NORTHERN FORMS COMMUNITY PROBLEM SOLVING TEAMS
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| Project P.A.W. members from Northern Middle School (L-R) Sarah Wiles, Mackenzi Cooper, Brittany Ferrell, Andrea Jenkins, Alexisa Toro, CmPS Coach Scott Sexton, and Evan Holbrook posed with the pets at a community clinic. |
Ten sixth grade students from Northern have chosen to do a responsible pet ownership project which they call Project P.A.W.P.R.I.N.T. (Pets Are Wonderful. Promoting Responsibility Is Northern's Task). The students hope to reduce the number of unwanted pets that are being euthanized annually in Pulaski County as well as encourage local residents to adopt pets from the local animal shelter and humane society. The students have already created a website and brochures that they distributed when they worked at the recent "Bow Wow Christmas" event held at the Center for Rural Development in December. The students also recently held a dog food drive at NMS. They collected over 700 pounds of food which was then delivered to the Pulaski County Animal Shelter on December 21. They are scheduled to work at a low cost spay and neuter clinic with the Pulaski County Humane Society on January 18. They are also working on a proposal to the Somerset City Council to create a dog park in the city limits of Somerset as well as a proposal to the Pulaski County Fiscal Court to make improvements at the Pulaski County Animal Shelter. They also hope to do several other events to promote responsible pet ownership in the community. Members of Project P.A.W.P.R.I.N.T. include Stevie Claxton, Mackenzi Cooper, Brittany Ferrell, Thomas Hall, Evan Holbrook, Andrea Jenkins, Kelly Shoopman, Amber Still, Shelby Sutton, Alexisa Toro, and Sarah Wiles.
Several seventh and eighth grade students from NMS are doing a disaster preparedness project called Project H.O.P.E. (Helping Others Prepare Effectively). These students have launched a website and are preparing brochures to distribute in the community. They have applied for a grant through State Farm that, if awarded, will allow them to distribute disaster preparedness kits and weather radios to low income families in the area. They are also working with several local agencies to make a directory of resources that can be accessed by members of the community in the event that they are victims of a disaster. NMS was severely damaged by a tornado on July 4, 2001. Since there were no tornado sirens located near the school, the custodians working that day had no warning that danger was approaching. The students plan to write a proposal to Pulaski County Fiscal Court to acquire additional tornado sirens near area schools and at Lake Cumberland. They are also working with Congressman Hal Rogers' office to promote several homeland security initiatives that he has underway. Project H.O.P.E. members include Cameron Bryant, Casey Clark, Ben Crawford, Lacey Lansaw, Shelbie Phelps, Steven Thompson, and Zach Wooldridge.
Two students also have individual CmPS projects underway. Evan Holbrook is coordinating the B.U.D.D.Y. (Better Understanding Developmentally Disabled Youth) Project. The B.U.D.D.Y. Project pairs students from NMS's FMD unit with other students from NMS to create a more positive learning environment for these students. Shelbie Phelps, an eighth grader from NMS, is coordinating Project D.A.Y.C.A.R.E. (Developing Awareness in Young Children About Reading Enjoyment). Shelbie recently delivered books collected during a book drive at NMS to three daycares in Pulaski County.
As part of the projects, the students will be writing a six page paper and six page addendum on their projects to submit to the state competition. If they qualify for international competition, they will also complete a scrapbook, and a 3-5 minute video on their projects. They will also have to complete a 30 minute interview explaining all aspects of their projects. The students would like to thank NMS Gifted and Talented Instructor Pam Butcher for all of her help and guidance on their projects as well as the faculty and staff of NMS for all of their support.