Von Rosenberg to receive Mr. Baseball award

Zachary High Baseball player Zack Von Rosenberg will be presented with the Farm Bureau Mr. Baseball award today at 1 p.m. at the Zachary High Baseball indoor facility. This annual honor is given to the best overall baseball player in the state of Louisiana each year. Von Rosenberg played a key role in the Broncos 2nd straight State 4-A Baseball Championship this season. The 6-foot-5 junior right-hander helped the team rally to win back to back state championships after an injury. Von Rosenberg has already committed to LSU for his college ball. For more information, contact Coach Jesse Cassard.

School Board to Honor Students for iLEAP, LEAP and GEE Scores

The Zachary Community School Board will honor students who achieved a perfect score in any subject area on the state accountability tests this year at the 7 p.m. meeting tonight. More than 50 Zachary students received a perfect score of 500 in one or more areas. Congratulations to these students, their parents and teachers.

Zachary High to Videostream Graduation Live on Internet

Family members and friends who can't be in town for the Zachary High graduation Friday night at Bethany are invited to tune into the live webcast of the event being provided with the assistance of Bethany North. The stream can be accessed by going to the media broadcasts area of the Bethany North website located at http://north.bethany.com and clicking on the link that says "Live Stream every Sunday at 10:30 a.m." The stream will only be active once graduation has started.

Community Meeting set for May 1 on facilities

The Zachary Community School Board will host a facilities update and community forum on Thursday, May 1 at 6:30 p.m. in the Copper Mill Elementary auditorium. The program will include a presentation on the building program, updates on the status of current projects and a discussion of future goals. The public is invited to provide input on the direction of facilities in the Zachary Community School District. For more information, contact Adonica Duggan at 658-4969 or email adonica.duggan@zacharyschools.org.

ZES to host Hero Breakfasts

Zachary Elementary will host their second annual Hero Breakfasts next week. During this event, students invite a special person who they look up to as a hero. The 2nd grade breakfast will be held on Tuesday, April 15 at 8 a.m. in the Zachary Elementary auditorium and the 3rd graders will hold their event on April 16.

PreK and Kindergarten Round-Ups set for April 10 & 11

Kindergarten Round-Up
Northwestern Elementary School will host Kindergarten Round-Up on April 10th at 9 a.m. Prospective Kindergarten students must be five years old by September 30,2008. All students must have the following documentation to submit a completed packet:
Birth Certificate
Social Security Card
Up-to-date immunization record
Completed registration form
Four documents proving residence

Pre-Kindergarten Round-Up
Northwestern Elementary School will host Pre-Kindergarten Round-Up on April 11th at 9 a.m. Prospective PreK students must be four years old by September 30,2008. All students must have the following documentation to submit a completed packet:
Birth Certificate
Social Security Card
Up-to-date immunization record
Completed registration form
Four documents proving residence
Both paying and free PreK spaces are limited and applications will be processed on a first come, first served basis. Families who wish to apply for free PreK must provide proof of family income for an application to be considered. Families who wish to apply for paying PreK will be required to submit a non-refundable $50 deposit to secure a space. Tuition will be $300 per month. It does not include breakfast or lunch, but will cover all field trips, materials, supplies and transportation. Families who do not pay their tuition during the school year will forfeit their space to the next student on the waiting list.

District sets standard for tech rich spaces

The Zachary School Board has set a high standard when it comes to technology-rich learning spaces. Cutting-edge multimedia classrooms equipped with ceiling mounted digital projectors and Hitachi StarBoard® T-17SXL EM Panels are becoming the norm. These multimedia teaching devices are compact, ergonomic and pen-driven with a 17-inch LCD display. Think overhead projector meets the Jetsons. The model mirrors the interactive classroom set up common in the higher education setting. Teachers drive presentation and classroom lectures from the device with the ability to write, draw, and control any of the applications on the teacher station computer. This allows the students to easily view the information on the 10 foot retractable screens installed in the front of each classroom. Replacing an older model involving televisions, the new standard takes advantage of digital projectors and a large screen to permit increased visibility throughout the classroom. All new construction in the districts is being built based on this model and existing spaces have been retrofitted to include the new technology.

Educators from the Zachary School District toured various other schools around the region as a part of their research into the best interactive presentation solution. After seeing the Hitachi Software StarBoard T-Series panels in action at an Atlanta school, the answer became clear.

The installation began with high school math classes and has now been adopted throughout the district. We are now around 180 total panels throughout the district; most of those being the T-17SXL model, and our teachers continue to be impressed with the overall increase in student participation and enthusiasm. From kindergarten to Calculus, students in the Zachary Community School District are provided with a technology-rich environment not limited to a computer lab.

Joe Rush of MIS Technology in Baton Rouge handled the product introduction and transition for the school district. “We’ve installed a complete interactive presentation solution in the classrooms in Zachary with the standard setup being a Hitachi Software StarBoard T-17SXL panel, a Hitachi CP-X260 ceiling mounted LCD projector and a 120-inch screen, creating a visually stimulating and interactive environment for the students,” said Rush.

“Every student is engaged in the technology,” said Rush. “Teachers are actively letting students operate the T-Series panels and the students are excited to “play with the toy,” which is key in a society where kids are surrounded by other interactive electronic technologies such as cell phones, video games and MP3 players.”

For more information or to arrange a tour, contact Adonica Duggan.