THE SIXTH grade class enjoying a day at the zoo.

Woonsocket School’s sixth grade class is serious about their commitment to caring for others.  In addition to leading monthly Character Counts! assemblies for the school and raising the flag each day, their teacher, Mrs. Rosemarie Delvaux, asks each year’s class to choose a caring project.
This year the students set a goal to collect 200 items for the Beadle County Humane Society when they learned that the shelter takes in many animals each year and must rely heavily on the generosity of area residents to provide for their food and care.
The students more than exceeded their goal, collecting just over 200 items including dog and cat food, paper products, towels and rugs, treats and even a few pet toys. In addition to the donated items, the students held a bake sale and presented a check for $192 to the Huron facility.
Students finished the school year with a field trip to Sioux Falls. Touring the zoo and having a picnic at Falls Park, sixth graders enjoyed the warmth of a sunny day and were able to find animals they’d researched before going on the trip.

ALYX BAYSINGER demonstrates how the texting while driving program works on the simulator.

Students at Woonsocket High School have been learning what the consequences of distracted driving actually feel like.
A driving simulator has been brought to the science classroom to show the kids what can happen if they text and drive or drive impaired. The simulator is about as real as it can get. It looks like you’re at the controls of a real car and feels very similar to driving one, according to one of the student drivers, Alyx Baysinger.
Three screens give the drive a nearly 180 degree view, such as they would have out of a windshield. The simulator can be set up for different situations, such as texting while driving, where the it actually sends the driver text messages and gives the driver texts messages to send, based on directions from the “passengers.” It also has a setting for impaired or intoxicated driving and for simply driving while distracted.
“It’s a real eye-opener,” says Supt. Rod Weber of how realistic the simulator is. The simulator sets up real-life situations both in town and on the highway, with items that must be dodged, deer running across the road and trucks that don’t move over when entering the road from an on-ramp.
The school was able to borrow the simulator for just $100. Grants paid for the rest of the expenses of the program, which is from the Sioux Empire Safety Village of Sioux Falls and is a collaboration between them and Vern Eide Motorcars and the Volunteers for America Dakotas.
Their mission is “to create safety awareness, promote life safety skills, and provide injury prevention education and training through a community-wide partnership for the benefit of all.”