Imagine finding a number in an ad about being a host for a foreign exchange student, and then hours later trying to prepare his or her room as fast as possible.

That’s just what happened to Jessica Wilson and Kyle Chafa of Corning, who are now the host family of Anastasia Steshina, a foreign exchange student from Russia.

On Aug. 2nd, Jessica saw an article in the Adams County Free Press about hosting a foreign exchange student. She researched and found more information about a program that connects students with families from across the Atlantic Ocean.

“By that afternoon we had choices of kids we could choose from, and by that Thursday we had her flight booked, knowing we were going to pick her up on Tuesday,” Wilson said.

The program both Steshina and Wilson used is called the FLEX (Future Leaders Exchange) Program. According to it’s website, http://exchanges.state.gov/index.html, the program is designed to offer high school aged students from countries of Eurasia to spend a year in the United States, live with a host family and attend an American high school.

Steshina said the program was a yearlong process, from applying to become an exchange student to being approved and finding a host family.

“We had to take pre-tests, be interviewed and write about five essays,” Steshina said of the program.

Steshina said there were many reasons why she wanted to become a foreign exchange student, but the main reason is because she wants to major in International Relations when she goes to college. She also feels that being an exchange student will help her to development more personal and cultural skills, as well as become more independent and responsible.

Since living in the United States, Steshina has recognized many cultural differences between the United States and Russia, noting that in the U.S, people seem to be more connected to their families.

During her childhood in Russia, Steshina became involved in lots of activities that included playing an instrument and dancing. She has been dancing most of her life. She learned how to ballroom dance at a young age, and moved on to learn modern dance as she got older.

She has also been playing the cello for ten years. Unfortunately she won’t be able to display her talents while in the United States, as Corning’s high school band doesn’t offer string instruments as part of their program.

While attending Corning High School, Steshina plans to be involved in cross-country, cheerleading and tennis.

“They have really serious practices here. We didn’t have that in Russia,” Steshina said. “Sports in the United States are taken more seriously than they are in Russia.”

Steshina is going to attend both fall and spring semesters at Corning High School, and doesn’t plan to leave until sometime in May.

After Steshina leaves, Wilson and Chafa said they’re not planning on hosting another foreign exchange student in the near future, but it’s definitely not out of the picture.

A new school year brings bright expectations. What’s the Corning School District doing to ensure a strong education for the next generation? This three part series will explore classroom, testing curricular changes intended to provide the best for the students of Adams County.

With an eye to the future, the Corning School District joined the Mid-Iowa School Improvement Consortium (MISIC) and signed on to utilize Measure of Academic Progress (MAP®) during the 2001-2010 school year.

The 2010-2011 academic year will mark the first full year of accessing the tools, both intended to assist in implementing the Iowa Core Curriculum as well as to provide useful testing data to help teachers adjust their teaching strategies in working with individual students.

The MAP testing is a useful tool “because it tests each student individually,” said Superintendent Willie Stone. “It tests them at their level.”

The computerized test adjusts to the student’s performance, explained Stone. “It gives you a good idea of where they are strong and where they are weak.” As the test proceeds, it becomes more difficult for stronger students, so that each student is challenged, no matter their level.

The MAP test is also tied to the MISIC curriculum, which has been integrated into the standards for the Iowa Core Curriculum, which SF 2216 mandated during the 2008 legislative session. Implementation of the ICC is required for all school districts and accredited nonpublic schools by July 1, 2012 for grades nine through twelve and 2014-15 for kindergarten through eighth grade.

Providing detailed, actionable data to help teachers build curriculum and meet students’ needs, MAP will replace the Iowa Collaborative Assessment Modules (ICAM) test, which Stone indicated did not provide useful data to teachers. By contrast MAP provides detailed information to assist teachers engage students on their own unique learning paths.

“The more ideas we have, the better off we’ll be, said Elementary Principal Patty Morris.

A growing community

A member organization supporting student achievement by developing and coordinating tools and resources for teachers, MISIC is made up of approximately 160 school districts in Iowa, according to Morris. “We are one of 31 new districts that have joined since July of 2009,” said Morris. “We, as a small district, could spend one to two years aligning our curriculum [to the ICC]. [MISIC] has already done the work, which allows us to move on to professional development.”

MISIC’s goals include creating a professional learning community focused on student achievement, developing and maintaining a rigorous curriculum that aligns with state and national standards, enhancing instruction by providing classroom tools and resources, facilitating the use of assessment information to improve student learning, organizing networking opportunities for members and encouraging proactive partnerships beyond the consortium that benefit students.

Originating in 1998 as a collaborative among 15 school districts in central Iowa, the growing consortium has divided into five regions to better serve participating districts.

Invested in the move to MISIC, Morris was recently elected to the steering committee for Corning’s region.

Aligned to the Core

Both MISIC and MAP are aligned to the Iowa Core Curriculum, putting the Corning School District in compliance with a state mandate two years in advance of the deadline for grades nine through twelve and four years before requirements for kindergarten through eighth grade.

The ICC identifies essential concepts and skills for kindergarten through 12th grade in literacy, mathematics, science and social studies, as well as a new concept—21st Century skills.

According to the High School Principal Kent Jorgensen, 21^st Century skills include employability skills, financial literacy, technological literacy and health literacy. The Curriculum provides direction to teachers regarding effective instruction and assessment, seeking to engage students beyond superficial knowledge to deep conceptual and procedural knowledge.

The intent is to produce “a well-rounded person that understands the need to volunteer within the community, while being financially healthy and socially aware, able to take any educational step that they want to,” said Stone.