Scarlet News and Notes
March 1, 2020
Assuring Learning Excellence and Readiness for a Changing World
It feels like spring...
I am beginning to work on staffing, and have communicated to department chairs the first round of classes that didn't have enough students registered to run. Toward the end of this week, I will communicate which classes will be cut in round two. By mid March, I will be meeting with department chairs to share course numbers and FTEs.
Thank you, again, for your amazing work with our Champion Students! Let's keep it going!
Let's Get to Know...
Cheryl Menke, from our World Language department. Cheryl teaches Spanish and has been in education for 30 years, 23 years at West. Cheryl grew up in Mankato, attended Loyola High School, did her undergrad and graduate work at Minnesota State University, Mankato. Cheryl is the youngest of 8, and she and her husband have 4 daughters. In her free time, Cheryl likes to play tennis, volleyball, read, sing, play guitar, hang out with family and friends.
Amanda Whiteis, from our FACS department. Amanda graduated from Minnesota State University in 2002, and taught for about 7 years; 2 of those years here at West! When her position at West was cut to part time she decided to switch gears and work as a Culinary Specialist for the Art Institute, which she did for another 7 years. When the Art Institute in Minneapolis closed she worked as an Interior Designer/Project manager for about 3 years (missing teaching the entire time!). Last spring, she decided to come back to teaching and does not regret it for a second! She was so excited when the FACS position opened up here at West because it feels like coming back "home". Amanda grew up in Morristown, graduated from Waterville-Elysian-Morristown High School and went to college here in Mankato, at MSU. She is continuing her education working towards her Master's through St. Mary's. Amanda has been married to her high school sweetheart Jim for almost 18 years. They have two children, daughter Sydney, 16, and son Devin, 14. They have a dog named Roscoe and two cats named Ripley and Flynn.
Staff Meeting
Interested in Being a Department Chair?
The Week at a Glance
Wednesday
Department meeting (if departments choose to meet)
Events
History Day Competition Cafeteria 3:15
Thursday
Game On!
New Teacher Meeting 7:45am
Friday
High Five Friday
State Tournament News
Congratulations to Charlie Pickell who took first place in the state wrestling meet this past weekend. It was his third state championship.
Our ten swimmers all qualified to compete in the finals last Saturday at the state swim meet.
DECA is competing in the state meet Monday and Tuesday of this week.
Go Scarlets!
A Message from Talent Development
This is an opportunity to participate in a Regional Arts Teacher-Leader Network through the Perpich Center. The Regional Arts Teacher-Leaders Network (RAT-Ls) develops leadership capacity among a select group of statewide arts educators in order to facilitate teacher-to-teacher learning and enhance Perpich Center’s ability to respond to the needs of arts educators in each region of the state. Here is an overview -- more information is in the attachments below.
• Perpich Center’s Professional Development and Resource Programs (PDR) work to build teacher and administrator capacity statewide so they can provide innovative, inclusive, standards-based, measurable, and student-centered learning in and through the arts.
• Regional Arts Teacher-Leaders develop and implement an Annual Leadership Plan of their own design. These plans may involve collaborations or individual work. Annual Leadership Plans are designed with the intent of serving the needs of arts educators in each RAT-L’s home region.
• Members of the Regional Arts Teacher-Leaders Network receive a payment of **$1,000.00 each year for their services and commitment.
Currently, a teacher from Rosa Parks Elementary School is one of our Regional Arts Teacher-Leaders and it has been a pleasure working with her. During this application round we are especially looking for some folks who teach Media Arts, Theater, or Dance. With both theater and dance, we are open to folks in other disciplines such as Phy Ed or ELA to apply if they are passionate about integrating those arts areas into their curriculum. If you have folks who you think may be interested, I am happy to reach out to them or welcome you passing along my contact info. You can also find out more about this program here:
http://perpich.mn.gov/professional-development/regional-centers/ Let me know if you have any questions or would like to discuss the program more in-depth!
All the best,
Max Clark-Vail
Max Clark-Vail (he/him/his)
Regional Centers Director
Perpich Center for Arts Education
Birthdays this Week
Happy Birthday to...
Scott Urban March 3rd
Coming Soon...
March 23 - School Stakeholders Session with the Superintendent 3:10 - 3:55 in the Media Center
March 24 - ACT for all Juniors