In the Materials and Processes class, students were prompted by the question, "What could we design/create that reuses materials?" Students then went through the design process to brainstorm as many ideas as possible. The students narrowed down which ideas they would like to further develop. Students participated in various critique sessions with peers in order to make their idea better. Finally, students presented their ideas to a board of "investors" to practice presentation skills and get additional feedback. This processes the students used and learned in this activity will be used later in the year in a more in-depth project-based learning unit.

ALC Films students attended a viewing of "Racing Extinction" recently at Sundance. Students were able to meet the director of this film, Louie Psihoyos, who also directed “The Cove” which was at Sundance a few years ago. What a great opportunity for our Film students.

Darrel Hammon, Senior Director of Community College Programs at UVU, announced last week just how much Concurrent Enrollment students saved over the 2013-2014 school year. By taking concurrent enrollment classes during high school, students saved 8.2 million dollars in college tuition costs. What a savings, what an opportunity! At $5 per credit hour, concurrent enrollment (college credit earned while in high school) courses save each student hundreds of dollars in college tuition. 

ALC Film students took a trip to the Rose Wagner Theatre to see two films as part of the Sundance Film Festival. The first film, "Dark Horse" is about a small town in Wales whose community members all pitched in to raise a race horse and watch it compete (and win) against other horses owned by billionaires. Then they saw "Most Likely to Succeed" which is about the current educational system in the U.S. and how some schools are trying to look to the future to train innovative thinkers and creators. It was directed by Greg Whitely, who has also directed "Mitt" and "New York Doll." Students were able to talk with him for about 15 minutes after the screening.

It's that time when classes are changing and students have the opportunity to receive college credit while taking classes here at ALC. Students enrolled in the ALC classes listed below can be concurrently enrolled (Concurrent Enrollment-CE) in these high school classes and UVU and thus receive college credit while receiving high school credit. This opportunity saves families hundreds of dollars in tuition.

Receiving college credit while in high school requires a two-step process. First, students must apply for admission to UVU. After admission, students register for the UVU course. This link http://www.uvu.edu/concurrent/ gives great instructions for this process.

The Advanced Learning Center's Computer Programming teacher, Mr. Eastmond, reported great success with the results of students taking the computer programming skills certification test. Eleven out of thirteen of his students received a skills certificate with two of those receiving a 100%. Our Health Sciences teacher, Miss Grant, reported that 100% of her students received Emergency Medical Responder Certification after taking their test this week. Congratulations to all students receiving certifications! Your hard work has paid off!

Five members of ALC's administration, faculty, and staff attended vital accreditation training in Salt Lake City this week. The Advanced Learning Center is in the process of becoming accredited with an initial review having been completed last fall. The ALC is now a "Candidate for Accreditation". We are now in the throes of collecting data to provide evidence for our evaluations. We look forward to becoming fully accredited as it will allow us to more fully serve a greater number of students living within the Nebo District.

Attention UVU Distance Education Students!
The first day of Spring Term class is January 5th.
Please make sure you are aware of your class times so that you can make it to your class.
The last day to add classes online is January 11th. 
If you have any questions, please contact the ladies at our front office.

ALC teachers attended a 3-day training last week on how to incorporate projects into their lesson plans. Project Based Learning proposes giving students a project with a probelm to be solved. The projects also should involve the learning of required subject curriculum. We are so grateful to our teachers who go above and beyond to provide creative learning opportunities for our students. 

To find out more about PBL and the training ALC teachers attended go to BIE.org

The STEM Action Center is an incredible site for students, parents, and educators to gather and receive information about Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics. There is an interactive Curiosity Library containing videos, power points, podcasts, and webinars. Scholarship opportunities, web resources, ideas, contests, and company event information are all a part of what makes this such a great site.

If you would like to stay apprised of all things STEM, sign up for their newsletter at http://stem.utah.gov/library/register-stem-utah-newsletter/