Lawrence school district prepares to launch first openly sourced class

Several district administrators and teachers participated in a conference on open source material in education last week as the district prepares to roll out its first class using only open sources.

The conference was part of a U.S. Department of Education campaign, #GoOpen, to encourage states, school districts and educators to use openly licensed educational materials. In October, it was announced that the Lawrence school district was one of 10 districts nationwide to take up the #GoOpen challenge to replace at least one textbook with openly licensed educational resources within the year.

Angelique Nedved, assistant superintendent of teaching and learning, is one of the district administrators involved in the #GoOpen effort. Nedved previously said that the district already has about 20 courses that use openly licensed resources to some degree, but no course curriculum that relies entirely on such content.

District administrators have since selected seventh-grade English language arts as the subject area for the #GoOpen initiative, according to the USDE Office of Educational technology website. The goal is to launch the subject as the district’s first to use entirely openly licensed material next school year.

Various state and district leaders attended the conference, which took place Friday near San Rafael, Calif. As part of the conference, USDE recognized 14 states and 40 districts that have now committed to #GoOpen initiatives.

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In other news and notes:

– Kindergartners at Langston Hughes
Elementary will perform their music
program at 6:30 p.m.

New York Elementary fifth-graders will take a field trip to the
Lawrence Arts Center. The students
will leave at 9:05 a.m. and return at
11 a.m.

– The Prairie Park Elementary PTA
will meet from 6:30 to 7:30 p.m.

– The Sunflower Elementary PTO will
meet at 7 p.m.

Middle school Model United Nations teams will attend the second
day of a two-day simulation in
Topeka.

– The Java & Jazz show will be at
Lawrence High School at 7 p.m. The
performance will feature the All City
Middle School Jazz Band, as well as
jazz bands from Free State and
Lawrence high schools.


Lunch menu options:

Elementary school level

Main dish: chicken quesadilla; black bean quesadilla; tuna sandwich; peanut butter and jelly with string cheese; chef salad with breadstick

Sides: refried beans, tomato salsa, tropical fruit salad, salad bar, milk

Middle school level

Main dish: chicken quesadilla; black bean quesadilla; tuna sandwich; hamburger; peanut butter and jelly with string cheese; chef salad with breadstick; veggie shaker

Sides: refried beans, salad bar, frozen fruit cup, 100 percent juice, fruit juice, fresh fruit, tomato salsa, milk

High school level

Main dish: chicken nuggets with roll; sloppy joe on bun; cereal with string cheese; parfaits with muffin; pizza; veggie shaker; peanut butter and jelly with string cheese; chef salad with breadstick; daily sandwiches; deli bar

Sides: mashed potatoes with gravy, baked beans, salad bar, frozen fruit cup, fresh fruit, fruit sorbet, fruit juice, oven potatoes, milk