ENSC Family Notes
November 17, 2014
It is nearly December....
Please remember, ENSC does not plan to automatically use eLearning days on weather cancelled days unless we have compelling information at least 36 hours in advance of an impending storm. We want to ensure teachers have time to plan quality lessons and families have been adequately informed. Our first choice is to have students in class! We do have four built in snow days along with the potential of adding at least (it could be more) two school days to the end of the school year. There is potential of using the first two days of spring break for make up days also. However, there are many challenges doing this and that will be a last resort.
East Noble School Corporation Represented at the White House
The goal of the summit is to share best practices and highlight school districts across the United States and their journey to provide students with quality digital resources and connections to the world. This is a part of President Obama's initiative to create "Future Ready" schools and students. During the Summit, which is held at the White House, President Obama will be leading a "Future Ready" pledge signing.
After a rigorous screening process, and requests for extensive evidence of a digitally rich learning environment for our students, I was selected to attend the Summit. It is an honor to represent East Noble School Corporation at this event. It is through the dedication and hard work of our teachers and the commitment from the community that I have been given this opportunity. Thank you all. I will share your story with pride!
Upcoming Board Meetings
This week's agenda includes an update on ELL services and given by Becky Perkins, Abby Schmiesing, Alison Schlotfeldt, Aaron Edwards, and Becky Perkins.
Also on the agenda, Emcore Corporation will be giving an overview of their proposal for purchasing and installing new boilers/chillers for the high school.
Did You Know....
East Noble High School FACS Teacher, Elizabeth Flinner, competes in Stongwoman Competitions.
Ask these ladies about their amazing accomplishments.
All Star of the Week
Have a Great Week
Ann Linson, Superintendent
Curriculum and Building Notes
Curriculum
Study Island Information for Grades 2-8
Study Island was deployed for teachers and students in grades 2-8 as a resource to help support Tier 2 instruction and provide a skills based resource for student to gain more practice with the new online assessment questions. Many teachers have already gotten into the system and are learning the many things that it offers.
Once students have taken the benchmark assessment, teachers will be able to create specific classroom assignments to address any standard that students may be struggling with. Teachers can create an assignment, a unique and tailor made practice session, for students on a specific topic. This can be assigned to the whole class or just a few individuals in a small group. Teachers can even create individual assignments for just one student.
East Noble Middle School
The staff of ENMS is happy to introduce Mr. Nickolas Timmerman to our school. Mr. Timmerman is our new social studies teacher for the orange team, and this is what he has to say: I am very excited about being back home this year at East Noble Middle School. I am a 2008 graduate of East Noble High School. My hope for this year, is to help all students succeed, for some, maybe for the very first time. I look forward to getting to know each student and building a rapport with each individual.
On Tuesday, November 11, Mrs. Stein and the National Junior Honor Society did a wonderful job of honoring our veterans during a heartfelt program where several members of the NJHS recited poems, our 8th grade band, under the direction of Mr. Kevin Haydl, performed; and the choir, under the direction of Mr. Chris Mettert, sang songs in tribute of our guests. It was great to see so many veterans visit our school. At the end of the program, the entire student body paid tribute to the veterans who have served and who are currently serving by displaying the American flag. It was quite a sight to see!
Orange team science classes are wrapping up their units of Earth Science and will begin exploring energy and energy resources. Upcoming projects include topics about alternative fuels, energy conservation, and windmill design. All FACS students are just starting to sew their pillow projects. Second year students had the choice of a pillow project or a small stuffed animal. PE classes will be roller skating the week of Dec. 1-5. The 7th grade language arts classes are reading the book Chain Reaction and are studying nonfiction text features.
It won’t be long and our boys’ and girls’ basketball teams will be in action. Please come out and support your Knights.
North Side Elementary
The week began with the sixth grade band concert. Mr. Swartzlander had his almost-middle-schoolers well prepared for their performance. They performed for about 30 minutes and Mr. Swartzlander included some interesting tidbits about how to teach and learn how to play music. He'll want to be careful to not give away too many of his secrets ;). Well done sixth grade! You sounded great!
The week continued with the celebration of Veterans Day. Students at North Side celebrated in a number of different ways including a special announcement at the beginning of the day, a video that every student watched, and lessons/ discussions in classrooms. The day was punctuated with third graders performing a thank you song which can be found on the North Side Facebook page. Thank you veterans for all that you have done and continue to do for our safety and security!!!
Rome City Elementary
Celebrating Veterans is always a special day at Rome City. The students love honoring and participating while we show our Veterans in the community appreciation. All grade levels participated in the Veteran’s Day program.
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLPvW1b_86nvSGXtYNJZ9zuY11WRTUku4G
Students were recognized for their grades and achievements during an awards ceremony on Thursday. Students received awards for citizenship, reading and math achievements. Students were able to cheer on their friends as they received awards and chant their favorite college cheer.
Friday was a celebration day for students at Rome City who met their college bound challenge given to them by Mrs. Green, their principal. Students who met the challenge were able to celebrate at the indoor tailgating party. Students ate lunch in the gym, played video games, played a giant Jenga game, had a book walk, and a marshmallow toss. Several parents were they to help support and make this celebration possible.
South Side Elementary
This week, South Side hosted over thirty veterans and their families in our building for Veteran’s Day 2014. The morning began with a visit to their students’ classroom. Then, we gathered around our flag pole for a flag raising ceremony that included a performance from the Music Makers and our 6th Grade band. Students read poetry in tribute to our veterans; and guest, Pastor Kane, solemnly read the names of local veterans both living and passed who have served to secure our liberties. After the ceremony, our veterans and their host students enjoyed donuts, muffins, juice, coffee, and hot chocolate in the cafeteria. We had a beautiful, sunny, and mild morning for an outdoor ceremony. Click the following link to view a slide show of highlights from the day: http://youtu.be/fCXh4oXamb8
Our update this week comes from our Related Arts department: Mrs. Mossburg’s 1st graders have been working on self-portraits with 3D easels displaying a pointillism painting they made. Mr. Robinson’s 2nd grade class is learning to record their artwork using their iPads. They will be posting them on a children’s art gallery website called Artsonia. South Side’s 4th grade art classes are studying abstract art. Students in Mrs. Stohlman’s art classes have been learning about Native Americans in both Kindergarten and 5th Grade. Kindergarten students in Mrs. Wilhelm’s class made headbands that showed their Native American names and pictographs that were used by Native Americans to tell stories. Miss Strojyn’s 5th graders learned about the kachina doll of the Hopi Indians and the Totem poles of the Northwest Pacific Native Americans. Mr. Johnston’s 5th and 6th grade music classes have been creatively writing lyrics to a 4 line song that they will then compose a melody to using their computers. The 1st graders have started practicing their songs for the upcoming Winter Music Program on December 9th, while the Kindergarteners and 2nd graders have been learning and reviewing their music note values in songs like “A Pumpkin Ran Away” and “5 Fat Turkeys”. The first grade in Mrs. Mettert’s class are applying the elements of piano and forte, high and low, and beat to their performance of "The Three Billy Goats Gruff."
Last week during gym class, students 3rd through 6th grade participated in a hoop-shoot contest. The students were divided into 6 groups categorized by age and gender: 8-9 boy/girl, 10-11 boy/girl, and 12-13 boy/girl. The students that scored the highest in their group will now move on to the Elks Hoop Shoot contest in December, where they will compete against other elementary schools.
Wayne Center Elementary
The students enjoyed dressing up for spirit week at Wayne Center this week. The favorite day for kindergarten was pajama day. They were all so warm and cozy in their matching flannel sets and onesies with feet. They also enjoyed getting some writing tips from Mrs. Hoffar as she came in to do some great writing lessons with the classes. They are also working on a project at home with their families to help save the turkeys. We read a book this week called Turkey Trouble and the students are working on disguising a turkey at home to bring back and share. When the turkeys make it back, the students will write about how they disguised them and what they are now.
The first graders are gearing up for Pioneer Day. The students have been learning about pioneers. The Tuesday before Thanksgiving the students will be rotating through six different activity stations. They will be making butter, bread, candles, quilt squares, wagons, and a harvest snack. The students will be comparing present time and pioneer times. We are looking forward to completing this interactive learning experience with our students.
Alternative Learning Center
The second Trimester has started with some new student faces. Everyone appears to be settling in well. The students know the expectations of earning credits and being present, in order to meet graduation requirements. This is the time of year everyone starts to get distracted with the holidays and seasons changing. It is an important time to stay focused on the outcomes and encourage students to get work completed.
The students and staff have started to bring in items for the Basket Brigade family they are adopting.
Avilla Elementary
This past week was another great week at Avilla School. We started the week with an outstanding Veteran’s Day program. We were honored to have several veteran’s attend OUR convocation. Former East Noble graduate and current Miss Limberlost, Shelbi Carmichael, spoke to OUR students about life with a father actively serving in the military. Ms. Carmichael explained to the students how the support from East Noble teachers impacted her education and helped her make the best of the situation.
Mr. Smith led OUR students in a song dedicated to veterans. Please take a minute to view OUR students singing: http://youtu.be/zOhTMYp8Tl4. Mrs. Smith also took the time to create a picture video of the program: http://t.co/IXXmUVX7Pt. We would also like to thank National Elementary Honor Society members Kyndal Mynhier, Sarah Strong, and Rachael Carlson for speaking during the program.
STAR and NEHS are collecting items for Basket Brigade once again this year. Avilla is sponsoring eight families this year and are very excited to be able to help. This Tuesday will be “Hat Day”. The cost is $1 and all monies collected will go toward purchasing perishable items for the basket. If you would like to donate items please send them in with your student. If you have any questions please feel free to contact the school at 897-2301. Thanks in advance for your generosity.
East Noble High School
This year East Noble has been able to offer online classes during the school day for students to catch up on credits that they are behind. During the first trimester, students enrolled in the class were able to earn a total of 70 credits. In addition, East Noble offers online education to other students in and out of the district. There are several teachers involved with the online education program at ENSC. These teachers include: Michele Schmidt, Matt Rickey, Carissa Prater, Ryan Pepple, Luke Amstutz, Jake Swartz, Chelsey Thangvijit, Hillary Gump, Amy DeWitt, Mike Smith, Bryan Munoz, Elaine Lewis, Sara Stein, Cliff Hannon, and Amanda Munger. Total online credits that were achieved were 113 with more being achieved daily. The leadership and guidance provided by Amy DeWitt has been instrumental in the success of this non-traditional approach, and has played a key role in ENHS reaching graduation rates in the 90% range.
EN student council recently attended the State Convention “Catching the Fire of Leadership” on November 1 and 2nd. At the state convention, East Noble Student Council was recognized for many achievements. First, East Noble Student Council was recognized as an honor council. East Noble has received this award since its origination, making East Noble High School an honor council for 29 straight years. EN student council was also one of two schools in Indiana to receive the National Gold Council of Excellence award given nationally to student councils. On behalf of Riley Children Hospital, EN received an award for being a “Riley Miracle School”. Lastly, East Noble High School won the competition for best video portraying their high school and the students that attend it.
East Noble School Corporation
Email: alinson@eastnoble.net
Website: eastnoble.net
Location: 126 West Rush Street, Kendallville, IN, United States
Phone: 260-347-2502
Facebook: facebook.com/eastnoble
Twitter: @ENobleSchCorp