Wildcat Wire

On Monday, November 14, Riceville hosted the Iowa Star Conference Honor Band. Approximately 190 high schoolers from 13 schools arrived early afternoon. Dividing into two bands, the afternoon was spent practicing three pieces of music for each band. Guest conductors were Mr. James Fritz, a retired band director from Decorah and Mr. Jeff de Seriere, the current visiting professor at Wartburg College. Music Parents prepared a meal for the directors and bus drivers from each district, while the HS Pro Start class cooked the meal for the students. The two bands held a concert that night celebrating the music they learned to play together. What a great experience for high schoolers who usually play in their small high school band to experience the new instrumentation and sound of a larger concert band!

Happy Friday, Wildcats! We're halfway through November and almost to the first holiday of the season - Thanksgiving! I decided now would be the perfect time to tell you a little bit about our new SEL curriculum, and what your students have been up to in guidance classes in the past few weeks!

CharacterStrong is "designed to build social and emotional skills, develop character, and strengthen educator-student relationships." This K-8 curriculum will be implemented by myself (the school counselor), Mrs. Sobolik (behavior interventionist), and Mrs. Raddatz (our school social worker through Keystone AEA). The curriculum has already created a universal language throughout the school in the few weeks we have been implementing it.

Now that you know where and how it's being used, let's talk about the curriculum itself a little bit! The K-5 curriculum is called "PurposeFull People" and is broken into 9 categories, one for each month of the school year. Within each month, there are 4 weeks worth of activities to do during guidance class, as well as supplemental activities that are being used by Mrs. Sobolik and Mrs. Raddatz. Within the 6-8 curriculum, there are 35 lessons per grade level that focus on a variety of topics, such as community building, stress management, conflict resolution, friendships, values and dreams, and more!

Over the past 2 weeks, the K-5 students have been talking about Gratitude, whereas the 6th and 8th grade students have been talking about community building and values & dreams. I encourage you to ask your students in elementary what they are grateful for, or what Gratitude means as we near Thanksgiving time. I encourage parents of 8th grade students to ask questions about their future goals, dreams, and what they value, and parents of 6th grade students to ask what "community" means to them.

I hope you all have a safe and relaxing holiday break!

As always, feel free to contact me by calling the school at 641-985-2288 or email me at jaden.bohr@riceville.k12.ia.us. I am in the building Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, & Friday each week (out of office on Wednesdays) from 7:45-3:45.

That's all for now! Be sure to check back in a few weeks to see what's happening in the counseling world at Riceville!

Jaden Bohr

The junior English classes are reading and responding to the Scottish play, Macbeth, by

Shakespeare. Can one have too much ambition? Should there be limits to what one will do to

reach one’s goals? Does complete power, corrupt completely? The readers are hoping to find

out the answers to these questions and others that are relevant to our everyday lives.

Students in College Composition I are working through the different types of writings. They

have written descriptive, narrative, and process analysis papers. They are now working on an

illustration paper. They will be creating a portfolio of their writings for their final project.

All of the classes practice reading, writing, and responding to many different types of writings

and how they apply to life today. Lessons can be learned, and comparisons made among the

variety of time periods in which the authors and characters lived.

Mrs. Fair's physical science class learned from Mr. Fair's welding class the connections welding has with science!

With the holidays quickly approaching, check out all of the current fundraising options below that make gift giving easy and help our Wildcat organizations and activities! Please note the different deadlines per fundraiser. Happy Shopping!

The daycare is doing a fundraiser of wildcat apparel. Click the link below and help us raise money to update our playground.

Orders close Monday, November 21st and clothing will be delivered 12/12. Clothing comes in sizes as small as 6 months. These will make perfect Christmas gifts. Hurry and get yours now. Each design come in a variety of shirt options...t-shirt, long-sleeve shirt, sweatshirts, hooded sweatshirts.

https://stores.teamelitesports.com/little_cats_daycare/shop/home

Checks can be made payable to Milkhouse Candles. Order forms are available in the Pre-K - 12 Office.

Marcia Grimm Associate Principal

Barb Schwamman Superintendent

Email: heather.suckow@riceville.k12.ia.us
Website: riceville.k12.ia.us
Location: 912 Woodland Avenue, Riceville, IA, USA
Phone: 641-985-2288