Hawkeye News
What's Happening in the Classroom
Summer Hours at the School
Monday thru Thursday from 6am to 4pm. The school is not open on Friday's. The week of July 4th , the school will only be open on July 6 and July 7th.
Happy Summer and Retirement!
It is hard to believe it but we have reached the end of the school year and summer break is officially upon us. It has been a great year with many positives. As I reflect on the year I would be remiss if I didn’t point out some of the positives that make West Harrison special. We are blessed to have a staff that takes pride in their work and is so committed to each other and our students. We are fortunate to have outstanding parental and community support. Our students are great young people! Do we have issues at times, absolutely but when you look at the big picture West Harrison is a great place to be! Thanks for what each of you does to contribute to that environment!
This week also brings the retirements of two long-time district employees, Tony Nunez and Carol Birdsall. These two have impacted thousands of lives during their time here and both of these individuals are shining examples of what makes West Harrison special. We will miss seeing them every day but wish them the best in their retirement!
Carol Birdsall has served the West Harrison School District for thirty-two years! She began her career as a para-educator at Modale Elementary in 1988 and transitioned to Mondamin in 2000 when all elementary students moved into the new building. Carol has worked with students in multiple grades and with a wide range of special needs during her time with the school district. She has shown herself to be a kind, caring individual and her commitment to the students, staff, and school community has been visible every day of her time here at West Harrison. Carol is a well-known cook who often brought goodies to share with her students and school family. Please join me in congratulating Carol on her upcoming retirement and thanking her for all she has meant to and done for our district over the years!
Tony Nunez has spent 31 years at West Harrison. One of the things that stands out most when thinking of Tony is his integrity and high character. This is evidenced daily through his interactions with others as well as his leadership in bringing the Teammates program to West Harrison. Tony did his student teaching at West Harrison and then returned after teaching for two years in Yutan, NE. Since 1990 he has been a consistent role model for students, servicing 23 years as a teacher and eight as an interventionist and activities director. He has coached something every one of his 31 years including baseball, wrestling, track, football and basketball. In baseball, he led the Hawkeyes to three state tournament appearances. In his spare time, he has served the community through volunteering for 25 years in Fire and Rescue and his leadership with Junior EMS. I feel fortunate to have had the opportunity to work with someone like Tony Nunez during my career and I wish him a long and happy retirement!
Have a safe and Happy Summer!
Marty Fonley
Superintendent
Secondary Spanish Teacher Position
Plan, program, teach Spanish within middle/high school curricular objectives; evaluate and
report all students; demonstrate gains in student performance; meet course and school
student performance goals. Collaborate with staff and peers to co-plan, co-deliver, and
individualize instruction and accommodate student needs, enhance environment, and
overcome challenges, implementing instructional activities that provide active engagement
in meaningful learning experiences. Establish weekly objectives and units of study within
IA Learning and Common Core Standards. Facilitate activities and project incorporating
communication, collaboration, creativity, and critical thinking. Identify, select, and modify
instructional resources to meet student varying backgrounds, learning styles, and special
needs; assess curricular needs and offer improved plan. Communicate with students, parents, and other professionals. Participate in training and professional development. Establish positive, encouraging, appropriate relationships with students. Work with teachers and staff as contributing team member for a cooperative and positive environment.
Minimum Requirements: Bach degree, or equiv, in Education, Humanities, or closely related
field; valid IA teaching certificate with appropriate level endorsement in Spanish; speak and
write fluent Spanish.
Send resumes to Tonya Radil
West Harrison CSD
410 Pine St, Mondamin, IA 51557
Note from the Kitchen for the 2022-2023 school year.........
May 25th, 2022
Dear Parent/Guardian:
Looking ahead to the 2022-2023 school year:
Afternoon milk will not be offered next school year to K-3rd grade.
Afternoon snacks will be offered to K-2nd grade at a small cost to the Parents/Guardians if they choose this option for their child.
That price will be determined before next school year begins.
All K-2nd grade students will be provided with a water bottle to keep at school and will be allowed to drink water during their normal afternoon snack time along with a healthy snack.
PK will be getting milk and a snack at the cost of the parent/guardian.
Food costs are on the rise and we are in hopes this will help ease some of the burden brought on by having to pay for meals next year.
Thank you for your understanding
Kathy Glennie
Food Service Director
From Kathy Glennie for the High School Volleyball Players
2022-2023 7th and 8th Grade Athletes
A Letter from Deb Evans, the School Nurse
Dear Parents/Guardians,
If your student takes medication at school:
Your student’s medication is to be picked up at the end of the school year in the school office. These medications will not be sent home with the student. Please see your school nurse (before the end of school on May 25th, 2022) or school secretary about this matter. This will prevent other students from tampering or ingesting medication that would be harmful if taken by others.
Medication not picked up by May 31st, 2022 will be properly disposed of by the school.
Thank you for your time and cooperation in this matter. It has been a joy caring for our students!
If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to call.
Have a great summer!
Letters have been mailed regarding school health requirements for school year 2022-2023. If your student is entering Kindergarten, 3rd grade, 7th grade, 9th grade, or 12th grade you should have received a letter in the mail. There are specific requirements per Iowa State Law upon entering those grades. If you have any questions regarding these requirements please do not hesitate to contact the school nurse to discuss.
Have a wonderful and safe summer! See you in the fall!
Respectfully, Deb Evans, RN
1st Grade has been busy with Ms. Cartmill
Hello West Harrison Families from Ms. Cartmill’s Classroom!
I can’t believe we are in our last quarter of first grade. The growth these children have made already is astounding! I credit this growth to the two new curriculums we’ve implemented! The reading and math curriculum are both very rigorous! Many of you know that I’ve taught first grade for many years. The skills I’ve taught this year are some I’ve NEVER taught before. This has led to great growth for these children! I have several children reading at the 2nd and 3rd grade reading levels. They are enjoying the fact that they can read chapter books now.
I appreciate all the support that my parents give their children. Research from the National Coalition for Parent Involvement in Education shares that “students with involved parents are more likely to have higher grades and test scores.”
One way my parents help their 1st grader is by listening to them read their guided reading books. Books go home twice a week. Research shows that the reading of familiar books increases your child’s fluency. This is a great support for the beginning and emergent readers in my classroom.
In math this year, we begin our lesson by reading our learning objective or goal for the day. We then begin with a warm up activity. Many of the warm ups are number talks, choral counts, and notice and wonder to name a few. Our lessons have two or three activities for the class to work on with a partner. These activities are used to meet the learning goal for the day. Students are teaching other students different strategies to problem solve. Each student decides which strategy works best for them to get the correct answer. I’m impressed with the collaboration I see among these students. This is such a great life learning skill.
The first grade classes made a time capsule on 2-22-22 for them to open when they are seniors on 3-3-33! I sure hope they enjoy this when they are seniors. We also celebrated Tuesday, 2-22-22! We had several fun activities, and I had a few students dress up as twins or wear tutu’s. Please enjoy the pictures I’ve added.
Mrs. Blum and I would like to thank Mrs. Nunez for coming in during our Astronomy Unit. We had the Star Lab from Green Hills arrive and Mrs. Nunez set it up and gave our students a presentation on stars and constellations. The first graders loved it!! Thanks again Mrs. Nunez!!
My class has enjoyed watching the eagles in Decorah, Iowa. We observed two eaglets hatching, and have noticed how much the mother and father take care of their babies. They really do share the job of parenting by laying on the eggs, and feeding their babies. We will continue to watch these eaglets learn and grow.
I’d like to take this opportunity to thank Mr. Fonley, Mrs. Ring, my peers and first grade parents. The support you gave me after being hospitalized and recovering from Covid is very much appreciated! Mrs. Stirtz and Mrs. Weihs started the year off with my class and got them ready academically and behaviorally for my return to the classroom. In my frustration of not feeling well and having no energy, knowing they were in my classroom relieved a lot of my stress. I’ve always felt truly blessed to work at West Harrison. The teachers and staff I work with are my second family. I can’t imagine working anywhere else.
Mary Cartmill
Spanish is always fun with Mrs. Palmero
Hola!
This year, I have made some changes to the grading and assignment processes in my high school classes. At the beginning of each semester, I have every student select which assignments they would like to complete throughout both quarters. The assignments they can choose from are Quia listenings, YouTube video summaries, minicuentos, cuentos de la lección, FlipGrids, Spanish movie summaries, and grammar videos for underclassmen. There are some mandatory assignments that we work on in class, such as exams and quizzes, but other than that, students are totally responsible for turning in the assignments they signed up for on time. This method has taught the students accountability and time management, as they do not get class time to work on their chosen assignments. Overall, I have found this method to be successful, and I am happy to see how well my students have adjusted to such a big change!
Another thing I have added to my curriculum this year is taking my junior class to the Mondamin Public Library once a week. At the library, we talk to Christine, the owner, who is bilingual. We play games, make crafts, and have conversations entirely in Spanish. The students are able to have fun and get to know someone in their community while also learning new words and phrases. I am very grateful for this opportunity for the students, and I plan to continue this weekly trip for my classes in the future.
My classes have recently completed their work on our yearly tradition of Fallas. This tradition is inclusive of all my classes, middle and high school. Each class works together to create several different sculptures or structures that relate to the chosen theme for the year. This year, the classes chose a western theme. Once all the sculptures were built, we put them on display in the commons for everyone to admire the students’ hard work. Then, all middle and high school students will gather outside (if the weather is good enough to allow it) to watch the sculptures be burnt, as is tradition in Spain, which is where the Fallas celebration originated. Afterwards, everyone will go inside to enjoy churros and hot chocolate. As chaotic as the process of building the sculptures can sometimes be, I am glad that the students are able to have some fun while learning more about cultures different from their own.