Cardinal Connections
A Bi-Weekly Clinton Schools Community Newsletter
9/24/18
Engaging our Cardinals at CMS
8th grade students in Mrs. Hill's "STEAM on Mars" class had quite the hands-on lesson last week.
To learn how an astronaut's eye health is altered by living in microgravity, students dissected pig eyes!
See more pictures here.
FFA Provides Hands-On Learning
Clinton High School FFA students recently provided a great opportunity for area 3rd graders.
In their "Food for America" program, FFA students taught elementary students that their food doesn't just come from the grocery store shelf. 3rd graders learned about the importance of the agriculture industry and how all of us depend on farmers.
There were many hands-on activities led by FFA students and many students even brought their own livestock to share with the 3rd graders.
See more pictures here.
Full "STEAM" Ahead at Henry
Second graders in Mrs. Steffens'' class read, Galimoto, a book about a boy who collects wires to make a toy vehicle.
As part of their morning STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Math) lesson, students then used their creativity to make their own Galimotos.
It’s a great day when reading and engineering can be combined!
See more pictures here.
Aquatic Science Project
CHS students in Mr. Tennal's Aquatic Science class are beginning their midterm project.
Their goal is to take what they know about water properties, microbiological organisms, and simple physics and create a water filter that will produce fresh, clean water that can be safe to drink (no worries....students won't actually drink the water)!
Research is taking place now, a few test builds are underway, and test runs and finals trials will take place this week.
In this picture, students are working on distillation. Dirty water will boil within the flask, sending water vapor into the tubes to cool and turn back into liquid water which will be collected for simple filtering in stage 2.
Learning Through Exploring
Cardinals at CECC thought last Wednesday was the “Best. Day. Ever.”!
Our littlest learners spent part of their day outside exploring. Students had the opportunity to dig in the dirt and then had even more fun when they were given the chance to mix water into the fun!
See more pictures here.
Partnership with GVMH
Students in Mrs. Barb Houk's Health Occupations class attended orientation last week at Golden Valley Memorial Healthcare.
The learning experiences that occur because of Clinton Technical School's partnership with GVMH are amazing!
We are thankful to have such a strong and supportive community partner that helps prepare our students for a career in healthcare.
See more pictures here.
*NO SCHOOL-There will be no school this Friday, September 28th for staff professional development.
*CALENDAR CHANGE-At the September 12th Board of Education work session, board members approved a calendar change to this year's calendar. To accommodate Homecoming activities that will take place on October 12th, the following changes have been made.
Friday, October 12th was originally scheduled as an early dismissal. This day will now be a REGULAR school day. Please note that CECC will be in session this day as well.
Thursday, October 18th was originally scheduled as an early dismissal day. School will NOT be in session that day to allow teachers to prepare for Parent/Teacher Conferences that will occur that day from 1:00-8:00.
*CARNIVAL-You are invited to Henry Elementary's annual school carnival. Join them on October 3rd from 5:00-7:00 for a night of fun games and activities. Admission is $5 per child, concessions will also available.
*FARM NIGHT-Tractors, hayrides and corn shucking....it's almost time for the 17th annual FARM NIGHT! Join Clinton Early Childhood Center and Parents as Teachers at the Henry County Fairgrounds on Thursday, October 4th from 6:00-7:00 for this fun event!
*HOMECOMING-Homecoming will be celebrated during the week of October 8th. Students will have the opportunity to show school spirit all week by participating in spirit days (more info coming soon). The annual Homecoming parade will take place at 1:30 on Friday, October 12th (parade route info available soon on Facebook). The football team will take on Smith-Cotton at 7:00 with coronation of Homecoming royalty during half-time. The CHS Alumni Association also extends an invitation to their annual pre-game dinner (to participate, you must RSVP by going here).
*WALK TO SCHOOL DAY-With the help of administrators, teachers, and volunteers, Clinton Intermediate and Henry Elementary School students have the opportunity to participate in National Walk to School Day on October 10th.
Parents can drop students off at Equity Bank (7th and Ohio) between 7:15 and 7:45 a.m. on the morning of October 10th. A volunteer or teacher will walk with small groups of students so they can learn how to use the crosswalks and crossing guards on their way to school.
*STUDENT ATHLETIC CARDS-THANK YOU to Equity Bank for once again sponsoring Student Athletic Cards for CMS and CHS students. These cards are good for free student admittance to regular season Clinton athletic home events. The cards are available at Equity Bank. CMS/CHS students can receive a card with their student ID.
*BASKETBALL FUNDRAISER-Do you like bacon? If so, the CHS Girls' Basketball Team has a fundraiser you will want to know about. For $5 you can purchase a ticket for a chance to win approximately 75 pounds of pork! Drawing will take place on October 5th. Find more info here!
*CARDINAL HOLIDAY MART-The 2nd annual Clinton Intermediate School CARDINAL HOLIDAY MART, will be held on November 17th at CIS. They are currently looking for vendors, if interested please contact Pam Mifflin at pmifflin@clintoncardinals.org.
*GRADUATION-Due to scheduling conflicts the district was not aware of last Spring when the 2019 graduation date was set, the Board of Education approved a calendar change.
Graduation this year will be held on Sunday, May 19th at 2:00pm in the CHS gymnasium.
*FOLLOW US ON SOCIAL MEDIA-Stay up to date on all of the happenings and news in the CSD by following us on our social media outlets. You can find us on Facebook by clicking here, and on Twitter, here
SCHOOL SAFETY
When parents send their children to school, they trust that their children are going to be safe while they are there. Because of so many tragic events over the past 10 years, schools have had to become more diligent in their safety efforts. Many think that school safety is only associated with intruders who want to hurt our children. But the truth of the matter is, it is much broader than that. I thought it would be a good time to outline some of the safety precautions and procedures that we have in place in the Clinton School District.
We practice fire and tornado drills on a regular basis. These have become very routine for our schools today. But, these drills were put into place nationwide after some very tragic events that involved fires and tornadoes many years ago. Now, our students and teachers know what to do if a fire or a tornado were to happen at one of our schools.
We also work with our students and provide opportunities to learn about bicycle safety. The police and fire departments work with us to provide these experiences for our kids and to top it off, they even give away bikes to our kids who need them. They teach them about hand signals and riding on the correct side of the street.
Another safety procedure that we continuously talk to our kids about is staying safe after school. This is an area that we could really use some help from parents. When school is out, our students need to cross streets at crosswalks. These crosswalks are placed in areas that provide the safest routes for our kids. Many times, parents pull up across the street from the school and kids think they need to run between parked cars in the most direct route to the car. This is where parents can really help us by encouraging their children to go to the crosswalks to cross. We are currently working on some new safety procedures at the middle school to help with safety on Clinton Street.
Lastly, we practice drills so that our students know what to do if there is an intruder at the school. We practice lock down procedures as well as other procedures that will help our children remain safe in the event we have an intruder. We work closely with our local law enforcement to make sure that our procedures are based on best practice. Our teachers have practiced these drills during the safety training day at the end of August. Later this fall, we will be practicing these drills with our students.
Additionally, we have performed a risk assessment at all of our schools and are currently in the process of planning to “beef up” some of our safety equipment in order to further reduce the risk at our buildings. In the future, you will probably see more cameras being placed throughout our buildings. These cameras will allow us to see all entrances to the buildings and they will be networked with the Clinton Police Department so that they can see what is happening in the buildings in the event of a crisis. We are also improving our mechanisms within each classroom so that doors are even more secure when we are required to be in a lock down situation.
In short, safety is a vital part of our job as educators. We take that role very seriously. I have outlined a few things that we have in place. In truth, there are many other things that we have in place in case of a crisis. We want every child to feel safe in their school and we want parents to feel that their children are safe while attending school. If you ever have any questions about any of the procedures, please contact the building principals and they will be glad to answer your questions.
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shasta hetherington
This Clinton Middle School teacher is a proud alum of the Clinton School District!
Shasta Hetherington was born and raised right here in Clinton and is a proud 1998 graduate of CHS. Mrs. Hetherington currently teachers 7th grade ELA and is the sponsor of the National Junior Honor Society and the Yearbook Club.
Shasta graduated from Central Methodist University with a Bachelor's in Elementary Education with certification in 6-9 English Language Arts. She also holds a Master's in Educational Leadership from UCM. This is Shasta's 4th year in the district. Prior to teaching our Cardinals, Shasta worked for Head Start as the West Central Director of Mental Health and Health Services and also taught 3rd grade in the Leeton School District.
Shasta's husband Jack is a third generation butcher and owns Hetherington Meat Processing just north of Clinton. They have three children; Tara (16), Megan (13) and Owen (9). Their kiddos are very active with sports, clubs and extra-curricular activities that keep their family hopping, but Shasta says they wouldn't trade it for the world. Their three year old dog, Sawyer, completes the family.
In her spare time, Shasta enjoys reading and scrapbooking all the memories the family makes together.
"Teaching for the CSD has allowed me the opportunity to give back to the community that raised and inspired me. #OnceACardinalAlwaysACardinal #Clinton4Life #CardinalPride"
About Us
Email: alawson@clintoncardinals.org
Website: http://clintoncardinals.org
Location: 701 South 8th Street, Clinton, MO, United States
Phone: 660-885-5585
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Clinton-Schools-257810614245734/?fref=ts
Twitter: @ClintonMoCards