Tangi's Occupational Therapists, Physical Therapists, Assistive Technology Speech Therapists, and APE Teachers assist with the Louisiana Special Olympics, recently held at SLU.
 


Laura Kuhn, a School Psychologist employed with Tangipahoa Parish School System’s Special Education Department, recently published an article titled “Using Pivotal Response Training with Peers in Special Education Settings to Facilitate Play in Two Children with Autism” in the March issue of Education and Training in Developmental Disabilities.


 

Roberta Emmons' class at Vinyard Elementary School celebrate the 100th day of school by making "100" trail mix using 10 groups of 10 items such as skittles, marshmallow, cereal, and other goodies. The students filled in a 100 grid and made 100 day booklets.


The Special Education Department and Pupil Appraisal
spent a day of inservice filled with  informative presentations while
dedicating their lunch to the LSU football team and their
quest for the BCS National Championship.

Teachers learn about Inclusion practices and  Curriculum Accommodations and
Modifications .

Visually Impaired Teacher, Tracie Howes, assists her second grade student from Tucker Elementary, Emily Miller.
Emily led the Pledge of Allegiance and read a patriotic passage in Braille at the opening of the school board meeting.


At Amite Elementary School, Ms. Conley's inclusion class completed math activities using turkey manipulatives. After completing these hands-on lessons, Ms. Conley assisted her students in creating a turkey from leaves and pinecones.


Shannon Cusimano's  class at Independence Elementary  had these special guests to celebrate Halloween.

 
Laurie Ott's students in speech therapy at Tucker Elementary  practiced following directions to create some perr-fect hats for Halloween.

The Life Skills classes at Ponchatoula High School guided by Mr. Ledbetter, Ms. Walker, and Mrs. Weymouth, work with their Agri-Science buddies.  The students and their Ag-Buddies have started dog training and making all-natural homemade dog biscuits to sell. 


Erin March's sixth grade B'YON students at Vinyard planned and hosted a Math & Literacy event for parents and classmates on Monday, October 23, 2007.
Mrs. Ollar, Vinyard's Assistant Principal and former B'YON teacher, stopped by to participate in the fun activities, as did the principal, Mrs. Johnson and several parents.

Pupil Appraisal team members present a skit during a presentation of "The Rules of Engagement" to the Special Services staff. Tips on phone and email etiquette, and interpersonal interactions with the public were presented.

An Amite High School student admires a giant spooky spider made by the class in preparation for the holidays.


West Side Middle students in Mr. Miller's and Mrs. Travis' classes studied bus safety by completing art activities, reading a book on bus safety, and practicing bus safety procedures on Bill Ford's bus.  The students had a great time participating in and learning about bus safety.


  

Approximately 90 Gifted students recently participated in the 4th Annual Tangipahoa Parish B'YON Scrabble Tournament held at Hammond Westside Upper.

Gary Rogers at AHS is popping a balloon for an Easter basket project.


Victoria Derks' fourth grade class at D.C.Reeves participated in a cooking activity that was designed to enhance their use of adjectives.  They followed the steps to make a Butterfinger Cheese Pie, then had the opportunity to describe their pie's attributes while they ate that yummy pie at their desks.

Sherry Verneuil's class and Shannon Willey's class completed a circle map with Mrs. Prevost during a recent speech lesson.


Mrs. Natalee Barbier's class at D.C. Reeves practiced following directions and created personal King Cakes to celebrate the season.


Shandrika, in Ruth Lee's class at AHS, is  practicing sorting and putting the pennies in the TARC Penny Power jug.


Jo Tricou, Hearing Impaired Teacher, is engaged in interpreting to her students  using American Sign Language during an assembly at Independence Elementary.


 


The Vinyard Elementary cafeteria staff worked with Mrs. Roberta Emmons and Mrs. Fredricks' students to make cookies.


Ruth Lee's class at Amite High School recently visited with Mary Pirosko, Development Director at Options. The students then met Gaye Guzzardo, Curriculum Coordinator at Tangipahoa Parish Special Services Center, followed by lunch in the community. Bryan and his mom enjoyed the noontime meal together.


 

LifeSkills students at PHS are engaged in vocational training at Options in Hammond. Jacque is learning paper shredding and Eboneigh and Chris are sorting beads for re-sale. Seven students in Donna Giffin's and Amanda Walker's class are participating in the program.


Five students from Ms. Stratton's Art class paired with Ruth Lee's students at Amite High Schooo to help them decorate pumpkins that were donated to the kids by Keith Townsend at Trabona's. Click on the Pumpkin Time picture to see more pictures of the students decorating their pumpkins.


Mr. Sam Carraway's class at Hammond Eastside Upper made a replica of the "Betsy Ross" First Freedom Flag as a part of their  "Constitution Day" lesson, September 18, 2006. Displaying the flag are Kennith, Coby, Del, Arthur, and Jamison.


The PHS Self-Contained Art Program completed their final art project with a Fiesta.  The students were required to develop a theme, plan and make all decorations, design and send out invitations, plan and make costumes, and plan and implement the menu.  Along with the Fiesta, a student art show was held.  The seniors got a festive send-off with piñatas, and cake.


The Audubon Bug Mobile recently visited the speech therapy students at Tucker Elementary. Laurie Ott and Jennifer Collins, speech therapists, and their students were brave enough to touch, hold and learn all about insects, bugs, and spiders.

Ruth Lee's class at Amite High School enjoyed a visit with the animals at  Global Wildlife.



 

 

Gifties from all over TPSS competed in spelling, vocabulary, and gaming strategies during the Scrabble Tournament held at Hammond Eastside Upper on April 5th-6th. Gifted teachers Michelle Mount, Patti Duke, and Kelly Ollar were proud of their teams and worked hard to make the two day tournament a great success!


Tangipahoa Parish's  Speech Language Diagnosticians recently accepted the Distinguished Partnership Award from  the Southeastern Louisiana University Speech-Language-Hearing Department. The award recognizes the newly established initiative that provides SLU students opportunities to gain experience with specially trained speech-language pathologists  to learn about assessment procedures for students with communication disorders.


Flora and Fauna

Unveiling of Mural at Hammond Head Start
Loranger High Talented Art students recently created "Flora and Fauna", a Louisiana Swamp mural which was donated to the Hammond Head Start.  The project was funded through the Joe and Dorothy Dorsett Brown Community Service Grant.  Mary Faulkenberry is the Talented Art teacher in charge of the project.

Ruth Lee's class at Amite High School had a special Easter celebration before the holidays.


AMITE ELEMENTARY VPI's VIP School in the Spotlight!

Click here to see what Amite Elementary School
is doing with their inclusive practices!


Independence Elementary Speech Therapist, Erin Dunnington, worked with her Kindergarteners on a language lesson for Mardi Gras.  The students learned how to follow directions, sequence events, make great Mardi Gras masks, and have fun all at the same time.


Deirdra Disher and Regina Gordon from Ponchatoula Jr. High collaborated in planning and instruction to combine their classes for Inclusion.  The teachers and students consider the experiment a success and have planned more class inclusion sessions in the near future.
Ms. Monique Lanier's class sponsored a Penny Power Poster contest for the students of Amite Elementary.  The artists submitted 8x10 versions of their ideas for designing a larger Poster.  The winners are pictured here with Dyeisha Steptoe and Liz Allen from Ms. Lanier's class.
 
4th graders:  1st place - Alexis and Shay , 2nd place - Artiyana , 3rd place - Coryionne; 3rd graders:  1st place - Ronney , 2nd place - Ryan , and 3rd place - Allison ; Kindergarteners: 1st place - Taylor , 2nd place Ania , 3rd place - Alexis;

Jinni Foy's students at Tucker Elementary raised and harvested strawberries in their very own personal strawberry patch.



Annette Nichols' Science class at Loranger Middle is studying the Solar System and how scientists know so much about it.  Students were given a chance to use the telescope(s) to view the afternoon sky.  They focused in on an object and realized that different power lens gave different views.  Discussions were led about the moon, planets, and viewing of them.

Annette Nichols' Science class at Loranger Middle is currently studying volcanoes and igneous rocks.  Students created a volcano from play dough, then using vinegar, baking soda, dishwashing liquid and food coloring made them erupt.  Students also observed a sample of pumice rock and watched it float.  They discussed lava, magma, inner core, ash, gases and watched videos of actual eruptions.


Ms. Lanier's and Ms. Deroche's students from Amite Elementary visited Santa in Hammond Square Mall and rode the train during a unit on The Polar Express.  The field trip also included a visit to the Hammond Train Depot where the students received Conductor's hats and strolled around the station.


 


 

Lori Bennett's class at Independence Middle School has been very busy. In English, the students are performing The Nutcracker. They painted the Christmas tree for the scenery. Ms. Bennett was the Narrator, Whitney G. was Clara, Whitney F. was a mouse, Byron J. was the Mouse King, and Chris S. played the part of the Nutcracker. Anthony W. was the producer. Tammy S. played various roles (as needed). They are very excited about this project because Ms. Bennett's daughter (Mikki Jones) is in the upcoming production at the Columbia Theater in Hammond.
 
In Science, the students created a worm habitat. They enjoyed watching the worms up close. To add a little excitement to their day, they also coached their worms as they raced across the floor. Congratulations to Chris S. for having the fastest night crawler in the class!

 

Betty Mehrtens' students at Chesbrough Elementary correlated language arts with a social studies unit on Egypt. Students were given an assignment to create a commercial for a pottery wheel which they learned about when studying Egypt. Students were given a pottery wheel kit and were required to read the instructions and use appropriate thinking maps to create their commercial. Students presented their commercial in front of the class. At the end of the week, students created their own masterpieces of pottery. They will be giving their masterpieces as gifts for someone special.

Sumner High School's Industrial Arts class taught by David Drude has created the great projects shown above.



Regina Roberts reads to students at Midway Elementary during the school's
Celebrity Reader day.

   

Natalie Barbier and Paige Turpin, teachers at D.C. Reeves Elementary, help students learn to follow directions and practice measurement as they make a no-bake pie and pudding.


Charlie Vance's Talented Theater Class films a movie at Amite High School.



Lori Bennet's students at Independence Middle School are learning all about plants and how they grow. They planted beans in bags with wet paper towels and cups... they compared the sprouts and learned what living things need to grow well. Observations were made daily, growth was measured and information charted.


 
Annette Nichols' Science class at Loranger Middle School is studying the gestational period of animals. The students placed chicken eggs in an incubator. At the beginning of each week, the students open an egg to view the developmental stage in the cycle. The remaining eggs are allowed to hatch.


 
This page was last updated on Sunday, June 08, 2008.