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Weekly Update: February 26, 2021

Weekly Update: February 26, 2021

Dear Grinnell-Newburg Board of Education, Staff, Families, and Friends:  

Happy Friday! This coming March 15th we will be welcoming many students back to school at the high school as they will be in attendance either every day or virtual. Although the A/B schedule for high school students will end, our mitigation efforts to limit the spread of the virus will continue. We must continue to wear masks, wash hands, and socially distance ourselves as much as possible. Vaccinations continue to be administered during this time but we are not out of this just yet. We can not relax our efforts. This will take time and I hope that we will return to some normalcy by the start of next school year. Thank you to our students, staff, and families for continuing their efforts to limit the spread of the virus.  

Just a reminder that we will have school on Monday, March 1, 2021. There are no more Monday PD days scheduled for the school year.   

Knocked Your Socks Off! Thank you to all who continue to submit recommendations for this fun award! We have four to share this week! Keep those recommendations coming into janet.stutz@grinnell-k12.org. We are grateful to all of our staff! Help me to share their stories each week. I hope to hear from you about a staff member that has Knocked Their Socks Off!

Claire Molony:  High School Science Teacher

Claire’s nomination came to me from a student! Claire is currently in her second year of teaching and she has made quite the impression on her students. She coaches, and volunteers whenever needed. Her nomination read, “In just the couple of years Ms. Molony has worked for the school district, she has gone above and beyond. She is always supportive of students whether they are taking her class or not, and puts in the extra effort to help them succeed. Her explanations are clear and she is patient with students while they are figuring out different concepts. Her classroom is a first-stop for many students when they are getting to school because she is always there and ready to help. Her kindness is a great way to start anyone's day. Out of the classroom, she does everything she can for the Girl's Basketball Team, on top of coaching her team at the middle school. I am amazed by her attendance at all the different events in which high school students participate”. Claire shared with me that she enjoys watching students succeed in the classroom. She also likes staying connected to students as all of them have such bright futures and she hopes that she has an impact on supporting students to find success”. Way to go Claire!

Alison Hollibaugh:  6th Grade Language Arts Teacher

Alison too has knocked her socks off!  Her nomination was sent in by one of her colleagues who was grateful when her mom fell ill this past December. Her colleague shares, “ I had to take my mom to the emergency room as she was not feeling well. I came back to the middle school because I left my belongings in Alison’s room as I serve in this cohort all day. I shared with Alison what was going on. I was at the emergency room waiting in my vehicle and Alison pulled up right behind me to bring me food since she knew I could be there for a while. I almost cried because that was so thoughtful of Alison to care for me during this tough time”. Alison not only cares for her colleagues, but she is also a hit with many of her student’s families. It is evident that her students are like family to many. She enjoys seeing “the little victories that students have when they are excited about something in which maybe they did not have quite the excitement in the past”. She knows how to find ways to connect with students and celebrate their successes. She shared that one of her students is so into a book series that she can’t keep up! She is grateful for her team and her paraeducator in the room. “The collaboration and support of my team that surrounds me make this challenging time work”! Way to go Alison. 

Nikki Laug:  Counselor at Davis Elementary School

Way to go Nikki you have knocked your socks off! Nikki has been connected to the school through a variety of ways such as a healthy reader and had oversight of the mileage club. This is her first year as the Davis Counselor! She feels that she has the best opportunity to be in a position to help students and get them connected. Kids are naturally connected to Nikki! She is positive, energetic, and thoroughly enjoys connecting with students. Nikki presented on behalf of Davis Elementary School this week on how she collaborates with teachers to ensure that they know where every student is at socially and emotionally on a daily check-in. It was very impressive!  Way to go Davis! Her nomination read, “Ms. Laug is so kind and patient and encouraging my students during some difficult family times this year. She has helped my child to navigate some rough waters and you can tell how much she cares about her students''! Way to go Nikki!

Shari Gantz congratulations!

You too have knocked your socks off! Sheri is a third-grade teacher at Davis Elementary School. Shari enjoys challenging her students and when she pushes them just a little bit “extra” she sees the joy in the student’s eyes that they have met their goals! “The joy that comes to me each day and brings me excitement in my classroom is knowing that students learned and that they enjoy coming to my classroom every day”! Shari’s nomination read, Ms. Gantz has gone above and beyond for my child this year. She has been kind and supportive and helped my child reach new heights in learning. She has inspired my child to love learning”! Way to go Shari! You have knocked your socks off!

Preschool Registration: 

February 23 - March 5. You can register at this link https://forms.gle/g2GVhUzgzvCBVSpQA

Kindergarten Registration:

Kindergarten registration will run from February 15 through February 26. Current four-year-old preschool students will be bringing home a packet of information to register. You can return that packet to your preschool teacher or drop it off at Bailey Park, Fairview, or Central Office.  

Log into your parent portal to register your kindergartner.

If you have questions about your parent portal please contact Katie Osborn at katie.osborn@grinnell-k12.org or 236-2676.

If you need a registration packet, please stop by Bailey Park, Fairview, or Central Office.  

Questions?  Please contact Sarah Seney at 236-2780 or Josh Smith at 236-2770. 

Dental Appointments are still open!  

Local dental offices still have openings for free dental clinic appointments for February and March. We had indicated a February 1st deadline to make appointments, but are waiving that in hopes that more children can be seen.  

Legislative Coffees News Release

The League of Women Voters will host two more Legislative Coffees on March 6th and April 3rd from 9 to 10 AM via Zoom due to Covid-19 restrictions. The events will be moderated by Marta Miller, who will be conveying questions supplied by the audience. 

Senator Dawn Driscoll and Representative Dave Maxwell will make brief remarks and then answer questions on issues expected to be considered by the Iowa Legislature in the current session.  Senator Driscoll represents Senate District 38, and Representative Maxwell represents House District 76, both of which include Poweshiek County.

To register for the coffees, please use this registration link (also available at the Grinnell League of Women Voters Facebook page): https://zoom.us/meeting/register/tJIqdeiuqDItEtarDDxr3KnkavMPJxyBoI9X 

We encourage you to submit questions in advance to GrinnellLWV@gmail.com.  The deadline for submitting questions via email is 5 PM on the Wednesday before each event, which will give our legislators time to prepare answers.  Attendees will be able to post questions in the Zoom chat while the event is underway, but priority will be given to questions submitted in advance.  

Legislative coffees are sponsored by the League of Women Voters to provide residents the opportunity to learn about current legislative proposals as well as to ask questions and raise concerns.  If you registered for the first Coffee held on February 6 you can use the same link to attend the March and April Coffee.  

The event will be recorded.  The recording belongs to the LWV and we respectfully ask that others not record the event

A conversation with Grinnell Police Chief Michael McCelland

Do you know why elephants are Police Chief Michael McClelland's favorite animal or what he thinks is the most important issue facing the Grinnell Police Department right now?  Find out the answers to these questions and more by joining us at the forum sponsored by the League of Women Voters and the Grinnell City Council on Thursday, March 11th at 7:00 PM via Zoom. The event will be moderated by Marta Miller, who will be conveying questions supplied by the audience.

To register for the conversation forum, please use this registration link (also available at the Grinnell League of Women Voters Facebook page):  https://zoom.us/meeting/register/tJcvceGsqz0oHdz32sS616mOQvrsZRUK2ji2

We encourage you to submit questions in advance to GrinnellLWV@gmail.com.  The deadline for submitting questions via email is 5 PM on Monday, March 8th.  Attendees will be able to post questions in the Zoom chat while the event is underway, but priority will be given to questions submitted in advance.   

The event will be recorded.  The recording belongs to the LWV and we respectfully ask that others not record the event.

Athletic Highlights! 

The Tiger Wrestling team qualified three wrestlers for the state wrestling tournament on February 18th-20th at Wells Fargo Arena. Andres Cantillo (145) lost both matches but put up a great effort in both. Landon Kirby (160) won three and lost three and earned a 6th place finish putting him on the podium. Kamrin Steveson (285) won his first three matches which put him in the finals. Steveson lost in the finals 3-0 and received a second-place finish. Kamrin's second-place finish was the school's highest since 2004. Way to go Kam! Congratulations to these three young men, all the Tiger Wrestlers, and coaches.

The Girls Basketball Team ended their regular season on February 12th by setting a new state record for made three-pointers in a game (22) versus Oskaloosa in an 87-33 win. They followed it with an opening-round win in 4A Regional play over Newton 68-41. The Tigers then went to face Gilbert on Saturday, February 20th upsetting the higher-seeded Gilbert Tigers 57-51. With a state tournament birth on the line, the Tigers had to travel to Bondurant on February 23rd to face the Bluejays. In a back-in-forth game, the Tigers fell short losing 47-42, ending their season and finishing with a record of 16-8. What a great season for the girls, coaches, and Tiger Nation!

The Boys Basketball Team ended Little Hawkeye Conference play on Friday, February 12th with a win over Oskaloosa 39-35. This earned them a six seed in Class 3A Substate 6 forcing them to travel to Tiffin to face 3 seed Clear Creek-Amana on Monday, February 22nd. The Tigers shot well and with a good team effort upset CCA 69-58. On Thursday, the Tigers faced 2 seed Washington and were able to come away with the win 49-48, on some last-second free throws. Tigers will now travel to Oskaloosa on Monday, March 1st to take on the Pella Little Dutch for a chance to play at Wells Fargo in the Boys State Basketball Tournament. Tickets for Monday's substate game can only be purchased online and will go on sale Sunday at 9 AM. More information to come once it is shared with our Activities Department. 

See what's in the Virtual Backpack!!

Upcoming events:

Online tickets for Monday's game go on sale at 9 AM on Sunday.

We are limited to 450 fans PER school for a total capacity of 900.

The cost is $8 as this game is a substate final.

Fans go to the IHSAA website to purchase tickets.  The link is https://www.iahsaa.org/resources/tickets/

Have a great weekend!   

Janet