NHS Induction

NHS Induction

21 junior and senior students were inducted into the National Honor Society Monday night. NHS is one of our top honors for students academically as well and in the arenas of character, leadership and service.

One of the highlights of induction night is the dinner provided to new and current students as well as adults involved in the ceremony.  The Rotary Club sponsors that meal to honor the work our NHS do to not only become a part of the group but to keep being of service to the community.

One of the roles our NHS students shave during the year is to serve our community.  They contribute to the local food bank, clean up ditches, tutor at the elementary school and devise and plan local service projects.










We talk frequently to our NHS students about the importance of maintaining the level of academics, character, service and leadership that allowed them to become a member. If you have projects or needs that the NHS group could assist with, please contact me and I will connect you with a member.

Project Update, Project Based Learning, and other thoughts

Project Update

The weather has been nice this week, so they have gotten a lot done.  They are getting close to having the middle school section complete.  If you've been by, you may have noticed some shorter walls on the southwest side of the structure.  This is the art room on the lower level and the top level will be an outdoor learning space adjacent to our science classroom for the 7th and 8th students.  Below is a drawing of the lower level of the new building to give you an idea of what is going where.  

This is the middle school area only.  The top of the drawing is North.  The arrow in the bottom left corner pointing to the art room is the lower walls on the southwest corner of the new area.  If the weather holds, they should be close to wrapping that area up early next week and start working on the gym.  Here are a few interior pictures to show the progress on putting in the second floor.  

These show some of the different spaces within the second floor of the new facility.  You can see the floor panels are hollow core panels made of concrete.  They will also pour an additional level of concrete on top to level everything out and give a good surface to adhere the final finish products to.  The middle picture is looking out at the courtyard between the existing high school and the new building.  Things are going nicely.  If you're on Facebook, please check out and follow our page for the latest updates to the project and also to keep up on all the things going on in the district.  

Project Based Learning

I wanted to share just a few thoughts on this.  We have staff who are doing some awesome things with our students and providing outstanding learning experiences for them.  Sometimes this learning looks very different from the learning that we had as students.  We know a lot more about how students learn and also what's going to be expected of them after graduation.  Students need to be able to think critically, work collaboratively, solve problems, communicate effectively, and demonstrate creativity.  We also know when students work on something that's important to them they do a better job and learn more.  Finally, if we can make learning active and hands on it will be more engaging to the student and the more engaged they are the better they learn.  Knowing this, our teachers are working to bring more hands on activities to our students.  In addition, they are asking the students to solve problems and work through challenges and come up with the answers on their own.  For some students they just want the teacher to tell them what they need to know to get an "A" or whatever grade they want on the test.  Unfortunately, that often leads to forgetting much of the information shortly after the test is taken.  It also doesn't help them build grit and determination when facing a tough problem.  Are teachers are becoming more "guides beside your student" instead of being the performer on the stage. 

This is new for teachers and new for many of our students.  If you here your son or daughter talking about a teacher doing something different or something that wasn't how you were taught.  Please reach out to your child's teacher to learn about what they're doing and why.  It really is amazing when I visit a classroom and you see the light bulb go off for a student or group of students who've been struggling with a problem.  When they figure it out on their own, they know they've accomplished it and the learning will stick with them. 

Other Thoughts

The fall activities are quickly winding down and today is the end of the first quarter.  Good luck to the Chickasaws tonight as they finish up their season.  Congratulations! and good luck to the Chickasaw Volleyball Players as they advance to the second round of postseason play next Tuesday night when they host Waukon in the Regional Semi-Final Game.  It starts at 7.  Finally, congratulations to Nolan Usher on qualifying for the State Cross Country meet next Saturday in Fort Dodge.  He finished fifth in the district meet yesterday.  In a couple of weeks we will be talking about conferences, the fall play, and gearing up for winter sports.  There is a lot going on in New Hampton and at the school.  I hope to see you at some of our events.  Go Chickasaws! 

Middle School L.E.A.D. Underway!

What is L.E.A.D?

L.E.A.D. was started at New Hampton High School two years ago.  It stands for Leading Edge Academy Day.  In this program, students learn about the characteristics of being a leader.  Students also learn about the importance of taking action within the school and community.  Students will be looking at creating projects during the year and finding ways to make our school a better place for everyone.  Mr. Ryan Rausch has been a community leader that has stepped in to help start the program at the high school and using high school students to help lead the Middle School program.  Last year was the first year in the middle school and about 25 students participated.  Our first meeting was October 15th and we had 31 students attend.  Each student is encouraged to bring another student to the next meeting, November 19th at 7:00 am in the Auditorium.  This program is open to all Middle School students that want to learn more about being a leader.  This includes students that are athletic, musical, or just looking for a way to be involved.  Hope to see you there!  If you have any further questions, please ask Mr. Manson.

How can we help create leaders?

We want our students to be positive leaders.  That is a given. So, how do we create conditions for them to learn the skills needs and to hone their current skills to be leaders in the building, community and world beyond the greater New Hampton area? This year we have started to engage students in a variety of ways.

Two weeks ago, we took a group of students to Parkersburg to the Ed Thomas Leadership Academy. They were able to see a variety of speakers and focus on some of our building needs with growing positive leadership. Students came away with ideas to work on their own servant leadership and getting energized to move forward.  This event is often a springboard for the rest of the year with our PBIS team and LEAD members.  In addition to this day, students brainstormed ways to keep the momentum for the group.

LEAD is now in its third year and we have had over 70 kids at our meetings.  One of the LEAD goals is to work with the middle school to begin the process earlier.  This week six high school students attended middle school LEAD to talk about why engaging as a leader is so important at any grade level.

Also this week, the PBIS student team attended the first of three conference leadership days at the CWC.  Each school from the NEIC conference is invited to attend.  This year the conference principals are focusing on moving forward as a group to have goals for conference events and behavior as well as how to improve relationships among the conference schools. This week students set individual, school and conference goals.











The real question remains, though.  Are we creating leaders who "walk the talk"? Leadership is truly about character.  Who are you when no one is watching?  How do you demonstrate this in every setting, in and out of school, on and off the field/court/gym/auditorium? During the building leadership teacher meeting this week, those questions dominated our conversation and will continue to do so.  If we are not helping create and foster leaders, we are not fulfilling one of the tenets of school. We are preparing students to be citizens in our changing world and are always looking for ways to engage students as leaders.

Upcoming Board meeting, Driveway, and Building Project Update

Upcoming Board Meeting

Monday night, October 15th is our regularly scheduled board meeting.  It takes place at 6:30 pm in the high school media center.  At 6 p.m. the board will be having a work session with our consultant on the building project.  You are welcome and encouraged to attend any board meeting to see what's happening in the district.  Monday night's agenda is pretty typical for this time of year.  Here's an overview of a few of the most relevant items

Consent Agenda Items:

• Financial Reports--Through the end of September district expenses are down $54,729.  It's early in the year, so we do expect them to increase above last year by a small amount.  

Student Achievement and Recognition:

• The administrators will be sharing some of their Twitter and Facebook posts that showcase the great things going on in our buildings.
• I will also do a demonstration and explanation of the hash tag #NHtribe 
• If you have Twitter or Facebook, do a search on #NHtribe to see all the things we've been doing.  

New Business:

• Review and approve the payment requests for the building project
• Elementary would like to do a fundraiser for preschool utilizing Schwan's
• The wrestling team has been invited to "The Clash" in Rochester, MN later this school year.  Since it's out of state, the board will need to approve this.  This is a big deal and shows the quality of our program.  
• Review and approve our district goals
• I will have an update on district enrollment.  It looks like we're down about 20 students in grades K-12 for our certified enrollment, but we're only down 15 students in grades K-12 that attend our schools each day.  Currently our K-12 certified enrollment is 939.58 students and total students in seats in grades K-12 is 962.68.  Some of you may remember a few years ago, we had an enrollment study done that said we would be at 965 students by the 2020 school year.  That is next year, but we're pretty close to that right now.  

If you want to see the entire agenda along with my notes, you can check out this website for all the details.  https://new-hampton.schoolboard.net/  It usually posts around 5:00 on the Friday afternoon before the board meeting.  

Driveway

If you've been out to the high school parking lot recently, you likely noticed the fenced area on the East side of the building.  This is where the Vocational Agriculture/Industrial Technology building will be located.  In the interest of safety, we are making our driveway one way until the project is done.  We ask that all cars come down our driveway from the North off of Main.  When leaving our parking lot or the CWC, we ask that you leave to the East via Hamilton.  Hopefully, this map will clear this up some.  The red arrows indicate the direction of one way traffic.  Thanks for your patience with this as we work to improve our school.  

Red Arrows indicate direction of traffic in high school parking lot.  Please exit parking lot and CWC to the East via Hamilton Street.  

Building Project Update

Now that the rain has subsided for a while, they have been making good progress on the building project.  They have the majority of the exterior walls on the middle school up and complete and have been working on installing the floor panels.  The bar joists for the roof are going up and of course the pavement has been removed where the AG/IT building will be going.  Here's a short video from inside the building to give you an idea on the progress.  Check our Facebook page for more frequent updates.  

Diversity of Learning

Diversity of Learning

I am constantly amazed at the diversity of learning that is occurring among our students as I visit classrooms.  One conversation that is at the forefront of NHHS staff is how to meet the needs of each kid, where they are and where they need to go. How do we give each kid what they need in each classroom.

For some it may be group work and working through task collaboratively.  This week in Algebra 1 classes, students took the skill of using and understanding slope intercept and created a real-life situation in which it occurs. The cumulation of this work was presented however each group felt was the clearest way to understand the concept in their worlds.  There were products including story books, comics, and videos to demonstrate the concept.

Some students excel by learning digitally or through self-discovery.  By giving students the opportunity to explore the learning standards and connect to previous learning, doors can open to learn more deeply and connect learning to their own individual lives and interests.  This also become a opportunity for students to explore their passions both in and outside of the curriculum.

Hands on learning is key in many of our classrooms.  The ability to show learning in action leads to many products from art to math, CTE programing to English courses and science labs. All of these way of learning lend to much differentiation on the NHHS campus as we try to meet the needs of each students and fit the modes of learning of individuals.

Safety at NHHS-- What are we doing?

Safety at NHHS

Safety of students, staff and visitors is a top priority at NHHS.  This week we have worked with emergency services throughout Chickasaw County and NE  Iowa to continue to improve safety measures.  In addition, the district crisis team has been meeting monthly to improve and update crisis plans from tornado and fire drills to basic district wide safety measure and prevention.

Thanks for the Quick Response!

We had a quick early morning response by New Hampton Fire Department, Chickasaw Ambulance Service, Chickasaw Rescue, and the New Hampton Police Department when a sensor detected smoke in the building and set off alarms.  The crew quickly found the source of the smoke in the principal and counseling office where the heating and cooling system specific to that area had a motor malfunction.  Luckily, there was no fire and the smoke cleared out quickly.  We are so lucky to have such devoted emergency staff in the New Hampton area!

Service and Support:

NHCSD has a partnership with the Chickasaw County Sheriff's Department to help keep our campus safe with random safety searches. Please see below for the district policy which is also in the student handbook.

The New Hampton School campuses are drug free zones. The New Hampton School District participates in a preventative program and partnership with the Chickasaw County Sheriff’s Office aimed at keeping illegal drugs off our campuses by employing drug-sniffing dogs in the high school parking lots, locker rooms, and student locker areas. Periodic, random inspections may occur throughout the school year.

            Please be reminded that all areas of the campus are drug free zones and that vehicles parked in any area of the school campus are subject to inspection by drug sniffing dogs. These inspections will occur when the vehicles are unoccupied and school is in session. In addition, the locker rooms and student locker areas will be inspected when students are not present.

This week we had a search of the parking lot enacted by the sheriff's department, New Hampton Police Department and surrounding K9 agencies. A big thanks to these officers and their dogs for helping us continue to keep kids, staff and visitors safe!

Some things to look for:

At NHCSD we try to stay ahead of the new technology available to students that may cause harm so we can be vigilant in our response.  Below please see pictures of a juul and e-cigarettes that are available in convenience and grocery stores in and around the area:

NHCSD is a tobacco and nicotine free campus.  These devices are not allowed in any part of our three campuses, including the parking lot and cannot be purchased by anyone under 18.  Please help us continue to address safety by being aware of these devices. Thank you for being a part of keeping our community safe!

PBL in Mrs. Miller's Intervention

Project Based Learning in the Content Area:

Mrs. Miller challenged students to come up with a way for them to be more organized.  Students had to make choices about how to present this information to others.  Students explored different technology and methods to share with an audience.  Below is a description of the project and a video from the students:

Topic:  Issues Students Face in School

Driving Question: What is a problem that faces middle school students and how can we solve it?

Project Summary: Students were given intervention time to come up with an issue students face at school. The problem was analyzed and solutions were generated. Students then had to create a way to share the information with the public. The goal is to help educate others and prevent future problems.

https://youtu.be/clsh5-jJ0BE

TRIBE student

What is the Tuesday TRIBE table? How does the monthly TRIBE student get chosen? What are these major and minor forms? Read below to help explain further......

My last blog I posted our PBIS brochure that looks like the above picture.  Well all these things tie together in our Positive Behavior and Interventions Supports Program.  Each day students are given small red tickets to thank them for following expectations in the building in all areas.  The students may turn these tickets into classroom teachers for a wide variety of prizes from eating with the teacher, to prizes, to extra recess, etc.  At the end of the week each teacher nominates a weekly student who is then the person that gets to eat at the Tuesday TRIBE table. Those weekly students names are kept until the end of the month, when we randomly draw one student from each grade level to be our monthly student.   As you can see by some of the things listed above, we really try to point out each day all the positive things the kids are doing.  

Now for major and minor forms how do these fit in?  So at the beginning of the year and throughout the year we go over the expectations in all areas of the building with students.  When a student doesn't follow the expectation they may be given a minor or major form depending on the severity of the situation.  When given the staff member will explain to the student why they are getting the minor/major, what they should do differently next time and how to solve it.  This form is also our tracking as a building to see if there is areas that we need to teach the expectations again or with certain students, etc.  Keep in mind, we know kids mess up (we have all been there :)) however we must stop and visit about the why with kids as they are just learning. Keep in mind these forms are not anything that goes on a permanent file, it is just tracked in our own system to help us see where areas may need improvement and reteaching possibly for kids.  

We also have a committee that meets monthly to talk about our procedures, what we can do differently, if their is a kid that has been struggling with something, what we can do to help that child.  So as parents if you ever have a question regarding all the factors of the program, I hope I have explained it a little bit further to you.  If you have more questions, please feel to visit with your classroom teacher or principal.