iChallenge You to Smart & Healthy Habits!

Coach Jackson sharing tips for healthy living. 

We had a great turn out for our iChallenge You to Smart and Healthy Habits Event. We host this event every year to share resources and tips for keeping our kids' minds and bodies active throughout the summer. Elvira Deyamport presented Compass Learning and TrueFlix, two educational programs available for HPSD students. Parents and guardians were given tips on how to navigate both sites and encouraged to have their children log in weekly in order to give them a head start in the fall. Coach Lauren Smith then presented the website, Move to Learn, a Mississippi initiative to get our kids moving for 30 minutes a day. Finally, our guest speaker, Coach Elvin Jackson from Healthy Living Finess gave an inspirational talk on the importance of movement and fitness in our daily lives. We thank our  HPSD parents and families for their support and for allowing us to teach our kids during the summer!

It's the Electric Slide! Dancing is a great way to move and have fun!

In case you missed it, here are some of the resources shared during our presentations: 

Move to Learn Videos- Click here to find some fun videos for your children. Go to the "How do I do it?" Tab and select the video appropriate for your child's grade (i.e. K-3 or 4-6 grades). These are great for a rainy day!

Compass Learning & TrueFlix Instructions Handout- Click here to view or download the instructions to log into these great educational sites for our HPSD children. Remember, to ask Mrs. Deyamport for the login information!

You can also find links to the sites mentioned under our "HPSD Online Resources" Tab to the right.

iChallenge You to Freedom!

Our iChallenge Program is off to a great start! Our students have been learning about key figures and events that took place during Freedom Summer of 1964. This summer commemorates the 50th anniversary of the Freedom Summer Movement and we are remembering our history in various ways.


 A Look at the Past 

 From reading novels about Freedom Summer to examining biographies and profiles of key activists, students are exploring different perspectives and experiences of this historic event. Students are also exploring the role numbers and math play during Freedom Summer by taking polls, measuring distances, and converting mug shot numbers. Finally, students are getting creative with different technology tools and poetry to retell the Freedom Summer experience through photography.

Freedom Summer Trail 

Part of our iChallenge Program includes a tour to several significant sites in Hattiesburg. Many of the places we visited were gathering places, which were pivotal during Freedom Summer of 1964. To download the tour guide, click here. Following the tour, we visited the African American Military Museum.

This has definitely been an enriching start and we look forward to sharing more of our learning at the end of the program showcase on July 2nd. We hope to see you there!

Happy Summer!

Our iChallenge Summer Academy was a blast! We want to thank the faculty and leadership for this program, students and their parents for their participation and support. We wish everyone a safe and restful summer!

Science Meets Podcasts!

In our iChallenge Technology class, students were introduced to podcasts. After a hands-on tutorial of the iMac and Garageband, students jumped right into researching several careers in Science. Next, students had to create their own talk show as well as write their own scripts on a storyboard in order to demonstrate what they learned about those careers. Have a look at some of their final products below.

Project What?

This year's iChallenge theme was Project What? and students explored a variety of science themes ranging from Environmental Science to Space. Have a look at some of our budding scientists in action.

3rd Grade: It's All About Recycling 

Third graders explored recycling, its benefits, and even got creative with some recycling art! As a culminating activity, students took a trip to Sumrall Recycling Center to see how recycling actually works and the importance of it.

4th Grade: The World Around Us 

In exploring the world around them, fourth graders studied different habitats, grew their own plant, and got creative with some similes about nature and different animals.

5th Grade: Reporting Extreme Weather 

Our 5th graders studied different weather patterns, graphs to document weather patterns, and even created their own volcanoes! In preparation for their news weather broadcast project, this group visited the WHLT studio to meet reporters and get tips for their own project.

6th Grade: Experiments and more! 

Experiments are at the core of all scientific exploration and our 6th graders took part in several engaging ones throughout the program. One popular one was the "Mentos Experiment," which involved some gushing soda bottles! Who knew that science could be this much fun?

7th: Blast Off! 

Our 7th graders took a tour of space and created what life would be on these planets. Their objective was to convince others to visit their planets through their persuasive writing and speaking skills. The final products involved a model and infomercials for their planet.

Calling all Scientists!

Our iChallenge Program will be starting soon and we are in search of scientists who can talk to our students about their careers in Science via Skype. If you are or know of any professionals in the following fields, please leave a comment below. You can also visit our Skype Project page by clicking here. 

Here are this year's themes we are focusing on by grade level. Ideally, we would love to schedule about  2-3 speakers for each grade. We look forward to it!

Themes by Grade
3rd: Environmental Science
4th: Life 
5th: Earth Science
6th: Physical Science
7th: Space

All Good Things Must Come to an End

Our program has come to the end and it's time to say goodbye. We have enjoyed learning together and appreciate the continued support from our district and families. We also encourage our students to have a relaxing break and to keep learning. Also, check out our Summer Learning Fun Links on our side bar. We will see you in a few weeks!