Brian Carico named Interim Principal at Ames High
The Ames Community School District is excited to announce Brian Carico as the Interim Principal at Ames High School. Mr. Carico is currently the Associate Principal at Ames High and will replace longtime Principal, Spence Evans, who announced earlier this semester that he accepted a position in eastern Iowa.
Read moreAmes High Student Judges Wearable Art Show at ISU
Sarah Oyervides, an Ames High Art student, was selected as 1 of 6 judges for the First Annual Wearable Design Show at Iowa State University. The inaugural Wearables Design Show featured 50 “Modular Mobile” designs by 200 students in the College of Design’s first-year Core Design Program. The designs were presented as a fashion show on a runway with lights, a DJ, and a live audience. Patience Lueth, a Co-Director of the event, selected Sarah for this amazing honor because of her creative ideas and beautiful artwork. Sarah judged the work on the April 9th with alongside 5 other professional designers. The showcase took place last night, April 10th.
Read more2019 State Science & Engineering Fair of Iowa (SSTFI)
On March 28, students from Ames High School and Ames Middle School participated in the 2019 State Science + Technology Fair of Iowa (SSTFI), held at Hilton Coliseum. Open to students across the state, the SSTFI is a way to showcase youth across Iowa and their science research skills. Student groups worked diligently all year on their research, posing an interesting, testable scientific question, design an experiment, analyze results, and creating a poster to present at the SSTFI. At the event, students set up their presentations and have an opportunity to tell their story and defend their research to professionals in the field.
Read moreSpeak Back: A Photography Collection from T’Ana Selah Smith
For senior T’Ana Selah Smith, photography is more than just a hobby, it is an avenue to use her art to produce a socially conscious commentary on what students experience. As an Advanced Photography student, Smith wanted to create a “message to the world” and produce something that could make an impact. “I wanted this project to be something that starts conversations with people. I particularly wanted to look at issues that are close to the heart, especially for minority students.” The result of her work is a photography collection that she has titled Speak Back. The collection represents painted messages on students that “speaks back to society about a generalization.” Messages in this collection include those on mental health, body shaming, how gender is assigned to eating disorders, racial stereotypes, and many others.
Read moreIndustrial Technology Projects
The Ames High industrial technology department offers a variety of classes that consistently produce outstanding projects. The department as a whole provides courses in Woodworking, Metals, Robotics, and CAD. Under the guidance of teachers Michael Scaramellino and Kent Jahn, students have access to a range of materials and equipment, with tool safety being a primary focus for both teachers. Many of the classes are guided through projects, but as students progress in proficiency, they have the ability to self-guide on projects they pick. With CAD software, a laser engraver, plasma cutter, and an arsenal of woodworking equipment, students are consistently churning out amazing projects from wood boxes, cutting boards, coasters, and a variety of amazing scrap metal projects.
Read moreAcademic Calendar Updates 2019-2020
Updates to the 2019-2020 school year calendar were approved by the Ames school board on Monday, February 25, 2019. A couple of the key updates include the start date and how professional development is organized at Ames Middle School and Ames High School. Start date - School will officially begin on Friday, August 23, 2019 for most grades across the District. This includes 1st - 5th grade, as well as 6th and 9th graders, and all other students at the middle and high school who are new to the District. This start date aligns with other Districts across the state and is the first day that school can officially start according to state law. This is a change from the originally scheduled Monday, August 26 start date.
Read moreVoice of the Ames High Little Cyclones: Carter White
Meet Carter White, the voice of the Ames High Little Cyclones. New to this winter basketball season, home basketball games were streamed live on YouTube with exciting commentary from Carter. Now a sophomore, his sports commentary aspirations date back to elementary school. As his younger siblings competed at athletic events, Carter would provide play-by-play commentary to himself as a way to stay entertained when he would attend their games. In 8th grade, he job shadowed radio stations in Des Moines and quickly made the decision that this type of career was one he wanted to pursue. “In 7th or 8th grade, I made the determination that I have a natural voice for and talent for this type of career,” said White. This was confirmed when he worked the drive thru at his part-time job at Wendy’s when customers would tell him he had a “good radio voice.”
Read moreUpdate on CTE Programming from Superintendent Risner
Dear Ames, I want to provide clarity on the decision to make programming changes at Ames High School next fall. Following an evaluation of our Career and Technical Education (CTE) programming, the addition of a financial literacy requirement, and an assessment of our immediate high school staffing needs, the decision was made to not offer Family and Consumer Science (FCS) classes next year. Starting in the 2019-2020 school year, the state requires each school district provide 4 out of 6 complete service areas within CTE. Those service areas must offer 4 years of course study in an area to prepare students for post-secondary careers and/or education.
Read moreAmes High to offer an Agricultural Pathway Next Year
Starting next year, in the 2019-2020 academic school year, we are pleased to announce that Ames High will begin to offer agricultural classes as a part of a pathway that students can pursue. The Department of Education requires that all schools offer at least 4 of 6 service areas in secondary schools. At Ames High next year, those service areas will include: Business, Finance, Marketing, and Management Information Solutions Applied Sciences, Technology, Engineering, and Manufacturing Agricultural, Food, and Natural Resources. When the new Ames High building opens in 2022, we anticipate expanding into another service area: health science, when we begin to offer courses toward a CNA program.
Read moreGoogle Expedition VR
The day when students can visit landmarks from across the world is here, thanks to virtual reality. The District started looking into Google Expedition VR kits as soon as Google released them a couple years ago. Last year, Technology Director Karl Hehr put together a small kit equipped with cardboard cutout headsets, as a “proof of concept” to gauge interest from teachers. Overwhelmingly, teachers were interested in the concept as it opened the world to their classrooms. Last semester, the District purchased a set of 30 Google Expedition VR units for classroom use. Ames Middle School teacher Dianna Sheldon, along with Instructional Technology Coach Sarah Davison, were the first to test the units when they took students to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. The field trip was a companion piece to the book they were reading in class.
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