DuneNews
Duneland School news for parents, students and teachers
March 14, 2024 Vol. 58 No. 29
Reunification Drill at Liberty Elementary & Chesterton High School
Notice to DSC Families:
On the morning of Tuesday, March 19, 2024, Duneland School Corporation (DSC) will conduct a reunification drill at Liberty Elementary School and Chesterton High School. Over 140 students and parents have volunteered to take part in this drill.
Circumstances may occur at a school that require parents to pick up their students in a formalized, controlled release. This process is called a reunification and may be necessary due to fire, weather, a power outage, gas leak or any other emergency that may occur at a school. DSC believes practicing a reunification will make the process more efficient and effective for all involved if one is ever needed.
Because a reunification is not a typical end of school day event, a reunification with parents or guardians may occur at a different location than the school students attend. Law enforcement officials will be participating in and/or observing the drill.
End of the 3rd Grading Period
The third nine weeks grading period ends on Friday, March 15. Student report cards will be available at 3 p.m. on Friday, March 22.
Spring Break - March 25-29
There will be no school for all Duneland School students on Friday, March 25-29 to observe Spring break. Classes will resume on Monday, April 1.
STUDENT ACHIEVEMENTS
Third win of season for CHS Winter Guard
Above, members of the CHS Winter Color Guard, front, left to right, Emma Comfort, Katie Radliff, Danica Sessions, Haley Martinez,. Back row, Lucy Rutkowski, Alina Summer, Caprie Wilson, Addie Mason, Bri Manning, Abigail Krueger, Vanessa Godinez.
This past Saturday, the CHS Winter Guard took first place in their best showing of the competitive season with a 74.54 placing in the Midwest Color Guard Circuit (MWCGC) hosted at Hersey High School in Arlington Heights, Illinois. A total of forty-one groups from Illinois, Iowa, and
Indiana took part in this mid-season Regional level event with 12 units competing head-to-head in the Scholastic AA classification. Chesterton was followed in second place by the hosting Guard at Hersey High School with a score of 71.34 and 3rd place went to the Guard from Paris, Illinois, who scored 68.27.
The CHS Music Department will host their annual “Winter Guard Community Night” on Monday, March 18 at 7:00 p.m. at the Chesterton Middle School Goldsborough Gym. Community members, parents, and alumni are encouraged to attend this FREE performance highlighting the Guard’s show entitled, “Lost in Arabia", as well as the CHS Winter Guard’s competitive production entitled, “Solstice”.
The instructional staff and members of the CHS Winter Guard would like to thank their donors, and the members of the Chesterton High School Band Boosters for their help in making this competitive season possible. Your support has been greatly appreciated and invaluable to the success of our students.
Those interested in providing financial assistance to the CHS Winter Guard program may still do so through the use of the following link: https://duneland.revtrak.net/winter-guard/#/list
The CHS Winter Guard is under the direction of Kylene Mitchell and Lisa Scheiber.
Bharath to compete in Regional Spelling Bee
Congratulations to Chesterton Middle School seventh grader Vishva Bharath!
Vishva will be competing in the Regional Spelling Bee on March 23. He is one of 19 students who made it to the Regional Tournament and the only student in this area that qualified for the Regional competition of the Scripps National Spelling Bee.
ONWARD TROJAN!
CHS Students Win Place on National German Exam Honor Roll
Honor Roll Medal Winners: Front row, left to right, Julia Dietrich, Aubrey Leidolf, Maxine Clark, Alexia Smith. Back row, Alex Bruce, Andrew Adams, Cecilia Post, Carter Demmon, Nicholas Jakel, Victoria Johnson. Not pictured are Alaina McGrogan, Giszell Pfeiffer, Henrik Koehnen, and Joseph Lucken.
Achievement Award winners: Left to right, Lauren Yarosz, Mackenzie Dees, Carson Foster, Cameron Pace, Tyler Cichocki, Colin McCoy, Draven Targgart, Rowan Hartley, and Nathan Hilgeman. Not pictured are Emily Hofmann, John Knight, Andria White, Sophia Higgins, Elizabeth Tatone, Ella Taylor, Maddox McKinney, Ava Madigan, and Emmalise Adcock.
Several Chesterton High School students, currently enrolled in German Levels 2-4, have been awarded medals and special recognition on the National German Exam Honor Roll for outstanding performance on the 2024 National German Exam for High School Students sponsored by the American Association of Teachers of German (AATG).
Those students earning gold medals for performing at the 90th-higher percentile (of all test-takers in the country*) were: Andrew Adams and Victoria Johnson.
Earning silver medals for performing at the 80-89th percentile* were: Aubrey Leidolf, Alex Bruce, Julia Dietrich, Nicholas Jakel, and Henrik Kohnen.
Earning bronze medals for performing at the 70-79th percentile* were: Giszell Pfeiffer, Joseph Lucken, Cecilia Post, Alaina McGrogan, Maxine Clark, Carter Demmon, and Alexia Smith.
The students who tested at the 50th-69th percentile* received an Achievement Award for Above Average Achievement. Those students are: Emmalise Adcock, Tyler Cichocki, Mackenzie Dees, Carson Foster, Rowan Hartley, Sophia Higgins, Nathan Hilgeman, Emily Hofmann, John Knight, Ava Madigan, Colin McCoy, Maddox McKinney, Cameron Pace, Draven Targgart, Elizabeth Tatone, Ella Taylor, Andria White, and Lauren Yarosz.
CHS German teachers are Herr Cary Knauff - Level 4 and Herr Justin Martinson - Level 2 & 3.
Over 13,000 students participated in the Levels 2-4 program this year. The National German Exam, now in its 64th year, rewards students through an extensive prize program and provides a means of comparing students in all regions of the US. Angelika Becker, German Teacher at Carmel High School, Carmel, Indiana and AATG President said, “The AATG congratulates these excellent students and their outstanding performance. The results reflect not only the hard work of the individual students, but also the dedication of their teachers, the support of their families, and the school districts. Herzlichen Glückwunsch, gut gemacht!”
Founded in 1926, the AATG represents German teachers at all levels of instruction. The AATG is dedicated to the advancement and improvement of the teaching of language, literature, and culture of the German‐speaking countries.
Eight CMS Robotics teams advance to State
Congratulations to the eight Chesterton Middle School Robotics teams who will advance to the 2024 Indiana Robotics State Championship on March 23 all vying to qualify for the VRC MS Worlds to be hosted in Dallas Texas on April 28-30.
After a hard-fought competition season, the following teams have qualified for the
2024 Indiana Robotics State Championship:
Team D (Noah Hyde, Rosemary Hundt, Eva Solmos and Aiden Scobey) qualified for State when they won the Excellence Award on Feb. 24 at the Duneland Winter VRC Blended Over Under Tournament #2.
The remaining seven teams qualified based on the Autonomous and Driver skill
competitions:
Team C (Nolan Marin, Grace Klaiber, Matzen Finck) with a combined skills score of 217.
Team F (Michael Ward, Bryce Allen, Matthew Balhoff, Liam Crum) with a combined skills score of 210.
Team B (Victoria Manning, Elise Engels, Eva Capodice) with a combined skills score of 199.
Team E (Kaiden Roy, Calvin Rossi, Aaron Pieters, Jacob Fryer) with a combined skills score of 198.
Team J (Eli Haas, Jacob Anderson, Colton Beckwith) with a combined skills score of 196
Team A (Joshua Lahaie, Dominic Sylvester, Evan Parizo) with a combined skills score of 169
Team G (Johnny Dodds, Lydon Dybell) with a combined skills score of 157
CHS Show Choirs Travels to Richmond, Virginia to Compete
Sandpipers
The Chesterton High School Show Choirs headed to Richmond, VA on Thursday morning of this past week to compete in the Cosby Titan Tournament of Choirs to experience an incredibly diverse group of show choirs from all over the country. After exploring and learning a little bit about the history and culture of the state of Virginia on Friday, they headed to the school for day one of competition - featuring the Treble/Non-Mixed Groups including the CHS Drifters and band, The Business.
Drifters
The Drifters faced their biggest competition yet and earned the following accolades:
First Runner Up - Large Treble Division
Outstanding Soloist in a Show - Hannah Loving (out of all Treble Groups)
Group Outstanding Performer - Irene Camacho
Best Stage Crew
Drifters earned a spot in Treble Finals where they captured 2nd Runner-Up with their best performance of the year.
Sandpipers
On Saturday, the Show Choirs headed back to Cosby High School for day two of competition - featuring the Sandpipers and The Business (pictured at right). Battling against some of the elite show choir groups in the country, they earned the following accolades:
First Runner Up - Large Mixed Division
Best Band
Best Costumes
Best Male Solo in a show - Luke Housman (out of all mixed groups)
Groups Outstanding Performers - Alivia Pulsoni & Luke Housman
They earned a spot in Mixed Finals and earned First Runner-Up with arguably their best two performances of the year.
Thank you to the incredible team of chaperones and Do-Dads for making this trip possible and for all of our fans - both there and watching on the livestream. The CHS Show Choirs are under the direction of Choral Director Kristin Morris and Instrumental Director Matt Christensen. The Drifters are choreographed by Ellie Jordan and the Sandpipers are choreographed by Randy Sage and Ellie Jordan.
The Choirs are supported by an incredible group of stage dads ‘The Do-Dads’, amazing chaperones, and incredible parents and fans! This season has continued adding to the program’s incredible success last year and has helped put together the best two year run in program history. The CHS Show Choirs are excited to head into their final competition of the season at Herscher High School in Herscher, IL on Saturday, March 16th.
ONWARD TROJANS!
Congratulations to our Teacher & Employee of the Year FINALISTS!
The Duneland School Corporation (DSC) celebrates excellence in education by selecting a Teacher of the Year at both the elementary and secondary level and a classified staff member as Employee of the Year.
The outstanding teachers and employees below were nominated for recognition by students, parents, colleagues and Duneland community members in the month of February. In March, finalists were selected from those nominated by principals, supervisors and the Duneland Teachers Association.
A selection panel representing students, parents, community members and district administration will interview and then select the Teachers of the Year and the Employee of the Year from those recognized as finalists during the month of April.
The 2024 winners will be recognized at the May 6, 2024 School Board meeting, Beginning of the Year Programs in August, in DSC publications, website, and social media and on a plaque displayed at Central Office. Winners will also receive a classroom/office door banner along with a monetary stipend of $500. In addition, both the elementary and secondary winners will represent Duneland teachers in the Indiana Department of Education’s statewide Teacher of the Year Program.
2024 DSC Teacher of the Year Finalists
ELEMENTARY TEACHERS
Cheryl Marrs
Bailly Elementary
Grade 1
Katie Curiel
Brummitt Elementary
Grade 2
Britni Psimos
Jackson Elementary
Grade 1
Breinne Ramker
Liberty Elementary
Grade 1
Ashley Smith
Yost Intermediate
Grade 1
Nick Bamber
Liberty Intermediate
Physical Education
SECONDARY TEACHERS
Zeke Clark
Chesterton Middle
English
Tina Clindaniel
Chesterton Middle
English
Natalie Kaczmarski
Chesterton High
Math
Jordan Otto
Chesterton High
Math
Kirsten Reed
Chesterton High
English
Patrick Ward
Chesterton High
Math
2023 DSC Employee of the Year Finalists
CLASSIFIED EMPLOYEES
Kelly Karriman
Chesterton Middle School
ExL Aide
Betty Wheeler
Westchester Intermediate
Head Custodian
Bill Bowen
DSC Buildings/Maintenance
Maintenance Technician
Robert Williams
Chesterton High School
DSC Technology
Kim Balas
Operations Coordinator
DSC Transportation
Ron Wahl
DSC Buildings/Grounds
Utility Technician
INSPIRE | ENGAGE | EMPOWER
TEACHER RECOGNITION
Congratulations to Brummitt Elementary second grade teacher Elyce Herman and Liberty Elementary third grade teacher Catie Armstrong, both of whom were selected as March 2024 Teachers of Excellence!
Kenneth J. Allen Law Group supports Northwest Indiana teachers who go above and beyond for their students and honors them for their outstanding contributions to education. To learn more about the educators who are Teachers of Excellence or if you know of someone who should be recognized as a Teacher of Excellence, please nominate your favorite by following this link.
View all DSC Teachers of Excellence on our website.
Child Nutrition Appreciation
Help us celebrate National Nutrition Month and our DSC Child Nutrition staff beginning on March 1. Please take this time to thank our Child Nutrition Associates for all they do in keeping our students nourished.
2024-2025 IMMUNIZATION REQUIREMENTS
FOR STUDENTS ENTERING GRADES 6 & 12
Students entering 6th grade require additional immunizations by the State of Indiana. Required immunizations are as follows:
Tdap: Tetanus-diphtheria-acellular pertussis vaccine
MCV4: Meningococcal conjugate vaccine
A student that is 11 years old is eligible to receive these vaccines.
Students entering 12th grade are required to have an additional immunization by the State of Indiana. Required immunization is as follows:
MCV4: Meningococcal Vaccine
A student that is 16 years old is eligible to receive the meningococcal vaccination (2nd dose)
Porter County Health Department: 219-759-8239 (Portage office) or 219-465-3525 (Valparaiso office). Please contact the health department or doctor’s office to schedule.
Any questions please contact the school nurse at your student’s respective school.
VOTE EVERY DAY for CHS as Best Public High School!
Help VOTE Chesterton High School 'Best Public High School' for the 2nd year in a row. Voting opens today. Participants may vote one time daily in each category today through March 24. Click on the image below of this link to vote: https://nwitimes.com/.../best-of-the-region-ballot-2024/…
Mark Your Calendar...
COMMUNITY RESOURCE FAIR - April 24
WIS Students to host The Kindness Dance
Westchester Intermediate School (WIS) students will host a Kindness Dance on Wednesday, March 20 from 4:00-5:00 p.m. at the school, 1050 S 5th Street in Chesterton. Attendees should use Door # 8. This dance is being hosted by WIS students involved in the school’s Nora Project program and the SAVE Promise Club. This dance, open to all Duneland K-8 students, was created by the 2023-2024 members of the Nora Project and Save Promise Club.
Since friendship is a big focus of the Nora Project curriculum, the Kindness Dance will give students a chance to meet peers that they might never have the opportunity to interact with otherwise.
Westchester Intermediate is one of about 70 schools in the United State and Canada participating in Nora Project programs. These programs are aimed at preschool to high school students. This is Westchester’s seventh year participating in a curriculum that focuses on empathy education addressing three core questions:
Why is there no such thing as “Normal”?
What makes a good friend?
Why do we share our stories?
Throughout the school year, students learn about disabilities, inequalities in opportunities, how to be an ally and how to find commonalities with peers. Activities are planned by the students to allow interactions to take place with peers that they would not typically have opportunities to interact with. To date, over 200 WIS students have completed the curriculum.
The SAVE Promise club is new to WIS this year. This program’s goal is to teach children and youth how to minimize social isolation, empathize with others, and create a more inclusive and connected school culture.
Since both clubs have a goal of helping all students feel accepted in the school environment, it made sense for the two clubs to collaborate on the dance. It is the goal of the dance that all students attending, regardless of any factor, feel accepted and have fun.
Save Promise Club: https://www.sandyhookpromise.org/our-programs/save-promise-club/
The Nora Project: https://thenoraproject.ngo
DSC Summer School 2024
Duneland School Corporation is announcing the 2024 Summer School Dates. Summer school will consist of two sessions with Session 1 from June 10-28 and Session 2 from July 8-26. Session 1 will host classes for students in grades PreK-12 while Session 2 is only for students currently in grades 8-12.
Students currently in grades K-7 will have access to courses in Reading and Math. Students in grades 8-12 will have courses in Physical Education, Government, Economics, Health, as well as the ability to retake courses not passed during the school year. KinderCamp, for incoming Kindergarteners, and the 1-4 High Ability Summer School will also be offered.
Interested families should look for applications for summer school in the coming weeks with enrollment opening after spring break.
2024-2025 School Start & End Times
At the January 8th School Board meeting, the following school start and end times were approved for the 2024-2025 school year.
The new daily schedule for the 2024-2025 school year will be:
- Elementary (K-4) 7:30 a.m. – 2:20 p.m.
- High School (9-12) 8:10 a.m. – 3:10 p.m.
- Intermediate/Middle (5-8) 8:50 a.m. – 3:50 p.m.
MS Football 2024 Callout Meeting - March 18
Choral Recruitment!
Attention all current Duneland School 5th, 6th and 7th graders! Do you love to sing? Do you want to be a part of a community of singers to grow your voice, develop lasting friendships and just have fun? You belong in choir! Registration for next year's 6th, 7th and 8th grade choirs is happening now! Click on the following link (must use a valid Duneland student account to access) to register to be a part of these amazing groups: http://tinyurl.com/3uffxu77.
Duneland Early Learning HUB
This Week at the HUB
We continued with our transportation vehicle Music and Motion. Families sang Green Light Red Light, Drive My Car, Rocketship Run and Pop the Bubbles. Music and Motion is on Monday’s at 9:30, 10:30 and 12:00. We also have a Tiny Trojan Music and Motion class on Monday’s at 8:45.
5 4 3 2 1 blastoff! Tuesday at Trojan Tykes, we sang rocketship songs, read On the Launch Pad and participated in space areas. Children could play at the sand table with space toys, smash paint the sun, build magnetictile rocketships, create moon rocks or make a rocketship out of shapes. Trojan Tykes is a family story time and centers on Tuesday’s at 9:00, 10:00 and 12:00.
Kinder Kids participated in calendar, we read The Cat in the Hat and were engaged in centers covering art, phonics, math and writing. Kinder Kids is for 4-5 year olds that will attend Kindergarten during the 2024-2025 school year. Come join us from 9:00-10:30 on Thursday’s, if you have a 4-5 year old.
At Young Explorers, we read There Was An Old Lady Who Swallowed A Clover! and finished a page in our journal by finding colors in nature. We discussed how winter is almost over and spring will bring more colors to our community. Young Explorers is every Thursday from 11:00-11:30 outside at the Chesterton Park shelter. We always have our nature based class as long as it FEELS like 25 degrees or more.
During PALS we had Brooke Kuhn from Lighthouse Autism Center speak to families about autism. This topic provided encouragement for inclusion with children and gave families resources regarding diversity. Our next PALS will be on Thursday, March 21st from 12:30-1:30 over Children Milestones with Parents As Teachers.
This Friday, we have Trojan Time here in our classroom and multipurpose room. Families can visit and play from 11:00-1:00, get a tour or receive resources from our staff.
Do not forget that most mornings and afternoons, we have Open Gym from 9:00-10:00 and 12:30-1:30.
If you have children ages 0-5, come join in the fun M-F at the HUB. Check us out at our DSC website.
IMPORTANT PARENT RESOURCES
INCLEMENT WEATHER INFORMATION 2023-2024 Procedures for Delaying/Closing Schools
Please review the DSC Procedures for Delaying/Closing Schools in case of inclement weather.
eLearning Guidelines
Guidelines for Students 2023-2024 School Year
Follow the links below by grade level to find the appropriate Unplanned (Virtual - Synchronous) eLearning Day Plan for your student.
Please note the update to the 5-6 Synchronous Plan for Liberty Intermediate School only.
Nutrislice App / MENUS
The DSC Child Nutrition Department is now utilizing NutriSlice as its new menus program. This app is available for iphone and android through your mobile app store. Parents can also access the full website for Duneland Schools on a computer via this NutriSlice link.
This app will allow parents and students to view the menus as well as the nutritional info for each items at any of the Duneland Schools. This program will be developed further incorporating images of food items being served at each of the schools.
NEW! DSC 2024-2025 Calendar
The new 2024-2025 Duneland School Corporation Calendar has been adopted by the Duneland School Board of Trustees. Click the link above to see all the date for next school year.
DSC 2023-2024 Calendar
The Revised 2023-2024 Duneland School Corporation Calendar is available on our website. Click on the link above to open or visit our website at Resources > Documents and Forms
CHS Maroon & Gold Calendar/Bell Schedules
Parent Observer Account
Parents are encouraged to set up their Canvas observer accounts to monitor their students' progress. Parents can click this link to view how to set up their Parent Observer Account
Link to the Canvas Log In
CONTACTING IT SUPPORT
Contact the Duneland School Corporation IT department via one of these methods:
- Open a IncidentIQ ticket by sending an email to: helpdesk@duneland.k12.in.us
- Log into IncidentIQ and submit a request duneland.incidentIQ.com
CHS Athletic Tickets 2023-2024
ACTIVITY OPPORTUNITIES FOR STUDENTS
The goal of the Duneland School Corporation district school newsletters is to inform students, parents and the school community about school-related information.
The Duneland Schools share information that pertains to opportunities our students may be interested in and outside of school on a special page on our website. These available opportunities are offered by not-for-profit partnerships and organizations within our school district boundaries and local communities. Follow this link to Community Opportunities.
Want your event/activity/camp posted on this page? Submit a request by email with the flyer/information to the Duneland Schools Administrative Center to ahicks@duneland.k12.in.us and bmartinson@duneland.k12.in.us.
DSC SCHOOL FUNDRAISERS / CAMPS / ACTIVITIES
For more information on ALL the current Camps being offered at CHS visit Athletic Camps/Events on the CHS Athletics webpage.
District Art Show
Representative artwork from students in grades K-8 will be on display at the Corporation's annual exhibit at the Chesterton Art Center, 115 S. 4th Street in Chesterton. The exhibits will be open to the public without cost during Gallery hours (weekdays 11 a.m.-4 p.m. and Saturdays 10 a.m.-2 p.m.).
The K-8 exhibit on March 16 - 30 will feature the artwork of students in grades K-8. An opening reception will be hosted for grades K-8 at the Center on Wednesday, March 20 from 5:30-8:00 p.m.
Winter Guard Community Performance
MS Athlete Development Camp
Click the image below to register.
CHS Alumni Association
Upcoming Fundraiser for CHS Student Scholarships...
Help the CHS Alumni Association's special event to raise money for the student scholarship program. Breakfast is $10/per person and is available for dine-in or carry-out. Purchase tickets in advance online at: https://swipesimple.com/links/lnk_a2b6cf07
If you are unable to join us on Saturday, April 6, please consider a donation to the scholarship fund:
CLASS of 1974 - 50 year Reunion
The CHS Class of 1974 will host a 50-year reunion on Friday, June 21 beginning at 5 p.m. at Gelsosomos Pizzeria, 371 Indian Boundary #8, Chesterton. A second event will be hosted on Saturday, June 22 beginning at 6 p.m. at the SPA (reservations and prepayment required), 333 N Mineral Spring Rd., Porter, IN.
Members of the Class of 1974 can follow this LINK to update their information and RSVP for this event.
'SAY SOMETHING' Tip Line for Grades 5-12
The Duneland School Corporation has adopted the Say Something Anonymous Reporting System for all grade 5-12 schools this year. The link to the Say Something Tip Line can be found on the DSC website, on the middle and high school websites, and on the DSC Safety and Security page located under Programs and Services.
Tip Line for Grades K-4
The established Anonymous Safe Schools Tip Line for students in grades K-4 will remain the same. The link to this tip line for Grade 5-12 can be found on the DSC website, each DSC elementary school website, and on the DSC Safety and Security page located under Programs and Services.
DuneNews
The district newsletter, DuneNews, is published each Thursday afternoon throughout the school year. Each weekly issue can be found on our website at www.duneland.k12.in.us/dune-news along with archived issues for review.
Not receiving school communications?
The district and schools send out weekly communications. Parents that are not receiving weekly communications should contact their respective school Main Office or email Bridget Martinson at bmartinson@duneland.k12.in.us
LONG-TERM CAPITAL IMPROVEMENTS
Yost Campus
Bailly Campus
Brummitt Campus
Jackson Campus
Liberty Elem. Campus
LIS Campus
WIS Campus
At the DSC School Board meeting on Monday, March 4, school board members and the public were updated by Chris Muvceski of The Skillman Corporation on the work that has been completed in the last four weeks at each of the current worksites, as well as what will be happening in the upcoming weeks.
The most current information regarding the DSC Long-Term Capital Improvement projects, such as current concept drawings, information and preliminary timelines, are available on the DSC website. The information on the website will be continuously updated as we move forward with the process.
Community members may review the current Long-Term Capital Improvements information that will be continuously updated on the DSC website.
Did you know that Duneland Schools has an online Spirit Wear Store where you can buy your Duneland all school spirit wear? Apparel for all ages, stadium seats, accessories and more. CHECK IT OUT!
NorthShore Clinic for All DSC Students
Duneland School Corporation
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