DuneNews
Duneland School news for parents, students and teachers
Thursday, June 25, 2020 Vo. 54 No. 45
Message from the Superintendent
Thank you to parents and staff that have submitted survey responses that will inform the DSC reopening plan for the 2020-21 school year. A team of 90+ DSC staff members have been working to develop a draft copy of the plan that will be sent to all parents and staff next Wednesday afternoon (July 1st) in the DuneNews. A link will be provided for students, parents and staff to provide feedback on the plan. DSC Administration will review feedback and finalize the plan before presenting to the school board on July 13th. A timeline for plan development and review is outlined below:
2020-21 Reopening Plan Development Timeline
July 1 – Draft copy of reopening plan shared with students, parents and staff in DuneNews
- Link to be provided for feedback
July 1-6 – Student, parent and staff feedback submitted
July 6-12 – Student, parent and staff feedback reviewed and adjustments to plan considered
July 13 – Presentation to school board with recommendation for plan adoption
July 14 – Plan shared with students, parents and staff
July 15 – Online registration opens for 2020-21 school year
Thank you for your continued support.
Dr. Chip Pettit
Chesterton ranks 7th of Indiana's Safest Cities of 2020
Chesterton was ranked as the safest community in Porter County according to SafeWise.com, a professional review website focusing on safety.
Cities and towns were chosen based on Federal Bureau of Investigations crime statistics and population data form the U.S. Census. The number of violent crimes and property crimes were used to calculate the crime rate per 1,000 people in each city, taking into consideration differing population sizes.
One common thread of the top 20 communities listed is that the violent crime rate was almost 90% less than the state average. In addition, property crimes were 70% less than the state average.
For more information visit Safewise or view this local newspaper article
STUDENT ACHIEVEMENTS
Speech and Debate wins National individual and team awards
Although Chesterton High School has competed at the National Speech and Debate Association’s end of the year National Tournament for each of the last 40 consecutive years, the team had little understanding of how this year’s offering would turn out. That is because the National Tournament, originally due to be held in Albuquerque, was instead shifted to a virtual tournament held over the past six days. Competitors for CHS qualified for the tournament via the normal district competition series. While some Chesterton students opted out of the experience, the tournament fielded its typical entry numbers continuing its tradition as the largest academic competition in the world. Featuring 1,332 schools and over 5,000 entries, this year’s tournament set a record for attendance at the culminating event.
Chesterton captured a ‘School of Honor’ award for its speech portion of the program, signifying a top 40 placing. The team was led in points by junior Lily Roberts who advanced into the second set of break rounds. Advancement to that quarterfinal round put Roberts in the top 30 in the nation in her event of Program of Oral Interp (POI). For the event of POI, students weave together different pieces of literature in the genres of prose, poetry, and dramatic literature to create a themed ten-minute performance of their own. Roberts POI utilized the theme of abuse to tell its story. Anna Sanders, a junior, qualified for the octafinal, or top 60, round with her Original Oratory titled ‘Cut it Out.’ Her ten-minute speech that she wrote and researched is about society’s tendency to take shortcuts. Anekah Fish, a senior, made the cut for the top 60 in Dramatic Interpretation. Like Roberts event, Fish had to interpret an authors’ work and condense the piece down to a ten-minute cutting. Fish utilized Gail Giles’ ‘Girls like us’ for her performance. Sophomore, Dylan Leavitt also advanced to the top 60 in Humorous Interpretation performing a cutting from the parody piece of ‘Mary Choppins,’ by Frank Joseph. Read more...
Five 'Grab and Go' Meals - Once a Week through July 31, 2020
Duneland Schools Child Nutrition and Wellness 'Grab and Go' meals will have a schedule change beginning next week. This is in an effort to lessen the burden of daily trips that families have to make to pick up Grab and Go meals.
DSC will now be distributing a week's worth of meals on Thursdays each week from 11:00 a.m.-Noon.
Beginning next week meal distribution will be normal Monday through Wednesday, June 15 - 17, and then on Thursday, June 18, students will begin receiving five (5) days of meals and will continue to get five (5) meals on every Thursday through July 31.
Just as the Summer Feeding program is able to feed all children ages 18 and under, the 'Grab and Go' meal program that Duneland Schools is currently running is able to feed any Duneland School student regardless of their economic status.
Vehicles will enter the CHS parking area through the entrance by the CHS Football Stadium. Follow signs to the distribution area and pull up to the curb for meal pick-up. Exit onto 1050 North.
Duneland Schools 4th Quarter Honor Rolls
Click on a link below to view each school's honor roll list:
Liberty Intermediate School (Revised 6/22/20)
CHS Class of 2020 Graduation set for July 24
The graduation ceremony for the Class of 2020 continues to be scheduled for Friday, July 24th at 7 p.m. on the CHS football field. We have been monitoring the situation closely and have been in direct communication with the Porter County Health Department to determine what is an acceptable number of patrons for this event. In efforts to try and ensure the safety of our students and families during this ceremony we believe that we can safely allow each student to bring four (4) guests to this ceremony. Students will be able to pick up their four (4) tickets next week when the seniors are allowed to return to CHS to bring back CHS materials and pick up their personal belongings. More information regarding the social distance guidelines during the graduation ceremony will be released next week.
We are excited that we are allowed to increase the number of tickets for the graduation ceremony per student from two to four, however this plan will be dependent on the guidance and direction from the Porter County Health Department at the time of the event.
In the event of inclement weather, the graduation ceremony rain date will be Saturday, July 25 at 7 p.m.
Attention: All Duneland School Athletes Planning to Participate in School Sports
Because schools are closed until July 1 and there are many CHS athletes who need to turn in their information, Chesterton High School is providing a digital way to turn in information ahead of time. This will enable the CHS staff to gather and organize a great deal of information prior to the July 1 date.
Chesterton Middle School students can also visit the CHS Athletics website for more information on the steps to complete and upload paperwork and become eligible to participate in middle school sports.
Liberty Intermediate Acting Club Students Create Radio Broadcast Based on the Novel 'Holes'
The Acting Club from Liberty Intermediate School (LIS) began planning a play production before COVID-19 reared its ugly head. The play, based on the novel Holes written by Louis Sachar, was to be performed at both LIS and Chesterton High School so the public could attend, but things were abruptly cut short when schools closed and students started learning remotely. Although everyone in our club helped write the manuscript while school was in session, it was difficult to continue meeting during the pandemic.
“The kids were bummed they were not going to get to have their performance in May,” said LIS Acting Club sponsor Cris Petro, “so we continued to have Google Meet sessions until we finished. I did not want to let the kids down. They were amazing about meeting three days a week logging in several hours on Google Meet. I promised to allow them to actually act it on stage when we returned to school.”
After finding out that they would not return to school, Mrs. Petro encouraged the students to write to Mr. Sachar asking for permission to perform it as a radio broadcast. She had the students listen to Orson Wells, an American actor well remembered for his innovative work in radio, to give them an idea about how they could proceed with the performance and several of them were interested. After receiving permission from the author of the novel to perform the play as a radio broadcast, Mrs. Petro contacted Matt Waters, WDSO’s Radio Station Manager at Chesterton High School who immediately said he would love to air it on the station.
From that time forward, students began working on their scenes and giving people parts in remote Google Meet sessions. “We would produce at least seven broadcast scenes a day, but sometimes even more! Being a part of it was like being a part of a community,” said Alana Hernandez, student narrator/director. "Even though it was small, it was the best one yet, because the Acting Club had never done a broadcast/podcast."
Here is a sneak peek...When a pair of tennis shoes fell into Stanley Yelnats’ hands, he thought it was his lucky day. Boy, was he wrong! Maybe the curse on his great, great grandfather Stanley Yelnats was real and carried over to THIS Stanley Yelnats. Just as young Stanley was walking home the cops arrested him... and he was sent to Camp Green Lake, a camp for bad boys. Will Stanley be able to prove his innocence? Or is he doomed to dig holes in the desert the rest of his childhood life? And what are they digging for anyway? Listen to find out!
The play will be aired on CHS's WDSO 88.3 FM on Thursday, July 2 at 8 a.m., 5 p.m., and again at 8 p.m.
Teaching Remote Government and Economics
This class involves a module each day that covers a different topic in the curriculum. Each day there are a few assignments with a quiz included at the end. In addition, there are 10-minute 'lecture videos' with with Mr. Nallenweg teaching part of the lesson. The class involves mostly reading and short assignments for the students as well as a few 'discussions' where the students have to post a response to a question and reply to a few of their classmates. One of the discussion topics is voter turnout (especially youth turnout) in the United States. Mr. Nallenweg shows the students how to register to vote and encourages them to do so. The students have to do a few current event assignments on some of the topics covered in the course. Mr. Nallenweg is available for an hour each day on Google Meet (along with email) in order for the students to ask questions or receive help in the class.
Luke Starkey - Economics
This class is set up very similar to that of Mr. Nallenweg. Mr. Starkey has a button created on the home page of Canvas for each day that will take students to the work for that day. Mr. Starkey has every lecture and Powerpoint on Canvas, and each Powerpoint also has a recording of Mr. Starkey discussing the material. Econ is much more application as opposed to readings and discussions. The students have practice to complete for each topic. Each day they have a Google Form they need to fill out which is where they can ask any questions they want. They are also able to e-mail him directly. He takes those questions and answers them in a Google Doc that he shares with them each day. He also offers a Google Meet each day to clarify any confusion from the previous day's lesson.
The last day I'm going to include a couple digital escape rooms that I created in the spring. One is for fun and one is based on Econ.
Remote Student Summer Physical Education Assignment
Student Personal Property Pick-up and Curricular Material Return
- Elementary
- All K-4, curbside pickup:
- Tuesday, July 7th, 4:00 - 6:00 p.m.
- Wednesday, July 8th, Noon - 2:00 p.m.
- Thursday, July 9th from 8:00 - 10:00 a.m.
- Intermediate
- LIS & WIS – Building Open
- Wednesday, July 15th from 8:00 a.m. - 2:00 p.m.;
- Thursday, July 16th from 2:00 - 7:00 p.m.
- CMS
- Monday, July 13th
- 8th graders with last names beginning with letters A-L from Noon- 3:00 p.m. and 4:00 - 7:00 p.m.
- Tuesday, July 14th
- 8th graders with last names beginning with letters M-Z from Noon - 3:00 p.m. and 4:00 - 7:00 p.m.
- Wednesday, July 15th
- 7th graders with last names beginning with letters A-K from Noon - 3:00 p.m. and 4:00 - 7:00 p.m.
- Thursday, July 16th
- 7th graders with last names beginning with letters L-Z from Noon - 3:00 p.m. and 4:00 - 7:00 p.m.
- CHS (Corrected information as of 6/25/20 7:30 p.m.)
Students in grades 9-11 will have locker clean out & textbook drop off the week of July 6th. - July 6th (Last name beginning with A-F) Noon-5:00 p.m.
- July 7th (Last name beginning with G-L) Noon-5:00 p.m.
- July 8th (Last name beginning with M-R) Noon-5:00 p.m.
- July 9th (Last name beginning with S-Z) Noon-5:00 p.m.
Enter through entrance 31; leave from entrance 34.
Masks are recommended if you do not feel you will be able to socially distance yourself; staff members will be equipped with masks. Extra masks are available if needed.
Bring all items that belong to the school (library books, textbooks, electronic devices, calculators, classroom materials) that need to be returned.
After returning items, students may then clean out lockers.
If you have forgotten your locker combination, this can be found in Skyward under the “Profile” section
Teachers may leave items students need to pick up outside of their classrooms, but classrooms will be locked.
Before leaving, drop off your checklist in the main office.
If you are experiencing symptoms of illness or fever, or have recently been in contact with someone who has tested positive for the coronavirus, please do not return items at this time. Arrangements can be made for another date.
Highlight on Duneland Support Staff: Transportation
Duneland Support Services include custodians, mechanical maintenance, grounds maintenance, and transportation, as well as Child Nutrition and Wellness. All of these teams continue to work in the summer months to prepare for the new school year.
Each week we will highlight one of these areas. These teams do everything from cleaning, mowing, performing maintenance on our buildings, repairing and maintaining vehicles, planning new bus routes, feeding students, ordering food and planning menus, as well as department development training.
This week will focus on the DSC Transportation team.
The DSC transportation team is made up of many working team members including bus drivers and aides, mechanics, and an administrative team. This team is an integral part of the school corporation family.
Throughout the year, these team members are responsible for transporting our students to and from school, sporting events, curricular activities, field trips, etc. Duneland buses travel 524,580 miles per school year. That equals to a trip to the Moon and back with some miles left over!
- Earth to Moon: 238,855 miles (384,400 km)
- Circumference of Earth: 24,874 miles (40,030 km)
- Circumference of Sun: 432,450 miles (696,000 km)
- Circumference of moon: 1,079.6 miles (1,737.5 km)
- Distance across USA: 2,802 miles (4,509km)
- Distance across Europe: 2,920 miles (4,700 km)
- Distance across Asia: 7,761 miles (12,417 km)
In addition, drivers also bus vocational education students to nine other school district's training programs, students within our school boundaries to St. Patrick School as well as our special needs students to various buildings and locations.
On average, the Transportation Dept. buses between 4100-4300 students. This involves creating as well as balancing and maintaining these routes routinely based on ever-changing student data. Two mechanics are responsible for maintaining and repairing a fleet of 84 school buses, seven special purpose vehicles and 29 other district vehicles. The inside of the buses are cleaned on a daily basis and are washed at least three times a week to maintain a clean fleet.
Each year, the buses receive a full-inspection in the summer and a limited inspection mid-year by the State Police. DSC consistently maintains a 95% or above average score thanks to a special inspection crew, photo at right, that prepares the buses for this yearly event.
Additionally, the Indiana Department of Education (IDOE) requires school bus drivers to perform evacuation drills with students once each semester; and local police departments in the Duneland School district area participate in a statewide campaign, Stop Arm Violation Enforcement (S.A.V.E.), in an effort to crack down on school bus stop arm violations.
Capturing This Unprecedented Time in Our Lives
This year's DSC Transportation Preparation for Inspection Crew, prepared our buses for the annual summer full-inspection by the State Police. DSC scored 98% this week with the help of this dedicated team. Team members are: Lonnie Penrose, Rich Wood, Kim Bogue, Jennifer Jones, Christina Conaway, Carmelo Gomez, Kim Vander Vinne, Candy Tucker, Jamie Erow, Kristine VanCleef, Jean Orlowski and Jessica Leach.
Due to COVID-19 and the need to social distance this year, it was necessary for the team to wear masks while preparing the buses for inspection.
DSC Bus Driver Kim Vander Vinne, who is also a talented artist, was inspired this year by the work barriers involved in working together on this project and decided to paint their prep crew wearing their masks. She hoped to create a visual reminder of this unprecedented period that is affecting all of our lives. Her original watercolor of the group will be hung at the DSC Transportation Center and a printed reproduction will be given to each of the crew members.
THIS SATURDAY: "Monochromatic View: The Works of Jason Gast" Closing Reception
Artwork by Jason Gast, CMS Art Teacher
The Chesterton Art Center will be sponsoring a closing reception for Jason Gast, a local artist and teacher at Chesterton Middle School, on Saturday, June 27 from 10 a.m.--2 p.m. Jason's exhibit titled, "Monochromatic View: The Works of Jason Gast" highlights his skill with portraiture. "For many years, my primary focus has been monochromatic imagery with a focus in portraiture. Utilizing a monochromatic palette makes the emotion of the pose stand out, instead of the artificial look of some realistic images. It is about finding the right color to match the personality of the person."
The exhibit at the Chesterton Art Center features the faces of well-known celebrities, as well as Jason's close personal connections. Many of the paintings reflect Jason's love of music and the influences related to it. His large-scale, close-up portraits not only invite the viewer to identify the featured person, but also to feel the emotion he's carefully crafted through the pose and color selection.
Jason graduated from Ball State University in 2001 in Visual Arts Education, and 2005 with a Masters in Ceramics. He has been an art teacher for 19 years (11 years at Griffith, eight at Chesterton Middle School), teaching all types of media in grades 7-12. One of his latest ventures is realistic pet memorials. "When someone commissions an image of their pet, they are looking for a connection that was there when the pet was alive. I strive to give them that."
The Chesterton Art Center will be following the Indiana guidelines for a public event. Please wear a mask and practice social distancing. If you don't have a mask, the Art Center will provide one for you.
The Chesterton Art Center is not open to the public yet, but is making an exception for this special event. If you are not comfortable attending the reception in person, you are welcome to view a virtual tour on the website at www.chestertonart.com. The Chesterton Art Center is located at 115 S. 4th St., Chesterton, IN 46304.
Student Device Updates for DSC Families
As Duneland School Corporation (DSC) prepares a variety of instructional plans for the 2020-2021 school year and beyond, the intent of this message is to provide clarity on our current 1:1 device plan and provide insight into how DSC may transition into a sustainable long-term model over the next couple of years. This summer, students will keep their current learning device (iPad or PC) for continued use during the 2020-2021 school year (see chart at the end of this document organized by current grade level). Current filtering practices and security software will remain active over the summer.
DSC will continue to implement and expand best practices in face-to-face learning, remote learning, blended learning, and online course content development. As we move forward, DSC will be working to increase our understanding of personalized learning for students while ensuring equity for all students when it comes to accessing content, resources, and learning opportunities whether in person, remotely, or in a hybrid way.
Reliable learning devices will be crucial for our continued development and equitable access for all students. With that in mind, DSC intends to allow students to keep devices year round in 2020 and beyond. This is likely to impact family decisions on purchasing a computer for student use at home, in addition to a computer issued by DSC. While students will still be able to bring a device from home to school, they will be required to always have their DSC issued device in their possession while on campus.
Beginning with the 2020-2021 school year, DSC will include a device protection plan as part of student fees to aid families in guaranteeing needed access. This protection plan is expected to be in the $20 range depending on the device. At the end of the 2020-21 school year, devices purchased when DSC implemented the 1:1 initiative will have reached their end of life. At the beginning of the 2021-22 school year, most students will receive new tablets or PCs. Over the next year, DSC will be exploring different sustainable long-term funding models for student devices. DSC will also continue to re-examine curricular resources at all grade levels and courses to best support student achievement while keeping costs reasonable for families.
Thank you for supporting your child's learning needs now and into the future.
Student Device Plan - Summer 2020
Grade Level in 2019-2020
Kindergarten
- Students will keep their iPad over the summer
- Students will use the same device in 1st grade
1st grade
- Students will keep their iPad over the summer
- Students will use the same device in 2nd grade
2nd grade
- Students will keep their iPad over the summer
- Students will use the same device in 3rd grade
3rd grade
- Students will keep their iPad over the summer
- Students will use the same device in 4th grade
4th grade
- Students will keep their iPad over the summer
- Students will use the same device in 5th grade
5th grade
- Students will keep their iPad over the summer
- Students will use the same device in 6th grade
6th grade
- Students will keep their iPad over the summer
- Students will use the same device in 7th grade
7th grade
- Students will keep their iPad over the summer
- Students will use the same device in 8th grade
8th grade
- Students will keep their iPad over the summer
- As 8th graders enter 9th grade for the 2020-2021 school year, students will be required to return their iPad in order to receive their new CHS device. Information will be sent out over the summer.
9th, 10th, 11th grade
- Students in 9th, 10th and 11th grade will keep their Duneland Windows device over the summer.
- Students that have been issued a Chromebook will be required to return the device at the start of the 2020-21 school year to be replaced with a Windows device.
- Students that have never been issued a device will be given a Windows device for summer school or at the start of the 2020-21 school year.
12th grade
- Students that have a Duneland student device will be required to return the device. Students and parents will receive communication regarding device return.
Internet Connectivity
Families without internet due to financial hardship have access to programs from two local providers.
Comcast Internet Essentials:
Families that qualify for public assistance programs such as the National School Lunch Program, Housing Assistance, Medicaid, SNAP, SSI and other programs may also qualify for the Internet Essentials program from Comcast.
This program offers internet for as low as $9.95 per month.
Additional options and services are also available
More information is available at this Comcast link
Frontier Lifeline Program:
Families that qualify for public assistance programs such as the National School Lunch Program, Housing Assistance, Medicaid, SNAP, SSI and other programs may also qualify for the Lifeline Program from Frontier.
More information is available at this Frontier link
Contacting IT Support
The Duneland School Corporation IT department is committed to making this extended eLearning period as successful as possible. To get your problems solved as fast as possible:
- Open a new Freshservice ticket:
- AV number is typically located on a sticker on the back/bottom of the device
- Serial number is also acceptable
- AV number is typically located on a sticker on the back/bottom of the device
- Open a Freshservice ticket by sending an email to: helpdesk@duneland.k12.in.us
- Please be sure to include email address, student or staff name, and a description of the problem
- Due to the closure, the IT Support hotline is not operational. Please use the above methods to contact the DSC IT Department.
Device Repair
It is understandable that there may be issues that cannot be resolved remotely. If you have a device that has sustained physical damage (i.e. cracked screen, broken keyboard), please fill out the form below. A drive-up IT service station will be opening up soon. After submitting the form, a member of the IT department will contact you to schedule your service appointment.
Duneland Schools Spirit Store
Did you know that Duneland Schools has an online Spirit Wear Store where you can buy your Duneland spirit wear?
Purchase your CMS/CHS student P.E./Strength Training uniforms (shorts and t-shirts) online and arrange to have them delivered to your home or pick up at the store.
Join the CHS Alumni Association!
Have you been thinking about joining the Chesterton High School Alumni Association, but just haven't gotten around to it? Would you like to help support the enhancement of the Duneland School Corporations' educational processes and scholarships for graduating seniors at Chesterton High School. Your dues in the organization and support of our fundraising efforts will help the group to continue to grow and present more and more of our graduates college assistance.
Visit the Duneland School Corporation's website at this link: Download an application to join today.
Duneland School Corporation 2020-2021 Calendar
The 2020-2021 Duneland School Corporation Calendar is available on our website. Click on the link above to open or visit our website at www.duneland.k12.in.us
Duneland School Corporation
Inspire | Engage | Empower
Email: bmartinson@duneland.k12.in.us
Website: www.duneland.k12.in.us
Location: 601 West Morgan Avenue, Chesterton, IN, USA
Phone: 219-983-3600
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/dunelandschools/
Twitter: @dunelandk12