Arkansas
Association of
Family and Consumer
Sciences

Acorn School campus is located in the shadow of Rich Mountain, near Mena, Arkansas. Present enrollment (K-12) is 476 students, with 76% eligible for free and reduced-cost meals. The single-teacher Acorn FACS Department offers two programs of study, Family and Consumer Sciences Education and Food Production Management and Services, and an FCCLA organization which regularly participates in STAR Events at local, district, state and national levels. Class enrollment is open to all students, 8th through 12th grades. Support of the Acorn school board, administration and community is strong and has enhanced the FACS program greatly. Local funding has been generous over the years, with careful dispensation of state and federal funds through the DeQueen-Mena Educational Cooperative. The degree of activity of the Acorn FCCLA, rising membership costs and the rising costs of leadership training exceeds that generosity, requiring numerous fundraising efforts by FACS instructor and FCCLA adviser, Annette Hays and her students.

The primary focus of the Acorn FACS program is to keep student interest high and teacher preparation simpler through use of various available technologies. Technology evolved from 1992 with a grant written to obtain a Macintosh Computer for classroom management, to the addition of a General Electric Profile electronic washer and dryer in the fall of 2006. A few examples of technological acquisitions in the interim include: computerized sewing machines, sergers and embroidery machines; a video disk player, a DVD player, a PC with CD-ROM; Sony digital camera; digital scales; a digital body mass calibrator and eInstruction©, a computerized student performance assessment tool. Students are enthusiastic about using technology in the classroom as evidenced by classroom reports done in PowerPoint® format and by the winning projects submitted in the Applied Technology STAR Events category in recent years.

Annette Hays continually challenges herself and her students to utilize the most current technology. She first experimented with the student development of PowerPoint© presentations in the classroom during the spring of 2002. The following summer, Hays prepared a presentation entitled 'PowerPoint© for Dummies' to share at a round table during the ArACTE/AATFACS Conference. Hays decided to use the same presentation to educate her students for an assignment early in the fall semester. Using a digital camera, she captured photos of her own family and environment to use in a model presentation entitled 'About Me.' Both presentations were shown to all classes and students were asked to prepare their own 'About Me' presentations. They used two Sony digital cameras as well as a scanner to import digital images, video clips and traditional photographs into their presentations. Students taught one another to import clip art from software and Internet sites and learned to respect copyright laws and avoid plagiarism and piracy. Hays and her students learned how to save their work to the network so it could be accessed and edited from any computer in the building. Students’ presentations were given either on Hays’s large screen TV or on the workforce education department’s newly acquired Smart Board. An exciting aspect of the PowerPoint© experience was the enthusiasm and collaboration demonstrated by the students. Every student was successful with this project, truly demonstrating the philosophy of 'No Child Left Behind!' Perhaps the most imaginative funding initiative was the 2002 collaborative grant writing efforts among Acorn’s three workforce education teachers to obtain a Smart Board©, laptop computer, projector and portable screen to share among the three departments.

Each year, Hays and her food production class conduct a Valentine mega pan cookie decorating project with proceeds funding FCCLA trips and projects. Hays yearly applies for and receives a matching grant for this project from the local Wal-Mart. Posters advertising the project, examples of cookie designs, and spread sheets to keep track of orders are all done by Hays and her students.

Acorn core class instructors have been enthusiastic about the evolution of technology in Hays’s program since many of the skills being utilized reinforce academic skills. For example, the measurement skills necessary for the operation of the computerized embroidery machine reinforce math skills. Use of proper grammar, punctuation and sentence structure in student PowerPoint© presentations reinforces English skills. Hays has developed a spread sheet version of her FACS curriculum mapping to share with Acorn instructors and has received input from them for reinforcing core classroom concepts.

The influence of the use of technology in Acorn FACS students’ lives is evidenced by their interest in the program and enthusiasm for completing projects. Frequently Hays’s students ask her to email a copy of her 'thought for the day' (bell ringer) PowerPoint© presentation so they can share it with friends and relatives. Student presentations have been selected for viewing by elementary classes, parents who are attending various school functions and the school board. Acorn FCCLA members used PowerPoint© technology to encourage elementary reading, to present training to county students participating for the first time in STAR Events and to report to Arkansas FCCLA District 6 members about the National FCCLA Meeting.

The impact of technology in Acorn FACS classes is pervasive. Shortly after the embroidery machine was added to the classroom, Hays involved a group of eighth grade students in a project where they used bolt end fabric donated from a local garment manufacturing company to make thirty new chef’s hats and aprons sporting the Acorn Tiger logo. Hays and her students have used the machine for fundraising purposes by embroidering and selling aprons and other clothing with the school logo. Students also decorated eighty incentive jackets earned by elementary honor roll members.

During the mid 1990’s the problem of teen pregnancy at Acorn School had escalated to an all-time high of twelve pregnancies during one school year. Hays purchased two infant simulators with local funds. Frustrated with the limitations, Hays sought community organizations interested in helping to make a classroom set available for use. Based upon data collected for STAR Event projects, Hays and her students were able to convince Healthy Connections, Inc. and the TEA Coalition that funds provided for purchase of infant simulators to be dispensed through the educational cooperative would potentially benefit every student in the county. The classroom set of simulators became available for use in the spring of 2000. The number of teen pregnancies at Acorn has declined and leveled off to two per year since 2000. In the fall of 2000, Acorn FCCLA used the infant simulators in their county fair booth.

Arkansas Legislative Act 1220 of 2003 mandates that schools include as part of each student’s health report to parents an annual body mass index percentile. Hays students have assisted the school nurse by using the body mass calibrators to measure and explain BMI to the elementary students. As a follow-up, students developed PowerPoint© presentations designed to teach the elementary students about diet and nutrition.

Hays and her students increase visibility and support of the program by using the digital cameras to photograph activities and compose articles for release to school and local newspapers. They also use the cameras to take photos during guest speaker presentations which can be incorporated into thank you cards to be mailed to presenters. STAR Events participants regularly practice their presentations before the school board and community organizations such as the Optimist and Lions Clubs. Hays and her students have interfaced with Rich Mountain Community College in order to purchase their first digital camera and also to utilize RMCC’s Channel 19 broadcasting facilities to practice, personally critique and share their STAR Events presentations with the community.

Hays has collaborated with the other local workforce education instructors to develop and maintain a comprehensive advisory council of parents, business and community members and students who meet annually and receive interim updates via email. In addition to increasing visibility of Acorn’s workforce education program, the advisory council contributes many suggestions for program improvement, including technology uses and updates. Currently, Acorn FACS students are enthusiastically learning resource conservation through use of the latest electronic technology in the General Electric Profile washer and dryer, a fall 2006 acquisition resulting from advisory council suggestions and contributions. Acorn FACS students continue to prove that technology is a wonderful classroom motivator as they take pride in demonstrating to visitors how the washer 'communicates' with the dryer to save both water and electricity!