September 23, 2016

By -
Happy Friday! It is Homecoming week is almost over, however this is the busiest day of the week. If you are not doing anything tonight, I am sure Mr. Utesch wouldn't mind having more help at the dance. Reminder we will dismiss after 4th period today, the pep rally/coronation will begin at 1:00 with the parade following. If you are on float clean up, please make sure everything is put into the dumpster behind the school.

Today is midterm for the 1st Quarter, please make sure grades are updated as progress reports will be sent out Monday. Beth and Amy will run them at 9:00 am.

 Thank you for your patience this week. I know homecoming is busy and their are lots of distractions for the students.

You may have seen a new face around the building as Angela Nilles has started working here and the middle school. She is from Plains Area and here to work with our students who are dealing with issues that Barry and Nicki may not have the time to work with. If you know of a student who may need additional support with handling grief, anger, etc. please refer them to Barry or Nicki and they will get it passed on to Angela. She will need to get the parents to sign a release before she can meet with them.

On Wednesday, we have our building PD time. This time will be used to continue working on your curriculum from the district inservice from the 21st. One final reminder, we have parent teacher conferences on Oct 3 and 6 from 5:00 to 8:30 pm.

 Have a great weekend,
Mark

Students as Leaders

Good Luck to the Big Red Band as they have their first contest on Saturday in Sioux City at Star Fest.

Staff News

Please continue to keep the families of Mr. Borchers and Mr. Jentz in your thoughts.

Staff as Learners

Next Friday, September 30th, Mary Westhoff, Lori Carter, Kurt Van Kley, and Shane Hessenius will be attending a math workshop in Sioux City.

Librarian's Corner

Copyright issues with images: When having students create digital productions such as PowerPoint presentations, videos, and slide shows, the safest way to make sure they avoid copyright issues is to have them use their own images. However, that is often not practical. In that case, encourage students to use photos or images through the royalty free site offered by www.iowaaeaonline.org of iClipart. There are millions of images and photos. Another option is to make sure students are using the Search tools in Google images and select the correct usage rights option. Google's support page offers step-by-step instructions at Find free-to-use images The best choice is to have student site their source, free or not.

Instructional Coaches' Corner

Please consider signing up for the PD class Teaching Practices that Promote Growth Mindset Development. It will be a great opportunity to learn more about the mindset principles and how to put them into practice in the classroom. Classes will be held on Thursdays at either 7 AM or 4 PM for eight sessions. Please let us know of your interest by filling out the Google form (sent via email) by September 30.

Articles Worth Reading


Upcoming Activities

Friday, September 23
- 1:00 pm Coronation
- 2:15 pm Parade
- 7:00 pm Varsity Football vs. Heelan
- 9:00 pm Homecoming Dance

Saturday, September 24
- Star Fest
- 8:00 am Varsity Volleyball @ Unity Christian
- 8:30 am JV Volleyball @ Hull Western Christian

Monday, September 26
- 6:30 pm JV Football @ Sergeant Bluff- Luton

Tuesday, September 27
- 4:30 pm Cross Country @ Rolling Hills Country Club
- 5:30 pm Freshmen and JV Volleyball @ Western Christian 
- 6:50 pm Varsity Volleyball @ Western Christian

Friday, September 30
- 7:00 pm Varsity Football @ Storm Lake

Monday, October 3
- 4:30 pm JV Volleyball @ SBL
- 5:00 pm Fr/Soph Football vs. MOC
- 5:00 pm Parent Teacher Conferences

Tuesday, October 4
- 4:00 pm Varsity/JV Cross Country @ Cherokee
- 5:30 pm Freshmen/JV Volleyball vs. Emmetsburg
- 6:50 pm Varsity Volleyball vs. Emmetsburg

Thursday, October 6
- 5:00 pm Parent Teacher Conferences
- 5:30 pm Freshmen/JV Volleyball @ Spirit Lake
- 6:50 pm Varsity Volleyball @ Spirit Lake

Friday, October 7
- 7:00 pm Varsity Football vs. Spencer


Be Extraordinary!
Mark

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

March 7, 2025

By -
Image
  Friday Focus  Happy Friday! I hope everyone had a great week.  On Monday, I attended a DCAP workshop. You may be asking what is a DCAP workshop? DCAP is our District Career Academic Plan. Just like the student ICAP, Individual Career Academic Plan, the district must have one also. In the DCAP, we spell out what we are doing to prepare our students for college career readiness and employability skills. The DCAP consists of 7 sections, the main sections deal with course planning, work-based learning, and 5 essential components of ICAP.  The course planning section deals with the students 4 year plan and how the students and parents are advised on progress towards graduation. This is why we have the grade level registration meetings, our 8th grade CTE day, 8th grade parent meeting, etc so we can meet this requirement.  I am sure by this point, you are asking yourself how does this apply to me? This gets us into the next few sections with what we do in class matte...
Read more

May 16, 2025

By -
Image
  Friday Focus Happy Friday! I hope everyone had a great week. We made it through graduation breakfast, practice, and award night. I was thinking that Wednesday is just as about as busy of a day as the Friday of homecoming for me.  This will be the last Friday Focus for the school year, so I'll try to remember to have everything you need to know to get through the last week of classes. Please remember contracts are due to Central Office on the 23rd. I do have a basket on my desk where you can turn it into me and I'll get it to Central Office.   We will be running the advisory schedule on Monday. On Tuesday, we will use the last day of school schedule. On the last day of classes students will be checking out. Please sign their check out sheets. If they have school property that needs to be returned, please document it on the sheet. During advisory that day, they will turn in their laptops. Please look at each laptop and make them turn it on for you. If there is any da...
Read more

September 19, 2025

By -
Image
  Friday Focus Happy Friday!   I hope everyone has had a great week. Today is midterm of the 1st quarter. Please make sure all grades are up to date. Amy will run midterms and we will hand them out during 8th period.   I have had my first PASS plan turned in, congrats to Ms. Hommes to be the first one to get one done. Unfortuately is is for a senior that needs his credits. Next week is homecoming, let the fun begin. Monday night at 7:30 pm is the coronation. Come out to the competition gym to see who will be crowned this year's King and Queen.  On Monday, we will have class meetings so students can sign up for the different competitions. Freshmen will be in the Little Theater, Sophomores in the Library, Juniors in the Commons, and Seniors in the Competition Gym. Teachers with the asterick by their name in the Teacher Handbook are the lead teachers and will need to take charge of these meetings.  Dress up days for Homecoming Week. YOU CAN PARTICIPATE!...
Read more