4th-graders at Hoffman Trails Elementary were engaged, as Dr, Rachel Kajfez, shared about the toy adaptation process. Dr. Kajfez leads the TAP (Toy Adaptation Program) at The Ohio State University, where she is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Engineering Education. Dr. Kajfez shared how play is how every child learns about their world. Some children, because of their unique needs, may need toys or materials to be adapted or modified so they can fully engage in play opportunities. Dr. Kajfez showed students the three basic types of circuits: Series, Parallel, and Series-Parallel which are used in creating switches for a toy. First, engineers take the toy apart to find the adaptor points that cause the toy to move, light up and or make noise. Then engineering students solder the wires, and then they test the toys.

The following week students launched a Toy Adaptation Design Thinking, where students researched design adaptations for children with differing abilities so they can play and interact with them to maintain their functionality. Design thinking is where students will first empathize and define the problem, then ideate, build prototypes and test them with students, and lastly, they will create a presentation of their design. These toys will be in an Exploration Zone in the Hoffman Trails Innovation and Discovery Center.

The Hilliard City School District is in the process of revising its K-12 Health and Wellness Course of Study. The District’s Health and Wellness Curriculum Revision Committee has just completed the development of the K-12 Health and Wellness Course of Study. This Course of Study was presented to the Board of Education on Monday, January 9. The Board will be reviewing the Course of Study over the next several weeks before voting on its adoption. We invite all families and the community to preview the K-12 Health and Wellness Draft Course of Study and if so desire, use the Feedback Form as an opportunity to provide feedback. Please note that the Course of Study development is a part of Phase 1 which does not include Resource Adoption. Resource Alignment and Adoption will take place during the next phase of the revision cycle.

If the community seeks to understand the curriculum revision process, please refer to the following board policies as a resource

• IFD-R – Curriculum Adoption Process Guidelines
• IFE – Curriculum Guides and Course Outlines

Course of Study Health & Wellness

Mejed (Meme) Alrjub is a proud 2015 alum of Bradley High School. Upon graduating she attended The Ohio State University where she earned a bachelor’s in psychology and also minored in education and human development and family science. She is currently in her last year of graduate school at OSU where she is studying for her master’s in school counseling. 

Meme is interning as a school counselor with Columbus City Schools but has aspirations of joining the Hilliard Schools team next year at the elementary level. She said the diversity of our community is its biggest strength. 

“I love the appreciation our district displays for all of our students. Our staff evidently work very hard to see students succeed while feeling included, seen, and welcomed in our schools,” she said.  

If you have an alumni you would like to see spotlighted, click here to send us an email!

We’d like to congratulate Tiffany Thomas, who has been chosen as the Ohio Council of Teachers of English Language Arts (OCTELA) Educator of the Year in the High School division. We are incredibly proud of you for this amazing achievement!

The OCTELA Outstanding Language Arts Educator Award was established to recognize excellence in language arts teaching at the elementary, middle school, high school and university level. An OCTELA Outstanding Language Arts Educator demonstrates excellence inside and outside of the classroom through leadership in and advocacy for the language arts and focused efforts to improve student learning.

Congrats Tiffany!

If you wish to request that a book or resource not be checked out to your student from their Innovation & Discovery/Media Center, you must complete the form below. Each submitted form will accept up to 10 book titles/author’s names. Please go to the Destiny Discover catalog on your child’s school website under Academics > Innovation Discovery Center OR Media Center to verify that the book/resource currently exists at that location before submitting this form.

Your submission will be shared with your child’s school and added to your child’s information record in Destiny (Library Resource System) only if that item exists at that location. Items submitted through this form will be on your student’s Destiny record for the course of the current school year only. Should you wish to have books/resources exempt for your student next year, you will need to submit this form again for each item.

Click here to access the Form.

The Hilliard City School District’s Curriculum Department is in the midst of a multi-year curriculum revision cycle for several content areas. An important part of this process is seeking input from our parents on what is important to them in each content area. The next content area that a district committee will revise is Mathematics. If you are interested in providing feedback in regard to your child’s Math curriculum, please click this link and respond to a brief, two-question survey. Thank you for your consideration.