Do you miss the in-person Scholastic Book Fairs? Well, you can shop online for your books starting October 26th! Check out this special Buffett event.

Key Points:

• Fully remote students will not be assessed.
  

• We will follow an alternate bell schedule Nov. 9-12.

• Nov. 13 we will follow a normal bell schedule.

• Lunch time, Nov. 9-12, will be at the same time as it always is for your student.

• Remote students will take part in Digital Citizenship Lessons while in-person students are taking the assessments. These lessons may be with a different teacher than their block 1-2 teachers, so watch emails for Teams meeting invites.

• Students will be assigned some asynchronous work during the block of time students are taking assessments at school. They may not be with a teacher the whole block (7:40-10:00).

• At 10:04, students will move through their day following the order of their classes and the adjusted bell schedule.
  

Heather Garrelts earned her teaching certification from the University of Nebraska at Kearney and then went back to earn her Master of Education degree to be a reading specialist. This is her 13th year in education, but her first year as a middle school teacher and her first year with OPS. Heather has previously taught high school English and reading courses at Lexington High School and Crete High School in Nebraska. Her passion in education is helping students to not only read, but also to know that reading is fun!

Heather has been married to her husband, Jon, for almost 16 years and they have one daughter, Kiya, who is 15! They have family all around the country, but they are mostly divided up between Nebraska and Iowa. Her poor Husker husband married a Haweye wife from a Hawkeye family! They love to travel and attend all of Kiya's activities. She is a busy girl between dance, volleyball, cheer, theater activities, music and band activities, unified bowling, and many other groups. Heather also loves reading and crafting in her spare time as well as walking her dog, Jaxson. Welcome to Buffett, Mrs. Garrelts!

With cold and flu season on its way as well as COVID still around, we need to be more diligent than ever! Here are some reminders for our students:

Marisa McClintock was recognized as the 2020 Middle School Art Educator of the Year by the Nebraska Art Teachers Association. This is awarded to a member of NATA/NAEA who teaches art to middle school students and has made additional outstanding contributions in art education beyond the classroom, including school, district, community, state and/or national levels. Marisa accepted her award during the Nebraska Art Teachers Association's virtual Fall Conference. Additionally, Marisa was selected to have her art shown in the conference's juried art exhibition. She also had the joy of sharing her passion for printmaking techniques with her colleagues during this conference. Marisa appreciates this honor and is, "humbled and grateful."

Mrs. McClintock enjoys being both an artist and an art educator. She is currently in her eighth year of teaching. She works at Alice Buffett Magnet Middle School as a 5th, 6th, 7th, and special needs art teacher. You can find her in her happy place when she is teaching her Bobcat friends! Marisa holds a BS in Art Education (k-12) from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. In addition to being an Art Club sponsor, Marisa has a passion for coaching cross country and track for the Bobcats. She was honored to receive the Marvin Spomer Novice Art Educator Award from the Nebraska Art Teachers Association in 2015. When not making art or teaching, Marisa finds joy spending time with her beloved husband and dog. Marisa enjoys her faith community, and she draws upon its teachings in her creations. She is an avid runner, and she can often be found with her nose in a book or attending yoga classes. Check out some of Marisa's adventures on Twitter @artsymcclintock or her website http://marisamcclintock.weebly.com. Congratulations, Mrs. McClintock!

Mr. Tolliver was recognized as the Sweet 98.5 Top Teacher for the week of October 19th. He was featured on Mornings with Nikki and Laura. Mr. Tolliver graduated with his Bachelor's degree from the University of Nebraska at Omaha. This is his 6th year teaching 7th and 8th grade English Language Arts at Buffett. Mr. Tolliver also sponsors SAKA, Buffett's Gay-Straight Alliance group, to help students in the LGBTQ community and their allies. When asked about his biggest reason for teaching, Mr. Tolliver said, "Students, of course. My students drive me to try and do better in and out of the classroom and make the effort worth everything." Buffett is excited that his excellent work as a teacher who inspires students to feel safe at school is being recognized. Congratulations, Mr. Tolliver.