This past month the School City of Hobart and St. Mary's Medical Center were honored with the inaugural "School Counseling-Business Partnership of the Year" award! This award was a testament to the strong partnership between our school counseling office and St. Mary's Medical Center in providing opportunities for students to receive workplace and work-based learning experiences. With the dedication and leadership of St. Mary's CEO, Janice Ryba, our alliance with St. Mary's has brought multiple opportunities to our students including: the hospital's sponsorship for Hobart's Promise Indiana 529 college savings program, the establishment of a health care clinic in the high school to meet needs of both students and families, and with St. Mary's providing a wide range of work-based learning experiences and credential opportunities for our high school students. Every year St. Mary's provides over 50 students with the screening tests required to take part in the Emergency Medical Services program and also offers internship and learning opportunities for about 30 of our students.

To make this even better, the Indiana Chamber Foundation awarded a $1,000 scholarship to one of our Senior's. When our High School Director of Guidance, Danielle Adams, submitted the nomination she and those at the high school selected Rachael Gayton to be the recipient! Miss Gayton is currently in her 4th year of our school's biomedical sciences program and is interning at St. Mary's in the pediatric unit. She stated, "her interaction with nurses and their willingness to share their experiences have solidified her plans to become a nurse practitioner when she attends Ball State University this fall." We could not be prouder of our students, counselors and partnership that we have with St. Mary's!

Started in 1936 by the director of the New York State's Albany YMCA, the Youth and Government program has flourished. Built on the motto "Democracy must be learned by each generation," the national Youth and Government has engaged youth in experimental learning of government processes, generally through mock legislative, executive and judicial proceedings. Their goal is to develop young men and women who will be better citizens by being both knowledgeable and active in determining the future of our democracy. Our Brickies went down to Indianapolis and represented us well! The Youth Govenor, our own Cade Tipold, welcomed the delegates while 3 others soaked it in and are running for offices for the 2017-2018 Youth and Government Conference! These young men and women are out future leaders and we could not be more proud! Thank you to Sharon Tarry from the Y and Colin May from HHS for sponsoring. #brickiesforpresident

The Challenger Learning Center, located in Hammond, provides some of the best STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) education for our students! Last month, Joan Martin was able to experience it and this month Ridge View Elementary went! The students were able to experience simulated space missions in the cutting edge Mission Control room and a high-tech Space Station simulator. The students had a great time and absorbed so much information. Fifth grade teacher, Mrs. Bell stated, "The students rocked the task cards!" Way to go Brickies! Who knows, maybe one of them will be the first Brickie in space!

Our high school Brickie wrestlers know what hard work is and how it can pay off! They wrapped their season up with 11 advancing to Regional, 8 advancing to Semi-State and 4 competing in State! As they entered the Banker's Life Fieldhouse they quickly realized that they were in company with 16 of the best wrestlers in our state for their weight class. They eagerly took on the challenge of being the best. Junior, Dante Colza V, took a hard loss Friday night but is ready to be back there next year. Junior, Zack Fattore was a powerhouse, but after a bad high ankle sprain Saturday morning and wrestling through another match in pain, he took a forfeit for 4th place. Junior, Tylor Triana had an upsetting loss in the semi-finals but fought back for a 3rd place finish. Finally, senior, Brenden Black got the opportunity he had been dreaming of! He took his place under the bright light and wrestled his way to a victory and the title of State Champion! Great job to all wrestlers and their hard work this season!

Last month was full of musical accomplishments for our Brickies! Starting with our high school vocal group, Wolffgang, who performed and did a fantastic job walking away with a gold medal! Following that performance, senior Katelyn Knudson performed her solo and sang her way to State with a gold medal as well! She then continued on and competed in Indianapolis and improved her score in her solo performance of "Caro Mio Ben" by Tomasso Giordani - again walking away with a gold medal!

The following weekend our Hobart Band musicians earned top honors at State ISSMA with their performances! Earning gold solos were Sophie Jancich, flute and Kiera Chapuis, flute and piccolo. Alex Williamson, tenor saxophone and Kylie Martin, clarinet each achieved a silver medal. Finally out woodwind choir performed and played their way to a gold medal! This group consisted of Sophie Jancich, flute; Kiera Chapuis, flute; Max Asbell, oboe; Melynie Koch, clarinet; Kylie Martin, clarinet; Alex Williamson, alto saxophone; Nick Sanchez, bassoon; and Joe Larem, contralto clarinet. Outstanding job to all of the band members and those that competed. "To learn music is to learn a whole new language", keep inspiring!

Our elementary schools have some bright stars in them! First, Ridge View and Joan Martin elementary had students compete in the Hobart Tri Kappa 5th Grade Spell Bowl and these three walked away as top place winners! Angelina Zepeda, Ridge View, spelled her way to the 3rd place title, Connor Niemann, Joan Martin, conquered a 2nd place victory, and Dominique Zepeda, Ridge View, walked away with the title of Spell Bowl Champion! All three performed brilliantly and made their family (and teachers) so proud!
Following them were the Joan Martin "mathletes" who participated in the annual Math Bowl. They also did an amazing job and finished in 3rd place! You guys are rockstars!

Maryssa Carey tore up the bowling lanes this year all the way to STATE! After advancing through sectionals and regional, Maryssa took on semi-state like a pro! She left the lanes with a 1st place semi-state title and an almost perfect game scoring 288 out of 300 points! Her next stop was Fort Wayne for the STATE competition! She came ready to bowl and walked away with an amazing 5th place finish! She represented Hobart like a pro and we are beyond proud of her hard work. The best part of her season, however, is the academic and bowling scholarships that she received to attend Indiana Tech this fall! Great job Maryssa and best of luck to your future as a Warrior!

If you have been to Hobart High School or any SCOH event, then chances are you have seen our beloved Officer K-9, Scout. He is the charming, yet professional black dog, that walks around the school with his partner, Corporal Gresser. Scout works tirelessly to help keep our students safe. From patrolling the halls to monitoring the extra-curricular activities after school, he's got our backs! To honor Scout for his hard work, the Hobart Chamber of Commerce recognized him for his outstanding community service! We are so glad to have you a part of our Brickie family Scout! Thank you for all you and Corporal Gresser do!

The Hobart Middle School started a chess club last year and they are fierce! Last month they took on their 1st ever competition and had 3 teams of 4 compete in the Scholastic Chess of Indiana Regional tournament! They took home an 8th place, 13th place and 20th place victory and all qualified for the State tournament on March 25th! It is awesome to see HMS competing in chess, and we wish them the best of luck at State!

Earlier this month our Cheerleaders took time out of their busy competition practices and performing schedule to spread some love! The team crafted homemade personalized valentine cards for the Goodway Group. The valentines were then sent to various pediatric hospitals across the country for the patients to receive on Valentine's Day! Everyone deserves some extra love, and the Cheerleaders did a great job brightening many patient's day! Way to spread the Brickie love!

Can you feel the love tonight? We sure did back on February 24th when Joan Martin's 4th graders took control of the stage and the hearts of everyone watching. They came together for the Disney performance of "The Lion King"! Students auditioned and played key roles from every area in the theatre. There was a stage manager, stage crew, set designers and the sound and light crew. All worked together to achieve a phenomenal performance and gained the experience to dream of a future in the art of theatre. Did we mention that they had a blast while doing it? It was a great experience for all from start to finish and gave them the skills of working together as a team. The outcome was perfect. Great job to everyone involved and thank you to the Legacy Foundation and the grants received to make this a possibility!

The maker movement began as a trend in which individuals created and marketed products that were recreated and assembled using virtually any materials or products from computer-related devices. Since, it has expanded to a great number of DIY (do-it-yourself) and DIWO (do-it-with-others) based project types in many different areas, including technology, science and art! The Maker Movement is about creativity and collaboration, and about encouraging curiosity in learning. Areas that you can participate in are: science, engineering, technology, art, writing, music, photography, craft, baking, and anything else you child's creative mind thinks of!! Don't limit them! Anything you can think of and make will fit somewhere in the Maker showcase. Be creative and let your mind do the work! For more information and to regsiter (no later than March 24th) visit the link below!

Below you will find some helpful links from our school website with loads of information about the upcoming tests for our students! Parents and students can access online practice guides for tests that are broken down into by age and grade level, test dates for upcoming state required tests, and information on understanding your child's score. The Pearson link will actually give a practice ISTEP + test for your child to take at home! Great opportunity!

Khan Academy is a resource that offers practice exercises, instructional videos, and personalized learning that empowers learners to study at their own pace. Students can work on skills in math, science, computer programming, PSAT/SAT Test Prep, and more. Additionally, parents can coach and monitor their children while they work through the program.

Wonderopolis is a site that contains interesting information on a variety of subjects. There is a daily wonder, and "wonders" students have asked about previously. There are also math, science, language arts, social studies, technology, and art and culture categories to explore for wonders. It is a great resource where parents can seek and nurture a brighter world for their children through the power of discovery, learning, and imagination! It is really cool site - Check it out!

You can get FREE math and science homework help from askrose.org! This Homework Hotline is for Indiana students in grades 6-12 who may need some extra assistance. The tutors are Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology students who major in math, science, or engineering - which means they are more than equipped to help with virtually any math or science homework problem. They can call, email or chat online with one of 140 tutors available. The tutor starts the session by reviewing the problem and then guiding the students through the problems until he/she understands the solution! On average, a call only takes about 12 minutes! So, next time you are stumped...just askrose.org!

A Midsummer Night's Dream is a comedy written by William Shakespeare. It portrays the events surrounding the marriage of Theseus, the Duke of Athens, to Hippolyta. These include the adventures of four young Athenian lovers and a group of six amateur actors who are controlled and manipulated by the fairies who inhabit the forest in which most of the play is set. The play is one of Shakespeare's most popular works for the stage and is widely performed across the world. Come see our Brickies bring it to life! March 10th,11th, and 12th!

The annual SpringFest is March 17th! We would love to see everyone there! It will be a great day full of fun for all ages with bounce houses, carnival games with prizes, face painting, pie in the face, magic shows, raffles, silent auctions and SO MUCH MORE! Something new this year is our concessions which will feature our Brickie Burger, corn dogs, cheese pizza, and fresh baked pretzels with cheese! The event is completely managed by volunteers and all profits go to the School City of Hobart's Building Brickies program which works with families of children ages birth - 5 years old and helps prepare them for Early Education. Bring the whole family!

Dr. Peggy Buffington and Sarah Ramos

The School City of Hobart does not discriminate on the basis of race, creed, sex, color, national origin, religion, age, sexual orientation, marital status, genetic information, or disability, including limited English proficiency.

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