This upcoming month all third through fifth grade students will begin our required state tests called Smarter Balance. The schedule was already sent home with your students. Please notate the days our students will be testing in their classrooms. Certainly we want them to have appropriate sleep and eating breakfast to do their best each day. We are confident our students will do well and it will be an accurate measure of where their skills are currently at this spring. We are proud of how our teachers have continued to prepare them all very well for this upcoming measure of progress. Please remember, these tests are only one portion of measuring your child's ongoing progress each year. It doesn't measure kindness, respectfulness, or creativity that we celebrate about our students. There are so many positives about our kids then just a score on a test.

This past month we had the opportunity to meet our future Kindergarten and Begindergarten students. What a great way to start planning for the upcoming school year. If by chance you missed this opportunity to meet our staff and learn more about how to help your child transition into Kindergarten, please contact our office at 995-3090.

Field Trips are Planned for May! Once each grade level has these plans finalized for May, you will be given information about the details. As we prepare for these special events we will also be reviewing each student’s behavior/choices to see if they have earned the privilege to represent our LBW school on these trips for their grade levels to their destinations. Thank you in advance to the LBW PTO for providing the transportation costs to make these experiences happen for our students.

We continue to truly appreciate your support. Thank you for all you continue to do!

Mrs. Roth

LBW Students that participated in the Festival Choir for 2023!

5th Grade Recognition: Save the Date!!

Fifth Grade parents: Please mark your calendars for Tuesday, May 16, 6:30 pm, for the Fifth Grade Recognition. This will be held in the Mitchell Performing Arts Center (PAC). Please join us to celebrate and recognize our LBW Fifth Grade Leaders.

On March 15, LBW held Exploration Day in the morning of the school day. We were pleased to offer the kids options to learn about a variety of areas that they chose to learn about that they typically don’t get the opportunity to learn about during their typical day. Thank you to the following volunteers for sharing their time and talents with our students. We all LOVED it!

Line Dancing - Cara Blevins

Photography - Laura Wenande

Afterschool Snack - Conni McCormick

Bookmarks - Deb Bartscher

Breakout - Tressa Wede and DWU students

Cheer/Dance - Anne Huber/Kayla White and DWU Students

Scented Sugar Scrubs - Kelly Bottom

Crazy about Cupcakes - Robin Weins

Cookies - Cindy Gerlach and MHS Students

Dog/Pet Care and First Aid - Karen Roudabush and MHS Students

DWU Health Care Educ - Stephanie Gelderman and DWU Students

Exploring Robots - Gabe Schneider, Alredo Saleido-Santos, and Connor Axtell

Fitness - Anytime Fitness - Emily Hohn and Team

Floral Arrangements - Renee Polreis

Game Warden - Randy Becker

Hair - Hollywood Style and Team

Mueller Lumber Company - Mark White

Nail art - Kylee Auch/Megan Crago

National Guard - Kylie Barrington and Team

Pickleball - Pickleball Association Group

Volleyball - Lizzie Tyler and MHS Students

Wrestling - Paul Wilson

Australia Insight - Cathy Powers

Baseball - Mark Laschanzky and DWU students

Card Making - Hope Stoller

Colorguard - Kim Bruguier

Debate - Keatyn Wede and MHS students

Information on China/Art Project - Deb Platt

Murals - Stan Sherwood

Spanish - Esther Tovar Garcia

Sports Cards - Tate and Kolby Larson

Track and Field - Bryce Palmer/Jager Tyler and MHS Students

Triangle Pegboards - Russ McCormick

April 3rd - LBW High School Scholarship Due

April 4th - PTO Meeting - Blarney's @ 5:30 PM

April 6th - Spring Picture Day

April 7th - Good Friday/No School

April 10th - Easter Monday/No School

April 10th - School Board Meeting - McTea @ 5:30 PM

April 21st - Military Day - Wear Purple

April 24th - LBW Kindergarten Concert - LBW @ 6:30 PM

April 24th - School Board Meeting - McTea @ 5:30 PM

April 24-26th - Circus @ The Corn Palace

April 27th - PTO Fine Arts Night - LBW - 5 to 7 PM

Kernel Klub Volleyball for 5th and 6th grade was held in the month of March at LBW. This was for all 5th and 6th grade students in the Mitchell School District to try this sport for free or to develop their skills more during this time. They practice at least three days a week with three culminating events at the end of the month. We are thankful for our three coaches: Amanda Lynch, Maddie Vermeulen and Katy Sebert. All participants received a free t-shirt and had a ton of fun! Go Kernels!

What do light bulbs, socks and bicycles have in common? All these materials are being used to teach students about electricity throughout Central Electric Cooperative’s service area.

Co-ops in the Classroom is a program offered by Central Electric and its wholesale power provider, East River Electric Power Cooperative. The interactive presentation was delivered to fourth and fifth grade classes at L.B. Williams Elementary School on March 24.

Jennifer Gross, Education and Outreach Coordinator for East River, travels throughout East River’s service territory in eastern South Dakota and western Minnesota to teach children about electrical safety, generation, conservation and economics.

During the course of the one-hour presentation, Gross took students on the journey of electricity at the atomic level and through the hundreds of miles it travels from the power plant to our homes.

A variety of hands-on demonstrations engaged the students. A Van de Graaff generator demonstrated the movement of electrons with some hair-raising results.

“That one is always a crowd-pleaser,” said Gross. “Not only does it provide a visible and audible example of how electricity moves, but students also get a kick out of seeing their hair stand up and shocking their friends.”

Another device that invokes a lot of excitement is the pedal power bicycle generator. Students are asked to become power plants as they provide the energy that produces electricity for lights and small household devices.

“The pedal power turns the concept of electricity from something abstract into something tangible. By providing the energy needed to make a light bulb turn on, the students are able to quantify just how much more energy an incandescent light bulb requires than a CFL or LED,” said Gross.

By the end of the presentation, students developed a new understanding and appreciation for electricity.

Central Electric is a member-owned electric cooperative serving more than 4,800 mostly rural members in Aurora, Brule, Buffalo, Davison, Hanson, Jerauld, Miner and Sanborn Counties. For more information on energy education opportunities, please contact the cooperative office.

It is that time again where you will need to log onto your parent portal and fill out the Annual Information Update for the 2023-2024 school year by May 1st. This is how your child will be officially registered for next year. If you plan to relocate or go to a different school, please write a note to inform the school office.

Directions to get to the Annual Information Update is click on this link first.

1. Parent Portal link: https://sis2.ddncampus.net/campus/portal/mitchell.jsp

2. Go to More Tab (left hand side)

3. Annual Information Update.

or

1. Go to the LBW Website https://www.mitchell.k12.sd.us/o/lbwe

2. Go to the Parent tab

3. Parent and Student Portal

4. Click on Campus Parent

5. Go to More Tab (left hand side)

6. Annual Information Update

You are able to share input for the fall of 2023, however, there are several educational needs that come first. Please know this information is not guaranteed, but considered each year to meet all learning needs in our classrooms. This form is due April 14, 2023

If you are interested in getting an LBW 22-23 Yearbook, you can click on the link below and order your yearbook. You can also send money with your student to order a yearbook.