•The Community Outreach Committee of the Providence Performing Arts Center has announced the winners of the arts scholarship. Twenty-five students ages 11 to 14 will each receive a scholarship of up to $500 to attend summer arts programs. The awards will be presented during a reception at PPAC on Monday, April 28.

Recipients from the Providence schools are Jermaine Alexander, Esek Hopkins Middle School; Brianna Brooks, Times{+2} Academy; Alexander Garcia, Springfield Middle School; Fatima Faris and Hannah Leheny, Nathanael Greene Middle School; and David Jorge, Veazie Street Elementary School.

•Johnson & Wales University’s Institute for Parent Leaders is recognizing 20 parent leaders from Providence at the Alfred Lima Elementary School today as they complete a five-session program on leadership development funded by the Rhode Island Foundation. Tonight’s final session will focus on dealing with difficult people and learning strategies to establish common ground. Parents will receive certificates. The seminars were designed and conducted by 15 JWU faculty and staff to help develop parents and family members for their leadership roles as advocates for education, supporters, decision-makers and first teachers of their children.

Elementary schools

•Veazie Street Elementary School recently held its fifth annual community fair, connecting families and students with numerous organizations and resources. Healthy snacks were offered, courtesy of Johnson & Wales University’s Feinstein Community Service Program. Other participants included Chad Brown Health Center, Neighborhood Health, Childhood Lead Action and the Boy Scouts.

•Bailey Elementary School recently hosted a report night. Students, parents and guests learned about the tools the school uses for assessment and testing. Strategies for reinforcing learning at home were shared.

The school’s behavior support program held a read-a-thon March 24 through April 4. As part of Reading Week, Bailey celebrated by challenging students to read and raise money to benefit the school’s programs, including Bailey Buddies, student of the week, quarterly awards ceremonies and the Bailey school store.

•Kizirian Elementary School is participating in the Feinstein $1 million giveaway. The school is requesting donations to fight hunger in the community, and the Feinstein Foundation will match all donations. Donations can be in the form of cash, checks, food or pledges. The program complements the ongoing drive for donations of nonperishable food and slightly used clothing collected in the school’s new parent center. Dr. Janice Kizirian, daughter of the school’s namesake, the late Harry Kizirian, visited the school during reading week and generously donated to the giveaway.

The school recently held its annual science fair. Guest judges Larry Kahn of the East Bay Collaborative and Kate Douton of Save the Bay donated their time. Winners were:

First place — Tatiana Marrero, “Salt on Boiling Water,” Room 206, Grade 6, teacher Deborah Hamel.

Second place — Viengsavan Sayasene, “Which Seeds Germinate,” Room 206, Grade 6, teacher Deborah Hamel.

Third place (tie) — Angel Cueto, Kelia Diaz and Deborah Velasquez, “Mold on Bread,” Room 203, Grade 5 ESL, teacher Nazarre Rebello.

Third place (tie) — Joshua Akindolie, Jonathan Cardona and Khouron Rainey, “Unending Heat Wave (global warming)”, Room 204, Grade 5, teacher Stacey Crofton.

First- and second-place winners received mp3 players and science books. The third place winners received gift certificates. All students received medals and certificates of participation.

•Students at Mary Fogarty Elementary School were challenged by their teachers and principal Steve Olsen to read five books each — more than 2,000 books schoolwide — in the two months leading up to reading week. Olsen agreed that if the schoolwide mark were met, he’d rent a dunk tank and subject himself to embarrassment of the soggiest kind. The students rose to the challenge and Olsen kept his word. Children who had read five books earned one chance at dunking him, and the top reader in each class got three. Teachers joined in the game, purchasing chances with proceeds benefiting the school’s fund.

Middle schools

•Nathanael Greene Middle School teachers Scott Macbeth and Brian Cerrullo recently accompanied their seventh grade social studies classes to the Pequot Museum in Mashantucket, Conn. The students had extensively studied Native American culture. The museum’s guided tour allowed the students an opportunity to view a replica Pequot village and simulate life at that time. Part of the tour included a lesson in which the students reenacted bartering among the Indians, Dutch and English for goods by nonverbal communication only. The students also watched the film Clash of the Cultures, which was followed by a discussion led by museum educators.

Enneson Louis’s seventh grade math classes at Greene recently welcomed Michael Savella from the Rhode Island Department of Transportation. Savella talked to the students about the use of math in building bridges. He demonstrated the use of slopes, averages and other calculations needed to make bridges safe. Savella demonstrated concepts with a scale model bridges made of toothpicks and Popsicle sticks. Each student was asked to stand on the Popsicle stick bridge. Its ability to bear the weight of a person led to a discussion about the types of trusses used to support bridges.

Nathanael Greene’s performing arts group will present Phantom of the Opera to other Providence schools on June 3 and 4 and will perform for the community on June 6 at 7 p.m. Tickets are $5 general admission and $8 reserved. For information, call Jake Kenner at (401) 456-9347.

Rudene Wilkins’ eighth grade math classes recently hosted a guest speaker, Tim Pimental, who works in data and research at the Rhode Island Airport Corporation. Pimental spoke about the use of math in his profession. He discussed the use of word problems connected to the fueling of airplanes; formulas needed to determine the weight of luggage and overweight luggage that costs additional money; and percentages, formulas, averages and geometry used to determine the amount of paint needed for a project. Pimental emphasized the importance of accurate calculations in managing budgets and efficiently using resources. He also talked about careers.

Kelly Farrell’s sixth grade science classes have been studying the moon and recently welcomed Leah Roach, a graduate student in geological sciences at Brown University, who presented a workshop on the lunar landing site. Students were asked to find a site using the data available and present and explain their findings. The activity was a followup on mapping the moon.

•Ana Santana, an eighth grade student at Springfield Middle School, was a semi-finalist in the national Letters about Literature contest. Her letter was chosen for its “structure and response depth.”

•Perry Middle School kicked off its Perry-to-College program, sponsored by Amica Insurance and the host colleges, with a tour of the University of Rhode Island. More than 85 students, members of the college Class of 2018 (sixth graders), college Class of 2017 (seventh graders) and college Class of 2016 (eighth graders) completed a college application. Each student responded to an essay prompt based on the application that high school seniors complete for their college applications.

Based on their responses, academic success and recommendations from teachers, students were “admitted” to one, two, three or four college tours. Student essays addressed myriad topics, ranging from facing the challenges of losing a parent at a young age to cultivating a love for music, from moving to this country as a child to addressing the pros and cons of abortion.

Thirty-five students participated in the URI information session and tour, dined with college students and received a T-shirt. Students noted that they were impressed with the more than 80 majors offered at URI and surprised at the tight living quarters in the freshman dorms. The students will also visit Bryant University, Brown University and Providence College.

•Simone Tassone and George Malian’s special education students at Bridgham Middle School have partnered with Bannister Nursing Center. Students and residents met recently for a morning of activities, including crafts and bingo, followed by lunch. After lunch, Bridgham students gave the residents a tour of the school and classrooms. Residents said they enjoyed seeing what a middle school looks like compared to to when they went to school. This was the second of four meetings, including a mock Olympics with the residents of Bannister. The partnership was funded by Alan Shawn Feinstein.

•Tomorrow, 26 eighth graders from Roger Williams Middle School will spend the day at Johnson & Wales University, participating in the College of Business’s career education shadow day. This is the fifth year of a partnership between the school and JWU, which includes introducing the students to college life and to career opportunities in business. The students will meet in small groups with professors, tour the campus and join the principal of their school, Rudolph Moseley Jr., and the president of the Providence campus, Irving Schneider, for lunch at JWU’s Multicultural Center.

Teacher Maria Perkins and her second period social studies class recently welcomed Prof. Dan Driscoll of Johnson & Wales University’s College of Business. This was the third visit in the visiting professor series, a pilot collaboration between the middle school and the university.

After providing a brief description of the criminal justice system, Driscoll described the criminal justice degree program at the College of Business. Students participated in an activity in which they took the role of corporate board members discussing the advantages and disadvantages of hiring released prisoners who had been trained. They discussed collaborating with the prison administration to ensure that skills training was available and how to motivate prison inmates to enroll. The visit was coordinated by Cynthia D. Davis, school-based coordinator for career and technical education.

•Nathanael Greene and Roger Williams recently shared a day with author Kevin Gerard from San Diego. His series Conor and the Crossworlds is a fantasy geared toward middle school-agereaders. He spoke about his inspiration for the books, character development and the writing process.

High schools

•Nearly 140 foreign students visited nine high school in Providence on March 28 as part of a two-day Fulbright enrichment seminar to learn about life and education in the United States. In visits at each school, the Fulbright scholars, who are graduate students from more than 70 countries, described their own countries’ culture and politics to the high school students, then asked for the Providence students’ views on the local and national political climate. Some scholars emphasized how U.S. economics, politics and policy have an impact in other areas of the world. The students attended a lunch at the Providence Biltmore, where Providence School Board President Mary McClure spoke about challenges and reform in Providence schools.

•Hope High School has been named School of the Year by the Rhode Island Interscholastic Athletic Administrators Association. The school will be honored at the association’s annual banquet today at Rhodes on the Pawtuxet, 60 Rhodes Place, Cranston. Thomas Span, longtime Hope High School track coach, will be honored at the dinner. The reception starts at 6 p.m. with dinner at 7. Tickets are $35. For information, call Assistant Principal James Larson at (401) 453-8686, or e-mail james.larson@ppsd.org.

Recently, Hope High School raised $200 with a dress-down day. Proceeds will go toward sponsoring a barrel of books to be sent to Accra, Ghana, to support education programs in Buduburam refugee camp. The books will help to address the 85-percent illiteracy among refugees fleeing civil war in Liberia into Ghana and will give refugees basic education opportunities. The book drive was organized by Nanda Shewmangal from Rhode Island for Community & Justice and is part of the Project RESPECT youth leadership development program.

•Cooley Health Science & Technology High School recently held its first-semester honors assembly. Students were recognized for high honors, honors, honorable mention, perfect attendance and NECAP proficiency.

Students from Diane DiPrete’s law and society class recently attended a presentation coordinated by Corina Monge. The speakers were Chief Judge George Healy and Paul Petit from workers’ compensation court, workers’ compensation attorney Andy Caslowitz, OSHA representative Maryann Medeiros and Peter Barrow from Beacon Insurance. The speakers are part of statewide initiative called Young Employee Safety Rhode Island (YES-RI). The presentation focused on safety in the workplace and workers’ rights under federal and state law.

Cooley’s social studies teachers Diane DiPrete, Edward Lee and James McGuy have been exposing students to a variety of speakers as part of their practical politics forum. The students recently participated in a teleconference with U.S. Sen. Jack Reed, facilitated by school librarian Peter Quesnel, who connected students with Reed’s Washington office. Reed gave a brief presentation then held a 30-minute question-and-answer period with the students.

•Ten students were recently selected from Mount Pleasant High School to participate in a leadership seminar sponsored by Raytheon Co. The students were chosen based on their attendance, grades and participation in extra-curricular activities. Participants include Gloria Abu, Maria Bravo, Brian Estrada, Stephanie Estrada, Mayreni Marte, Mercy Morales, Caterin Pandero, Phouthone Phommarath, George Rios and Rosely Then.

The seminar consists of seven after-school sessions at Mount Pleasant, followed by a field trip to Raytheon in Portsmouth. At a recent kickoff with Raytheon officials, school district officials and U.S. Rep. James Langevin, Paul Hovsepian, vice president for integrated defense systems contracts, and Georgia Karanikolis, director of contracts-seapower capability systems, presented an overview of Raytheon and an outline of the seminar. Top-performing students might be selected for a summer internship at Raytheon.

•The Hope Arts School Improvement Team approved the school’s new mission statement on March 25. The committee, comprising teachers Jonathan Mendelsohn (chairman), Valerie Kline, Sandy Hamlin and Megan Thoma, and Paul Sproll, a community partner from the Rhode Island School of Design, has worked on the document for the past four months.

Through lengthy discussions around expectations, standards and proficiency, the committee hoped to create a document that reflected the aspirations and goals of the newly energized Hope Arts. Hope Arts teacher Megan Thoma’s writing students have been focusing on poetry performance. They studied slam poetry, wrote poems and worked with slam poet Sarah Kay, who shared her experiences and helped them develop their poetic voices and performance skills. Kay attended the student slam competition and performed her poetry for a packed room.

Before the slam, the class participated in Poetry Out Loud, a national recitation contest sponsored by the NEA and The Poetry Foundation. Julienne Penza, a graduate student at Rhode Island College and an education intern at Trinity Repertpry Company, worked with the students to hone their skills. The winner, sophomore Ariel Russell, represented Hope Arts at the state contest. Russell performed two poems and placed fifth in the state.

The Providence Public Schools Activities column is compiled by the Communications Department.

For information, contact Kim Rose, senior communications officer, at (401) 453-9350 or kim.rose@ppsd.org.