Scarlet News and Notes
September 29, 2019
Assuring Learning Excellence and Readiness for a Changing World
“Knowledge of our biases gives us the power to reduce their impact.”
Tracey Benson and Sarah Fiarman
Big 9 Conference
In our principals' meeting there was a lot of discussion on SBG. All of the Big 9 schools are moving toward SBG, with some schools further on their journey, and some schools are in about the same place as our district. Many of the schools have adopted a change to their day to create additional time for reteaching, retakes, and student-teacher check ins. Winona requires everyone to have a study hall, which is the last 30 minutes of the day. Students with a B or better are allowed to leave campus, all others self select which teachers they need to connect with. Northfield does something similar, but they attach it to lunch.
Saturday night was a great opportunity for two Big 9 schools, as our Scarlets played Rochester Mayo at TCO. Governor Walz and the First Lady were there, with the governor on the sidelines and presenting the trophy to our victorious Scarlets. Our own Kim Hermer was also honored on the field as Teacher of the Game!
Let's Get to Know...
Don Krusemark from the Physical Education/Health department. Don teaches Health 10 and Strength for the Journey. This is his 42nd year in education, his 33rd year at West, and he is looking forward “to meet and positively impact students and families.” Don was born and raised in Blue Earth, MN. He attended Indiana State University at the same time as Larry Bird. He completed his MS at Winona State.
Over the summer, Don spent mornings on the green improving his golf game. Don and his family are expecting a grandchild in February. In his free time, when he’s not with any of his 7 other grandkids, he likes to bike, read, and spend time with his wife, Beth. The couple raised four children--Brady, Brittany, Chelsey and Mariah--who all went on to become teachers.
Mark Szybnski from the Science department. He’s excited to be back in the classroom to “help my students see my love for chemistry and deepen their skills and knowledge for their life whether they go farther in chemistry or not.”
Last summer, Mark worked with graduate students at the University of Minnesota’s Materials Research Science & Engineering Center as part of their Research Experiences for Teachers (RET) program. He intends to extend what he learned into his Chemistry classroom. About the year, his 19th at West, he says, “I’m still trying to perfect what I do. Teaching is a blend of art and science that includes creativity, flexibility, and adaptability.”
Mark grew up in Duluth where his family ran a bakery known for its sweet rye bread. He would deliver bread and rolls to stores before going to school at Proctor High. He went on to the College of St. Scholastica to major in Chemistry and Education. He loves to spend time with his wife Rachel and sons Sam, 11, Paul, 8, and Max, 5. He likes to bike with friends, hike, camp, bake, smoke meat, and work in his garage. He enjoys boating, traveling, visiting Duluth and the North Shore.
Rachel Palmer from the Physical Education department. Rachel is in her 40th year of teaching. This year, she teaches Aerobics and Body Conditioning, and as part of Active Living course, she’s excited to teach not just yoga poses but yogic philosophy to her students. Last summer, Rachel traveled the country to officiate fastpitch softball games. She is from Madison, Minnesota and went to college at Minnesota State University, Mankato. She is married to West’s Athletic Trainer, Randy, and they have two children. In her free time, you will find her behind home plate as an umpire for softball.
Homecoming Is Coming!
Start planning your dress up days! Monday, October 7 is Meme Day; Tuesday - USA, get out your red, white and blue; Wednesday - dress up as your favorite character; Thursday - staff color is black; and Friday is red and white day. Let's show the kids our school spirit!
Link Crew is still looking for volunteers to do the Spirit Shack during lunches. This is a fun duty seeing all the kids dressed up. Please consider signing up here.
The Hall of Fame Banquet in Thursday, October 10th. Teachers can purchase tickets at a discount, $20 rather than $30. Jodi has the tickets, but we do need your order by October 1st.
College Knowledge Month
College Knowledge Day is Friday, October 4th, hours 1-5 in the media center for all seniors. Teachers will need to give students their pass (from the counselor) and allow them to come at their designated time. Thank you for your cooperation.
Reminders
Have you entered information into their contact log? If not, please do so asap!
Social Media
Join your fellow teachers (see pictures below) by sending a picture with a brief description of all the great things happening in your classroom to socialmedia@isd77.org.
Stop the Bleed Training
The training will take about 1-hour and includes a powerpoint, several short videos and hands-on training and is only required to be taken once.
Our first session of training will be offered at East High School, Room 104 on the following dates and times:
September 24th - 3:30 pm
September 25th - 6:00 pm
October 2nd - 3:30 pm
October 4th - 3:30pm
Link to Registration: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1r32U8lzS7itwjAcAS5-fm3JZ0-FHc_RXvTZudEloAPQ/edit?usp=sharing
Community Events
Mankato Marathon - Hundreds of volunteers are needed for the weekend of Oct. 18-19. Anyone interested can sign up on the website: https://visitmankato1.volunteerlocal.com/volunteer/?id=34988
PD Opportunities
What: Youth Mental Health First Aid Training (see flyer below)
When: Thursday, October 17th, 8-4:30
Where: Madison East Mall- 1400 Madison Ave, Mankato, MN 56001
Lunch will be included.
This is a free training offered FREE to employees in our district in partnership with Mankato Clinic. You will earn 8 continuing education hours, these hours will include Suicide Prevention and Mental Health requirements for teachers. Space is limited to 24 participants. Sign up now, registration is open until October 7th.
Note from the presenter, Mary Beth Trembley, RNC
The training will be held from 8:00-4:30, please arrive by 7:50. In order to be certified, attendees must be present for the entire 8 hours. Lunch will be provided. The training is held at the Madison East Center in conference room A, this conference room is located in the middle of the mall. There will be signage to help people once they get inside the mall. It’s a perfect location for the course, plenty of room to stretch and quiet corners to gather. Parking is at the back of the Madison East
Game On Thursdays
Have you visited another classroom? If you haven't, and you feel uncomfortable going into someone else's classroom, let me know and you can come with me and do some walkthroughs.
Here is the link to a quick Google form that helps us get a sense of what you are seeing as well as helps move us closer to our goal of 75% participation.
Michael Johnson will be drawing the winner for September this week. Stay tuned for the winner of the fabulous prizes!
Staff Meetings
Last Wednesday's staff meeting was awesome! Thank you to those of you who participated in the Socratic Seminar. Your reflections have some common themes, one being our staff is very white, and we don't know what we don't know. Another was how important it is to form positive relationships and to learn the stories of our students. This feedback will guide our future PD.
I have had a number of follow up conversations with teachers since our staff meeting. I appreciate hearing your perspectives and listening to your insight. Let's keep the dialogue going!
You are earning CEUs for your work in Life Journey. The entire course is 50 CEUs.
This Wednesday is set aside for departments to meet to continue SBG work, if they choose to do so.
Problem Solving Team
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=beJC-YnmDtc&feature=youtu.be
Standards Based Grading
Standards Based Grading Part 1
On January 29, 2014, Rick Wormeli brought his passion and enthusiasm to Ankeny Community Schools in Iowa to talk about standards-based grading and reporting. Part one of five.
Things I Have Been Reading/Watching
The Week at a Glance
Monday
Events: Girls Soccer 7:00pm - Caswell
Tuesday
Fire Drill - 10:00am
Problem Solving Team 2:15pm
Events: Volleyball 7:00pm - Gymnasium
Boys Soccer 7:00pm - Caswell
Wednesday
New Teacher Meeting 7:45am - Sherri's Office
Staff Meeting - Optional - Department meetings
Thursday
Game On!
Family Connections/parent steering committee 4:30pm - 116
Events: Girls' Swim & Dive 6:00pm - MSU
Volleyball 7:00pm - gymnasium
Boys Soccer 7:00pm - Caswell
Friday
High Five Friday
College Knowledge Day for Seniors Hours 1-5 - Media Center
Hall of Fame
- Governor Tim Walz
- Peter Gronvall
- Lynn Nordgren
- Hans Storvick
- Seijen Takamura
- Cami (Longstreet) Zimmer
Jodi has tickets available, which are $20 for teachers ($30 for general public). Tickets need to be purchased by October 1st.
Birthdays This Week
Happy Birthday
Coming Soon
October 10 - Hall of Fame Banquet
October 11 - Homecoming
October 14 - Conferences 3:30 - 7:30
October 16 - PSAT
New Course Proposal deadline - October 31