Weekly Update: March 19, 2021
Weekly Update: March 19, 2021
Dear Grinnell-Newburg Board of Education, Staff, Families, and Friends:
Happy Friday Tigers! Tomorrow is the first day of Spring! It will begin officially at 4:37 a.m.! I hope that this weekly update finds you well! This past week we finished our vaccination clinics for all staff and substitutes that wanted to receive the vaccine. More than 210 staff members were vaccinated at our clinics hosted at the high school. I want to thank all of our staff who participated. This clinic ran very smoothly for all! I also want to thank the Iowa Department of Public Health for making this event convenient for our staff!
Summer Learning Fun:
Save the dates for summer learning! We will be hosting the SLICK program from June 9-July 1, Monday-Thursday this summer for students in grades K-4. Students who participate in SLICK may also be interested in the LINK program and will be eligible to participate in field trip activities. Next, we will take a three-week break from SLICK (LINK will still be running), and then return for a two-week booster program from July 26-August 5. (Held at Davis Elementary School) We are looking to offer a Kindergarten preview camp for our incoming kindergarten students.
Enrichment opportunities opened to any student will be offered too during this same time frame. Staff members who want to develop a course will be able to submit their ideas to the program coordinators. (Information will be sent out next week). These courses will then be published for families to sign up. Watch for this flier information within the coming weeks. Hold the dates for now! All activities for SLICK will be on campus as we partner with LINK at Davis Elementary School. Enrichment opportunities locations will be determined at a later date.
Parents will be notified if their student qualifies for the SLICK program in the coming weeks. All SLICK students will also be able to participate in any enrichment activities that are offered over the summer too. Lisa York and Brian Conway will have oversight of the program for this summer! We look forward to a fun summer with your student!
Teachers interested in hosting an enrichment class will be able to complete their proposal form beginning next week. Please watch for this flier that will be sent to you by Lisa York and Brian Conway.
Preschool Registration: Please complete the registration process for your students as soon as possible.
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.
Knocked Your Socks Off!
Please continue to send your nominations to janet.stutz@grinnell-k12.org! We have many stories to share highlighting the awesome work that our Grinnell Tiger Employees engage in every day!
Brian Conway, you have knocked your socks off! Mr. Conway is the Davis Elementary Principal who was nominated by a parent. His nomination stated, “He has worked with me and my family to help my student. Mr. Conway went above and beyond many times. Mr. Conway has helped me find resources for food and also has brought meals for us. During Covid, he made sure that we got meals delivered to our house even. This whole school district makes me so glad that I chose to move to Grinnell. I love this town and this community and I absolutely adore our school system. It is the best system I have seen in my entire 34 years”. What brings Mr. Conway joy in being the Davis Elementary Principal is the opportunity to interact with kids and staff. He states, “I enjoy doing everything I can to have a positive impact on the community and our families. I strive to be a servant leader that families can count on.” Way to go Brian!
(Photos are taken from the gallery before the pandemic)
Kristine Wheeler, you too have knocked your socks off! Kristine is a 4th-grade teacher at Davis Elementary School. Kristine was nominated by her colleague for the assistance that she provided during quarantine! Her nomination read, “She has been a huge help while I have been out in quarantine. She has checked in with me each morning to see what she can do to help and has willingly volunteered to print things and assist my subs as needed. She has also assisted in making sure my students have stayed caught up in their reading and writing work. Also, she has made announcements on Seesaw so my students and families stay up to date on some of the weather-related changes. I really appreciate all she has done to make this quarantine so much easier. It truly takes a village during this time”. What brings Kristine joy in teaching are those A-HA moments. She stated that she enjoys stretching students to reach a little farther in learning each day. She has changed some things too and enjoys using SeeSaw to see the growth that students have made. “You never have a missing paper with this tool”. Way to go Kristine!
Heidi Durbin, you too have knocked your socks off! Heidi was nominated by colleagues in her building. “When we need the tools to do our job, Heidi goes that extra step to ensure that we have what we need to help our students”. Heidi has also worked very hard at bringing community members and staff together to plan for various training throughout the district. Heidi shared that, “I enjoy this work and strive to ensure that kids and teachers are happy! I try to ensure that staff and students have positive experiences and I work hard to bridge the gaps when there are differences. What I find the most joy is when a student who has graduated returns to the high school or sees me out in the community and thanks me for helping them to get through high school”. Way to go Heidi!
GHS Robotics Team!
You can witness the action from the 2021 Tigertown Throwdown at this YouTube link, or by checking out our Facebook page at this link. Mr. Gruman states, “It was all for fun, and a nice way to finish out the week. Special thanks to Ivey and AJ for joining us today!”
See the flyer below with a few more details about the GHS robotics team, the robot they built, and their 2021 seasons.
Celebrating our High School Students! A recap on the first trimester awards and recognition can be viewed here in this slide presentation! Way to go Tigers.
Legislative Coffee News Release
The League of Women Voters will host our last Legislative Coffees of this session on April 3rd from 9 to 10 AM via Zoom due to Covid-19 restrictions. This event 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 being 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.
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 Coffee held on February 6th or March 6th you can use the same link to attend the April Coffee.
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/
We encourage you to submit questions in advance to GrinnellLWV@gmail.com. The deadline for submitting questions via email is 5 PM on Wednesday, March 31st, which will give our legislators time to look over the questions. 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.
Severe Weather Awareness Week March 22-26, 2021 Press Release
The annual statewide tornado drill will take place on Wednesday, March 24th at 11 AM (weather permitting). Schools, businesses, individuals, and governments should participate by exercising their Emergency Response Plans for tornado incidents and seek shelter. During this drill, the municipal sirens will be activated for a full warning cycle. This activation will also serve as the weekly siren test.
Don’t forget to check the Virtual Backpack!
Upcoming events:
April 2 and 5 will be our Spring Break long weekend. Please know that the school buildings and district office will be closed on these two days to the public.
Have a great weekend! Happy Spring!
Janet