Family night will show off killer programs in school

Anyone wondering about the kind of teaching and curriculum offered at Lake Roosevelt High School can check it out next week and make it a family night.

With murder involved.

Family Fun Night Oct. 15 will start at 5:30 p.m., and will not only show off what's happening in the school but offer dinner, as well (RSVP appreciated).

Victor Camarena said the goal is to "show off the new school and show off the classes" offered under a ramped-up STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Math) curriculum.

Last year was the first as the school began to implement its Project Lead the Way curriculum, which leads students into learning by getting them to solve problems. Along the way, they learn what it takes to do science, why math matters, how to engineer a solution.

"It was pretty exciting," commented Kim Stanger, who occasionally observed last year as students progressed through a course designed to introduce them to the requirements of the real world. "They're learning each step of what it would be like to be in forensic medicine."

But this year is the first in the new school, built with gleaming new science labs stocked with advanced equipment.

"Some of our equipment is better than at some colleges," Stanger noted.

The school started phasing in the curriculum last year with the Principals of Biomedical Science and Human Body Systems. This year they're "raising the bar," Camarena said, with Biomedical Innovations and Introduction to Engineering.

That's where the murder comes in.

Students enrolled in Biomedical Innovation have a murder to solve, complete with crime scene tape. That scene will be set up, along with other class displays, with students attending to answer questions during the evening.

The night is aimed at not just informing people about the school, but also creating a "family environment of education," Camarena said, so families can "encourage their children or future students to take advantage of the opportunities that we have."

And opportunities have increased at Lake Roosevelt.

"These last few years have been huge," said Camarena, a liaison to Indian families under the grant that paid for the curriculum, which is rigorous and requires "a lot of nice things" paid for by a $1.2 million grant science teacher Ralph Rise wrote in order to get the school into "project-based learning."

Stanger, who coordinates activities funded by an Indian Education grant, said the evening will also include a healthy dinner, games and activities for all, and even door prizes. And anyone who wants to can also attend a half-hour Indian Education meeting.

Some parents got cards in the mail about the evening, and Stanger said that notice of whether they will attend would be nice, but not required. She's planning for about 100 to show up. Her email address is kstanger@gcdsd.org.