School Name:	Breckinridge County School System: Custer Elementary School	School Calendar
State:	Kentucky (KY)
School URL:	http://breck.k12.ky.us
NES Year Joined:	2005 (NES 3-year funding period has expired.)
Description:	Breckinridge county is the 4th largest county in area in the state of Kentucky. We are located in the northwestern part of the state along the Ohio River. Our consortium is made up of 4 elementary schools, a middle school, and a high school. We are pleased that we have such strong administrative support from our superintendent, Evelyn Neely. She came to our district from another county in Kentucky in which she was instrumental in the application process. We have just completed our first year as an NES school. The Breckinridge Co. Schools NES program is centered on 5 main objectives: Objective 1 – Increase student interest and participation in STEM-G. Objective 2 – Increase student knowledge about careers in STEM-G. Objective 3 – Increase student ability to apply STEM-G concepts. Objective 4 – Increase the active participation and professional growth of educators in STEM-G. Objective 5 – Increase family and community involvement in student learning. The following activities have been accomplished in support of objectives 1-3: • DLN activities: o Custer Elem held three DLN events with NASA this year with P2, P3 and 4th grades. o Irvington Elem 4th grade participated in two DLN events with NASA and participated in the emission Moon, Mars and Beyond with the Challenger Center in Paducah. o Ben Johnson Elem held three NASA sponsored DLN events with 5th grade. o Hardinsburg Elem P2 and P3 classes participated in total of seven emissions Moon, Mars, and Beyond with Paducah Challenger Center. HES 4th grades participated in four DLN events with NASA, and two with P2 and P3. o BCMS 7th grade classes participated in the emission Operation Montserrat through the Challenger Center in Paducah. Seventh grade DLN events with NASA -- o BCHS participated in one NASA sponsored DLN event. o Ben Johnson and Custer Elem utilized DLN technology to participate jointly in cultural/geography presentation on Germany. • Other activities implemented to generate student interest and participation in STEM-G: o First day of school kick-off with visit by Rudo Kashiri, AESp, from NASA Langley – School visits and presentations at Custer Elem, Hardinsburg Elem, and BCMS; Videoconference to IES. o Astronaut Roy Bridges visit – Planned for BJES NASA Family Night (cancelled) Presentation at BCHS to all high school students and some middle school students; Videoconference to Irvington Elem for 4th and 5th grades from CES, BJES, IES, and HES. o BCMS 7th grade field trips to Challenger Learning Center in Radcliff to participate in simulation Mission to Mars. o Participation in NASA Lunar Samples (moon rocks) program. Lunar samples were delivered to BCMS, viewed there by students in conjunction with classroom activities and by the community during NASA Family Night. Lunar samples were then presented in 13 other classrooms at IES, CES, and BJES by Betty Burke. o Custer Elem, Irvington Elem, Hardinsburg Elem, and BCMS participated in the Student Signatures in Space program held in conjunction with Space Day, celebrated on May 4. o Many classrooms throughout the district participated in NASA’s webcast of the recent solar eclipse in Turkey. o 2006 NES Student Symposium in Washington, D.C. Missy Critchelow and David Roach accompanied two BCMS students to the symposium where the students presented a science investigation to an audience of other NES students and teachers across the nation. Professional development opportunities sponsored by the NES program and provided in support of Objective 4: • “Inquiry Based Instruction” presented by Rudo Kashiri, AESp, NASA Langley • Emission training provided via DLN by Challenger Learning Center in Paducah for all teacher emission participants • National Science Teachers Association (NSTA) Convention – Regional conventions in Chicago and Nashville. Breck. Co. staff attending were Betty Burke, Donna Shartzer, David Roach, Shelli Engler, Missy Critchelow, Melody Mingus, • “Picture Perfect Science – Integrating Literature into Science” Two day professional development opportunity provided by will be offered on July • Inquiry based instruction modeled by Betty Burke for teachers at Hardinsburg Elem, Custer Elem, and Ben Johnson Elem. • Opportunities for other NASA and NSTA sponsored/funded professional development have been and will continue to be communicated to Breck. Co. staff regularly as they are announced by NSTA through weekly emails. Events provided in support of Objective 5: • NASA Family Night at BCMS, October 25, 2005. Audience participated in a DLN event with NASA and lunar samples were on display for community viewing. • NASA Family Night at HES, January 23, 2006. Audience participated in a DLN event with NASA, and activities of the night centered around robotics technology. • NASA Family Night at CES, May 11, 2006. In partnership with U.S. Post Office in Custer, CES students will present “What NASA Means to Me.” Telescopes set up for moon viewing.
Executive Summary:	EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Breckinridge County School District is home to four elementary schools, one middle school and one high school. We are in a rural setting with fifty-eight percent of our students from low-income families. Seventeen percent of our students have special needs. Our top quartile of students are significantly below state and national average and are clearly not being challenged to meet their potential. We also have few opportunities for students to participate in culturally significant events, experience diversity and connect to the outside world. The NES program is a wonderful opportunity to meet our students’ needs in these areas. The goals for our school district exemplify NES objectives. Our 3-year implementation plan is a coordinated effort between our school teams, community, and NES. Implementation of our program goals will begin in year one, with reflection, revision and expansion of the goals in the subsequent 2 years. Many challenging opportunities will be used to foster student interest and increase participation in STEM-G areas including the use of Distance Learning Network technology, the use of NASA curriculum materials, the professional development of staff, the implementation of family/community nights, increased teacher collaboration, increased use of technology, and the incorporation of inquiry based activities and field trips. Our long-term goal is to build a district program that will be sustained long after our three-year partnership with NES has “officially” ended. This innovative educational program will open a world of unlimited possibilities for all of our students. The NES partnership is the foundation upon which we will build our vision.

Activities for year: 2006 2007 2008 All Years

Sort by: sort by month sort by title sort by performance objective

Read About Planned and Completed Activities
Name	Short Description	Reflection	Evidence

August 2006
Scale the Solar Stystem	Students create a model of Earth out of a balloon. They then take data from NASA and calculate their scale model of the moon...

September 2006
AESP Classroom visits	Michael Woods, AESP from Langley, will be visiting. On Tuesday, the 26th, he will present lessons to students in grades 2-5 ...
DLN - America's Spaceport	This was a culminating activity for our unit on Transportation to extend their learning and to build interest in pursuing fut...
Flying High	Students will make paper airplanes to fly to collect distance and time data so they could practice figuring speed and graphin...
Mini Session with AESP	Michael Woods, AESP from Langley, will share all of the NASA resources that are available to teachers in the Breckinridge Cou...
Our Planet Earth DLN	Students will demonstrate an understanding of the importance of monitoring and protecting earth's system, including how energ...

October 2006
Human Activity Affecting Water Quality in Breckinridge County	We used models and other hands-on activities to investigate what we are doing in Breckinridge County that affects our surface...
NASA / Robotics Club	The NASA Club 5th - 8th grade students began construction of the Lego Mindstorm NXT robots, and the K-4 students brainstormed...
Shoebox Glider Challenge	Students will be issued a challenge by the presenter to create a glider from a shoebox.

November 2006
Climate Inquiry	[begin link http://www.globe.gov/fsl/html/templ.cgi?earth_system&lang=en&nav=1]Globe Climate Systems Poster [end link] By ...
DLN - America's Spaceport	This was a culminating activity for our unit on Transportation to extend their learning and to build interest in pursuing fut...
Name the Node Challenge	Name the Node 2 Challenge integrates many content areas so students can make real-life connections to the space program. It ...
NSTA Regional Conference	NSTA Regional Conference in Baltimore Maryland

January 2007
Challenger Center Return to the Moon	All 7th grade students will complete the mission: Return to the Moon also participate in the StarLab activities to find const...
Earth according to WORF DLN	Fourth grade students will investigate Earth's geographic features.
Return to the Moon	Seventh grade students will participate in a mission at the Challenger Learning center in Radcliff Kentucky. Students will ...
winter's story	For this actiivity each child will be asked to take home the HOBO and we will gather data from a specific place in the home, ...

February 2007
Aviation history DLN	Fifth grade female students will gain knowledge of the contributions of women in aviation history.
E-mission: Moon, Mars & beyond	Fourth grade students at IES will participate in a simulated rescue mission to locate & reach stranded astronauts in space.
winter's story	For this actiivity each child will be asked to take home the HOBO and we will gather data from a specific place in the home, ...

March 2007
Field Trip to Challenger Center	Students will prepare for and particpate in the mission "Rendezvous with a Comet". They will be assigned specific jobs to co...
ITEA Convention	The 69th annual ITEA convention was held in San Antonio, TX. The conference theme, "Technological Literacy: A Global Challe...
Our Magnificient Sun	Primary grade students have many misconceptions about the Sun. For example, many younger children believe the Sun is solid, ...

April 2007
Earth According to WORF	Students will view via DLN/NASA satellite imagery human settlement patterns and how technology is able to track and analyze t...

May 2007
4th grade Science Fairs; Learning Fair	CES sponsors a science fair. Students present projects individually chosen and carried out to show ability to observe and wo...

July 2007
Actively Engaging Learners Using the 5 "E" Model	"Actively Engaging Learners with the 5 "E" Model" is a six hour session of professional development to introduce the 5 E Mode...
NES Sustainability Conference	NES Sustainability conference provided valuable insights on how to write grants, research/locate partnerships and possible fu...

August 2007
Inquiry Professional Development at CES	Teachers participate in a workshop on how to use the 5E model to implement inquiry based instruction. They will learn about t...
Reduced Gravity	Students generated questions and hypothesises about how microgravity affects the duration of sound pitch. After researching, ...

October 2007
NASA Family Night	NASA Family "Nightmare" Irvington Elementary is hosting a family-oriented star and moon viewing night. Students & families ...
NSTA regional conference at Detroit	Michael Broadbent, 5th grade gifted teacher at CES will attend NES conference in Detroit October 18-21, 2007
Student Inquiry Day at CES	Every teacher at Custer Elementary utilizes the 5E model for inquiry instruction to implement an inquiry activity which invo...

November 2007
Inquiry Day # 2 at Custer Elementary	Teachers use the 5E model to design and implement an inquiry lesson into their classrooms on this day. Each teacher takes cur...
National Middle School Associaton 34th Conference & Exhibit	This conference held many open sessions presenting on all subject areas, motivation of students, classroom management techniq...
Tiffany Wilson attends NSTA Symposium in Colorado	NSTA Conference in Colorado.

December 2007
AESP visits Custer Elementary	AESP Dynae Fullwood at CES for 3rd Schoolwide Inquriy Day. Students engage in inquiry activities while teachers learn strateg...
NASA Education Specialist to Visit Hardinsburg Elementary	Dynae Fullwood models inquiry-based learning for teachers and provides a hands-on activity to students about earth and its re...
NSTA & US Dept of Engineers Mobile Van	A great resource to demonstrate physic concepts to students using a modern technologies, Van deGraf generator, static electri...

January 2008
Our Magnificient Sun	How important is the sun? Primary students in grades 2/3 conclude their study about energy and why the sun is important to ou...
Winter's Story Teacher Workshop	CES 4th grade teacher, Jackie Hinton, participates in "Winter's Story", a teacher workshop at Yellowstone Ntl Park, Jan. 15-1...

March 2008
Lunar Growth Chamber Challenge	4th grade GT class at CES will participate in the Lunar Growth Chamber Challenge
NASA Family Night at Hardinsburg Elementary	NASA Family Night with a geography focus is planned for 3-13-08. Activities planned: DLN, Internet Scavenger Hunt, Oregon Tra...
Persuasive letter writing	Fifth grade students will compose a persuasive letter to Rudo Kashiri. In the letters, students will show why they would be ...

April 2008
New High School Curriculum	Students used Voyages Through Time curriculum to increase engagement in space science.

May 2008
CES Learning Fair	4th and 5th grade students participate in inquiry learning fair. Students researched topic of choice in area of science and ...