What’s Happening at the ACCU
The heaters were turned on, the doors were unlocked, and the seats warmed when the students of ACCU returned from break. The two week break that seemed like a solitary weekend was over and the students did not want school to start. The students, like all students, have to adjust to their routines and get back “into the groove”.
This week the ACCU Health Science classes are doing Materials Science Week. Materials science is the science behind taking multiple things and making them a completely different,usable compound that is used as a solution. These classes are making density bottles galore and more plaster of Paris brains than they can muster. These projects will be used in the student's classes as tools of study. For example, the plaster of Paris brain syncs with the Medical Terminology class and their neuro chapter. With these molds, they will be able to see the brain and have a physical model to study from. These models were just some of the things Health Sciences is doing. The density bottles are a student-funded project that involved a bottle, water, salt, and beads. Students will make this bottle to demonstrate density or the measure of mass per unit volume. This shows how we can use materials, such as plastics, to form another tool of science. Health Sciences does other themed weeks and project guided lessons throughout the year. Under the direction of Mrs. Lint, the ACCU Health Science Teacher, these weeks will always be useful and highly effective.
Student Spotlight
Kristen Parkhurst is a Junior at the ACCU. She is in the Health Sciences pathway and on track for her associates. She plays softball for her homeschool, Morton, and plays during the spring and fall seasons. One of her biggest accomplishments is getting into the ACCU and staying on the associates track.
The rigorous classes and college work were hard but the comfort of having her friends with her made it possible. Her favorite part of school is doing hands-on activities. She says that her Medical Terminology class is doing Material Sciences Week and there are many hands-on activities involved. Her favorite part was seeing what type of careers were in material science and making density bottles. Kristen wants to be a radiologic technician. This job requires you to conduct MRIs, CT scans, nuclear medicine, and radiation type therapies.
Parkhurst’s love for softball is not only during the seasons and is also a hobby. She dedicates time in the freezing winter to softball and conditioning. Parkhurst loves to read and likes to read romance books and crime/mystery books. She also loves to play video and board games; she could play them all night. Some of her favorite games are Apples to Apples, Monopoly, and Clue. Parkhurst's favorite quote is by Napoleon Hill, it reads, “If you cannot do great things, do small things in a great way.” She is also a foundational member of Class of 2019 efforts and is looking forward to HOSA.
Teacher Spotlight
Debra Hingst is the Communications and Composition teacher at the ACCU. She has been working here since the 2015/2016 school year and has been here ever since. She teaches Themes Literature and Composition for the freshman, College Speech for students sophomore to seniors, and this year she started teaching College Interpersonal and Business Communication for seniors.
When asked what her favorite part of teaching was she said, “I went back to public school teaching three years ago because that is what fills my soul.”
For Hingst, money wasn't even a consideration when deciding to return to teaching.
“I decided that I could have a full bank account and an empty soul, or a near-empty bank account and a full soul,” said Hingst.
Her poetic nature carries on to the classroom. Her favorite thing about her students is when they make her laugh. She also looks forward to making them laugh while she is teaching them the coursework.
A quote she likes is by Rudyard Kipling, it reads, “No printed word, nor spoken plea can teach young minds what they should be. Not all the books on all the shelves – but what the teachers are themselves.”
Outside of school, she has various hobbies. She enjoys reading, playing piano, going to theatre productions and to the movies, and doing crossword puzzles. She also enjoys working out; she avidly jogs her memory every day, multiple times a day.
What’s Next to Come at ACCU
As previously highlighted into the article, Materials Science Week is ending. This is important because the program that these projects were supported by would like to see student comprehension. This will be done by the students making a presentation in the same groups as they conducted the projects. This slideshow presentation will be shown to the program as an example and proof of comprehension for the students. This makes the project even more important to the students because it not only represents the school but the students themselves.
The ACCU is constantly changing and adjusting to the ever-changing environment of the world around us. This involves testing, new classes, and every other infinite amount of factors that can hit the schools last minute. In the next couple months, I-STEP+ testing, SAT testing, and accuplacer testing will begin. Even Though it is months away, ACCU students are making sure their scores are where they want them to be. All of these tests are important for the students in the ACCU to graduate with their diploma, their associates/or certification, and the SATs which is an important test for getting accepted into college.
The ACCU’s Class of 2019 is starting to become full swing in prom planning and gathering their resources. This year’s theme ‘Pink in Paris’ is a theme of elegance, formality, and fun. This would be the second prom for the ACCU and Class of 2019 assures that it will be one of the best. Their plan to achieve this is to start planning early, be organized, and spend strategically. With presidents Sarah Hacker and Charlesiana Roberts, the ACCU is confident this will happen.