Rockford Public Schools will offer a second round of testing for admission into its secondary gifted program May 17 at Auburn High School.
The testing is open to students who currently are enrolled in 5th through 10th grades for seats in 6th through 11th grades in the 2008-2009 school year. Students in private and parochial schools who reside in the Rockford School District also may take the aptitude test. No additional testing is being offered for the elementary gifted program or students entering 12th grade.
Students must present a completed "consent for testing" form at registration at 8 a.m. in the auditorium at Auburn’s main campus, 5110 Auburn Street. Testing starts at 8:30 a.m. and lasts for 2.5 hours. Consent forms are available in the offices at each elementary, middle and high school as well as the Administration Building, 201 South Madison Street or at this this link. The test is offered at no charge.
Openings are available at the secondary level with the consolidation of the elementary and middle school gifted programs at Washington Academy on West Street. At the high school level, the gifted program resides at Auburn.
For more information, contact Yolanda Simmons at 815-966-3182.
Bang-up Job
Auburn, Jefferson students qualify for national rocket fly-off 
Nine students from Auburn and Jefferson high schools have qualified to compete in the finals of the prestigious Team America Rocketry Challenge, the world’s largest model rocket contest.
The students, competing on two teams called the “RockTown Rockets,” placed among the top 100 scoring teams, which now advance to the national fly-off May 17 in The Plaines, Virginia. More than 6,000 students on 643 teams entered the challenge.
Students vying for a top-10 split of $60,000 and first-place trip to the Farnborough Air Show near London in July of 2008 are: Auburn seniors Robert Kaufman and Andrew Sundeen, junior Ian Douglass and sophomore Connor Gorman; Jefferson seniors Ryan Morand, Sam Villarreal and Michaela Frossard, sophomore Jon Dunaway and freshman Zach Popp.
“The rockets the students build are very complex,” said Auburn physics teacher Dallas Turner, the coach for both teams. “These are not your everyday kits that kids put together as a hobby.”
Contest rules call for students to design and build a model rocket that can fly as close as possible to 45 seconds in duration and 750 feet in altitude with a payload of two raw eggs that must parachute back to the ground unbroken.
Mr. Turner has guided Jefferson students to the national finals three times previously; this is the first trip for Auburn. Woodward Governor Company has sponsored teams coached by Mr. Turner for six years. For more information, contact Mr. Turner at 815-966-3300.
Those Who Excel Honor Teachers, Administrators, Volunteers, Support StaffRockford Public Schools Superintendent Linda Hernandez and Rockford Education Association President Molly Phalen presented the 2008 THOSE WHO awards during a banquet Thursday, April 24, at the Tebala Shrine Temple.
Recipients in five categories – teacher, administrator/principal, certified student support personnel, noncertified educational service personnel and school board member/community volunteer -- go on to state-level competition, including the Illinois Teacher of the Year distinction. THOSE WHO EXCEL awards are highly regarded in the education community because selections are determined by industry peers.
Patty L. Crow, a preschool and kindergarten teachers at Maria Montessori School won the Sara Ingrassia Classroom Teacher of the Year award. Carolyn Kloss, an assistant principal at Rockford Environmental Science Academy, claimed the prize in the administrator category.
Brigitte Coupar, a counselor at East High School, prevailed among certified student support nominees, while Tim Henderson, a paraprofessional at Eisenhower Middle School, was the recipient among noncertified student support nominees.
Brigette Hoppe was recognized in the community volunteer/school board category for her work at Rolling Green Elementary School, and the team honor went to Monica Krysztopa and Mary Makulec of the M&M Factor at King Elementary School. Also, follow this link to read about our Golden Apple Winners. | 
