The Hawkeye
West Harrison's March Newsletter
Mr. Marty Fonley
As we start the month of March it looks like we are starting to turn the corner on the weather. Over the next few weeks, the forecast is calling for some nice warm temperatures which should help melt away some of the snow. Unfortunately, as that snow starts to melt away many of our gravel roads start to turn into mush. The transportation department has sent out information regarding hard surface road routes. We hope that we won’t have to use them this spring but we want to be prepared. If your children ride the bus, you should have received a note with information about pickup points and scheduled time. If you did not, please contact the school to get information specific to your children. If we need to switch to hard surface road routes in the future we will do our best to give you as much notice as possible and will post an announcement as we do with other weather-related changes.
A draft calendar for the 2021-22 school year is now available. This calendar will be considered for adoption at the school board’s March meeting next week. A link is available below, if you have thoughts you wish to share regarding the calendar.
At their February meeting, the school board adopted calendar changes to address snow days that have been missed this school year. School will be in session on April 6th, May 26th, May 27th, and May 28th. If we have had at least 1080 student contact hours by May 28th, students will not be required to return to school after Memorial Day. We will keep an eye on this throughout the rest of the spring. Hopefully, the weather will cooperate with us for the remainder of the year.
Also, at their February meeting, the school board instructed administrators to look for ways to provide full-day preschool for all preschoolers who wanted that option for the 2021-22 school year. Our intent is to have details finalized in the coming months. We know all-day preschool not being available this year (due to COVID) was a hardship for many families.
On a related topic, we are also in the process of developing a wraparound childcare option for families who are interested in this service. The goal is to have this available to families who wish to take advantage before school, starting at 6:30 am and after school until 6:00 pm.
This service would also be available during early outs for teacher inservice. The wraparound childcare program would be available at an additional cost. Details with this program are still being developed and more information will be made available as those specifics are finalized. Also, be on the lookout for future surveys to gain information on the numbers of students and families that may have interest in this type of opportunity for wraparound childcare.
Have a great weekend!
Marty
Mrs. Casey Ring
During the month of March, our middle and high school students will be virtually attending teen workshops about mental health. This is done through the organization, Please Pass the Love. Our teaching staff will also be completing day 2 of our mental health training through PPTL on March 22 (in-service day) as well. In addition, PPTL has created a school mental health action plan, based on survey results, discussion with a team, and research-based findings. Our team plans to review this action plan and decide when and where to put action in place for the betterment of mental health across the school and community.
This is from PPTL's "What We Do:"
PLEASE PASS THE LOVE is committed to increasing school mental health (SMH) supports to improve the quality of life and educational opportunities for children, families, and educators as well as offer culturally responsive comprehensive services and evidence-based supports to school systems. We strive to bridge positive relationships between the educational and mental health communities to more effectively prevent and address mental health issues for our children and adolescents throughout the state of Iowa.
We believe school mental health needs to be comprehensive in order to address the complex and varied needs. Everything we do revolves around students, staff, families and community, because we know that effective school mental health is not one training or event. It is a climate transformation that benefits everyone.
Our teen workshops will take place on Mondays through March. Please take time to discuss the workshops with your teen and encourage them to speak to someone (a counselor, parent, friend, or teacher) if they are feeling overwhelmed or stressed. It is our hope that these workshops will give teens some tools to use with themselves and their peers.
Below you will see the three teen workshops planned to be offered to the middle and high school students at West Harrison in March.
Email: cring@w-harrison.k12.ia.us
Website: www.westharrison.school
Location: 410 Pine Street, Mondamin, IA, USA
Phone: 712-646-2231
It's OKAY To Not Be OKAY
Being a young person is hard. We know the world expects a lot out of you. This session will go over the basics of mental health and teen stress. Students will learn about mental health statistics, a general overview of healthy coping skills, warning signs, education on suicide, teen stress, and how to help a friend who is struggling.
Treat Yo'Self
March 15
Story Time
This session will teach students how to use their amazing voices to transform their schools into a supportive and safe environment for everyone! Students will do interactive and hands-on activities that help them share their story and break the stigma attached to mental health.
Child Fair for West Harrison Community Schools
West Harrison will hold New Kindergarten and Four Year Old Preschool Roundup and Child Fair on Wednesday, April 14th. The roundup/child fair will run from 9:00 am – 12:00 pm. Please call the school at 712-646-2016 to schedule an appointment. You must have an appointment to attend.
New kindergarten/preschool student requirements are as follows:
- All Immunizations
- Physical
- Dental Screening (Kindergarten)
- Birth Certificate – (to verify birthdate)
- Copy of Social Security Card
- Copy of Insurance Card/Medicaid card
Please bring these items on April 14th. Any questions please call 712-646-2016.
Drivers Wanted
We are looking for substitute bus drivers for things like field trips, sporting events, activities, and different routes that tend to pop up. We will pay for you to take the necessary classes. Please contact the school and/or Dave Kuhlman if you are interested!
Haley Koch Joins the 1000 Point Club
Congratulations Haley Koch for joining the 1000 point club! Haley is the 4th Hawkeye athlete in 5 on 5 girls basketball to reach 1000 points. Haley finished her high school career with 1052 points.
Congratulations Emily McIntosh!
Emily already held the School Record for 298 rebounds in one season and the School Record for 26 rebounds in one game.
Prom 2021
Prom 2021, "Enchanted Evening", will be held on Saturday, April 10th at the school. Juniors, Seniors, and their dates will begin the night with pictures, in the west gym, by Michelle Garside from Dunlap.
The Grand March will begin at 6:30 p.m., we are working on a plan to make the march a safe and socially distanced event for family & friends. Following the grand march, all prom attendees will go to the school commons for a delicious meal catered by Lidderdale Catering from Lidderdale, Iowa. At 7:00 p.m. attendees will go to the west gym for a fun night of dancing by James Cloyd with Talk About It Entertainment from Omaha, Nebraska. Following the dance, at 11:30 p.m. everyone will board the bus for post-prom fun at The Amazing Pizza Machine in Omaha.
The Junior Class would like to thank everyone for supporting us in raising funds to make prom 2021 a success!
Deb Evans - School Nurse
March is National Nutrition Month
We Can! (Ways to Enhance Children’s Activity & Nutrition) is a national education program designed to give parents and communities a way to help children learn to eat nutritious foods. As parents, you can do a lot to help your children learn healthy eating habits and maintain a healthy weight. Involving them in meal preparation and cooking can motivate them to try new foods – and is a good way to spend time together as a family.
What is a “healthy” diet?
A healthy eating plan is one that:
· Emphasizes fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and low-fat or fat-free milk products.
· Includes lean meats, poultry, fish, beans, eggs, and nuts.
· Is low in saturated fats, trans fats, cholesterol, sodium/salt, and added sugars.
· Stays within your calorie needs.
Focus on Healthy Food Choices - Choose the GO, SLOW, and WHOA foods:
GO FOODS – are the lowest in fats and added sugar. They are nutrient-dense with a better source of vitamins, minerals, and other nutrients important to health. Examples of GO foods are fruits, vegetables, whole grains, fat-free and low-fat milk products, lean meats, poultry, fish, beans, egg whites, or egg substitutes.
SLOW FOODS - are higher in fat, added sugar, and calories. SLOW foods include vegetables with added fat, white refined bread flour, low- fat mayonnaise, 2% low fat milk products, peanut butter, pizza, baked chips, and mac and cheese. Have slow foods sometimes.
WHOA FOODS – are the highest in fat and sugar. They are calorie-dense foods and low in vitamins, minerals, and other needed nutrients. Have WHOA foods once in a while, and when you do have them, have small portions. Examples of WHOA foods are whole-milk products, fried foods, bakery sweets, candy, soda, chips, sugary cereals, and creamy salad dressings.
Hungry for more? Visit the WE CAN! Web site at http://wecan.nhlbi.nih.gov Visit the Keep the Beat: Deliciously Healthy Eating web site at http://hin.nhlbi.nih.gov/healthyeating
Bon Appetit!
Deb Evans, RN West Harrison Community Schools Nurse 712-646-2231
Mrs. Marshall - School Counselor
Lots of exciting things have been happening in the High School. Students going into the 9-12th grade for the school year 2021-2022 have completed class registration. This will help drive the master schedule. Students will walk out in May with their next year’s schedule complete. Changes can be made up through the first two days of semester one in the fall.
Juniors took the ACT online this year. This is the first year this was done online, but the 5th year all juniors have taken the ACT here at West Harrison. It went smooth and was a great opportunity for juniors to have their first ACT test paid for courtesy of the school. This gives students a baseline for those wishing to attend a four-year college so they know areas to work on. ACT scores are also used for eligibility to take certain college classes West Harrison offers through Western Iowa Tech Community College online, such as English, Math, Health Science classes. ACT scores also are used as placement scores for math and English in the trade programs and community college. The ACT provides great data for the school to look at how juniors as a whole are doing in the four core areas of English, Math, Reading, and Science. Thanks for everyone doing their best! The first year of online ACT was a success.
Ms. Maguire - Kindergarten
Dear Hawkeye Families,
My name is Laurie Maguire and this is my first year at West Harrison as a Kindergarten teacher. I was a preschool teacher for sixteen years, so I have a lot of experience with young children, and I love teaching this age group! We have just completed our third unit in reading. Our unit test scores are good, so they are learning. We are moving from addition to subtraction in mathematics, and in Science, we will be learning about plants and animals.
February and March are two of my favorite months to teach! The weather, not so much, but there’s a lot of fun to be had in the classroom during this time. On Tuesday, February, 9th, we celebrated one hundred days of school! This was a new experience for our classroom, as none have celebrated one hundred days of school before. The students were asked to fill a large Ziplock bag with one hundred items from home. We had a lot of great items; Legos, marshmallows, toothpicks, coins, cereal, cheerios, and beads. We counted one hundred Fruit Loops and made a necklace. It looked like a Fruit Loop explosion all over the floor by the time we were done. The students received one hundred day crowns, bracelets, and stickers. We also attempted putting together 100 piece puzzles. Only two puzzles were actually completed, but it was a fun attempt.
The same week we celebrated Valentine’s Day. We made valentines for our families and the students were very excited to celebrate this day of love.
As we move towards March, we will celebrate the birthday of Dr. Seuss! One of the greatest and beloved child authors. I will ask students to bring their favorite Dr. Seuss books, and I will surprise them by dressing up as The Cat in the Hat!
Stay well and be happy!
Ms. Maguire
Mrs. Stolz - Elem PE, MS Math and Talented & Gifted
Elementary PE
The elementary students have had fun in PE this year. A few of the activities we have enjoyed are flag tag, ball tag, Monster from Mars tag, volleyball, dodgeball, one-hand touch football, scoop ball games, badminton, bowling, and scooter games to name a few. We also participated in Iowa’s Healthiest State Walk in October. We are already looking forward to elementary track and field day on Friday, May 7th!
Middle School Math
In math class, students have completed units on exponents and scientific notation; transformations; linear relationships; Pythagorean Theorem and irrational numbers; proportional relationships and percentages; and rational number arithmetic.
Some of the topics studied have been exponent rules; rational and irrational numbers; side lengths and areas of squares; square and cube roots; dilations, rotations, and similarity; scaled factors and copies; scale drawings; slope; graphing and proportional relationships; proportional relationships with fractions; percent increase and decrease; applying percentages; negative numbers; adding, subtracting, multiplying and dividing rational numbers; four operations with rational numbers; solving equations. Students have worked in groups to explore and answer problems. Some great conversations have happened and students have shown great teamwork. We will continue working on linear equations, graphing, expressions, equations, and inequalities to finish out the year.
TAG/enrichment
Students in TAG/enrichment have been busy with many activities since September. They have worked on logic puzzles, apple investigations, passion projects, completed numerous STEM activities, made homemade butter, built a balloon car, made our own wands to blow bubbles, helped with Red Ribbon Week, we have done some coding, made bouncy balls, critical thinking activities, experimented with frosting and colors, written stories, made Valentine’s to send to the elderly in our communities and ACT prep…this is just to name a few. We will finish the year with more hands-on, critical thinking activities.
Mr. Work - K-12 Instrumental/Vocal Music and Drama
Hello from the music and drama departments at West Harrison! This year has provided numerous challenges for everyone and this definitely includes the music and drama departments, but even with these challenges, the departments continue to work hard to learn about and perform music.
The high school band was able to work outside this fall and marched at home football games and the homecoming parade. Once we moved indoors students began working on skill books to work on their technique, range, and fluidity with their instruments as well as working in small groups spread out in the gym. The middle school band also got a taste of marching this fall with the homecoming parade and also working on skill books and small groups. Both groups are slowly transitioning back to full group performance as we hope to finish the year off with almost normal concerts!
The high school and middle school choirs have been working in small groups, a stretch for many of the students. The first concert in December explored Broadway music ranging from selections from Hamilton, The Greatest Showman, Newsies, and Les Miserables. Both groups are currently working on small group songs for end-of-the-year concerts and we will be beginning the transition back to full groups toward the end of the year!
Our elementary band and choir are developing their skills and beginning their preparations for the end-of-year events. And finally our elementary classes have been working on the identification of musical elements such as pitch, tempo, and melody using online games and websites and for the first time since December 2019, are going to begin preparations for an end of the year performance!
Meanwhile, 16 students participated in the middle school play, The Worstest Play Ever Wrote on November 6. The HS will perform their show later this month called Back to Eden, a drama with comedic elements and commentary on life and the social constructs that come with it. The performance will be on March 26 and 27.
I want to say how proud I am of the students at all levels in what they have accomplished this year with all the challenges we have faced and I look forward to our transition back to normalcy as we progress to the end of the year!