SANDPOINT — From lunch and weather announcements, to daily reminders and jokes, Sagle Elementary’s “550 News” has it all.

The daily news, which started several years ago, is named for the school’s address — 550 Sagle Road, said Principal Kathy Berget. The fifth- and sixth-grade students run the program, rotating responsibilities for the broadcast.

“These kids prepare the news, they do all of the behind the scenes and the electronics,” Berget said, adding that some of the equipment includes the video camera and computer, the xylophone to cue the broadcast, and even a weather station where the students can get an accurate forecast each day. “Then they come to the office and find out what are current things happening ... they are responsible for gathering all of that information, they rehearse, and they give each other feedback.”

Gretta Beck, Elly Engstrom, Kiana Tieri, Bailey Lancaster, Madison Hall, Brecken Mire, Jaden Peratos were recognized for their work on the daily news by Lake Pend Oreille School District trustees during last week’s board meeting.

Throughout the school year, principals from each school in the district have presented to the board, answering two main questions: What is unique or special about your school? And what strategies are taking place this year that are different that the school is instituting to get more students learning more?” For each presentation, students have been chosen for recognition for their various achievements.

Gretta, Elly, Kiana and Bailey were in attendance at the meeting and shared some of their favorite things about the broadcast as well, such being on camera with friends,

“I like being on the broadcast because you see yourself when you watch the news,” Kiana said.

Gretta, however, said she prefers working the computer and staying behind the scenes. “I don’t really like being on the broadcast,” she said.

Berget continued the presentation with details on some of the other student activities, including the Mars Rover after-school club for fifth- and sixth-graders. The Mars Rover program is supported by a grant, she said, and includes Lego robotics and a competition held at the University of Idaho in April. Sagle Elementary also has a math club, which LPOSD trustee Gary Suppiger has been the advisor for several years. Fifth- and sixth-grade students in the club come in before school on Tuesdays and Thursdays, Berget said, and then Suppiger takes them to two different math competitions in April.

To ensure students are learning and making academic gains, Berget said, this is the time of year when staff takes a look at some of the instructional strategies. At the beginning of the year, she said, each student sets their own academic goals. The students are now looking at those goals and making adjustments. The teachers look at those goals and the data to see where each student is at and areas they may need to work on, she said.

“We know we have great curriculum, we have great teaching, but what we really want to make sure is, are these students learning what we want them to be learning, are they retaining it, and are they learning at an appropriate rate,” Berget said.

Instructional strategies to ensure the students are learning and retaining the information include small group instruction, test-taking strategies, small group interventions and individual instruction through programs such as Imagine Learning and Istation.

Berget said they also utilize the district’s ELA and math coaches, Kathleen Olson and Kathy Prummer.

“They are phenomenal in the support they offer our teachers,” Berget said.

The final strategy Berget detailed was the collaborative time staff utilizes to review student data.

“We spend a lot of time looking at data and what it tells us,” she said. “... A lot of times teaching can be in isolation, so we want to make sure we spend a lot of time together, too, because we can look at the data collectively and sometimes we see different things than when we just look at it by ourselves.”

Mary Malone can be reached by email at mmalone@bonnercountydailybee.com and follow her on Twitter @MaryDailyBee.