Weekly Update: March 5, 2021
Weekly Update: March 5, 2021
Dear Grinnell-Newburg Board of Education, Staff, Families, and Friends:
Happy March! I hope that this weekly update finds you and your family ready for some warmer weather this weekend.
This past week, our district was challenged about the understanding of how we are teaching Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in our classrooms. As I have shared with many this past week, it is critical to understand that we are not writing a new curriculum, as we follow the Iowa standards, but we are evaluating our units of study to ensure that we are presenting materials that are engaging our students in a culturally responsive classroom. Now is the time to continue to have conversations and develop awareness as many of our students, as well as adults, are trying to understand our global world. Through learning, we develop a better understanding. It is the expectation that we share a plethora of resources for students to develop their own critical thinking. Our work through cultural diversity, inclusion, and equity enable us to develop an awareness and understanding of students who come from various cultural, socioeconomic, and diverse backgrounds so global perspectives can be discussed. It is our responsibility to ensure that every student who walks through our hallways feels welcomed, has wonderful learning experiences and relationships that are free from bias, racism, or oppression. This is our work.
These two documents are used to create lessons and units of study. I thought that I would share these documents with our community as I have had several requests for families to review them. Here is the link to our standards Social Studies Standards and here is the link to our units of study.
Well, look who has knocked their socks off this week! Thank you for continuing to turn in those nominations! You can send your nomination to janet.stutz@grinnell-k12.org.
Megan Schutt: Kindergarten Teacher at Bailey Park has knocked off her Socks!
Megan finds joy in teaching at Bailey Park, especially when students display their curiosity and eagerness to learn. She is so impressed with her student’s ability to “ask creative questions and share their curiosity and uniqueness each day they come to her room to learn”. Her nomination read, “Megan has gone above and beyond during our family’s quarantine. She made two different deliveries to our house for materials that our student would need as well as delivering her books we ordered. She has given up some precious planning time personally to assist our child on zoom. Another great thing that she did was to lift our student’s spirits. She included her in the class yoga lesson on zoom. Our student was so excited to get to see her classmates again. We are so grateful to have Mrs. Schutt as a teacher this year in Kindergarten. She is so deserving of this award”. Way to go Megan!
April Gosselink-Lemke: Instructional Coach at Davis Elementary School!
April you too have knocked off your socks with three nominations from fellow colleagues and community members! Wow! April finds joy in coaching especially when she hears words of affirmation and the positive stories from teachers who have been successful in either taking a risk or learning something new. “There is a sense of pride in helping others and learning to try new things that enable teachers to become more confident. I know that I do not have all of the answers and we learn together side by side together”. Her nominations were incredible; a few highlights were, “April is a true instructional leader and a professional in every sense of the word. She is a servant leader who is calm and caring and very well respected in our building. Another nomination read, “the support she provided me while I quarantined was to ensure my students and sub had everything they needed, was impeccable. She stepped in to ensure the writing lessons were on target for students”. A community member highlighted her efforts to assist students during zoom sessions. “April is the kind of person who always wants to make sure everyone is doing well”. Way to go! You have knocked your socks off!
Ethan Meints, a 6th-grade teacher at Grinnell Middle School has knocked his socks off too!
Ethan finds joy in working with kids and watching how students grow and develop as people. He enjoys teaching social studies to students and coaching his former sixth-grade students where he has seen how their mental growth and personality emerge. Ethan is a teacher with whom many students connect immediately. He is kind, caring and challenges his students to think critically to understand their world around them. His nomination stated, “I participated in conferences with Ethan and it was the best conference that I have ever had as a parent with a teacher. He knows my child, knows how to reach and teach my child to be excited about learning, and I learned more about my child from that conference than ever before”. Way to go Ethan!
Preschool Registration:
You can register at this link https://forms.gle/
2021-2022 Registration is OPEN:
It's that time of year again to register your student(s) for next school year!
Log into your parent portal to register.
If you have questions about your parent portal please contact Katie Osborn at katie.osborn@grinnell-k12.org or 236-2676.
GHS PRESENTS:
The Proposal & The Boor
Two Comedic One-Act Plays
by Anton Chekhov
directed by Luke Saunders
Both plays will be live-streamed on YouTube starting at 7:30 pm on March 4-6.
March 4 Livestream: https://youtu.be/VxjFRP5QOYY
March 5 Livestream: https://youtu.be/tmo0J8uERIw
March 6 Livestream: https://youtu.be/0hzwfGf2fFE
These plays were rehearsed, produced, and recorded entirely online.
GHS theatre website (online program will appear here): https://sites.google.com/
Drake Community Library and The Grinnell College Department of Theatre and Dance host five “Dancing Storytime” Sessions
This spring, Grinnell College Dance Ensemble will lead “Dancing Storytime”, five free Zoom storytime sessions. This participatory and interactive Creative Movement experience is open to all ages. Grinnell College dancers will guide participants to use creative movement to dance their way through a new picture book for each of the five Saturday sessions. No previous dance experience necessary! “Dancing Storytime” is for everyone. Professor Celeste Miller, director of Dance Ensemble says, “On March 6th we will fly with “Wings” by Christopher Myers. On March 13th we will make our world more beautiful with “Maybe Something Beautiful” by Isabel Campoy. On April 24th, we will chase the monsters out from under our beds with “I Need a Monster” by Amanda Noll. On May 1st, we will become Ideas with Herve Tullet’s “I Have an Idea”, and on May 8th we will become water protectors with “We Are Water Protectors” by Carole Lindstrom.
All sessions are at 10:30 AM.
March 6, 13, April 24, May 1, and 8.
Zoom link:
https://grinnellcollege.zoom.
For more information contact:
Karen Neal, Youth Services Director, Drake Library – Kneal@grinnelliowa.gov
Lia Schifitto, Community-Engaged Learning Fellow, Grinnell College – schifitto@grinnell.edu
Don’t forget to check the Virtual Backpack!
Upcoming Events:
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Friday, March 5th |
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Spring Play-7:30PM |
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Virtual |
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Sat. March 6th |
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Spring Play-7:30PM |
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Virtual |
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FFA SC Districts- PCM 9AM |
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Tuesday, March 9th |
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B JV/V Track @ UNI Indoor- UNI 2PM |
Have a great weekend and enjoy the weather!
Janet