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Camel: It’s the other, other red meat

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Dana Street Student of the Month

<p>WILKES-BARRE &#8212; You put the water bottle cap in a plastic cup, wrap it in a blue handkerchief that you tape shut, and tape it all to another cup that&#8217;s taped to the (empty) water bottle, and what have you got?</p><p>Yeidyveth Santana smiled and demonstrated, shaking the whole thing to show it was intended to signal someone by making noise as the bottle cap rattles in the cup. But her project partner Sophia Santana realized the noise was too muffled to travel very far, so she tried a simple alternative, banging a second metal water bottle against the first.</p><p>Communicating by sound with limited resources is one of many problems fourth, fifth and sixth grade students are trying to figure out at Kistler Elementary using iPads for both research and documentation. The computer tablets were provided courtesy of the Wilkes-Barre Area Educational Improvement Foundation.</p><p>While the kerchief-wrapped rattle may not have been much of a success Thursday, Yeidyveth eagerly showed off photographs of other projects stored on her iPad, including a series demonstrating the changing length of shadows from a gizmo built and set up outside on a recent sunny day. &#8220;It&#8217;s a sundial,&#8221; she said.</p><p>&#8220;It starts with a story,&#8221; STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) teacher Sandra Marinko said, bubbling with enthusiasm about the new iPads and related materials provided by the foundation. Three fictional characters come across a problem, and the real students have to work in teams to devise solutions, test their ideas and record the results.</p><p>Marinko also showed off programs that, among other things, let students explore the moon and learn crater names, build digital structures that guide a ball to a target, and learn basics about flight by controlling a bird&#8217;s wings. &#8220;I always crash,&#8221; Marinko confessed as her bird smashed into water on the screen.</p><p>While the foundation was first formed in 2004, it sat inactive until 2013 when the school board pushed to resurrect it. A separate non-profit corporation, the foundation can collect money directed toward helping teachers and students with purchases like the iPads.</p><p>The immediate goal was to set up grants for each district school, foundation secretary Dina Goeckel said, starting small at about $500 a school. Staff and administration can offer a wish list, but the foundation board ultimately picks the projects funded.</p><p>Marinko already has another item on her list that would expand the lessons available using the iPads. &#8220;I&#8217;d like the bio-medical component,&#8221; she grinned in anticipation.</p><p>Those interested in supporting the foundation can get updated information on fund-raising events at the foundation Facebook page. Goeckel said the foundation&#8217;s monthly board meeting on May 25 is also open to those interested in helping. It is set for 5:45 p.m. in the law offices of Borland and Borland, 67 Public Square, Wilkes-Barre.</p><style>
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<div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/web1_TTL050616kistlerpads1.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Mercy and Princess Ewoodzie work on a project to reflect light while also using iPads purchased through the Wilkes-Barre Area School District Education Foundation. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/web1_TTL050616kistlerpads1.jpg</photo0><caption0>Mercy and Princess Ewoodzie work on a project to reflect light while also using iPads purchased through the Wilkes-Barre Area School District Education Foundation. </caption0><photoCredit0>Aimee Dilger | Times Leader </photoCredit0></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/web1_TTL050616kistlerpads2.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Victoria George, Patricia Odjewuyi, Jazsmine Garcia Andert and Sophia Santana work together on a STEM project using Kistler Elementary School&#8217;s new iPads. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo1>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/web1_TTL050616kistlerpads2.jpg</photo1><caption1>Victoria George, Patricia Odjewuyi, Jazsmine Garcia Andert and Sophia Santana work together on a STEM project using Kistler Elementary School&#8217;s new iPads. </caption1><photoCredit1>Aimee Dilger | Times Leader </photoCredit1></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/web1_TTL050616kistlerpads3.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Sophia Santana, left, and Yeidyveth Santana work on a sound project at the Kistler Elementary School. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo2>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/web1_TTL050616kistlerpads3.jpg</photo2><caption2>Sophia Santana, left, and Yeidyveth Santana work on a sound project at the Kistler Elementary School. </caption2><photoCredit2>Aimee Dilger | Times Leader </photoCredit2></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>By Mark Guydish</p><p>mguydish@www.timesleader.com</p></bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta><p>Reach Mark Guydish at 570-991-6112 or on Twitter @TLMarkGuydish</p></shirttailMeta></div>

Kistler Elementary School students build a foundation for science with new iPads