Please note: This article was originally posted during a previous school year. Information and/or dates from past events may be not be relevant for the current school year. From routine fixers to the emergency on-call team, the CMCSS Maintenance Department is always there when needed. Every year, they dedicate their time to repairing, updating, servicing, and generally ensuring our day runs smoothly. Every day brings something new, but you handle it all with knowledge and skill. We all take comfort in knowing that the maintenance team is there to care for our facilities so that our students can reach their potential. Thank you Maintenance Department for the long hours, technical savvy, and general abilities that far exceed our average knowledge. Even on our snow days, you worked diligently to make sure students could have a safe return. We appreciate your care and concern for our district.

Please note: This article was originally posted during a previous school year. Information and/or dates from past events may be not be relevant for the current school year. One Oakland Elementary student is turning her love for animals into a platform every student can enjoy. Jaylene Park, a 4th-grade virtual student at Oakland Elementary, embarked on a new project to bring awareness to the world of animal science. As part of the STEM program, Jaylene enjoys the challenge of critical thinking and developing new ideas. While a CMCSS K-12 Virtual school student, she has adapted to the more individual learning style online classes present. The new learning environment has not hampered her interest in creation. “I like the assignments because I am able to use different platforms that I haven’t worked with before. The assignments are also more challenging than they would have been in traditional school,” said Jaylene while discussing her virtual classes. Her parents know supporting her interests and encouraging activity outside of school is essential. “Parents should be creative,” said Ho Ryong Park, Jaylene’s father. “Simply crafting or playing outside can be a STEM activity.” “It’s her idea. We just help her connect to her interests,” he continued. He insists all parents can engage with their children in new ways. “What can you initiate? Ask your child, ‘Are you willing to do this?’” For Jaylene’s family, animals were a clear choice. “I like animal science, and with the pandemic, we had to be indoors more,” she explained. “My parents and I talked about a way to spend our time meaningfully, and we decided to do something we could do consistently, so we started the YouTube channel.” Her interest in science is evident in her new channel, AniFam. The channel features videos highlighting different animals in each episode. […]