Exciting Change for Preschool

PreKWe our excited to announce that our preschool enrollment numbers have increased drastically over the first semester. As of January 2nd, we will have 19 students enrolled!

To give the children the best learning environment, we will be  splitting our preschool class into a morning and an afternoon session.  This change will take place after Christmas break – beginning January 2, 2013. The younger students will attend the morning session while those students eligible for kindergarten in the fall will attend the afternoon session. This change will allow Mrs. Heiting to better individualize activities to the group and to each student.

Morning Session: 8:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. (Breakfast will be served.)

Afternoon Session: 12:00 to 4:00 p.m. (Lunch will be served.)

The schedule for the preschoolers will be much the same. Drop off and pick up will still be in the classroom. Their day will still include Circle Time, Small Group, PE, Music, Free Play, Outside Time, Etc.

High Ability Learners

This year’s High Ability Learner group has five members, Sam Hindman, Jace Langford, Hunter Letcher, Jake Roberts, and Hannah Wohl.  This group’s goal is to extend, challenge, and apply the things they are learning during the school day as well as work on new things at a higher level of thinking.   In October, the group did the “Diet Coke and Mentos” experiment.  They saw the reaction between the coating on the candy and the contents of a pop bottle.  The students further extended the experiment with different sized bottles and amounts.    Currently the group is researching rare animals and will eventually create a dichotomous key.  Overall, the group is high energy and eager to extend and connect the concepts they are learning!

 

Bag of Books Program

The Preschoolers started to visit the library this month.  They listen to a story, then get a bag of books.  There are ten books in the bag for parents, grandparents, brothers, sisters, anyone to read to their preschooler.  The books came from various sources.  The bags were donated by the Security First Bank and filled by the National Honor Society.  We have 50 bags to rotate among the preschoolers.  Our goal is to have every preschooler be read to for at least 10 minutes every day.  Next month the Noah’s Ark Preschool will join the program.  If there are other preschoolers in the community who would like to join the program, call Mrs. Matthews at the school (638-4434) for more information.

 

Getting in the Holiday Spirit

The 8th grade class recently added some holiday decor to the school’s front lawn. This beginning wood project gave students the opportunity to use drills, sawzall, and hand tools. Each reindeer was made by an individual 8th grader. Students in the 8th grade class are: Chris Adams, Tanna Badje, Kobe Encinia, Drew Letcher, Alexis Olson, Kristen Rathe, Brandy Running Hawk, Sydney Tlustos, Nathan Tobiasson, and Garrett Weyers.

New Program to Begin – Girls on the Run

Are you a girl in the 3rd through 6th grade?  Do you like spending time with your friends, playing games, living a healthy lifestyle, making positive choices, exercising or running?  If you answered yes to ANY of these questions, Girls On The Run (GOTR) is the right program for you!

I have coached three seasons for the Girls On The Run organization in Lincoln.  This organization is a national organization just for girls and I am so happy to bring it to this area of Nebraska!  Hay Springs is excited to start this program at our school.  We will also be collaborating with the Chadron Public Schools teams for a community 5K fun run at the end of the season!  This season will begin in March and run for ten weeks.  The group meets every Tuesday and Thursday for the ten weeks.  Each time we meet, we will do a warm up activity, talk about issues important to girls, team building, do a running activity to prepare for the end of season 5K, and then have a wrap-up.  Each lesson is filled with high energy cheers, fun, and ultimately, Girl Power!

If you think this is something you would like to do, or would like more information, please stop by and talk to Mrs. Heiting or have your parents email her at kyli.heiting@panesu.org.

UNWNRD Announces Local Poster Contest Winners

The Upper Niobrara White Natural Resources District is pleased to announce the winners of the 2012 NRD Poster Contest.

Focusing on the theme “Soil to Spoon: Where Does Our Food Come From?” the poster contest highlights the educational outreach efforts of the UNWNRD, Nebraska’s Natural Resources Districts (NRDs), as well as the state and national conservation associations and agencies. The contest is part of National Association of Conservation Districts (NACD) Stewardship Week, the longest running celebration of conservation in the country.

UNWNRD Winners are as follows:

Grades 2-3:

1st Place = Jacie Coupens, Chadron Intermediate School

2nd Place = Wade Sanders, St. Agnes Academy

Grades 4-6:

1st Place = Kennady Stack, Chadron Intermediate School

2nd Place = Madeline Pelton, Chadron Intermediate School

Grades 7-9:

1st Place = Ciara McCance, Hay Springs Middle School

2nd Pace = Brenna Hawthorn, Chadron Middle School

Grades 10-12:

1st Place = Destini Fusselman, Alliance High School

2nd Place = Connor Wright, Alliance High School

Coupens, Stack, McCance and Fusselman’s artwork advanced to the state competition and each took first place which earns the artists a $25 gift card.  First place posters at the state competition are entered into the NACD contest which will be judged at the NACD annual meeting in January.

The contest is co-sponsored by Nebraska’s Natural Resources Districts, National Association of Conservation Districts and the NACD Auxiliary and provides an opportunity for students in Kindergarten through Grade 12 to illustrate their thoughts about soil, water and other natural resources.  The 2013 Stewardship Week will be celebrated in April with a new theme of “Where does your water shed?”

Each year, the poster contest starts at the local Natural Resources District level. UNWNRD first place winners received a check for $20, while second place was awarded $10 and more than 70 students submitted entries to the local level.  Individuals and teachers from within the Upper Niobrara White NRD which includes Box Butte, Dawes, Sheridan and Northern Sioux Counties may direct questions regarding the local contest to Sheri Daniels 308.432.6190 or daniels@unwnrd.org.

Music Notes

Welcome to the Christmas season in the music department!

Please note the Night, Lights and Music concert has been moved to Saturday, December 15th.  Tickets are $5 presale; can be purchased at Security First Bank, Sackers, Hip Hop or at the school office; or $7 at the door.  This will be a nice concert featuring the Swing Choir, HS/ML Band, HS/ML Choir, Flag corp., and perhaps some additional surprise performances!

K-5th grade Christmas concert will be on Tuesday, December 18th.  The title of this year’s program is “Light Up the World” and should prove to be an extremely entertaining evening, I know the students can’t wait to share it with you!

Beginning Guitar class continues to meet on Wednesday mornings.  We faithfully have nine 3rd-5th graders attending.  Keep an eye out for this group as they will make special appearances throughout the year.

The 4th graders are carrying on with their recorder lessons.  Starting after our Christmas concert we will be doing testing for beginning band, starting band early in the 2nd semester.  The majority of school owned instruments are already being used, so students will be responsible for purchasing their own instruments.  We will be hosting an instrument display where Haggerty’s Music from Rapid City will come and have an assortment of instruments for a semester rental with an option to buy.

Please remember 4th grade through 8th grade students should be practicing each and every week.  Parents need to sign the practice records each week, simply stating I’ve seen & heard my student practicing throughout the week.  These practice times are a part of the student’s grades.  Please note that week #17 over Christmas Break counts as extra credit; a good opportunity for students having trouble getting all their practice times in.

We have some exciting news!  The music department got 48 new music stands!  We are looking to get rid of the old stands.  For $5 a stand you can get your student a stand!  They will be offered on a first come, first served basis.  These would be great to use at home for your own practice time!

Upcoming dates:

Saturday, December 15th Nights, Lights and Music Concert 7:15pm – Please note the change of date!

Monday, December 17th Preschool Open House—6:00 pm

Tuesday, December 18th K-8th grade Music Concert—7:00 pm

 

Wrestling Parents’ Night

Hawk wrestlers will host Hemingford for “Nostalgia Night” in the old gym, AKA High School Auditorium, December 6th at 7:00 p.m. Admission will be two cans of food for the Community Food Baskets. This will be the only home event for the Hawk wrestlers, so it will also be their parents’ night.

Preschool Christmas Open House

Please mark your calendars!  You are invited to our first annual Preschool Christmas Open House on Monday, December 17th at 6:00pm.  The Preschool class will share their Christmas songs with you as well as have activities and refreshments.  We are all very excited to share what we have been working on with our families and friends!  Also, a big thank you to Mrs. Varvel for helping us with this event!

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