 2012. This opportunity to apply will be extended to all Cabell County teachers on February 1, 2012 but the steering committee wanted to give our folks an opportunity to begin their applications before they are released to other educators. While we hope that the 2011 participants apply, please note that participation in previous projects does not assure a place in the 2012 project. You must still apply and be selected based on your application.
Please prepare your application and response to the required writing and send to Karen before the February 16 deadline. Please take time to prepare a quality essay since we expect that there will be a number of applications and the selection process may be quite competitive since we have a limited number of spaces in the project.
The information and application can be downloaded HERE.

Happy New Year!

As 2011 closed and we start 2012, it is time to start thinking about our Forest Products and Rail Transport project for 2012. This will be another interdisciplinary experiential learning project building on the success of the 2010 and 2011 projects.

It appears that the class will be Thursday evenings in March and April from 4-6:30 pm. We are working on a schedule similar to the 2011 project with time split between forestry and rail science and history, technology tools and guest speakers. Like the 2011 project, some outstanding speakers are being considered. The trip for the culminating project is scheduled for July 15-20, 2012 and will probably have a format similar to the previous two summers.

Although a great deal of planning has already gone into the 2012 project, like all good teachers, we always want to use “lessons learned” to build upon and improve what we do. That is where your feedback is so important. We have prepared a survey so you may provide feedback to assist in planning and to make the 2012 project even better than the previous interdisciplinary experiential learning project collaborating Cabell County Schools, the June Harless Center at Marshall University, Rahall Transportation Institute and industry partners.

The survey can be accessed from January 2 through January 20 (nearly three weeks) for your input. We are asking for names of respondents so we can determine who has responded. We will not be looking at the responses of individuals but consensus data on what has worked well and what needs improvement for 2012.

The link to the survey is HERE.

It is important that you respond to the survey by January 20.

As additional notes, you will be notified soon about the distribution of the now complete DVD of the 2011 project. This documentary format video provides an excellent view of our overall project especially focusing on the culminating summer experience. Also, Karen will be releasing applications for the 2012 project soon. As with previous projects, applications for the 2012 project will include an essay that includes planned classroom implementation strategies and plans.