Winter Weather, Foreign Exchange Students, Staff Member

Winter Weather

It's hard to believe we are at the end of the first semester.  It's hard to believe we've gotten this far with no flood days, late starts, early outs or snow days.  I'm writing this on Thursday night, so I hope I don't jinx us in the morning.  No worry, we live in Northern Iowa so I'm sure we will have some opportunities after the holiday break.  With that in mind, I wanted to remind everyone about our procedures for no school, late start, and early dismissal announcements.  

When the weather requires us to change the schedule for school with either a late start, early out or to cancel school altogether, we use several methods to get the word out.  First, we notify all the major media outlets to get it broadcast on radio and television.  We will also post it on the district's Facebook page and the district's website.  In addition, we participate in the state of Iowa's messaging system, Iowa School Alerts.  Using this system, you can receive a text message or email when there is a change in the school schedule.  This is also used if activities are canceled or have different start times.  Of course, we will also post on our other social media sites and the school webpage.  Click here to sign up for Iowa School Alerts.  Hopefully, we will have a mild winter and not have to worry about it too much.  

Foreign Exchange Students

I had the privilege of accompanying our foreign exchange students to the Rotary Club meeting today.  They shared information on their home countries, their thoughts about coming to America, and of course about our school and community with the Rotarians.  We are fortunate to have Exchange students and I have to say we have four top-notch students this year.  Ann-Sophie and Charley are from Germany, Nick is from Switzerland, and Ciara is from Italy.  

Foreign Exchange students come to experience our culture, learn about our country, and improve their English skills, but they also have much to offer our students and community.  As outsiders to our community, they recognize many great things we have going on in our school and community that we take for granted or see it so often we forget how great it is.  If you see them around, be sure to say hi.  They're a great group of students.  

Staff Member

Last week our school community lost a valued staff member.  Mary Frese lost her courageous battle with cancer.  Our thoughts are with her husband and children as they deal with their loss.  Mary started in our district back in 1979 and first taught kindergarten for a couple of years.  She then taught Title I reading for a number of years before getting into her recent role as District Technology Coordinator.  She always worked hard to provide the best opportunities she could for her students, who she always referred to as her kids.  She brought VREP (Virtual Reality Education Pathfinders) for our high school students.  She brought basic robotics, coding, Minecraft, and 3D printing for our 7th and 8th-grade students.  She was always looking for new things that would capture their interest and expose them to important STEM skills.  She also acted as a mentor to many students helping to guide them as they matured into adulthood.  She touched many lives and will be remembered for the many things she did.  

Finally, I would like to wish each of you a joyous Holiday Season.