Lee’s Summit High School students’ metal projects honor local law enforcement
Metal projects honor local law enforcement
Lee’s Summit High School sophomores Andrew Bradshaw and Cameron Fisher demonstrated their support of their local law enforcement officers by making metal flags in their industrial technology class.
Both are students in Doug Smith’s metals course, which requires a final project. The projects made by Bradshaw and Fisher were lent to the Lee’s Summit Police Department for display indefinitely.
“We are blessed to enjoy such amazing support from the community we serve,” LSPD Sgt. Chris Depue said in a news release. “When the boys reached out to us to share their projects, we were excited to see that same support from the youth in our community. We appreciate their support, and we are proud to display their amazing work that honors the profession of law enforcement.”
Cameron’s flag is designed to hang on a wall.
“A lot of members of my family are involved in police work,” he said, “and I wanted to provide reassurance that people — and young people — care about them.”
Andrew’s flag lies within a table: “I thought the police officers deserve our appreciation, and I built the table to show respect and inspire the officers,” he said.
To make their flags, both students used the school’s PlasmaCAM, which cuts through metal based on a computer program that incorporates original designs. The projects are framed in wood and glazed for a shiny finish.
Each project incorporates a blue stripe within the flag as well as a 2017 penny to illustrate the year the displays were created.
Cameron Fisher [ give picture location ] and Andrew Bradshaw display the flag projects now on display at the Lee’s Summit Police Department.
Young scientists produce peer-reviewed research
Research by two former Summit Technology Academy students has been published in the online journal BioTreks, the first international synthetic biology journal to be written and reviewed by high school students.
Isaac Henderson, a 2017 graduate of Center Place Restoration School in Independence, and Jake Renetzky, a 2017 graduate of Lee’s Summit High School, modified E. coli bacteria to produce an enzyme that will make salicylic acid, a common pain-relieving chemical.
They did the research while completing the Project Lead the Way Biomedical Innovations program at Summit Technology Academy, guided by instructors Kevin McCormick and Peggy Hinzman. Funding was provided by Summit Tech.
Their article can be found at http://biotreks.org/e201709/. The journal is intended to give students the experience of writing and evaluating scientific papers while sharing their own synthetic biology ideas, techniques and results in a professionally edited publication.
Each April, new journal content is presented and reviewed at an online conference attended by students, mentors and professional biologists from around the world. Participants can ask each other questions about their work and suggest improvements before publication.
The event offers students and mentors the opportunity to build professional connections, which will support their research in coming years. After the conference, students work with journal staffers to finalize their manuscripts, graphics and videos for publication in the annual online issue.
Participation is free and journal content is available to the general public without subscription.
SCA teacher’s snags $359 in 60 seconds
Holli Roderick of Summit Christian Academy was one of five teachers recently invited to participate in the Kansas City Mavericks hockey team’s “Dash for Cash,” sponsored by Central Bank of the Midwest.
After going onto the ice to collect as many one-dollar bills as she could in 60 seconds, Roderick left the rink with $359 for her early-education classroom. She spent the money on educational tools including Magnatiles, an interactive table and a puppet stand with puppets.
These dogs had their day
Students at Highland Park Elementary learned how therapy dogs can make humans feel better when four dogs visited the school earlier this month
The Dec. 6 visit was part of the school’s Well-being Wednesdays, a new initiative that encourages staff members to incorporate mind-body wellness into their lives and to improve overall health.
The dogs and their handlers — from Mo-Kan Pet Partners — visited classrooms throughout the day. Handler Alice Sharp and a Great Pyrenees named Lily were featured presenters at the school’s monthly assembly.
The handlers and their dogs volunteer at local health-care facilities, schools, nursing homes, Veterans Administration centers, mental-health centers, and hospices among other places. When therapy dogs are around, patients notice less sadness and anxiety, less pain after joint replacement, and improvement in systolic and diastolic blood pressure.
Here we come a-caroling
Lee’s Summit Elementary staff members donned cold-weather gear to spread holiday cheer among the school community Dec. 5 during an evening of caroling.
Students received goody bags and hugs as school employees made caroling stops in the neighborhoods around downtown Lee’s Summit.
“We may have been off key, but we hit the target as the smiles glowed from the faces of our students and parents,” one staffer said.
Compiled by Elaine Adams, Special to The Star
This story was originally published December 11, 2017 at 1:49 AM with the headline "Lee’s Summit High School students’ metal projects honor local law enforcement."