Teacher spotlight
Mrs. Alber and her kindergarten students spent the first week learning the expectations in the different areas of the school. They searched the school for “Pete the Cat’s” footprints to review how to be safe, respectful, and responsible. Like everything else in 2020, our classroom is no exception. Our hardworking custodians built Plexiglass dividers so the students can do their work at their tables in a safe way.
In reading, the students have learned the letter names and sounds of Aa and Mm. They are using the Handwriting Without Tears workbooks to practice forming the alphabet, both capital, and lowercase. Heggerty Phonemic Awareness has also been implemented.
In math, the boys and girls have been focusing on learning to write the numbers 1 to 4 as well as the number words. We have used shaving cream to practice as well as chalk outside on the basketball court. The students will be exploring how to use counters to make five with two different numbers.
In social studies, authority figures at home, school, and in the community will be covered. The kindergartners have listened to their first fable, “The Ant and the Grasshopper,” for the year and have been introduced to “big” words.
Mrs. Ham will not have the 6th graders for Spanish this year, but in Trimester 2, the 8th graders will have an exploratory Spanish class where they will learn and practice basic conversational skills and useful vocabulary.
In Trimester 3, 7th graders will have multicultural language arts with Mrs. Ham, where they will work on their English language skills while exploring other cultures. They will read a book called Enrique’s Journey, which details the true story of the dangerous travels of a 9-year-old boy who comes to the United States to find his mom.
In Spanish 1, students are starting a chapter all about describing people. These students will work on describing their own personalities, as well as the personalities of other people around them. They will learn about the “gender” of language in Spanish and practice describing themselves and their friends in a grammatically correct way.
Spanish 2 students are watching an award-winning movie called “La Misma Luna,” which is based loosely on “Enrique’s Journey,” which they read in MCLA a few years ago. They will also practice their Spanish reading and writing skills by reading a summary of each section of the movie, then ordering the movie’s events. Later in the month, they will start learning how to describe where they go and what they do in their free time and explore Hispanic cultural sites that are located in the US.
In Spanish 4, students are reviewing the two different ways to use the phrase “to be,” which can be tricky. After that, they will work on the past tense and learn how to describe what they were like as children and what they did in the past, then they will start a short story completely in Spanish!
Mrs. Wit’s NCAPS class looks a bit different this year, as do most things in 2020. Rather than scheduling visits and meeting with mentors about projects, students are working on career-oriented assignments each week during their Focus time. There are four teachers that help with the juniors and seniors in Nelson. They are Mrs. Stokes and Mrs. Haba (12th grade) and Mrs. Ham and Mr. Hunt (11th grade). The 9th graders are again focusing on entrepreneurship and are with Mr. Blevins and Mrs. Trausch, and the 10th graders are exploring careers with Mr. Brown and his student teacher, Mr. Finke.
Business Law is being offered for the first time in a few years. It has been great to offer this class again, and I have a mixture of 9 to 11th graders. They all have unique perspectives and bring something great to our discussions.
L to J is well underway in each of my classes, and students have not forgotten the process. Many of my classes were given the entire key concept list to gauge what they might already know. I will do this again throughout the year and track results. Dr. Jenkins suggested it last year during a visit, and I like tracking this to show growth for students.
Personal Finance students are learning about the power of money and how to make compound interest work for them. We have studied the five foundations introduced by Dave Ramsey, including a $500 emergency fund, getting out of debt, paying cash for your car, paying cash for college, and building wealth to give back. Each one is creating a flyer that we will hang around the school to promote these ideas. This group has really shown interest in seeing how much money they could have in 40 years if they start saving now!
Students Activities
We currently have five students in the automotive program at CCC. The classes run Monday through Thursday from 8 to 10 a.m., with students returning to school around 11 a.m. Students provide their own transportation, and it is very hands-on instruction in the class. After safety training, students begin learning precise measurements, and the basics of vehicle maintenance and repair, NC3 certification, SP2 certification. Next semester, these same students plan to take Auto 1020.
Students can bring in their own vehicle’s for repair, or people will drop off their vehicle with the parts, and the college students will repair the vehicle for minimal cost, including, but not limited to the following projects: oil change, tire pressure monitoring system, and brake replacement.
On Fridays, when this class is not in session, these same students have volunteered their time to work with the extension office and city to work on a variety of projects. So far, they have made up the plans and put together an order form to build a wash rack cemented at the fairgrounds south of the new building and have plans to build a chute as well, on the east side of the new building near the hog washing area.
In cooperation with the extension office activities, the group will be building a set of teeter-totters for the city park behind Bill’s Transmission and will possibly be repairing a merry go round as well. The students are working closely with extension office personnel Amy Brockman and Kylie Kinley, as well as fair board member Dustin Cassell, and will be working with Roger Biltoft on their city park project.
Student Council: High School Student Council members finished up homecoming this month. They spent the last week of August planning out different homecoming events, joining homecoming committees, and attending lunch meetings. StuCo members plan all the dress-up days, organize competitions at lunch between the classes, and keep track of each class’s points during the week so they can award the Spirit Stick to the class that wins all homecoming competitions.
Later this semester, they will do their best to organize a free event for all students to attend (while adhering to the health department’s guidelines), organize Red Ribbon Week, and work on holiday activities.
FBLA: FBLA recently held its first officer and chapter meetings. We are
focusing on recruitment and spreading the word about our organization. Officers will attend the annual Fall Leadership Conference in September. Although it will be held virtually, there is still a lot to learn from this conference. We are awaiting additional details at this time from the state office. We are planning to hold the Pumpkin Judging Contest in October at the elementary and will host the 3rd Annual Turkey Trot 5k in November. FBLA sponsor is Mrs. Ashley Wit.
FFA: The FFA Chapter has 26 high school members and 9 middle school
FFA members and is looking forward to another great year with competitions and activities, no matter if they will be virtual or in-person! The officer team has a lot of ideas for the members to get on board for, and we hope to be more visible to the community. We have had a couple of competitions canceled, but we will not let that stop us from doing great things this year! We can’t wait to start competing and doing some community activities! The FFA Advisor is Mrs. Trausch.
HOSA: We have 12 students from LN and 24 from SC participating in HOSA for a total of 36. Kristi Wehrman and Jaycee Schroer will be sponsoring this year. Meetings are held monthly, and the group has already hosted one blood drive this year and are planning to host another in the Spring. They also plan to attend some virtual events this
year, participate in the state competition, hosting two carnivals for the surrounding communities, and collecting canned goods for local food pantries.
Backpack Program: An application has been submitted for a Backpack Program for L-N. Previously, the school collected canned goods to be donated to the Nuckolls County Food Pantry, but are looking for ways to keep the food in our own community for our own students’ needs. The HOSA and FBLA chapters are also interested in helping with this cause and are looking to start the program in January 2021, when the free meals for the district will be up.
We have all but two students interested in joining extracurricular activities. It is our hope that we can get up to 100 percent by the end of the semester.
MAPS Testing was to be held Sept. 15 and 16 (math) and on Sept. 22 and 23 (reading) for 2nd through 5th grade. Please make sure your child is well-rested and will be in attendance at school on these dates.
The district was approved for free breakfasts and lunches from Sept. 1 through Dec. 31. Food will be sent home for every weekday; we are not in session through Dec. 31.
Looking Ahead to October
Sept. 28 through Oct. 2: Dr. Jenkins
will be visiting the district and will be at Lawrence, Wednesday, and in Nelson Thursday. Dr. Jenkins will meet with the administration on Friday.
Saturday, Oct. 3rd’s Harvest of Harmony parade has been canceled for this year.
On Wednesday, Oct. 7, the PreK and Elementary school will let out at 1 p.m., and MS-HS let out at 1:30 p.m. Parent-Teacher Conferences will be in Nelson. Elementary conferences will be in person after a detailed progress report is sent out to parents. The schedule has been sent home. middle school and high school teachers are sending out detailed progress reports and giving parents the option of how they would like to meet, in person, or online, if at all, with the teachers.
Thursday, Oct. 8, and Friday, Oct. 9, there will be no school. A teacher inservice will be held on Friday, Oct. 9. Tuesday, October 13 is Pink Out Night and Parents’ Night for the volleyball team.
Friday, Oct. 16 marks the end of the first quarter.
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