Wilder School District News
November 2023 🦃
🧡 Hello From the Wilder School District 🧡
There are many holidays just around the corner that offer our school community a chance to come together and celebrate diversity. We just had Halloween, a time when our students get creative with their costumes and indulge in spooky fun. Beyond the candy and costumes, Halloween is an opportunity to embrace the imaginative spirit that resides within each of us. Following Halloween, we have the Day of the Dead, a beautiful Mexican tradition that celebrates and remembers loved ones who have passed away. This holiday teaches us about the importance of gratitude and remembrance, emphasizing the value of honoring our ancestors and cherishing the memories we share with them. Thanksgiving, a time to gather with loved ones, express our appreciation, and reflect on the blessings in our lives. These holidays serve as a reminder to cherish our shared moments with family and friends while paying homage to the traditions that shape us.
Upcoming Dates
November 5 Daylight Saving Time Ends
November 7 IFRA Listening Session
November 8 Parent University
November 20 - 24 Thanksgiving Break
December 6 Parent Math Workshop at Wilder Elementary
🏀 See Athletics at wilderschools.org for upcoming basketball games. 🏀
Student Council By Students, Josiah Flores & Selina Longest
We are excited to have student articles this month to share with our Wilder community. These two students conducted interviews to introduce the high school student council.
The student council has the authority to organize fundraisers, plan school activities, and engage with the administration to make decisions. Students who aspire to hold positions in the student council campaign to their fellow students. Following this, the students cast their votes to elect the President, Vice President, Treasurer, and Secretary of each class.
Freshman & Sophomore Student Council
Josiah Flores
The sophomore class is made up of four officers: President: Giselle Esparza, Vice President: Evelin Vargas, Secretary: Jazlyn Velazquez, and Treasurer: Jocelyn Gutierrez. Giselle wasn't hard to interview; she was just more intimidating, in my opinion, since I never talked to her before. However, the interview was quick. I learned that she likes art and that she's busy with work. Jazlyn, Evelin, and Jocelyn were easy to interview since all of them were together. When I asked about their favorite game, they all agreed that it was Roblox since all three of them play it together. Evelin likes Pokémon, and her favorite Pokémon is Lucario. Jocelyn was shy and a bit quiet, but she talked about how she likes to play games with her friends on Roblox, especially survival games. Overall, all three of them are great friends.
The freshmen class has three officers. Brayan Aguilar, the president, was very challenging to interview because he always seemed busy and focused on other things. He mentioned that he likes to play NBA 2K24, a video game. The other officers, Salvador Gutierrez and Genesis Martinez were both funny people to interview. They both kept making jokes, and they both enjoyed playing basketball. Salvador is the vice president and Genesis holds the positions of both Treasurer and Secretary for their class.
Junior and Senior Student Council
Selina Longest
The Junior class student council has four members: Co-President Abby Scott, Co-President Sarahi Castillo, Co-Vice President Shaun Fleming, and Co-Vice President Kenia Morales. They were all given two questions to answer and they all had pretty similar answers, they were asked how they or other people would describe them and how they would describe their class. Abby says she describes herself as energetic, passionate, and kind. She says the students in the class of 2025 are independent and fun. Kenia describes herself as outgoing and a social butterfly. She doesn’t know exactly how to describe her class. Shaun says he’d describe himself as someone who cares too much and he also didn’t give me an exact way to describe the class.
The Senior class also has four members of Student Council, Zaydit Flores (Co-President), Angela Soto (Co-President), Gigi Perez (Treasurer), and Noe Anguiano (Secretary). Gigi says some people would describe her as mean while others would describe her as fun and loud. She says the graduating class of 2024 is special and definitely unlike the other classes. Noe says, “I would consider myself as a man who can’t be stopped when I put my mind on to something” He is also a very quiet person and always works towards what he wants to accomplish most. He describes his class as very separated but when the class comes together it becomes like the big family you never knew you had. He also says he really appreciates them all.
Halloween 👻 🎃 By Student, Selina Longest
Halloween is a holiday celebrated in Ireland, and Canada, but is most widely celebrated in the United States. Halloween was originally from Ireland and the history of carving pumpkins also comes from there. It is said that a man called Stingy Jack messed with the devil a lot. One day he made a deal with him that when he dies he will not go to his realm. When he did die, he wasn’t accepted into heaven so he is forever trapped on Earth. He made a lantern made from a turnip. After this, Irish people would carve turnips, rutabagas, gourds, potatoes, and beets to ward off Jack’s evil spirit. Now we carve pumpkins as a tradition for the spirit of Halloween and not so much to ward off evil spirits.
Halloween is also the season for scary movies. When it comes to scary movies there are so many to choose from like The Corpse Bride or Scream. There are so many that people claim as their favorite and least favorite. I did a survey to see what student's favorite scary movies and horror characters are. The most favorite scary movie out of all that were submitted was The Conjuring, this movie is about Ed and Lorraine Warren (who are paranormal investigators) they help the Perron family who are a family of seven. They experience many different and terrifying things in their house and in the end live on and have a happy life. This is based on real events, although the real story is much sadder a lot that happened in the movie happened in real life. The most favorite horror character winner was Chucky. In the film, a serial killer named Charles Lee Ray, aka Chucky uses a voodoo ritual inside a toy store to transfer his soul into a Good Guy doll to escape from Detective Mike Norris.
Halloween is my personal favorite holiday for all the decorations and the spooky feeling the month of October gives. I personally think Halloween is so fun and is honestly a cute time to have with your friends and family.
Introducing Mrs. Kala Hernandez, Our New Ag Teacher And FFA Director!
Mrs. Hernandez was born and raised in the Treasure Valley, where she spent much of her childhood camping and exploring all the Idaho outdoors have to offer. She attended the University of Idaho, where she initially received a bachelor's degree in wildlife resources that she used to enter the field of fisheries research. After about 10 years working in fisheries, she decided it was time for a career change and looked into becoming a teacher. She realized that becoming an agriculture education teacher could be a perfect way to combine her love of natural resources, agriculture, and FFA. She started working as an agriculture education instructor and was able to earn her master's degree in agricultural education. She is excited to join the Wilder District and get our ag program back up and running.
FFA Happenings
Thanksgiving Food Basket Drive
Wilder FFA is partnering with the Treasure Valley Invaders to help provide Thanksgiving food boxes to local families. Our goal is to help 30 families and we will be delivering boxes the week of Thanksgiving break.
If you would like to donate please bring donations to the ag building or contact Mrs. Hernandez before November 17th.
Idaho FFA Foundation Scholarship Raffle Tickets
Wilder FFA members have raffle tickets for a 2023 Can-Am Maverick side by side and other great prizes. Tickets are a $20 donation each and go directly to supporting Wilder FFA members. Please see a member or Mrs. Hernandez for yours!
Wider FFA Alumni Kick-Off Meeting
We are working to establish a Wilder FFA Alumni and Supporters group. Any interested adult that wants to support the students of Wilder FFA is encouraged to attend. We would love the help and involvement of community members to make our chapter the best it can be.
First meeting will be held Wednesday November 15th at 6:00 pm in the Ag building.
Submit a Recipe for a Chance to Have a Featured Meal at the Wilder Cafeteria!
See the above flyer for information on how to submit recipes.
Selected recipes must be aligned to meet USDA guidelines, food costs, production standards, and nutrition standards.
Ingredients will have to be adjusted to match stock availability and nutritional requirements.
Once the recipe is ready, we will invite the parent who submitted it to the department.
The food service staff will guide the parent through the recipe, its preparation, and how we serve the meal in our cafeteria.
Food service staff will collaborate with the parent to assess the meal afterward.
Together, we will decide if the recipe should be added to our recipe pool.
By including parents in this process, we aim to make it accessible for them to understand and appreciate how our meal system works while ensuring that we meet USDA standards.
Parent University
Wilder Elementary Update
Wilder Elementary has some awesome opportunities ahead of us. On December 6, Wilder Elementary, in partnership with Idaho AEYC, will be offering a free parent workshop on key math essentials that the adults at home can incorporate into their day-to-day to help their children age 3-5. This workshop is available to local parents if they have a student 3, 4, or 5, even if they're student isn't enrolled in Wilder just yet. This one-night workshop will start at 6 pm in Wilder Elementary. The same workshop will be offered on the same date and time; however, one will be a fully English course and the other fully in Spanish. Plus, free childcare will be offered. Check out ParentSquaree, the District website, or this newsletter for a registration link. Also, starting in January, a three-part series focused on literacy will be offered. Stay tuned for more info on that series.
Sincerely,
Dr. Zamora
Wilder Mid/High School Update
We've been buzzing with activities and opportunities at our school, and we can't wait to share the latest news with you:
- Micron Field Trip: Thanks to Idaho Future-Ready Academy, our high school students recently explored Micron. They delved into Micron's history, learned about various job opportunities, and explored the future of technology in STEM. During their tour, they saw firsthand how collaboration among supervisors and staff enhances productivity.
- Hispanic Youth Leadership Summit: On October 10th, twenty high school students attended the annual Hispanic Youth Leadership Summit. This event encourages students to pursue higher education, and it offers scholarships at the end of the sessions. We proudly announce that seven high school seniors earned scholarships through interviews, including one from Idaho Future Ready Academy.
- Future Hispanic Leaders Of America Conference: On October 14th, some Wilder students participated in the Future Hispanic Leaders Of America elections and the first state conference. The conference included elections for the 2023-2024 school year. Notably, one of our alums, Tomas Puga, was a guest speaker, sharing inspiring success stories. Our students have also volunteered to help organize the Hispanic Health and Technology Careers Conference in the spring.
- Sources of Strength (SOS): Our newly established SOS group is working hard. Last month some of our wilder middle & high school students who were nominated as peer leaders took part in an all day training for the Sources of Strength program. Peer Leaders began brainstorming ways to help spread messages of hope, help, & strength within our school and will be showcasing their first campaign for this school year soon. Be sure to keep your eyes out for this!
Upcoming Event:
ASVAB Testing on 11/7: This is a valuable opportunity for military placement and career exploration.
Please stay connected for more exciting news and updates from Wilder Middle/High School. We're committed to providing enriching experiences for our students.
Sincerely,
Principal Lindsey
Hispanic Youth Leadership Summit
Congratulations students who received scholarships at the Hispanic Youth Leadership Summit.
WHS and IFRA Students at Micron!
Idaho Future Ready Academy Update
Idaho Future-Ready Academy's second quarter starts November 1, but it isn't too late for new students to register. If you have anyone interested in joining our school, have them call 208-337-7400 ext. 1 and a staff person can share more information. Also, as the weather is getting chilly, and will likely lead to snow in the coming weeks, I want to share our "snow day" process for those accessing our Nampa Campus lab. If Wilder School District or the Vallivue School District, the district in which the lab is physically located, closes due to inclement weather on a day an in-person lab is scheduled, the lab will be closed for that day; however, schooling progress will still be expected to be completed online.
Lastly, as a school, we want to model maintaining a growth mindset. To that end, we are hosting a student listening session where staff can get feedback, ideas, or questions on how to make IFRA even greater! This virtual event will be November 7 at 1 pm. Ask your advisor for the meeting link.
Sincerely,
Dr. Zamora
Message from Superintendent, Dr. Dillon
Parents Bill of Rights – Education in the Wilder School District is taking shape, and it is time to ask for your input and support in what will be included in the final revision of the document. If you are interested in providing guidance on the framework of the “rights,” please contact Anna Cruz at the Community Schools modular.
Self-Directed Learner: The district has implemented the Idaho Code that allows the district to offer students in grades 5th – 12th the ability to be identified as a “self-directed learner”. This process and identification allow students the freedom to not be on campus to learn and not be noted as absent while at home or on vacation with their families. Call your building administrative assistant for more details.
Artificial Intelligence (AI) – ChatGPT, Machine Learning, etc… Is here and will change the landscape of education as we know it currently, sooner than later. The district is taking proactive measures to assure our students are safe, and knowledgeable about its strengths and weaknesses, and how it can be leveraged for their benefit for learning. A committee has been meeting for a couple of months, and in the near future will be recommending to the school board the best practices for implementation and safeguards for students and staff. If you are interested in reviewing these recommendations, please contact the district office and request to be added to the parent committee for reviewing the recommendations.
HOSTING VISITS:
We recently hosted the Grant County School District of John Day Oregon. The GCSD is moving toward our model and wanted to discuss how to best increase the professional development capacity of their staff. We are anticipating in November and December the honor of visits from several legislators.
ENROLLMENT:
Great news! The district student enrollment has gradually increased since the beginning of the year. We are currently near 700 students K-12, 280 high school students, and 71 seniors. As the year progresses, we anticipate our IFRA (Idaho Future Ready Academy) virtual school to drive the increase in district enrollment. IFRA is one of the district schools and is open to any student across Idaho who would like to enroll and experience personalized mastery-based learning. Not seat-time for credit, just credits based upon learning. Check out the website for more information.
THANKSGIVING:
My favorite time of the year! Whether it is family and/or friends, this time of year is about being thankful and sharing that thankfulness with as many as possible. Thank you for allowing us to partner with you and serve your child/children in their learning journey. Have a wonderful Thanksgiving season.