Weekly Update: April 21st, 2023
Dear Grinnell-Newburg Board of Education, Staff, Families, and Friends:
Happy Friday! This is a busy time of year for our Tigers on and off the fields. Let’s hope this weather turns back to the Spring like temperatures we had just a short time ago. In just six weeks we will say goodbye to our students for summer break. There is still a lot of learning, growth, planning, and organizing ahead.
Below we have captured a few student highlights from this past week! We have also included some upcoming community events that will benefit our students and families. We hope that you considered some of these opportunities.
Reconsideration of Instructional Materials Committee Meeting April 19, 2023. The second meeting will be held on May 3, 2023. Drake Library 6:30 PM Community Room.
The first meeting to review the instructional materials for “The Glass Castle” was held on Wednesday, April 19, 2023. The committee met at the Drake Library at 6:30 PM. The committee consists of students, staff, and community members selected by the board committee.
A second meeting or subsequent meeting will be held on May 3, 2023, at 6:30 pm in the Drake Community Library’s Community Room. Any further oral presentations will be completed at this meeting before a decision by the committee is made. After hearing supporting or opposing views, the committee will deliberate without the public and then make a determination and present findings to the superintendent. The superintendent will share the recommendations from the committee, and add if needed any further comments, to the public, board members, and to the person or persons who filed a form to review the materials. The board will not vote for or against the committee’s recommendations, however, an appeal to any decision made regarding the materials can be presented to the board for a vote.
GHS Chamber Choir participated in the Meet the Composer Festival last Friday Night!
Pictured Mr. Gookin and GHS students.
April 14, 2023, GHS Chamber Choir at Meet the Composer Festival in Des Moines.
GHS Culinary 2 - Special Visit
Culinary 2 at Grinnell High School visited Grinnell College yesterday. They were able to meet Gonzo Jimenez, who you may know as the star of Bake Squad on Netflix. They learned that he is also a world-renowned chocolate expert and pastry chef. He demoed three different chocolate confections and students got to sample a large chocolate buffet, yum!
Gonzo Jimenez’s demonstration to the students.
Students walk through the chocolate buffet.
GHS Art Club - Special Guest
This week GHS Art Club had a special guest presenter, Machiko Takanashi, from Grinnell College through the Cultural Attaché program. Machiko gave a presentation on her home country, Japan, and the significance of origami in Japanese culture. With Machiko's patient instruction and guidance, GHS students created one of the most popular origami forms, the crane, using traditional origami paper.
GHS Art Club students receiving origami lessons.
Students show off their origami creations.
Machiko Takanashi shares how you can play with origami products.
Origami slide presented by Machiko Takanashi.
State FFA Participants
Congratulations to those who competed at State FFA in Ames earlier this week and to Ashley Wolfe, FFA teacher, for your leadership, care, and dedication to the students who participate in FFA competitions! Way to go Tigers!
ETA received 3rd place; Gold pictured
Ag Sales received 7th place; Gold pictured
Chapter Display received Silver, pictured
GHS 2 Voting Delegates, pictured
GHS Girls’ Track Highlight
Freshman, Aiden Gosselink, broke the long jump school record winning the Newton Cardinal Invitational with a jump of 18-02.50. Hannah Kling took home gold in Newton and set a new personal record, 41-01.00, in the shot put. Both girls exceeded the Blue Oval Standards to qualify for Drake Relays. Tremendous accomplishment for these athletes!
Freshman long jumper who set a new school record.
Senior shot put after setting a new personal record.
GHS Boys Golf Highlight
The boys' golf team won the West Marshall Invitational on Monday posting a score of 326. Three team members managed to place in the top 10 individually! We wish them all the best as they compete in their home meet today, Friday the 21st.
Go get ‘em Tigers!
The boys’ golf team celebratory picture.
Big fun. New Friends. Girl Scouts.
Pre-k and kindergarten girls are invited to a unicorn party hosted by Girl Scouts of Greater Iowa held on May 3rd from 5:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. at the Drake Public Library.
Check out the flyer for more information here.
UnityPoint Health, Grinnell - The More You Know…
The next class will be held on April 27th, 2023, from 5:15 p.m. to 6:30 p.m., located at the Prairie Lakes Church, 925 E. Street, Grinnell, IA. This session will be on tobacco and vaping. We are fortunate that these series for families are available to support our families.
For more information, check out the flyer here.
LINK Summer 2023 Registration
Summer registration is officially open! This program collaborates with our summer SLICK program. Our cooperation to support student learning over the summer is valuable, and we hope that you consider participating. It is held at Davis Elementary School.
For more information, check out the flyer here.
24-Hour Attendance Line:
Parents, please feel free to call the district’s attendance line, 641-236-1414, to report your student’s absences. You do not have to wait until the office is open.
23-24 School Registration
The 2023- 2024 Online Registration is now open. Every student needs to complete online registration each year. This ensures that all information in Infinite Campus is up to date, especially in case of an emergency.
For current families, please log in to your parent portal account, select the 2023-2024 year, and follow the prompts. If you are having issues logging into your account, please reach out to me at katie.osborn@grinnell.k12.org.
For New Families or students who are not currently enrolled in the district, click HERE.
Parents will want to select New Student Registration and then select 2023-2024. The first series of questions will ask for the parent's first name, last name, email, confirm email, enter the "I'm not a robot code," and a separate link will be sent to the email provided. That link is the Infinite Campus link and official registration. Parents will not need an activation code. If asked for one before starting, they selected the incorrect area and will need to select NEW STUDENT REGISTRATION.
Grinnell Newburg School Foundation (GNSF):
The GNSF supports our students, teachers, and school district in a variety of ways. Their support supplements the needs of our classrooms and programs. We are grateful for all they do. Below is one way that you can help support our students through the GNSF campaign.
Members of the GreenState Credit Union may make a donation to the Grinnell-Newburg School Foundation, and GreenState will match it! Double the impact of your giving through the end of the month. Visit https://www.greenstate.org/give-and-grow-initiative.html
The virtual Backpack can be found here:
The activities Calendar can be found here:
Have a wonderful weekend!
Janet