SPELLING BEE

Redwood Falls-SWWC Service Cooperatives Regional Spelling Bee was held on Wednesday, February 10 at the Redwood Area Community Center in Redwood Falls.  Thirty one students, who won at their local level, came together to compete for the top four places that advance to the Multi-Region State Spelling Bee.  The scores from a written round and three oral rounds were combined in order to determine the top 15 students who compete in the afternoon spell-down.  Due to the ties there were 21 participants in the spell-down.  The top four students advanced to the Multi-Region State Spelling Bee on February 22nd in Fergus Falls.  

First place went to Kalea Appel, an eight-grader from Worthington Middle School.  Representing Lester Prairie was 6th grader Delaney Sebora.  Sebora placed sixth overall in the Bee after winning the local school bee.  Good job Delaney.

SCHOOL BOARD RECOGNITION WEEK

SCHOOL BOARD RECOGNITION WEEK

February 15-19, 2016

Superintendent Jeremy Schmidt

and

K-12 Principal Nathaniel Boyer

The Lester Prairie School District will join school districts throughout the state to salute their local education leaders during Minnesota’s annual School Board Recognition Week February 15-19.

The commemorative week is designed to recognize the contributions made by Minnesota’s school board members, including the Lester Prairie School District School Board, who are charged with governing public education under state law.

Minnesota school board members are chosen by their communities through election or appointment to manage local schools.  They oversee budgets, which fund education programs for more than 825,000 students in approximately 2,000 schools.  Their personnel decisions affect more than 52,000 teachers and thousands of administrators and support staff workers.

These volunteer leaders also are responsible for formulating school district policy, approving curricula, maintaining school facilities, and adhering to state and federal education law.  Legal concerns and the complexities of school finance, including budgeting and taxation, require them to spend many hours in board training programs and personal study to enhance their understanding of these issues.

Our deepest appreciation is extended to the dedicated men and women who make it possible for local citizens to participate in education in our community.  We salute the public servants of the Lester Prairie School Board whose commitment and civic responsibility make local control of public schools in our community possible: Karla Heigl, Rawelin Radtke, Steve Ziermann, Merri Lea Kyllo, Corbey Hentges, and Mary Otto.

Please join the Lester Prairie Administration and Staff by saying thanks to our local school board members during Minnesota’s School Board Recognition Week.

ONE ACT PLAY

With the public’s focus on high school sports and other extra-curriculars, another group of students worked hard in a competitive activity that teaches many important life skills-one act plays.

Students from the LPHT drama department, (Lester Prairie and Holy Trinity Schools) practiced diligently for the one-act play competition, “Death of a Dead Guy.” Practices ran most every day for two months, lasting over an hour. There were two performances before the competition: one for Lester Prairie students and the other for the public; both were held on Friday, January 29.

This year’s one-act coaches were Lester Prairie teachers, Paige Aldrich and Jennifer Smith.  Aldrich, the high school science teacher, and Smith, the high school English teacher, enjoyed coaching this year’s cast. The cast of actors included: Gerri Williamson (Mrs. Bascombe); Harley Hentges (Collette); Olivia Sanders (Bertram); Logan Groff (Pete Cannon); Jamie DeBruyckere (May Fielding); and Cameron Bolf (Reginald Bascombe III). Stage crew included: Aaron Rasmussen, Anthony Priebe, Ivan Lezama, Paige Hausladen, and Mikayla Cohrs.

LPHT students competed in the one-act sub-regional competition held at Rockford High School on Saturday, January 30th.  Other schools that participated: Holy Family School (Victoria); Providence Academy (Plymouth); Central High School (Norwood Young America); Glencoe Silver Lake; and Rockford High School.  Although Lester Prairie High School did not advance to the state competition, the students learned a lot from the competition and had fun.  Those schools that did advance to the state competition were Glencoe Silver Lake (first place) and Providence Academy (second place).

LPHT students gained so much from the competition.  Students were able to take away many things from the competition, and gained a newfound appreciation for theatre, watching other schools perform their selected plays.  Smith, in her first year of coaching one-act plays (third year coaching theatre), said this experience is great for the kids: “It allows them to effectively communicate, work collaboratively with others, and constructively learn from others.” In simpler terms, “the one-act was awesome.”

REACH Students Promote Self-esteem

Lester Prairie REACH students work on spreading and building self-esteem in themselves and other students.  The Lester Prairie REACH students filled the hallways with positive compliments during a class activity.  The students went through the halls writing positive compliments on sticky notes and placing them on everyone’s locker.  This activity was to show how random compliments can have a positive effect on a person’s self-esteem.

Valuable Resource for Parents

As a parent, we are faced with many questions when raising our children.  Many of these questions have to do with how our children are performing in school, learning difficulties, behaviors, and social skills.   With all the information available on the internet, a website that is a great tool for parents exploring those topics is ldonline.org.  This website is packed with information that is useful to parents, students, and teachers.  Here is a small snapshot of what you will find at ldonline.org.

LD Online gives parents some basic information about learning disabilities, common signs to look for, what to do if you think your child may have a disability, parenting tips, etc.  There is even a section for adults with learning disabilities, tips for how to work toward college, and helpful information for adults transitioning from school to work.

Did you ever wonder if your child has Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD)?  At ldonline.org, there are links to symptoms of ADHD, what causes ADHD, examples of other disorders that could accompany it, how the family unit works with ADHD, how to treat it, tips to help your ADHD child in school, etc. 

LD Online offers hundreds of articles, reviewed by experts, that you can peruse though to learn about a specific topic.   Just a few from the vast list of topics include:  Behavior and Social Skills, Accommodations/Modifications for Students in the Classroom and at Home, Self-esteem and Stress Management, Study Skills, English Language Learners and LD, Understanding Processing Deficits, etc.

You will find a section located on the Media tab that shares videos from Learning Disability experts, offers teaching strategies when working with learning disabled children, and shares examples of technology for all children to use.  Additionally, there is a section titled “Finding Help” where you can seek expert advice and find a selection of professional resources in to assist parents.

If you have concerns about your child, this may be a great resource for you.  First and foremost, don’t hesitate to consult with your child’s teacher, the school counselor, and/or medical professionals so your son/daughter can learn to their full potential!

By:  Cathy Scoblic

Special Education Teacher

I can’t help my child with his/her homework…

...response from Amy Smith, Math teacher, Lester Prairie Schools

Homework, as a parent, do you just dread it?  I often hear at conferences, “But I can’t help him/her with their math homework” or ”Math is different.”  In my opinion math is not different, but some of the ways it is taught are new or different.  Kids are required to do more math at younger ages.  So to parents, it may look like math is different, but it is the same math.  Your child may be learning things at a younger age than you did.  There is a greater emphasis on Algebraic thinking at younger ages.  As many of you know, the state of Minnesota now requires that all 8^th graders pass Algebra.  This was not the case when many of today’s parents were in high school.

So, back to homework.  Yes!  You can help your child with his/her homework.  At Lester Prairie many students just need support at home to help them get their homework done.  Ask your child specific questions about the homework.  Provide the time and place for them to get their homework done.  Show them you care about their homework so they form a good habit of getting their homework done.  Getting it done is the first step.  

This year my 7th and 8th grade students are using a composition notebook for Math notes.  This is working better for most students.  Their notes are in one notebook and all the notebook gets used for is math notes.  It keeps their notes organized.  When your child does not know how to do their homework, ask them if they have looked at their notes.  Not everything is in their notes, but it is a place to get them (and maybe you) a start.  Often the student is just sitting not knowing how to do something.  Help them to see there are resources available to figure things out.   

For some topics, I have links on my page on the Lester Prairie High School’s web site. Go to High School 6-12, Academics, Mathematics, Amy Smith.  Click on Classes to see information and links for each class.  

I read an article from the National Council of Teachers of Math that gave some very good ideas about helping your child with their (remember it is their) homework.  The article, published in 2006, lists many questions to ask your child when challenged with helping get math homework done.  

Here are a few questions from the article.  

• Where do you think you should begin?
• Are there instructions or directions?  What do they say?
• What have you done so far?
• Can you tell me where you are stuck?
• Why don’t we look for some help on the Internet?

The article ends with “Remember, support homework-don’t do it!”  I agree and believe that with support most kids will be able to get their homework done and be successful in school.  

L.P. Students Love to Read!

February is “I Love to Read Month” for Lester Prairie Elementary Students.  Children of all ages are reading and tracking their minutes in order to help the principal, Mr. Boyer, “Race Across the U.S.A.”  For every ten minutes read, he travels one mile on the United States Map.  Mr. Boyer began his trip in Alaska, and his destination is New York City.  At every stop along the way, students will learn fun facts about that location.  If the principal makes it to New York City by the end of February, all of the elementary students will celebrate with ice cream sundaes.  Other activities for “I Love to Read Month” include daily book trivia questions with prizes and decorating classroom doors in a reading theme.

Mallorie Torry and Averi Tritabaugh pose next to the Race Across the U.S.A. bulletin board.

Mr. Boyer all geared at his starting point in Alaska.