• Showing Appreciation
• This week, May 4-10, is national Teacher Appreciation Week, with May 6 designated as Teacher Appreciation Day. PTA established Teacher Appreciation Week in 1984 to honor the dedicated men and women in the teaching profession. Additional information, including activity ideas, is available at www.pta.org.
• In addition, May 7 is designated as National School Nurse Day, in conjunction with National Nurse Week May 4-10. Jordan District has 11 regular education nurses, three special education nurses and several nurses based at Jordan Valley School. For more information about Jordan District nurses, visit the Nursing Services Web site at www.jordandistrict.org/depts/nurses.htm.

• Pay Reminders
• All employees should make sure the correct address is on April earning statements since many summer deposit statements will be mailed. If you need to make an address change or correction, please submit it to the Payroll Department on a change of address form. The form may be obtained from the Payroll Department, your school office or at www.jordandistrict.org/depts/payroll.
• Any changes for summer pay such as tax shelter or credit union deductions, adjustments to W-4’s, or bank accounts must be in place for the June pay period (due June 10). Employees with contracts beginning in August or September should not close accounts or change financial institutions during July or August as the deposits for those months are processed in June.
• Employees at traditional schools who plan to resign or take a leave of absence at the end of the 2007-08 contract year may elect to receive their summer pay early. To have pay for July and August added to your June check (this can result in additional taxes), submit a letter of resignation or leave request to the Human Resources Department and a written request for early summer pay to the Payroll Department prior to June 10. The early pay does not apply to year-round employees since their work will not be completed by payday, June 25. Year-round teachers will receive their final paycheck on July 25. Those retiring at the end of the contract year will receive their final paychecks in June in order to send all money to the Utah Retirement System.

Teachers Accepted to National Program
      The Center for Civic Education has accepted four Jordan Ridge Elementary teachers to participate in a week-long “We the People: The Citizen and the Constitution Institute” seminar. Linda Sabey, Jeri Bowman, Laraine Chipman, and Tina Rothe will spend a week at James Madison University in Harrisonburg, Va., this July. The program instructs teachers on the history and principles of American constitutional democracy for elementary students.

Teacher Feature
      Ric Thompson, on-site construction teacher at Jordan Applied Technology Center, Sandy Campus, was recently recognized with a KSL Teacher Feature award. Additional information about Thompson’s nomination is available at www.ksl.com/?nid=428&sid=3007137.

Largest Food Contribution
     Fort Herriman Middle was recently honored by the Utah Food Bank with a service and charity award. The school was the single largest food contributor to this season’s holiday food drive program, donating six tons. The school also collected more than $14,000 during the same two-week period to provide Christmas for the families of active military men and women who live in the Herriman/Riverton communities.

Students Win National Stock Market Game™
      Three Riverton High juniors, under the direction personal finance teacher Gayle Whitefield, were recently name the 2008 national champions of the Capitol Hill Challenge Stock Market Game. The challenge helps students develop math, economic and research skills. Teams of three to five students each invest a hypothetical $100,000 portfolio in real-world securities transactions. At the end of the 10-week program the team with the greatest return on their investment portfolio wins an all-expense paid trip to Washington, D.C., to meet with their elected members of Congress, tour the nation’s capital and to see first-hand how national economic policies are developed.

Drive Assists Slain Girl’s Family
      Students at Foothills Elementary raised more than $1,000 to assist the family of a girl recently murdered in Salt Lake City. The fundraising drive began with friends text-messaging one another to wear pink, the girl’s favorite color. Deciding they could do more, students hung banners and made schoolwide announcements encouraging fellow students to donate.

• Celebrating Reading
• On May 1 Copper Canyon Elementary hosted a schoolwide literacy night for parents and students. The evening included a book exchange to help students share their love of reading. On May 2 the school sponsored Road-to-Success assemblies featuring Blaze, mascot of the Arena Football Utah Blaze. The assemblies celebrated student increases in home reading for the year.
• Draper Elementary held its fourth-annual Super Literacy Day on April 25 with a “Tell Me a Story” celebration. Students participated in workshops with authors James Dashner and Anne Bowen. After school, about 900 parents and students enjoyed keynote speeches from the authors then participated in break-out sessions. Literacy facilitator Debbie Snow and a committee of teachers and parents organized the event.
• Silver Mesa Elementary students celebrated meeting their goal of nearly 1.5 million minutes read in the Reading for Success program with a schoolwide assembly. The Utah Blaze mascot showed off bikes to be given away and helped with prize drawings for Blaze autographed footballs, $50 Scholarships, gift certificates and chances to spray the Principal Joy Sanford with Silly String.
  

Skate Night
      On April 26, South Jordan Elementary hosted a family skate night on the school’s playground. The evening included music, games and prizes. Dinner and snacks were available for sale.

Sixth-Grade Thespians
      The Willow Canyon Elementary sixth-grade Thespians recently performed Shakespeare’s MacBeth. The performance included a green show complete with a choir, mimes and puppets. All 67 sixth-grade students were involved in a performance to an audience of more than 250.

ESL Endorsement Applications
      Applications for the 2008-09 ESL Endorsement Program are now available. The endorsement program is open to K-12 contracted, licensed Jordan District personnel (excluding substitute teachers or paraprofessionals). A three-page application package (including a memo and an application) is available from school principals or from the Alternative Language Services Web site at http://web.jordan.k12.ut.us/als/endorsement_current.html. Space is limited. Applications will be accepted through May 30. Please e-mail any questions to Deborah Brey, deborah.brey@jordan.k12.ut.us.

Retirement Open Houses
      Steve Bickmore, English and Latin teacher at Riverton High, is retiring after 26 years in Jordan District. An open house will be held in his honor May 22, 2:30 to 5 p.m., in the school’s Tech Atrium.
      Mike White, science and wildlife teacher at Riverton High, is retiring after 27 years in Jordan District. An open house will be held in his honor May 22, 2:30 to 5 p.m., in the school’s Tech Atrium.

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Employment Opportunities
      See current job openings posted by the Human Resources Department at www.jordandistrict.org/hr.

ARCHIVED NEWS

To submit an item for Current, send an e-mail to Michael Kelley at michael.kelley@jordan.k12.ut.us or contact him at (801) 567-8337.