Papillion La Vista Community Schools

The Science Club at Liberty Middle had some seasonal fun with pumpkins during their October meeting! The club, which meets before school, performed three different experiments to learn about chemical reactions. For the finale, Ms. Myers took them outside for a demonstration of how Calcium Carbide and water can create an acetylene gas buildup that is explosive when ignited. The students were impressed! #WeArePLCS

🪐 Classroom Spotlight: Astronomy! Mr. Showell's Astronomy class at Papillion La Vista High School put students on the face of Mars - in a manner of speaking. Students walked a topographical map of Mars to work out answers for their assignment. Through the activity, they worked on distance calculations, latitude and longitude on the planet, landmarks on the planet, weather, and questions meant to stimulate their exploration curiosity. Working with their Chromebooks, students were even able to use actual footage of the planet to "place" them onsite! #WeArePLCS

Classroom Spotlight: Exploring the Clinical Lab! Students in Mr. Diehl's Exploring the Clinical Lab class at Papillion La Vista South High School recently participated in an extensive lab for their forensic science unit - a simulated trial! The trial applied all of the topics from the unit, including deductive reasoning, crime narrativization, decomposition biology, forensic entomology, and more. Students had to arrange the informed scientific arguments into a persuasive narrative as either defense or prosecution. The class experiences two trials in the unit so half the class serves as the prosecution and defense while the other half serves as the jury per trial. Mr. Diehl created and refined this complex assignment based on feedback from students and professionals, including an FBI agent, a forensic entomologist, a medical examiner, and a couple of lawyers. Students were highly engaged with the material in this collaborative project! #WeArePLCS

Another month of the school year is complete - take a look at these moments of districtwide classroom learning and activities from September! #WeArePLCS

🩺🩻🫀 First grade students at Hickory Hill Elementary are learning about body systems, and their parents got to be involved in a fun hands-on activity! Together, students and family members mapped out the systems of the body, including the skeletal and nervous systems. Students loved the opportunity to dress up as little surgeons and work alongside their family, and family members had the opportunity to dig into the content their students are learning. #WeArePLCS

Last week, Papillion Middle School hosted the district's first annual Unified Sports Back to School Bash at the Papillion Landing! Students and staff enjoyed food trucks, lunch provided by Hy-Vee, bouncy castles, and all sorts of yard games. This inaugural year was open to the district's three middle schools and Young Adult Transition Program (YATP). #WeArePLCS

THIS WEEK Friday through Sunday you have the opportunity to see PLSHS Play Production class in their first show of the year, "A Monster Calls." The show will run October 4th-5th at 7 PM (Fri-Sat) and October 6th at 2 PM (Sun). Tickets are $5 for students and $10 for adults. Tickets will be sold at the door. Watch students bring to life this emotional story of love, loss, and courage. Conor has the same dream every night, ever since his mother first fell ill and started treatments that don't quite seem to be working. But tonight, when he wakes, there's a visitor at his window. It's ancient, elemental, and a force of nature. And it wants the most dangerous thing of all from Conor. It wants the truth. #WeArePLCS

PLCS Superintendent Dr. Rikli surprised Laura Lafond last week for his second Superintendent Spotlight of September! Ms. Lafond is a paraprofessional at IDEAL whose kindness and passion for supporting her students is evident to all who work for her. Watch here to see her surprise and hear what moments matter to her! #WeArePLCS

🇺🇸 Recently the PLCS NJROTC was able to spend a day at the Camp Ashland military base to participate in team building activities and challenges. Learn more about the day and the ways that NJROTC provides valuable experiences for students! #WeArePLCS

Last Friday, Titan 9th graders spent time getting to know their classmates during a team building day! Alongside a few senior leaders, the 9th graders participated in ice breakers and challenges to loosen up and support each other in fun ways. The goal of the day is to help them feel more comfortable in high school and among their peers. It was a fun day! #WeArePLCS