Seco

ndary  Sp

ectrum

 January  2012  

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  January:    

Jan  3  –  Classes  Resume  (normal  schedule)  Jan  5  -­‐  Midterm  

Jan  7  –  District  Honor  Band    Jan  9  –  2  Hour  Late  Start  

Jan  16  –  No  School  (Possible  Snow  Make-­‐Up)  Jan  21  –  District  Speech  Contest  

Jan  23  –  2  Hour  Late  Start  Jan  23  –  NICL  Vocal  Festival  

Jan  25  –  Regional  AcDec  Competition  Jan  30  –  State  Show  Choir  Competition  

 Go  to  the  School  Calendar  at  www.spartanpride.net  for  

a  complete  schedule  of  events/activities.      

 

    Notes  from  the  School  Nurse,  Gloria  Dielschneider  

 

Live Healthy Iowa 100 Day Wellness Challenge and Live Healthy Iowa Kids

Live Healthy Iowa is a health initiative that brings together friends, families, businesses and communities in team-based wellness challenges designed to promote positive lifestyle change. The goal of Live Healthy Iowa is to make Iowa the healthiest state in America!

The 100 Day Wellness Challenge is a program for adults (age 18 and over) that enables friends, families and coworkers to form teams that track weight loss and/or minutes of activity. It runs January 23 through May 1, 2012. I encourage you to participate and set an example for your children! To participate follow these steps: Step 1: Start a Team! Form a team of 2-10 people. Gather your team's email

addresses and t-shirt sizes. Step 2: Choose a Team Name and Team Captain! Team captain must have an

e-mail address. Step 3: Register online! Registration opens Dec. 20, 2011. Use the code LHIGRUNDY if you live in Grundy County. Registration Fee is $20 but you get a coupon code from HyVee for $5 off. Live Healthy Iowa Kids is a FREE 100 Day Challenge for youth that inspires them to be more active and make better food choices. During the program, which is Jan 17 through April 25, teams of 5-30 participants aim to be active for 60 minutes a day, at least five days a week. Youth will also be challenged to track their nutrition habits. Students will have the opportunity to participate by being on a team at school. For more information go to: www.livehealthyiowa.org

 

12TH STREET NEWS! by Mrs. Murra, Superintendent

 

A new year is upon us, and we are excited about the possibilities we will have in 2012! Our district enrollment is growing, and that is great news for our small community. Our elementary is functioning at capacity, and we anticipate strong kindergarten numbers for the next several years. We are very appreciative that our Grundy Center residents voted to extend our Physical Plant and Equipment Levy for another 10 years! This will allow the school board to make necessary decisions on how to best modify and renovate our facilities to accommodate our students in the most effective, educational setting--without raising property taxes. The board will be looking at all possible scenarios and future implications prior to making any decisions. The Grundy Center School Board recognizes their responsibility to provide the best education for our children while maintaining a healthy financial status.

Another new opportunity will come through a joint partnership called “Cedar Valley West”. One of the goals of Cedar Valley West is to provide career exploration experiences for our high school students in a regional setting. The four school districts that share services at the Western Outreach Center will hire a career counselor who will work with students and area businesses in coordinating job-shadowing days, apprenticeships, and internships in local businesses. There are several intended outcomes for this project: 1) Help students find their passion and cultivate that into a career, 2) Provide real-life experiences in a variety of career fields, 3) “Plant seeds” that living/working in Grundy Center can be fulfilling--”growing our own future work force”, and 4) Support succession planning of our small businesses with the next generation. We know Grundy Center/County is a wonderful place to live and want our young adults to consider staying or returning after furthering their education. As the planning team continues to work, more information about this program will be made available in the near future!

Please be sure to visit our website often to keep up-to-date on our happenings. www.spartanpride.net Under “District” then “Notifications” you will find links to our Annual Report and a variety of annual notices. One of these is for Open Enrollment. The deadline for filing Open Enrollment paperwork for the 2012-2013 school year is March 1. Due to Iowa law, these deadlines are final. If you have any questions, please contact me.

I wish you a Happy New Year and hope to see you at one of our many events this month! May the snow and ice stay away and the warm temperatures remain....

In Spartanpride~

Mrs. Murra

 

   

    FOOD SERVICE RESTAURANT

The Food Service students at Grundy Center invite you to their student-run restaurant, Room 13 Cuisine. The class is in charge of serving and preparing five different meals for the public on the following dates: Thursdays January 12, 19, 26, and Feb. 2, 9. The meals will cost $7 and will be served in the FCS room at the high school at noon except for the one evening meal, which is on January 19th and will cost $8. All meals include dessert and beverages. As the classroom only accommodates 24 people, reservations are required. Reservations can be made by calling the high school office at 319.825.5449 or by emailing jschuller@spartanpride.net.

Meal  #1  –  Noon  meal,  Thursday,  1/12/12  Group  Meal  

 Stir-­‐Fried  Chicken  with  Broccoli  &  Cashews  Sticky  White  Rice  Mango  Tango  

   Meal  #2  –  Evening  Meal  Thursday,  1/19/12  

Head  Cooks:    Ethan  Wagner  &  Morgan  Walitshek  Mixed  Greens  &  Fruits  Salad  Stuffed  Grilled  Pork  Loin  

Steamed  Broccoli  Sour  Cream  &  Chive  Mashed  Potatoes  

 German  Chocolate  Cake        

Meal  #3  –  Noon  meal,  Thursday,  1/26/12  Head  Cooks:    Kennedy  Buss,  Jen  Rust  

Caesar  Salad    Lasagna  Florentine  Roll-­‐up  

Italian  Cheese  Sticks    Lava  Cakes  a  la  mode  

     Meal  #4  –  Thursday,  2/2/12  

Head  Cooks:    Riley  Wells,  Lane  Bangasser  Festive  Tossed  Salad  Ginger  Soy  Fish  Fillet  

Asian  Vegetable  Medley  Rice  Pilaf  

Chocolate  Cheese  Cake    

Meal  #5  –  Thursday,  2/9/12  Head  Cooks:    Dalton  Haverkamp,  Jen  Rust  

 Spinach  Salad  Parmesan  Chicken  Fettuccine  

 Banoffee  Pie    

On Saturday, Dec 10th a group of 7th and 8th grade students participated in First Lego League at Marshalltown Community College. First Lego League is a robotic competition that combines a group presentation, cooperative games, and robotic challenges to create a fun and exciting day of learning science and technology. Even though Grundy Center’s team did not qualify to continue to the state competition in Ames, their robot’s performed well and their presentation was very well done. Marshalltown welcomed over 25 teams from throughout eastern and central Iowa. First Lego League is international competition that included thousands of teams in 16 different countries. Students that participated from Grundy Center included, Ashli VanDeest, Brian Thome Jr., Dustin Derryberry, Jake Santor, Candice Meyer, Jon Kuznia, Dalton McIntire, and Jeremy Kalina.

    WELLNESS FAIR

Healthy Start to 2012!

A countywide Wellness Fair takes place

Saturday, January 7, 7:00 – 10:00 a.m. at the Grundy County Memorial Hospital.

It’s a great place to start on your path to good health in the New Year, with various county health resources represented in one place.

There will be low-cost blood screenings, so you can check your total cholesterol and other key readings, plus free blood pressure checks, free

chair massages, free healthy breakfast, and much, much more! The Grundy Family YMCA will have information on new 2012 programs, local massage therapists will be on hand, and there will be dietary information, too. Plus, learn what Blue Zones is all about at the

Wellness Committee booth. Stop by anytime – if you’re planning to have blood work, 10-12 hours of overnight fasting is recommended.

On  Monday,  December  16th,  nine  NHS  students  went  to  Family  Foods  to  help  pack  boxes  for  the  Kiwanis/Lions  food  drive.    The  Kiwanis  delivered  them  to  20  families.  Each  family  received  four  boxes.    It  was  a  great  community  project!  

TAG Program

PORK SANDWICH SUPPER

FRIDAY, JANUARY 13TH

4:30 – 7:00 PM

GRUNDY CENTER HS COMMONS

$5.00 PER PERSON

INCLUDES SANDWICH, CHIPS, BEANS, PIE, & DRINK

   

 

 

NOTES FROM THE PRINCIPAL

 

We cannot complain about the weather and the cancellation of various activities this year. I hope we can have smooth sailing for everyone through the winter. Careers – in 7th grade everyone wants to be a professional athlete, dancer, teacher, coach, farmer, etc. But what careers are we talking to our children about? What special talents come naturally for your child? Do they like to organize things, do they communicate well with many publics, do they like to see how things work, would they like to be an electrician, a plumber, automotive technician, etc? Indentifying what we are “good at” helps as we prepare for the future. This is not to say we will be going into a certain career but it identifies the strengths of a student. All of us understand that students must further their education after graduation from High School. This could be a 2-year degree, a 4 four degrees, 1 year training, apprenticeship, 14 month training, etc. What we need to do is identify what careers are available in broad field that is of interest to a student. What am I good at and what possible career could come from this interest? I had a conversation with a student the other day about interest, strengths, career opportunities that lead to childcare possibilities, pre-school education possibilities, and finally early childhood education opportunities. If a student is able to identify strength then they need to consider possible career opportunities. Iowa Test testing will begin on Thursday, January 12th. Students will be taking tests from 8:05 – 9:05 on the following dates: January 12 and 13, and January 17, 18, 19, and 20. Please try avoid having your child miss the testing times as students must make up the tests and will be pulled out of a class to make up the tests missed. Please support and encourage your son or daughter to do their very best. It is extremely important that students do well. Current 11th grade students must score at the proficient level (above 41 percentile) if they are planning to take concurrent classes offered at Grundy Center or at the Western Outreach Center next year. Juniors – If you are planning on taking concurrent classes (college classes) next year you must take the Compass Exam. Students must take the Compass Exam and score above the following levels. 65 Writing and 82 Reading. Students taking Concurrent math classes (Statistic or Math for Liberal Arts) must score above a 42 on the Compass test or a 19 on the math portion of the ACT. Students taking Calculus must score above a 51 or have 27 on the ACT math portion.

Mr. VanderPol