Seco

ndary  Sp

ectrum

 November  2011  

Mission Statement  The  Grundy  Center  Community  School’s  “community”  will  empower  its  individuals  with  the  attitudes,  skills,  and  knowledge  to  become  responsible,  productive,  and  fulfilled  citizens.  

Calendar  Highlights  for  November:  

 Nov  4  &  6  –  Fall  Musical  ‘Wizard  of  Oz’  

Nov  8  –  MS  Vocal  Concert  Nov  11  –  End  of  1st  Trimester  Nov  14  –  2  Hour  Late  Start  

Nov  14  –  MS/HS  Band  Concert  Nov  22  –  2:00  Dismissal  

Nov  23-­‐25  –  No  School  –  Thanksgiving  Break  Nov  28  –  2  Hour  Late  Start  

   

Go  to  the  School  Calendar  at  www.spartanpride.net  for  a  complete  schedule  of  events/activities.      

   

What should we do to prepare for this flu season? Flu seasons are unpredictable and the timing, severity, and length of the season depends on many factors, including what influenza viruses are spreading and whether they match the viruses in the vaccine. Flu activity most commonly peaks in January or February, but can begin as early as October and continue as late as May.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommends these preventative measures:

• Practice good hand hygiene by washing your hands often with soap and water, especially after coughing or sneezing. Alcohol-based hand cleaners are also effective.

• Cover your mouth and nose with a tissue when you cough or sneeze. If you don’t have a tissue, cough or sneeze into your elbow or shoulder, not into your hands.

• Clean surfaces and items that are more likely to have frequent hand contact such as doorknobs, phones, keyboards, etc.

• Stay home if you or your child is sick for at least 24 hours after there is no longer a fever or signs of a fever (without the use of fever-reducing medicine). Keeping sick students at home means that they keep their viruses to themselves rather than sharing them with others.

• Get vaccinated against the flu. CDC recommends a yearly flu shot for everyone 6 months of age and older. The flu vaccine is designed to protect against the three main flu strains that research indicates will cause the most illness during the flu season.

 

Notes  from  the  School  Nurse,  Gloria  Dielschneider  

 

 

12TH STREET NEWS! by Mrs. Murra, Superintendent

 

November is here and so is the end of the first trimester! The time has gone quickly and much has happened this fall. We are proud of all of our Spartans both in the classroom and on the fields/floors/stage!

Congratulations to our Girls Cross Country Team for placing 12th at the State Meet on October 29! This is their best finish in history. We are proud of you! We are also proud of our GC Football Team for making the playoffs! Best wishes to our Volleyball Team as they continue the road to the State Tournament as well!

Please come support our incredible thespians as they perform “The Wizard of Oz” on Friday, November 4 and Sunday, November 6. It is sure to be MAGICAL! The 1st & 4th Graders will also be presenting “I’ve Got That Autumn-ish Feelin” on November 7, and the Middle School will have their vocal concert on November 8. The band will once again host the NICL Band Festival on November 15, too! The auditorium will be alive with music this month!

Our Fall MAP scores indicate we are still above the national and state norms, but we did see the same “summer dip”. Our spring scores are always very strong, and then the fall scores decrease. This continues to be a concern because teachers and students then have to spend time reviewing past material instead of moving on to new learning. There is a good chance you will hear conversation about making changes in our school calendar in the near future. The Governor has unveiled his “Blue Print for Educational Reform”, and now school leaders are looking for ways to help improve student learning. Taking a full 12 weeks off over the summer is hindering learning for many of our students, and test scores make this pretty clear. My prediction is that we will have a 6-7 week summer break and spread the other 5-6 weeks out between the trimesters—making longer fall, winter, and spring breaks. We currently have 180 days of school each year, and I do not foresee that changing. As new ideas are shared regarding the Reform Plans, I will keep you posted!

On a financial note, I am excited to share that our official certified enrollment is up 27.2 students! The .2 comes from partial weighting for our students that are home schooled but dual enrolled to participate in some academic or extra-curricular activities. This certified enrollment count is what generates our funding for the 2012-2013 school year. Grundy Center is a wonderful community in which to live and raise a family, and that word must be spreading! It is a GREAT time to be a Spartan!

Mrs. Murra

   

   

Former student comes back to share college experience with art students

by Ronda Sternhagen You can never be quite sure of where the conversation will end up when you answer the phone, but sometimes you get the nicest of surprises. Recently, Levi Ross (Class of 2010) contacted me with great enthusiasm about wanting to come back to share a drawing technique he had learned in a drawing class as a sophomore at Central College. That's an exciting call to receive!

On Thursday, October 13, drawing students were treated to learning a charcoal drawing technique in which they blackened their paper, and then drew with a kneaded eraser removing charcoal to draw with light. This forced students to think about drawing in reverse. Typically when we think of drawing, we think of laying down value or color with a drawing tool, leaving the light parts untouched. It was great to have a former student come back to share a passion with current students. We have so much to be thankful for in Grundy Center, and so many former students to be proud of!  

What About Bob?

Bob Munson was recognized this month at ITEC for the Technology Local Leadership Award. This is an annual award given out to local leaders for their outstanding work they do to promote and be a leader regarding technology. Bob Munson is the Technology Coordinator and Physics Instructor for Grundy Center Community Schools in Grundy Center, Iowa. In his twenty-one years of working in education, nineteen of them have been in Grundy Center. He is an alumnus of Northern

Iowa and Iowa State University with a Masters Degree in Curriculum and Instruction. Grundy Center is a very innovative district and technology integration is highly valued. An example of valuing technology is the district’s one to one laptop initiative in grades 6-12. The community is very supportive of the district, and the laptop initiative is allowing students to stretch the boundaries of their own learning. Bob truly sees technology as a critical tool in improving the learning process. When not working with students and teachers with technology, Bob also enjoys coaching and spending time with his wife, Patricia, and son, Mitchell.  

    Spartan Spirit By Johna Ash Being a cheerleader at Grundy Center High School really makes the experience of school spirit greater than what the majority of the other students and faculty get to experience. We get to lead the students in fun activities throughout the fall, whether it is the week of homecoming, or for an even better example, the week leading up to the first play-off game in seventeen years. School spirit is something that makes our school come together as a student body, and the support is strong enough to move a mountain. The atmosphere in the building of GCHS is particularly enjoyable. There are hallways bombarded by cheerleaders and lots of streamers and balloons, and we always have many posters and signs, of encouragement located all around the building, which help enhance school spirit. Being able to walk around and see everything helps the students as a whole to remember that we are each a part of something special. It doesn't matter if it is regarding volleyball, football, cross-country, dance, cheerleading, the fall musical, Ac-Dec. Anything at all that is happening is a part of GCHS' history and seeing the signs of encouragement all around makes it easier to be reminded of that concept. Some people may think that the decorating that happens throughout the building could become distracting and possibly a little too exciting and get in the way of focusing on school work, but it almost the opposite effect. The decorating is a reminder that we have work to be done in class first, and if we stick with it and strive to succeed, then all the sports and extra curricular activities will continue to be possible. Schoolwork can often become a heavy load on the shoulders of someone who is actively involved in school activities, but as I have seen become a change in the past couple years, schoolwork provides discipline and time management skills for students. Since a lot of hard work goes into the different activities that students participate in, it is more than appreciated when there are lots of people attending the games, meets, or performances. Being a football cheerleader, I have been most affected by the turnout of the crowd at the Grundy Center football games. We have always had a large and supporting crowd, which makes it very easy to want to get the crowd excited to get our team "fired up." The support is greatly appreciated by the football team and possibly more by the cheerleaders. I have cheered a game with twenty people in the stands - it is definitely a challenge. Having the fans cheer along gets everyone into the game and again, it goes back to being a part of something important. The crowd is one of the most important parts of a game, because they are the most encouraging. I believe that the success that has been displayed from the Grundy Center teams has a strong foundation, which is teamwork. From the coaches mentoring the students into becoming great athletes and wise young people to the students who show up and represent our school to the best of their ability - we are all a team. The long and tiring practices are definitely a factor in the success that we seen so far this year, but even more than that, it truly is who we are as a school. The support is outstanding and the belief in one another is the best that there is. Being a Spartan is a privilege and definitely something to be thankful for.

 

 

NOTES FROM THE PRINCIPAL

 

We  had  a  great  month  in  the  halls  of  GC.    Lots  of  exciting  projects  in  the  classroom  that  ask  for  students  to  show  understanding  of  the  knowledge  they  have  learned  in  their  classes.    We  have  had  a  number  of  visitors  in  the  halls  from  area  Superintendents  and  AEA  personnel  to  come  and  observe  what  students  and  staff  are  doing  with  the  technology  in  the  classrooms.  

We  have  had  a  couple  of  new  job  shadowing  /  career  exploration  opportunities  for  high  school  students.    Students  are  able  have  work  experience  and  explore  career  opportunities  at  the  Grundy  County  Hospital.    Currently  we  have  a  student  shadowing  Chef  Woody  and  another  student  who  will  be  helping  in  the  maintenance  department  of  the  Hospital.    These  experiences  are  important  and  can  help  students  focus  on  what  they  need  to  do  in  the  future  in  the  careers  of  their  choice.  

I  mentioned  that  we  have  had  a  number  of  visitors  and  one  of  the  groups  complemented  our  students  by  saying  how  friendly,  helpful,  and  considerate  they  were.    The  visitors  appreciated  walking  the  hallways  with  the  students  and  feeling  safe  and  not  threatened.    Sometimes  the  small  things  make  the  biggest  impact  on  others.    We  do  have  great  students.    Speaking  of  neat  things  –  in  case  you  missed  the  K  –  12  schools  and  Community  Pep  rally  held  on  Wednesday,  Oct  26th.    I  want  to  tell  you,  the  students  were  absolutely  unbelievable.    The  students  were  dressed  in  maroon  and  white  and  were  cheering  on  each  other  and  having  fun.    Watching  everyone  do  the  interlude  was  an  absolute  riot,  but  it’s  these  small  things  we  can  do  in  a  community  that  values  the  whole  child.  

Homework  /  Homework  completion  -­‐  Much  has  been  written  and  published  about  homework  and  doing  quality  homework.    Research  has  proven  that  students  should  have  45  min  to  90  minutes  of  homework  at  night.    Homework  should  not  be  busy  work  but  work  that  will  help  reinforce  important  concepts  and  skills  that  students  need.    As  a  staff  we  talk  frequently  about  homework  and  busy  work.    I  am  concerned  that  some  students  continue  to  struggle  with  homework  completion  after  many  accommodations,  strategies,  and  opportunities  to  complete  the  work  do  not  change  the  behavior.    Students  are  always  told  that  they  are  responsible  for  their  learning  and  the  doors  to  a  teacher’s  classroom  are  open  before  and  after  school  for  help.    We  want  students  to  feel  that’s  it’s  “OK”  to  stay  after  school  to  complete  homework.    We  have  students  assigned  to  detentions,  worktables,  and  study  tables  after  school  but  some  still  do  not  get  their  homework  completed.    We  need  to  improve  the  completion  of  student  work  so  students  can  get  “caught  up”  and  move  on  to  the  next  important  concepts  without  going  backwards  to  finish  up  the  work  that  is  not  completed.  

The  middle  school  students  raised  over  $3500  from  the  middle  school  fundraiser  campaign.    This  money  allows  for  the  many  field  trips  that  the  middle  school  students  take.    The  6th  grade  students  went  to  the  Living  History’s  farm  this  month  and  the  7th  grade  went  to  the  Science  Center  in  Des  Moines  to  take  in  the  Body  World  Exhibit.    The  field  trip  for  the  7th  grade  students  cost  approx  $1000.    

Sophomore  and  Junior  parents  need  to  be  reminding  your  son  or  daughter  to  take  the  Compass  tests  if  they  are  planning  to  take  “concurrent”  college  classes  in  the  future.    Students  need  to  have  met  the  compass  cut  scores  before  the  end  of  April  2012.  

Starting  2nd  trimester,  Chorus  will  begin  at  7:50  each  morning.    If  students  ride  the  bus  they  will  get  to  chorus  as  soon  as  possible.    Other  classes  start  at  8:05  but  Chorus  and  Band  split  a  75  min  block  of  time  so  students  can  have  more  flexibility  with  their  schedule.    The  reason  we  switched  to  this  starting  time  was  so  the  students  can  participate  in  Band  and/or  Chorus  with  fewer  class  conflicts.    Thank  you  for  understanding  and  if  you  have  questions  please  give  me  a  call.