April 10, 2026

Friday Focus

Happy Friday! I hope everyone had a relaxing spring break. These last few weeks of school are going to cruise on by. 

We have hired a new science teacher for next year. His name is Thane Jackson. Thane will be graduating from Iowa State in May with his masters in Science Education. His undergraduate degree is in Biology. Thane's hometown is Clarion. He will be teaching Physics, Engineer Your World, Anatomy, and Human Physiology. We are excited to welcome him into the Bulldog family. 

I will now get started on creating the master schedule. I am hoping to have it completed by the end of April so we can get schedules out to students prior to the summer vacation. 

The school year is also coming to a very quick end for our seniors. Their last day of regular class is May 8. Those seniors that have to take semester test will take them on May 11 and May 12. Students have until the end of 5th period on the 12th to get their test completed. This will give the office time to get awards ready for the Senior Awards Ceremony on May 13. Graduation practice is also on May 13 at 9:45 am. This is a mandatory practice for the seniors. I will need all senior grades due on May 13 at 8:00 am. This will give us time to make sure all seniors have the required number of credits. If you have a senior that is failing, please talk with them about their grade. I have been having weekly meetings with Seniors who are in trouble. 

On Wednesday night, the Foundation is having their annual banquet. Tickets for this can be purchased at Central Office. At the banquet they will honor the teacher of the year, distinguished alumni, top 5%, employees of the month, and employees hitting milestone years of service. 

Prom will be next Saturday. Mrs. Wright will get you information on what times you need to be here to assist with this function. So break out your prom dress or suit and have a fun time on the 18th! 

Recognizing Excellence

The Le Mars Foundation is currently seeking nominations for Employee of the Month. We have an incredible team here; please take a moment to nominate a colleague who goes above and beyond. You can find the nomination form here.

_________________________________________________________________

Key Dates to Remember

April 10: Midterm 4th Qtr

April 15: Inservice

April 18: Prom

May 6: Inservice

May 8: Senior's Last Day of Regular Class

May 11-12: Senior Semester Tests

May 13: Graduation Practice

May 17: Graduation

May 20-22: Semester Tests Grades 9-11 (subject to change due to snow days)

Have a great weekend!
Mark

Assistant Principal's Happenings

Things to know:

Let's Play:  "Did you know?", Gemini edition:

*The Gemini (gemini.google.com) that is associated with your school account is both FERPA and COPPA approved - so you don't need to worry about accidentally including student information. (Your personal gmail account is not compliant.)

*It works just like ChatGPT.

*It can draw from your Drive seamlessly -- so you can upload documents to make revisions, come up with new ideas, etc.

*You can develop your own "AIs", called "Gems" -- you program your Gem on how to do its specific job.  These can be used as tutors for students, can help you sort through SpEd law, or even ask questions about what the student handbook says.

*You will receive more training on Gems next year.

*To know if your Gemini window is connected to your work Google account, look in the top right corner for the "Bulldog", and look for the shield/key icon in the prompt box (see screenshot below).

*The Tech Dept tells us that the main FERPA non-compliance issue we have is staff asking ChatGPT to help craft emails that include student names and/or classroom situations.  ChatGPT uses all information submitted to train future models and sell advertising, so it is not FERPA compliant.  Try using work Gemini for this task, instead.

*My personal recommendation is to make your school-account Gemini your first stop for work-related AI tasks.

If you have questions, let me know --  Gabe Davis is our on-site expert in Gemini and he would be happy to help as well.

 Grateful for our team -- Moss

Upcoming Activities

Friday, April 10

2:00 pm Varsity Girl Golf vs. Western Christian @ Prairie Rose GC

5:00 pm JV Girl Soccer vs. Sioux Center

5:30 pm JV Boy Soccer @ Sioux Center

6:30 pm Varsity Girl Soccer vs. Sioux Center

6:45 pm Varsity Boy Soccer vs. Sioux Center

Saturday, Apirl 11

9:00 am Boy/Girl Track @ Sioux City Relays

Monday, April 13

4:15 pm Boy/Girl Track @ Le Mars

Tuesday, April 14

1:00 pm Varsity Girl Golf @ TBD

4:00 pm Varsity Boy Tennis vs. SC West

5:00 pm JV Girl Soccer @ SC North

5:00 pm JV Boy Soccer vs. SC North

6:30 pm Varsity Girl Soccer @ SC North

6:30 pm Varsity Boy Soccer vs. SC North

Wednesday, April 15

6:30 pm Foundation Banquet - Convention Center

Thursday, April 16

4:00 pm Boy Tennis vs. ELC

4:00 pm Boy/Girl Track @ SC East (Elwood Olson)

5:00 pm JV Girl Soccer @ BHRV

5:00 pm JV Boy Soccer vs. BHRV

6:30 pm Varsity Girl Soccer @ BHRV

6:30 pm Varsity Boy Soccer vs. BHRV

Friday, April 17

5:00 pm Girl JV Soccer @ West Sioux

5:00 pm Boy JV Soccer vs. West Sioux

6:30 pm Girl Varsity Soccer @ West Sioux

6:30 pm Boy Varsity Soccer vs. West Sioux

Saturday, April 18

7:00 pm Promenade

8:45 pm Prom

Monday, April 20

4:30 pm Boy Track @ Knight Relays, Orange City

4:30 pm Girl Track @ Sheldon

Tuesday, April 21

10:00 am Girl Golf @ Willow Creek

2:00 pm Boy/Girl Track @ USD

4:00 pm Boy Tennis @ Spencer

4:00 pm Girl JV Soccer @ CB TJ

5:00 pm Boy JV Soccer vs. CB TJ

5:30 pm Girl Varsity Soccer @ CB TJ

6:30 pm Boy Varsity Soccer vs. CB TJ

Thursday, April 23

4:00 pm Boy Tennis vs. Spirit Lake

4:30 pm Girl JV Soccer @ Unity

5:00 pm Boy JV Soccer vs. Unity

5:45 pm Girl Varsity Soccer @ Unity

6:30 pm Boy Varsity Soccer vs. Unity

Friday, April 24

Noon - Girl Golf @ Willow Creek

5:00 pm Boy JV Soccer vs. Glenwood

6:30 pm Boy Varsity Soccer vs. Glenwood

7:30 pm Festival of Orchestras

Sunday, April 26

5:30 pm FFA Banquet - Fair Grounds

Monday, April 27

10:00 am Girl Golf vs. SBL @ Willow Creek

4:00 pm Boy Tennis @ Heelan

4:00 pm Boy Track @ Cherokee

Tuesday, April 28

4:00 pm Girl Track @ Cherokee

4:00 pm Boy Track @ Lawton Bronson

4:30 pm Boy JV Soccer @ SC East

5:00 pm Girl JV Soccer vs. SC East

6:00 pm Boy Varsity Soccer @ SC East

6:30 pm Girl Varsity Soccer vs. SC East

Thursday, April 30

7:30 pm Parade of Bands

Friday, May 1

2:00 pm Boys Tennis @ SBL

7:00 pm Spring Musical - Middle School Auditorium

Saturday, May 2

2:00 pm Spring Musical - Middle School Auditorium

7:30 pm Spring Muscial - Middle School Auditorium

Monday, May 4

4:00 pm Boy Tennis vs. SC East

4:30 pm Boy/Girl Track @ Storm Lake

6:00 pm Speech Banquet/Awards

 

Tuesday, May 5

9:00 am Boys Tennis @ SC North MRAC Championships

10:00 am Girls Golf @ Willow Creek

5:00 pm Girls JV Soccer vs SC West

5:30 pm Boys JV Soccer @ SC West

6:30 pm Girls Varsity Soccer vs. SC West

7:00 pm Boys Varsity Soccer @ SC West

Wednesday, May 6

9:00 am Girls Varsity Golf @ Whispering Creek

7:00 pm Alternative School Graduation

Thursday, May 7

1:00 pm Boys/Girls Track @ Heelan MRAC Conference Meet

5:00 pm Boys JV Soccer vs. MOC Floyd Valley

5:00 pm Girls JV Soccer @ MOC Floyd Valley

6:30 pm Boys Varsity Soccer vs. MOC Floyd Valley

6:30 pm Girls Varsity Soccer @ MOC Floyd Valley

Friday, May 8

Senior's Last Day of Regular Classes

10:00 am Girls Golf @ Sun Valley Golf Course

4:00 pm State Large Group Contest 

Monday, May 11

Seniors' Semester Test Day 1

9:00 am Girls Golf @ Dodge Riverside Golf Club MRAC Championships

5:00 pm Boys JV Soccer vs. SC Heelan

5:30 pm Girls JV Soccer @ SC Heelan

6:30 pm Boys Varsity Soccer vs. SC Heelan

7:00 pm Girls Varsity Soccer @ SC Heelan

Tuesday, May 12

Seniors' Semester Test Day 2

7:30 pm HS Vocal Concert @ Middle School Auditorium

Wednesday, May 13

8:45 am Senior Breakfast

10:00 am Graduation Practice

6:30 pm Senior Awards Night

Thursday, May 14

5:00 pm Girls JV Soccer vs. Storm Lake

5:00 pm Boys JV Soccer @ Storm Lake

6:30 pm Girls Varsity Soccer vs. Storm Lake

6:30 pm Boys Varsity Soccer @ Storm Lake

Sunday, May 17

3:00 pm HS Graduation

Monday, May 18

11:00 am Girls Golf @ Green Valley Golf Course

4:00 pm JV Baseball @ Heelan

5:00 pm Freshman Softball @ Heelan

6:30 pm JV Softball @ Heelan

Tuesday, May 19

4:00 pm Freshman Baseball @ Heelan

5:00 pm Girls JV Soccer vs. CB AL

5:30 pm Varsity Baseball vs. Heelan

5:30 pm Varsity Softball vs. Heelan

6:30 pm Varsity Soccer vs. CB AL

Wednesday, May 20

Semester Test Day 1

5:00 pm Freshman Softball @ SC North

5:30 pm JV Baseball @ SC North

Thursday, May 21

Semester Test Day 2

9:00 am Boys/Girls Track @ State

4:00 pm Freshman Baseball @ SC North

5:30 pm Varsity Baseball vs. SC North

5:30 pm Varsity Softball vs. SC North

Friday, May 22

Semester Test Day 3

9:00 am Boys/Girls Varsity Track @ State

3:15 pm Freshman Baseball vs. MOC Floyd Valley

5:30 pm JV Baseball vs. MOC Floyd Valley

7:30 pm Varsity Baseball vs. MOC Floyd Valley