Click here to access our golo blog profile on golo.com
Click here to access our golo blogs on golo.com
Click here to access our WebEx environment-under, "Not a Member?", you can enter as a GUEST!
Access our article on Edutopia, the George Lucas Foundation Publication, here!
Access our article with MCNC/NCREN here!
LISTEN TO OUR LATEST PODCAST HERE!
Chip summitted and returned to us safely! We had a wonderful welcome back celebration the last day of school, June 10th! Check the WebEx environment for photos and video of the events!
Greetings from Nepal! Check out the new messages from our school friends in Nepal. This is where the proceeds from our bracelet sale will be sent. The videos are located in the What's New section of the WebEx environment. See link above!
There has been a lot of activity going on around the school related to the Everest Project since Chip left! Make sure to check the links for the WebEx page, where you will find the latest pictures and threaded discussions, and the Golo site, where you will find blogs about our experiences.
Sarah Millsaps interviewed her father, Chuck. He works as a marketing manager for Great Outdoor Provision Company. Check out their discussion here about climbing equipment! (Takes several minutes to download)
Several of our students have created podcasts directly related to their learning experiences from the Everest project. Check them out on the Media Center page! We've also updated the information from "Read to the Top"!
Martin Middle School participated in a very special fundraiser that concluded last Friday. Students at Martin created red and black bracelets that stated, "MMS & Chip Everest '08" and sold them for $2.00. After nealy 3 weeks, all 1,000 bracelets were sold and a profit of nearly $1,550.00 was earned. This money will be sent to a school in Nepal with the hopes of creating a "sister school". Our goal at Martin is to be able to communicate with this school in the future via technology. Thanks to all who participated in this fundraiser, it was greatly appreciated!
Lisa Troxell
ltroxell@wcpss. net
Spanish Teacher
Reading/ALP Teacher
Martin Middle School
Click
here to see a photo of Chip receiving his bracelet from Mrs. Troxell
Martin is also participating in "Read to the Top". Check out our Media Center page for all the latest information!
Martin GT Magnet Middle School is taking students to new heights! With interactive technology provided by MCNC, Arch Rock Corporation and Cisco, students will be able to connect with mountain-climber and local Cisco engineer Ciprian "Chip" Popoviciu as he attempts to summit the world's highest peak this spring. Please click here to listen to a podcast of Chip's visit to Martin GT Magnet Middle School.
In preparation for this
unique experience, students engaged in a variety of activities. Students participated in a contest to 
create a design for a flag that will accompany Mr. Popoviciu to Everest. Many beautiful designs were submitted, making choices very difficult for our panel of judges! Our three top winning designs, by Sunny S., Lauren V., and Maggie R., were reproduced on the flag you see at the top of this page. Our fourth place design, by Farvah K., was chosen for the button that took you to this page. Here, Chip holds the flag the day before leaving for Nepal.
Students also watched the IMAX film "Everest" as a school-wide activity, and participated in follow up sessions to create background knowledge.
A school-wide assembly on March 10th introduced all students to Chip, and to his Cisco colleague Tim Woods, who is coordinating base camp communications. Cimbing equipment, schedule and route, and a demonstration of the technology Chip will be using to connect with the students was a part of the program. Raleigh physician and President and Chief Medical Officer of the American Institute of Healthcare and Fitness, Dr. James R. Stevens, M.D., shared information on health topics related to the trip to Everest, as well as information about Chip's equipment to keep him safe and healthy as he treks to Everest. 
Through technology provided by Cisco and facilitated by Tim Woods, students will be able to communicate with Chip while he is on the expedition! A web-based application will be the portal through which Chip can send text, photos, videos, and data. This application will allow students to blog about what is happening in the classroom and on the school level. Arch Rock will be providing the sensors that Chip will take with him to Everest, allowing documention of data such as his heart rate , and a compound sensor will measure temperature, humidity, and light. Arch Rock is also providing a set of sensors to the school, so students and teachers can run experiments and collect data to share inside and outside the school environment, and to compare it to the data that Chip is sending back. Our science department chair, Kris Thomasson, is directly responsible for the implemenation of sensor data at the school level.
To launch the Everest project, a team of curriculum specialists worked to investigate materials that could be incorporated into the classroom to support and/or enhance the NC Standard Course of Study objectives. Glenda Cox-Instructional Resource Technician, Deborah Pendleton-Media Specialist, Karen Wagoner-Academically Gifted Specialist, and Lisa Thompson-Magnet Program Coordinator, created a packet of information listing curriculum integration ideas and web links to such sites as NOVA and National Geographic.
Deborah Pendleton created a reading incentive program using the image of the route Chip will be taking up Everest to engage all homeroom classes in a "climb" up the mountain. Students will read books and articles about Everest and wilderness survival, and will compete to reach the "summit" by working as a homeroom "team" for the greatest percentage of participation. The winning team will receive a special breakfast, hosted by our Family and Consumer Sciences Department specialist, Paula Heidrick.
Glenda Cox and Karen Wagoner work one-on-one with teachers, brainstorming and creating lessons that support and enhance the NC Standart Course of Study. They are currently working with teachers to incorporate Everest into unique activities to do with the students. One example of such a lesson, is the Paideia seminar that Becky Michaels, eighth grade Social Studies teacher, facilitated for her students. You can listen to a 16 minute portion of that seminar here. (large file)
Lisa Thompson worked with the Student Services department, and guidance counselors Sara Anderson, Georganne Griffin, and Wanda Moore. The counselors were asked to help design writing prompts targeted at the sixth, seventh, and eighth grade levels to be used in language arts classes. The writing prompts incorporated the eight character traits taught in the Wake County Public School System of courage, good judgement, integrity, kindness, perseverence, respect, responsibilty and self-discipline, and how these traits are reflected in successfully "summiting" a personal goal.
In our Career and Technical Education Department, teacher Adrianne Rowe is using text about Everest to design activities where students will look for teacher-inserted errors in text, and correct them through the use of editor's marks.
Maggie Bennett, Visual Arts specialist, created the format for the contest, that was held school-wide to help design our flag that you see at the top of this page. Mrs. Bennett scanned all the images for the judges, and created the layout for our beautiful flag that is on it's way with Chip to Everest!
Other Arts Department members are currently working on performances that may be integrated into an assembly that will take place at the end of the year, when Chip returns from Everest.
Students in participating teacher's classrooms will have opportunities to access the online tool, WebEx, to communicate with Chip as he moves across the world on his journey. The correspondents you see above have extra responsibilities. They will be interviewing their peers and teachers, and reporting at least once a week on the WebEx tool, as well as on a blog set up for us by WRAL.com and GOLO. Please follow us on our journey!
Our GOLO Profile:
http://www.wral.com/golo/profile/2572296/
Our GOLO Blog:
http://www.wral.com/golo/blog/2599523/
News articles on Everest at WRAL.com here.
Please watch this space for more exciting Everest links to our curriculum!
Wade Martin, Principal, Martin GT Magnet Middle School
WMartin@WCPSS.net
Lisa Thompson, Magnet Program Coordinator, Everest Project Manager, Martin GT Magnet Middle School
LThompson@WCPSS.net
