Raymond Central Public Schools
May 2019
End of the Year Elementary Information
REPORT CARDS . . . may be picked up in the elementary school offices starting on May 28. All fines, library books, and lunch accounts must be paid before cards can be picked up. Summer elementary office hours 7AM-3:30PM. Last day for secretaries to be in offices is June 7. Please call before you come to be sure someone is in the office. Office staff may be attending summer training, working elsewhere in the buildings, etc. Ceresco-402-665-3651; Valparaiso-402-784-3301. Thank you. PTO POOL PARTY . . . To kick off the beginning of the school year, the pool party will be held on Saturday, August 10, 2019 6-8PM at the Wahoo pool. A free will donation will go towards PTO fundraising. All families with elementary students are welcome! CLEANING OUT YOUR CLOSET? SCHOOLA . . . is an online consignment store for fundraising. Please contact Lynette Windhorst at lwindhorst@gmail.com for more information and if you have questions. Spring cleaning is a great time to donate items for this cause.
Jr High Track
Burton’s art brings tree, bench to school
WRITTEN BY LISA BRICHACEK, FEATURED IN THE WAVERLY NEWSPAPER
VALPARAISO – Arbor Day saw a new tree planted on the Valparaiso Elementary campus, and it came with a bench too.
The tree and bench donated by Nebraska 811 came thanks to Raymond Central Fourth Grader Millie Burton and her winning poster.
Burton entered a drawing contest offered this past December by Nebraska 811, Nebraska residents are required to call 811 before digging. The Nebraska One Call Notification Act was established in 1994 to protect underground facilities, the excavating public and the general public. The Act creates one point of communication between the excavating public and the underground utilities.
Nebraska 811 Damage Prevention Liason Jill Geyer was at the school last Friday morning to congratulate Burton for being one of 11 contest winners across the state.
She said Burton’s artwork stood out from the 468 entries because it not only had the “call before you dig” message on it, but it also conveyed this year’s theme, which featured a pirate.
That is exactly what Burton had hoped. She said she likes to draw and wanted to include the pirate after watching the Nebraska 811 video at school.
Geyer said Burton’s winning artwork will also be placed onto a billboard. No location for that has been announced yet.
The program at the school on Friday included planting a tree and offering the Nebraska 811’s message to all of the third and fourth graders who had assembled outside.
“It’s so important you do that, they made it a law,” Geyer told the students about the digger’s hotline.
She added the goal is to get youth informed about the law so they are aware and can help spread the message as well.
“You are not shy and you can teach others these things. So, we are asking you to help educate your community,” Geyer said.
The bench will be placed inside the school for right now and has a plaque with the Nebraska 811 message.
For being a winner in the contest, Burton also got to visit the state capital earlier in the month. She got to meet Lt. Gov. Mike Foley and got to tour the capital. She had been there before, but she said it was fun getting a personal tour.
SUGGESTED DONATION SCHOOL SUPPLY LIST FOR 2019-2020 RAYMOND CENTRAL ELEMENTARY AT CERESCO
In order to assist parents in beating the August rush for buying fall school supplies we have compiled a list of materials teachers are suggesting that your children bring in the fall. Although we cannot anticipate every supply need at this time, these are the major items teachers have suggested. Hope this is helpful!
KINDERGARTEN: 4 boxes of 24 count crayons, 4 large glue sticks (Elmer’s brand), 6 Expo dry erase markers, 2 boxes of Crayola washable markers (primary colors), plastic pencil box, 2 spiral notebooks (wide ruled), 1 box of tissues, scissors, and a backpack to transport papers back & forth between school and home.
1st GRADE: 2 boxes of Crayons (24 count or less), 3 large glue sticks (Elmer’s brand), 2 boxes Crayola markers, 2 boxes of tissues, 8 Expo brand dry erase markers, 2 Expo erasers, scissors,
1 box Ticonderoga pencils, pencil top erasers, pencil box, back pack, 4 plastic folders with metal prongs (1 blue, 1 orange, 1 green, 1 yellow), GIRLS – 1 box Ziploc bags (quart size); BOYS – container of Clorox wipes.
2nd GRADE: 2 boxes of Crayons (24 count or less), 1 box of tissues, 1 spiral notebook (wide ruled), 2 expo markers, 4 glue sticks, 2 plastic folders (1 red, 1 green), GIRLS – 100 piece puzzle; BOYS – container of Clorox wipes.
3rd GRADE: Pencils with erasers (as needed), a big eraser, colored pencils and markers, 1 pocket folder, 1 one inch 3 ring notebook, 1 large glue stick, a black fine point marker, 1 spiral notebook for journaling, and 1 box of tissues (175-200 count).
4th GRADE: 3 notebooks (Personal, Composition, & Math Journal), #2 pencils with erasers, 2 big erasers, crayons, magic markers or colored pencils, 1 box of tissues (175-200 count), 1 package of loose leaf paper, glue stick, scissors, 4 Expo brand dry erase markers, and 4 different colored pocket folders.
5th GRADE: Pencils and pens (please continue to supply throughout year), 1 yellow highlighter,
5 packs of regular sized Post-it notes (any color), 1 purple pocket folder, 1 blue pocket folder,
3 boxes of Kleenex, a standard sized backpack, and 5 single subject spiral notebooks – wide ruled: 3 purple, 1 blue, 1 choice.
COUNSELOR:
Kindergarten – cheap paper plates or Ziploc bags any size
1st or 2nd Grade – glue stick or glitter glue
3rd or 4th Grade - deck of playing cards or Sharpie marker any size or color
5th Grade – 1/2" cloth ribbon or google eyes any size2019 Raymond Central Volleyball Camp:
Camp Dates:
Monday, June 17th- Tuesday, June 18th (incoming 3-5th grade)
Wednesday, June 19th- Thursday, June 20th (incoming 6-8th grade)
Monday, June 17th- Thursday, June 20th (incoming 9th-12th grade)
Camp Times:
Incoming 3-5 and 6-8 grade athletes: 9:00-12:00 p.m. Lunch will NOT be provided
Incoming 9-12 grade athletes: 1:00-4:00 p.m. Lunch will NOT be provided
Camp Location:
Raymond Central High School - Main Gymnasium
Cost:
$25 per athlete
Questions? Please contact:
Andrea Rockemann: arockem@rcentral.org
or
Tasha Osten: tosten@rcentral.org
Boys Basketball Players, Parents, and Fans
I am excited to become the new Boys Basketball coach and a new social studies teacher at Raymond Central High School. I look forward to meeting and working with everyone as soon as I can. Together we can develop the habits and skills necessary for long term success!
Player dates to know:
-Mustang team camp: June 3rd-5th from 8-10 am.
-Concordia Team Camp: June 13th: more info to follow at Mustang camp.
-Open gyms and skill workouts will be announced later.
Follow @hoops_RC on Twitter for more announcements and information
Go Mustangs!
-Coach Placke
Donating without spending any extra money may sound too good to be true but if you’re already an Amazon shopper, then welcome to AmazonSmile. Anyone with an Amazon account can shop through smile.amazon.com and donate 0.5% of their Amazon purchases to Raymond Central Teammates. The great thing about this is, you do not donate your own money, the donation comes from Amazon!
“AmazonSmile is the same Amazon you know. Same products, same prices, same service,” according to the AmazonSmile website. The AmazonSmile website looks identical to the regular Amazon website, the only difference is that you’re making a difference with your purchases.
The donations raised through AmazonSmile will go to support student scholarships and background checks for mentors. Through your Amazon account, it is possible to track not only how much money you have personally donated to the cause but you can also see how much the organization as a whole has acquired through the program.
If you already shop at Amazon, please consider going through AmazonSmile. Very few items on the website are not AmazonSmile eligible.
To set up your donation, visit https://smile.amazon.com and search Teammates Mentoring Program. If you are already supporting a program and would like to switch to TeamMates Mentoring Program, look for the yellow writing under the search box that says “supporting;” selecting that will bring up an option to change.
Sign-up today at smile.amazon.com!
Raising kids is hard. Its OK to ask for advice.
The Nebraska Family Helpline is a free resource for parents with kids of all ages, who have any type of question regarding their child's behavior. The Nebraska Family Helpline (1-888-866-8660) provides a single point of access to children’s behavioral health services through the operation of a free, 24 hour, year round Helpline for parents, guardians, youth relatives and professionals. The Helpline offers a range of assistance, including 24/7/365 crisis intervention and support, referrals to local resources and information for families so that they can make educated decisions.
TeamMates Scholarship Recipient
The Raymond Central TeamMates Board allocated its first ever scholarship to Suzanne a 2019 graduate! Suzanne and her mentor, Alice Pecka have been meeting once a week since Suzanne was a fourth grader! Every young person deserves to have someone to turn to. The mission of the TeamMates Mentoring Program is to impact the world by inspiring youth to reach their full potential. Right now, TeamMates is serving close to 8,000 youth in more than 130 communities across Nebraska and Iowa. Mentors meet with their mentees one-on-one in school, once a week, during the academic year.
Raymond Central currently has 16 matches in place, with a goal to serve 30 youth by 2022 and create a culture of mentoring in the Raymond Central community. The Raymond Central TeamMates Board’s focus will be to match all 2019-2020 third grade students who would like to have a mentor with a TeamMate by the end of the 2020 school year!
Mentees can be nominated one of three ways. They can be nominated by a parent, a school staff member, or self-nomination. Mentors are not tutors, counselors, nor are they there to “fix” anything— they’re there to be friends. Mentors are matched with mentees based on interests and life experiences.
Mentors come from all walks of life. They can be young adults or retired professionals. What they have in common is a genuine desire to positively influence young people. Simply put, - mentors are adults who offer support, friendship and a positive example to young people.
Young people want and need to spend time with positive, successful adult role models. They thrive on consistent encouragement and guidance from a caring adult and are better equipped to succeed if they have guidance in setting and achieving their goals. Students report greater engagement at school when mentors focus on strengths. Peer and parent relationships improve as well as resiliency to the pressures of drug and alcohol abuse. Not only does TeamMates increase students’ grades, attendance, and behavior, but most importantly their sense of hope.
Interested?
1. Apply to https://teammates.org/become-a-mentor/apply/ fill out our online application
2. Attend a training session
3. Match!
Meet once a week at school, throughout the school year.
• Have lunch together
• Play board games or work on puzzles
• Share a hobby
• Stroll school grounds
• Research colleges or jobs of interest to your mentee
• Help create a resume or cover letter
• Shoot hoops or play catch
DARE Program
Raymond Central 5th grade students celebrated the completion of the DARE program with graduation ceremonies in both elementary buildings. Ceresco fifth-graders graduated on May 3, and Valparaiso fifth-graders graduated on May 16. DARE—which stands for Drug Abuse Resistance Education—is a program that fifth-grade students participate in throughout the school year. The classes are led by Officer Thomas Janecek of the Saunders County Sheriff’s Department. Officer Janecek has been teaching the program for the past 16 years. The program is designed to educate students on the effects of drugs and informs students about ways to resist drugs. The program also teaches students effective communication strategies and ways to handle situations such as bullying. Although the ten classes are completed by the end of the first semester, Officer Janecek makes it a priority to check in with the students throughout the year. His presence is known not just in the fifth-grade classrooms but in the schools and community. A special thank you to all Officer Janecek has done and continues to do for the DARE program along with the support of the Saunders County Sheriff's Department!