CCOMMUNICATOROMMUNICATORThe

March 2012A supplement to the

Estherville DailyNews and Spirit

Terry Reekers, Emmet CountyEmergency Management Coordinator,spoke to all fourth grade students regard-ing the precautions to take to stay safe dur-ing a tornado. He showed several pictures

of the devastating tornado that hitParkersburg, IA several years ago. Thesephotos served as a reminder of why weneed to be prepared and have a plan in theevent of severe weather in our area. Mr.

Reekers’ explained to them how tornadoesare formed and what to watch for during athunderstorm. Everyone enjoyed learningabout basic facts and statistics about torna-does as well as hearing stories about torna-

does that have hit Emmet County. In con-junction with this presentation, a story weread, and numerous activities, studentscreated tornado safety brochures to be dis-played in the hallways of Roosevelt.

Reekers discusses tornado safety with fourth graders

BY FRANK CHRISTENSONHIGH SCHOOL PRINCIPAL

March 2nd brings the endof the third quarter at ELC.Normally, you might thinkthings would be “windingdown” at the end of the year.But that is far from the real-ity of the workings of ourschool. In fact, things gearup to an even more franticpace than at any other timeduring the year.

March 6th and 8th, are thetwo dates that we will beconducting the IowaAssessments for students ingrades 9-11. These areextremely important to notonly students individually aswell as the district as awhole. Our teachers havebeen stressing their impor-tance as well as sharing withstudents helpful tips in tak-ing them. This year we will

be providing incentives forour students to showimprovements over theirscores from last year. This,hopefully, will providemotivation for students todo their very best on theseexams.

We will follow that testingup by taking sophomores toIowa Lakes CommunityCollege here in Esthervilleon March 14th for the pur-pose of taking the ASSETexam which is an entranceexam for students who willeventually wish to take col-lege level courses duringtheir junior and senior yearsthrough dual credit, PSEO,or career academy opportu-nities.

At the same time, ourcounselors will continue towork with all of our studentson their 6-year plans so that

we can begin the course reg-istration process for the2012-13 school year. Thisis a process that will takeover a month to eventuallyconclude. We will be meet-ing with 8th grade studentson March 14th so that theyhave a good idea of what toexpect when they come intothe high school both sociallyand academically. Thatmeeting will be followed upwith a parent meeting pri-marily for the parents of 8thgraders, but also open toparents of all studentsreturning in the fall on theevening of April 3rd. This isan opportunity for any par-ent to ask questions aboutthe scheduling process,required classes versus elec-tives, the obtaining of cred-its towards graduation, theeligibility policy and oppor-

tunities that are available forstudents to become involvedthrough student organiza-tions and purple cord.

Of course, there are stillactivities going on. Bandand vocal students arepreparing for concerts, festi-vals and contests as well astheir trip to New York thefirst week in May. Our qual-ifying contestants for thestate speech contests are stillpracticing before and afterschool as well.

Prom will soon be upon us– April 21st. That is alwaysa highlight for the juniorsand seniors. But not as bigof a highlight as senior grad-uation that will take placehere at the high school onMay 13th and theAlternative program on May4th.

While the winter sports are

coming to an end (not tooquickly we hope) the springand summer sports will bestarting up soon. We have avery large number of stu-dents who participate intrack, golf, tennis as well asbaseball and softball. Somestudents are involved inmore than one.

There is always somethinggoing on at the high school-I only touched on a few -and spring just means it isbusier than ever. Oh, did Imention that students arestill taking classes? Thatremains our primary con-centration.

BY JODY CONDON

Kindergarten students arelearning about signals theirbody gives them whenthey are angry. We learnedto pay attention to thesesignals so that we can useour calming down strate-gies and not act impulsive-ly. We completed a draw-ing of where we “feel” ouranger and made a class-room book. Studentslearned signals like ourheart beating fast, our face

turning red, making a fist,our muscles getting tight,“race car tummy”, etc. aresignals that our body cangive us.

1st grade students havebegun their final guidanceunit. We are learning aboutsafety. 1st graders heard astory called “Our brain isthe boss of our body”. As agroup we discussed differ-ent ways to keep our brainsafe and healthy (eatinghealthy foods, drinking

healthy drinks, breathingclean air, wearing helmetsduring activities, wearingour seat belt, exercising,etc.). Students completed adrawing of 1 way that theygive the boss of their bodyextra protection.

The 2nd grade studentsare beginning their lastunit for classroom guid-ance as well. The unit is oncareers. Students will beparticipating in 6 differentstations the next fewweeks to help them under-stand the 6 differentgroups or types of jobs inour community. We havelearned about the

“builders” and the “artists”so far. The stations givethe 2nd graders the oppor-tunity to investigate whichgroup they prefer. We willbe building a career portfo-lio that they can continueto build on throughoutschool.

Please check out the fol-lowing website for a greatresource for students toinvestigate and learn moreabout jobs:http://paws.bridges.com/ihaveaplan.php

Also, check out my pro-fessional web page at:http://jodycondon.tripod.com for more information.

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Well, it is that time of theyear to Round-up our futurekindergarten students for the2012-13 school year. Thefirst parent meeting isMonday, March 26 from6:30-8 p.m. in the highschool cafeteria. This meet-ing is for parents who havenever had a child in kinder-garten at ELC schools. Thismeeting will have manyspeakers talking aboutimportant things you need toknow before your childstarts kindergarten like:lunch, immunization andmedical requirements, guid-ance services, busing, etc. Ifparents have had other chil-dren attend ELC elementaryin kindergarten, they shouldattend kindergarten registra-tion on March 27 from 5-7p.m. also at the high schoolcafeteria. This is a come andgo event where parents canspeak to the secretary, nurse,or principal. Both of thesemeetings are for adultsonly!! We will be sendingall parents letters regardinground-up if their child willbe five by September 15thand if they are currently inHead Start, Estherville pri-vate preschools, or

Demoney preschools. If youknow of anyone who has achild who is age eligible andis not attending one of thelisted preschools, pleasehave them contact SueTruog at 352-2181.

Kindergarten Orientationfor the future students isFriday, March 30 atDemoney from 8:30–11a.m.. All children that willbe five before or on Sept. 15are eligible to attend orienta-tion.

This day will be spentplaying with peers, takingsome simple tests, having asnack, doing activities, andriding the bus. In the after-noon all teachers will meetwith Mrs. Schlievert to talkabout any concerns with anychildren and if there is anyquestion whether the childshould attend kindergartenor not, the teacher will callthe parent. We do have afive year old preschooloption available for childrenwho need the gift of time.

Preparing a child to cometo kindergarten is fun andscary for both parent andchild. If we can be of anyassistance in completing thisbig task, please let us know.

Kris’ CommentsBY KRIS SCHLIEVERT, Elementary Principal

Fourth quarter at ELC High School

Elementary Guidance

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Sixth grade pinch pot creaturesStudents in Mr. Jerry Wilsonʼs class created these creatures: Row 1: Chase Weber, Mattie Condon. Row 2: DustinMurtaugh, Domanique Richardson, Makayla Hall. Row 3: Maggie Nitchals, Emily Shryock, Karmen Hazen. Row 4: DevynAnderson, Britney Jensen, Bailey Spiegeler.

Fifth grade studentsreading ʻWoodsongʼ

The fifth grade is currently readingthe novel Woodsong by GaryPaulsen which chronicles his journeyacross “the diamond that is northernwinter” as well as the farthest reach-es of his primal soul. His questbegins with sparkling days andmoonlit nights in the Minnesotawilderness, training his dogs for theultimate challenge; the Iditarod, the1180-mile, 17 day dogsled raceacross Alaska. Subzero tempera-tures, wild wolf packs, sleeplessnights, and exhaustion mark the trailas well as the breathtaking beauty ofthe landscape and the unbreakablebond between man and dog.Paulsen tells the story of brutal sur-vival and mystical insight. ReadingWoodsong is an unforgettable expe-rience for our students. Fortunately,the weather in Iowa this winter wasunlike that of Alaska; however,remembering winters of the recentpast our students are able to visual-ize and “feel” the climate as Gary didin his quest across Alaska.

Mush into Marchwith third grade

Third graders are excited to learnabout the IDITAROD Sled Dog RaceAcross Alaska. They are busy on thecomputer researching the history ofthe sport and all the ins and outs ofracing sled dogs. Silver, Mush, andBalto are a few examples of booksthat third graders are reading thatrelate to dog sledding. Theirresearch will help them as they trackthe IDTAROD Dog Sled Race March3rd through the 18th. Each studentwill have a musher to track andcheer on. They will also be luckyenough to visit with a real musher,Doug Ruzicka, on Friday, March 9thwhen he comes to Roosevelt for anassembly called “Mush Husky”thanks to the support of the ELCFoundation.