school pages - dec. 2010

Brainerd Dispatch | www.brainerddispatch.com Tuesday, December 21 1S

Baxter Elementary

Central Lakes College

Crosby/Ironton

Forestview Middle School 7th Grade

Harrison Elementary

Lake Region Christian School

Learning Tree Pre-School

Lowell Elementary

Nisswa Elementary

Pequot Lakes School

Pillager Elementary/High School

Pine River/Backus

Riverside Elementary

St. Francis Catholic School

Staples/Motely Schools

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In this issue:

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neBRAINERD DISPATCH

Newspapers In Education Prepare Young People . . .

“. . . To look ahead to what’s in their future.”Christine Palmer

Pequot Lakes Middle School

“. . . To differentiate between fact and opinion. I use the papers in conjunction with a fact and opinion assignment in my classroom. Students read, identify key components of the article, summarize, and share their opinion on the topic, writing style, or something in the article. It is an invaluable part of my curriculum. Many of my students don’t have the opportunity to read the newspaper, and this allows them to do so with purpose.”

Tracee ColgroveLanguage Arts Teacher

Pillager Middle and High School

“. . . To become educated on current events locally and nationally.”Steve Stoxen

Pequot Lakes Middle School Teacher

“. . . To make informed decisions. Reading science current events: discoveries, medical breakthroughs, stem cell controversies, bacterial outbreaks of E. Coli, Salmonella, and Cholera all make coursework more “real” and relevant. Kids who are tomorrow’s scientists, doctors, and voters need to be informed of how these biology topics impact our lives.”

Chris HansonForestview Middle School Science Teacher

“. . . To be informed about what’s going on in their communities and to become active participants.”

Lynn WangbergPine River-Backus School High School Teacher

“. . . To connect with their community and their world.”Linda Buck

Lincoln Education Center

Brainerd Dispatch | www.brainerddispatch.com 2S Tuesday, December 21

BAXTERELEMENTARY

If your child develops a case of suspicious look-ing brown spots they have been hit by the fe-ver. Vanilla pills are the only cure for this highly contagious disease. No worries parents, the stu-dents that have read this great book will tell you they didn’t mind getting Chocolate Fe-ver!

Chocolate Fever has hit Baxter School!

Susan Sheehan listens to and works with Baxter’s K-2 readers each morning at Baxter School. This is through a program called America Reads. She is a student at Central Lakes College.

First graders at Baxter School have been busy little “Elves” preparing their classrooms for the holiday sea-son. Ornaments and gifts created with love are what parents will be receiving from this workshop. A huge thank you goes out to all the volunteers that help make this all possible.

Busy Little Elves

Baxter 3rd Graders presented this wonderful pro-gram on Veterans Day 2010. Our 3rd grades showed their pride to be Americans and were happy to honor our Veterans and heros of today. We Thank You.

We Sing of America


CLC international students tour Capitol

As part of their American experience while in Minnesota, international students at Central Lakes College visited the Capitol in St. Paul and attended a Minnesota Timberwolves professional basketball game. Steve Wenzel, a former state representative now teaching political science at CLC, led the Capitol tour.

“The students were impressed with the grandeur of the Capitol,” said Erich Heppner, director of student activities, who accompanied the group.

Paul Hicks, Administrative Assistant of the House, spoke to the international students about the history of the House Chamber.

Pictured are Dema Krymkin, Russia; Jaka Mahendra, Djamaluddin Hamdan Paratmadi, and Raty Harsono, Indonesia; Cris Weber, Colombia; Dulce Maria Herrera, Hugo Ruano, Jonathan Calix, and Miguel Porras, Guatemala; Sergio Cardoza, El Salvador; Renata Barreto, Brazil; Bradley Van Der Zandt, South Africa; Dennis Musasizi, Uganda; Barbara Felix and Wolfgang Zollner, Germany; Paulina Gunderson, Bulgaria, and Abra Fisk, CLC International Club president from Fort Ripley.

Psychology club hosts Alzheimer’s forum

Laura Schoonover, RN, with Good Samaritan Society, directed Luke Simonson of the Central Lakes College Psychology Club and CLC students Andrea Nellis of Crystal and Bria Ramsdell of Brainerd to demonstrate the stages of Alzheimer’s disease at the Psychology Club forum.

The Central Lakes College Psychol-ogy Club on Nov. 16 hosted a panel discussing Alzheimer’s disease at the Brainerd campus of CLC.

“Not All Wounds Are Visible” fea-tured psychiatrist Peter Neifert, M.D., Laura Schoonover, RN, of the Good Sa-maritan Society, and Dick Ashmun, a retired university professor whose wife was a victim of the disease.

Alzheimer’s is a brain disease that causes problems with memory, thinking and behavior. Symptoms usually devel-op slowly and get worse over time, be-coming severe enough to interfere with daily tasks.

The 75-minute program included the medical terminology associated with the ailment as well as the physical, emotional, and sociological aspects sur-rounding an illness that by 2050 will claim 14.3 million victims and already affl icts 5.3 million.

Dr. Neifert noted that Alzheimer’s has no current cure, but treatments for symptoms are available andresearch continues. Although current Alzheimer’s treatments cannot stop Alzheimer’s from progressing,they can temporarily slow the worsening of symptoms and improve quality of life for those with Alzheim-er’s and their caregivers.

Big-screen projections in the Lecture Hall of the Brainerd campus included the hole-fi lled brain of anAlzheimer’s disease victim.

Schoonover’s presentation brought students from the audience to help demonstrate examples of behav-ior associated with nursing care specifi cally focused on helping AD patients maintain functional and cogni-tive abilities as long as possible.

She said that effective nursing interventions are vital to managing patients with the disease. The dem-onstration recognized the three stages of AD. In its early stages, memory loss is mild, but with late-stageAlzheimer’s, individuals lose the ability to carry on a conversation and respond to their environment.

“Professor Ashmun’s report was moving and the audience was rapt,” said Martha Kuehn, PsychologyClub adviser. “He stressed the importance of social support for the care givers in this situation.

“Our speakers provided important perspectives, from a medical/biological/research perspective, to carefacility perspective and a caregiver’s perspective.”

Questions from the predominantly student audience ranged from risk factors to the ethics of euthanasia.Alzheimer’s is the most common form of dementia, a general term for memory loss. Alzheimer’s is not a

normal part of aging, although the greatest known risk factor is increasing age, and the majority of peoplewith Alzheimer’s are 65 and older. But Alzheimer’s is not just a disease of old age. Up to 5 percent of peoplewith the disease have early-onset Alzheimer’s (also known as younger-onset), which often appears whensomeone is in their 40s or 50s.

Alzheimer’s is the sixth leading cause of death in the United States. Those with Alzheimer’s live an aver-age of eight years after their symptoms become noticeable to others, but survival can range from three to20 years, depending on age and other health conditions.

The Psychology Club has 10 members led by Steve Sabin, president; Luke Simonson, vice president;Melissa Paxton, secretary; Tom Britz, treasurer; and Jeremy Johnson, student senate liaison.

About 1,000 people attended the recent Edu-cation Fair on the Brainerd campus of Cen-tral Lakes Col-lege, including Brainerd High School senior Abbi Hehner. She received in-formation about the dozens of liberal arts transfer degree opportunities and career education programs at one of the state’s fastest growing two-year public colleges. CLC also provides college-level course at many area high schools and delivers instruction online and through interactive TV for neighboring schools. The Honors Associate in Arts Degree program offers high-achieving students an excellent path to good standing upon transfer to four-year Minnesota colleges and universities. Information about Spring Semester EZ Enrollment Jan. 4 at the Mille Lacs Tribal College and Jan. 6 on the Brainerd campus can be found at www.clcmn.edu

Education Fair

Brenda Han-d e l - J o h n s o n is the Central Lakes College vocal music di-rector for 2010-11. The fall choir concert featured the Cantare’ Concert Cho-rale, Women’s Chamber En-semble, Men’s Quartet, Mixed Chamber Quartet, Women’s Ensemble, Men’s Ensemble, and Women’s Trio. The singing students will present a spring concert as well.

Vocal Instructor

Jenny Smith Hanes (left) of Hewitt and Elsa Roque of Aitkin rehearsed for the Central Lakes College fall choir concert, “Voices,” featuring 25 of CLC’s fi nest singers, di-rected by Brenda Handel-Johnson, with accompaniment by Sarah Gorham.

Concert SingersEngineering physics

Brainerd native Dan Macy (right), a former Central Lakes College engineering student who went on to Cal Poly and the University of Michigan, worked with CLC students Jonathan Hammer of Baxter (standing), Stacy Ennenga Stricker of Pine River, and Rian Hutchison of Brainerd on one of the engineering physics problems in a class that emphasizes active learning and thinking skills.

For high-achievers

"Honors Introduction to Theater Experi-ence" is one of the new courses in the CLC Honors Associate in Arts degree program that began during the fall semester. In Oc-tober students enjoyed dinner at Ciatti's in St. Cloud before attending "A Streetcar Named Desire" at Pioneer Place On Fifth. Other class trips were to the Twin Cities' Jungle and Penumbra theaters to see "The Glass Menagerie" and "Sleep Deprivation Chamber" as well as productions at CLC, all subject to critiques as part of the work assigned by instructor Dennis Lamberson.

"Honors Composition - The Great Books" is the other inaugural course at CLC offered to high-achieving students seeking the Honors AA Degree. Instruc-tor Matthew Fort surveys an abundance of analysis and insight derived as students read eight meaningful books infl uential on modern culture. The spring semester includes another Honors English course taught by Leann Flynn and Honors Sociol-ogy with Gary Payne.

Daren Rader of Nisswa (left), Karl Reier of Little Falls; and Sam Srock of Crosby were partners in solving a fi ve-page puzzle, one of the elaborate but practical engineering problems challenging the fi rst-semester Central Lakes College students taught by Dr. John Saber.

We Build Futures


Crosby-IrontonRangers

Lauren Peterson was the 8th grade Reader-of-the-Quarter for the fi rst quarter. As part of the English curriculum 8th graders read books that are part of the Accelerated Reader program and take tests on those books. Each book has a point value and the student earns a percent-age of that value based on his/her score on the test. Lauren earned a phenomenal 419.2 points. Four students earned over 100 points during the fi rst quarter: Brandon Johnson, Ashley Bartel, Abby Gindorff, and Lauren Peterson. (in order)

Reader-of-the-Quarter

Mrs. Abear’s second grade class had a great time on “Hat Day” which was part of “Red Ribbon Week—say no to drugs.”

101 members of the Crosby-Ironton High School A Cappella Choir and Band participatedin a Tour to Orlando, Florida from Nov. 23-29. Activities included a day at the Blizzard BeachWater Park, visits to Magic Kingdom, Disney Quest, Hollywood Studios, Magic Kingdom, Ep-cot, and Cocoa Beach. The band performed a concert at Disney quest while the choir performed“The Candlelight Processional” at Epcot with the Disney Choir and Orchestra. 35 hours on acoach? Well worth it! Congratulations to the Crosby-Ironton Music Department on a most suc-cessful, enjoyable, and safe tour!

CI High School A Cappella Choir and Band tour Orlando, Florida

Group picture of the choir and band at Hollywood studios.

The C-I A Cappella Choir in performance at Epcot with the Disney Choir and Orchestra.

Band Director Rich Aulie and Choir Director Wayne Ellingsen enjoying the day with the band and choir at Cocoa Beach.

The start of a 35 hour coach ride. Everyone is still smiling……Veterans Day 2010

Mr. Lyon uses mobi tablet technology to instruct a math lesson on sequences and functions for 6th grade students at Cuyuna Range Elementary.

Students in Mrs. Perrine’s class visit the computer lab daily to study their reading standards on the Successnet program and use the Sto-rybook Weaver program to word process. This week they are writing descriptive paragraphs about the shopping mall at Christmas time. They need to voice their opinion on whether it is a positive or negative experience.

Pictured left to right: Rachel Gerold, Mrs. Perrine, Amir Abdile, Loren Sablan, Alexis Arseneau, andDaniel Franzen

Mrs. Perpich’s 2nd grade class was working on counting money on the website northpole.com.

Students are working at learning stations that include spelling practice, laptop computers, ornament writing project and reading with Mrs. Bergem.

Moore’s fi rst grade class are just completing a Family Traditions recipe booklet. Here are two samples of the many fi ne recipes included.

Read Posters

What am I? By Naomi S.I have seeds on the outside. I am red. I am made into jelly. I am a fruit that grows in the wild. (strawberry) What am I? By Kaleb B.I’m good with a campfi re, marshmallows and graham crackers. (Hershey candy bar) What am I? By Jessica K.I am a kind of potato. I am brown. I am white on the inside. I am from Mexico. Some people like me. (jicama) What am I? By Owen V.I have a sauce on me. I have long noodles. I have parmesan cheese on me. I have a bread stick beside me. (spaghetti) What am I? By Brandon B.I’m round. There is cheese on me. You can put catsup and mustard on me. You can fry me or put me on the grill. Some people put pickles on me. When you are done cooking me you put me on a bun. (cheeseburger)

Food Riddles


Seventh grade science classes spent time working in our school forest. Portions of our school forest are being managed to grow different species of trees. The stu-dents are release cutting and bud capping pines that were planted earlier by 5th and 6th grade students. Bud capping protects the buds from winter deer browsing. Release cutting the brush near the pines allows more light, water and nutrients to be available to the protected pine. Mr. Hanson's intensive science class analyzes the effects of this protection annually and charts the results.

School Forest

These students were recommended for this program because they are helpful,friendly, kind to others, conscientious, hardworking, and organized. The ambassa-dors have been giving tours to new students, helping students with locker organiza-tion, facilitating 5th grade Literature groups, checking in with new students, and assisting teachers with other projects as needed. The student ambassadors are great volunteers!

Student Ambassadors in the 7th and 8th grade are available to help in many ways.

Protected and Unprotected Tree Growth from 2005 to 2010

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The Growth of Proteced and Unprotected Trees after five years at Forestview

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The Growth of White Pines Through Out the Years at Foresveiw

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HARRISONELEMENTARY

Mrs. Comstock’s First Grade Students dressed up for their Thanksgiving Feast.

The First Graders in Mrs. Comstock’s class are currently working on a Balance and Motion Unit. This unit is part of the FOSS Science Systems. The First Grade Students are observing and comparing how objects balance, spin and roll during their investigations.

While using a jeweler’s loupe (which magnifi es 5X), “the Private Eye is a program that blends the wonder of looking more closely at our world. Think-ing by analogy, changing scale and theorizing, it is designed to develop higher order thinking skills, creativity, literacy and scientifi c literacy across sub-jects.”

Students in Mrs. Comstock’s First Grade Class-room used their Private Eyes to focus and explore their hand, palm, nails and knuckles. They also used their Private Eyes to focus on shells, feathers, seeds, starfi sh, sponges and seeds.

Private Eyes

Mrs. Hodge’s 2nd Grade Classroom learned about air and weather through a very hands-on sciencecurriculum. They learned about wind resistance and air movement while building their very own para-chutes with simple household items.

Learning about Air and Weather

I ate pancakes and I met a polar bear and I got chased by one. I played in a snow bank. Mitchell

I whent on the sleigh. I saw the reindeer. I eat cucys and milk. I sleped in a hamick. I plad in the snow. I met Santa. I also went to Duloth. Emma B.

I saw Dasher, Vixon, Danser, Comet, Cuped, Pranser, Rudelf. I rode in Santas sleigh. I ate cookies. I slept with the rain-deer. I playd with raindeer. I met every-body. I fell off Santas sleigh when it was 50000 feet in the air. Santa went as fast as he cold go and caught me. By Madison S.

Mrs. Hodge’s 2nd Grade Letters to Santa (typed as written)

Dear Santa, I have a few questions for you if you can

right back. Can you do so my fi rst question is how old are you, how old is Mrs. Claus, can you give me one name of your elves, how old is Rudolph and one last thing can I have a picher of you, Mrs. Claus and Rudolph’s nose glowing in the picher. If you can right back please do. I can’t wait for you to come to my house this year. Katelyn J.

Dear Santa,I would like to know…do you relly have

8 raindeer that fl y? I also want to know if you relly have elf ’s and if you buy all the presents? Thanks, Lauren

Dear Santa,What I want for Christmas is a paper

jam to rock out. From Jackson

Dear Santa,I wish I had all of the tom and Jerry

Cartoons. I’ve got almost all of them at my grandmas house. Love Hayli P.S. I go to her house on Fridays.

You just won a trip to the North Pole to see Santa. Tell me what you did while you were there. (typed as

written)


LEARNING TREEPRESCHOOL

The preschoolers learned about Fire Safety in October. Along with the unit , Firefi ghter Mark, came to school to teach us about fi re safety and he brought his fi re truckfor us to see. That was so exciting.

The afternoon class with Firefi ghter Mark Inside the fi re truck. (front) Izzy and Kloi. (second row) Cole, Libby, Abby, Nolan (third row) Carson and Kiley

Firefi ghter Mark showing us what he looks like so we won’t be afraid of him.The paramedics, from North Ambulance, also came to school to teach us how they help people after an accident.

Caden, Triston and Halle are learning what the paramedics do inside the ambulance.

Tanner is pretending to be the patient while Chloe and friends are looking on.

The morning class at the Halloween party

Our Halloween party was so much fun. We played games, had our faces painted,sang scary songs, went trick or treating and had a witch come visit us at school.

Some children were getting their face painted. From left to right, Zion, teacher Sherri, Emily, Kaylin’s mom, and Willow.

Riley Dawn, teacher Sherri, Ella Claire, Ella Joslin, and Libby were getting their faces painted.

Alexis and Madysen were putting puzzles together at our party. Jera, Tanner, Ethan and Daniel were playing musical goblins.

For information on enrollment, please call Kathy at 829-6175.


Students of the Month

Students of the month for Academic Excellence/Teacher’s Choice

Back Row: Erika C.; Ben R.; Nick R.; Alex H.; Joe S.; Cade S.; Isaac F.. Sean P.; Olivia K.; Maddie S.; Noah S.

Middle Row: Ethan G.; Chloe H.; Jorden H.; Mari D.; CeCe B.; John T.; Josh W., Zephaniah G.; Lily B.

Front Row: Annika S.; Rachel M.; Isaac T.; Brianna S.; Adam K.; Taylor R.; Zachary S.; Josh E.

This was a fun game second graders in Lynn Holbrook’s class played at the St. John’s Arboretum about plants.

St. John’s Aboretum was visited by Lowell Second graders this fall.

Two students from Mrs. Guida’s/Logelin’s second grade class observe plant life at the St. John’s Arboretum.

First graders were exposed to many artists and art mediums, while making observations and noting the various elements of design. The students were captivated by what the docents shared and defi nitely left with a “I can’t wait to come back here!” feeling.

Mrs. Hermanson’s First graders visit the Minneapolis Institute of Arts.

Home Made by fi rst gradersEach student in Mrs. Hermanson’s class had to create, and explain how they made their project

to the class. They could have minimal help from adults in this project. And had to work on theirpresentation skills.

James P. in Mrs. Hermanson’s fi rst grade class proudly displays the replica of the Titanic that he researched and built for his home made project. James made his ship out of cardboard, rolled cardboard, paper mache’, paint and metal wires. The ship was also lighted for full effect.

Thomas R. shared his home made project of a pinecone Christmas tree that he made. Thomas used paper for the center, attached the pinecones after rubbing the sap off of the cones by hand.

Benjamin K. demonstrated how his lego mobile that he built was made into an electronic car with battery power. Ben explained how the two batteries attached to a switch worked to make it go.


Lake RegionChristian School

Experimenting with ScienceRecently, the 5th-6th graders enjoyed having Mrs. Green come and do some really fun science

experiments with them. Mrs. Green explained how carbon dioxide works using dry ice and warm water. The highlight experiment was making slime! The students learned how the chemicals re-act causing the slime to form. The students made their own slime and used combinations of food coloring to give their slime unique colors! Everyone had a very fun time!

Soccer ChampionsBy Patrick Trout, Junior

The Lake Region Hornets came to the season with a goal to win aMACS (Minnesota Association of Christian Schools) championship,and with a 7-0 victory over Victory of Rochester, we were well on our way. In the second game victory against Rosemount, it was a close battle of the defenses until 8th Grader Gabe Smith headed one in the back of the net. Then Rosemount scored one, and it went to halftime tied 1-1. After halftime, the Hornets pulled ahead with two quickgoals by David Jensen and Aaron Bostrom. Then Rosemount got twogoals, and the game went into overtime. No one scored in overtime,and it went to a shoot-out. Ryan Christenson of Lake Region blocked two out of the four. David Jensen was fi rst up for the Hornets, and hemade it. Aaron Bostrom and Patrick Trout both made it, but DanielNewton missed. It was up to Josh Gazelka, and he crushed it into thetop right corner, and the Hornets were headed to the championshipgame. Our opponent was Woodcrest. With an early goal by PatrickTrout, the Hornets were ready, but after half, Woodcrest put two goalsin. Captain Josh Gazelka pulled his defense together and told themnot to be penetrated. The offense struggled until a late goal by Ja-cob Christenson with a minute left. It was going into overtime sud-den death, and the Hornets were pumped and ready. It showed when Daniel Newton put it in with only two minutes off the clock. The Hor-nets were champions, and they accomplished their goal. David Jen-sen was named tournament MVP and All-Conference team. PatrickTrout was named to the All-Conference and All-Tournament teams. Anyone on our team could have received those awards for their hardwork. It is nice to know that we have everyone coming back next year except our only senior, Aaron Hoffman. Congratulations, Hornets!

Good food is made from scratchAffordable menu prices ranging from $399 to $1499

Everything is made from scratch - even our salad dressings!

Open 6:30 AM til 8:00 PM, 7 days a week. 218.824.5131 • www.brainerdlakescafe.com

Recently, the LRCS seniors studied William Shakespeare’s Macbeth in British Literature. A highlight of the study was a “breakfast ban-quet” while they studied the banquet scene. The students learned about the purposes of the banquets in Shakespeare’s plays as well as the signifi cance of Macbeth’s banquet. Learning al-ways comes easier when food is involved!

Macbeth Banquet Scene

The Gift of GivingOnce again the preschool-sixth grade classes made ornaments for the Christmas trees at Mills.

Every year, Mills has Christmas trees that are decorated, and then those trees are given to fami-lies in need. The students enjoyed making the ornaments, and it was a great time to remember how we can help those around us who are in need. Several families and staff members attended the decorating night.

Symphonic Band comes to LRCSOn Monday, November 15, the symphonic band from Maranatha Baptist Bible College in Wa-

tertown, Wisconsin, came to Lake Region Christian School. The K5-12th grade students were treated to a concert. The symphonic band presented several pieces featuring the different instru-ments. The students enjoyed seeing and hearing all the different instruments separately when the conductor introduced each section. The trombone and the tuba were fast favorites! We were honored to have them as part of our day.

Christmas ProgramOn Thursday evening, December 9th, the LRCS students and their families gathered at school for the annual Christmas program titled “The King Has Come.” Follow-

ing a prelude by the school’s piano students, the kindergartners started the program with their rendition of “C Is for the Christ-child”; each class from fi rst through fourthgrades then presented a Biblical passage and a related Christmas song. Performances by the newly-formed high school chime choir, the school vocal ensemble, and thejunior high chime and vocal choir were mixed in throughout the evening. The program fi nale was a joyful rendition of “How Should a King Come?” complete with recorders,rhythm sticks, xylophones, and hand bells.


ELEMENTARYNisswa

The Flag Burning CeremonyBy Nikita Collette

On November 12th 2010 the Nisswa school fourth graders went to the American Legion to learn about America. We learned the proper way to burn a fl ag if it is worn out or the colors have faded. We got to walk there with armed soldiers holding fl ags. I don’t think that I have ever been that close to an armed soldier before! WE learned what POW.MIA meant. It means Prisoner of War, Military in Action. After we had fi nished viewing all of the fl ags that the USA has had in the past we got appetizing refreshments. Thank you all who help(ed) protect our country!

F.R.E.D.Dads of Nisswa students in PreK, Kindergarten, 1st, and 2nd Grades joined in

on a fun night of active play in the gym, and went home with a free book.! FathersRead Every Day (F.R.ED) is intended for fathers, stepdads, grandpas, uncles, fam-ily friends, mentors, or any other man involved in the life of a child. Coordinated byJoe Koman, Nisswa Kindergarten Teacher, additional F.R.E.D. nights are plannedfor January 13 and March 10.

The Science ExpressThe Science Express,

an incredible 53 ft. Bio-science Lab, made a 4-day stop at Nisswa Elementary School! Launched in the fall of 2009 with the sup-port from public and private sectors, and the semi trailer donated by Medtronic, Minneapo-lis-based global leader in medical technology, was retrofi tted with the help of Innovative Laboratory Systems, 3M, and Everything Signs, which produced the attention-getting exterior graphics. Un-der the direction of Dr. Bruce Jacobson, SCSU Associate Pro-fessor and Director of BioBusiness Out-reach, every student at Nisswa had a variety of science experiences, such as “Microscopy”, where students were introduced to research-grade stereo & com-pound microscopes, or “Kool-Aid Katas-trophe” where students were members of an analytical team charged with fi g-uring out which two Kool-Aid fl a-vors accidentally got mixed. Other popular activi-ties included Soil Forensics, where students made invest igat ions and analyzed soil around a ‘crime scene’, and Pipet-ting 101, where students were introduced to adjustable pipettors through fun activities including precipitation reactions, color-change reactions, and the relation between weight and volume.

LAKERS’ PrideAll-school assemblies are held the fi rst Friday of every month, at which time

students and staff participate in lively activities to celebrate the all-school be-havior plan, entitled LAKERS’ Pride - Sail to Success. Working with students and their families to promote positive behaviors in all school settings, we strive to have LAKERS’ Pride (L=Listen, A=Act responsibly, K=Keep safe, E=Eager to learn, R=Respect, and S=sail to success) be the core of our school. The Nisswa PTO strongly supports the development of healthy social/emotional skills (empathy, im-pulse control & problem-solving, and anger management.) They purchased and handed out early Christmas Gifts at the Dec. 3 rally to all students - their very own LAKERS’ Pride t-shirts. Thank you, PTO!!


Pequot LakesPATRIOTS

Penny Wars Help Families in NeedBy Hunter Goerges

Students in grades 6-8 raised money to help families during the holiday season by having a Penny War. The competition raised money for those in need by purchasing Christmas items for children, sponsoring families in need, and supporting the lo-cal food shelf. At the time this article was written, the fi nal tally was not in. 6th grade has 1 and half jars plus a -$9, 7th grade has 1 jar plus a + $1, 8th grade has 1 jar plus a + $40. With all the silver in the jars along with the pennies, it will be a close race between the grades.

The Middle Level Student council organized this fundraiser for the middle level students.

Students Go GreenBy Lauren Bengtson and Brooke Swenson

Recycling paper is a mid-dle level student council project. This is important to students because they want to do their part to protect the environment, save trees, and stop global warming.

Student council members collect paper from class-rooms every two weeks and take it to the recycle bins near the school cafeteria en-trance.

Saving paper is one small step towards preserving our planet!

Guest Author, Mary Casanova visits Pequot

Mary Casanova autographs a Dog Watch book for 4th grade student, Nikolas Stewart.

Mary poses with a group of Eagle View writers, (back row: Sandra Chuey, Brianna Hanson, Kaleb Sundstrom, Emma Benson) (front row: Jordyn Tayloe, Abigail Reigel, Ashlynn Reynolds, Lachlan Larson)

Jeremy Cassman is the frog that tips the animal-fi lled canoe over in the book set on Rainy Lake in northern Minnesota in One-Dog Canoe.

Mrs. Harman’s and Mrs. Schommer’s 3-4 Multiage students enjoy the One-Dog Canoe mural painted for the author’s visit by Sydney Needham.

PTA Taste of the Holidays ML choir and band members entertained the crowds at Schaefer’s “Taste of the Holidays.” Schae-

fer’s donated 100% of the profi ts that night to the PLS PTA, which supports both the Middle Level and Eagle View schools. The store was packed and the holiday spirit was in the air. Thanks to the ML students who came out that night to support this cause!

7th and 8th grade Artists

(the soup can painting belongs to Carlee Wascheck, she studied Andy Warhol, The black and white puddle painting belongs to Emilee Buell, she studied M.C. Escher)Crosby Cares.

The Medical Campus in Crosby.www.crosbycares.com

A Winter DreamJaimie Dowdall & Shelby Holmes

On December 4, 2010, the Student Council sponsored their yearly Winter Ball at Breezy Point Resort in one of the confer-ence rooms. The theme was “Winter Dream.” The cost was $20 per ticket, which covered the cost of the facility, refreshments, and the DJ. The Council hired a spectacular DJ this year who played many different types of music to accommodate all the stu-dents’ musical tastes. The students who attended shared lots of laughs and made wonderful memories.

7th and 8th grade art students studied an artist of their choice. They spent time in the computer lab researching their artist of choice and answering questions about their life and art. After completing their research they moved back to the classroom to complete an acrylic painting on a canvas. This painting was to be in the style of the artist they were studying. There was a great variety of artists chosen because the students were allowed to chose an artist that they were in-terested in. The paintings were very successful, and many will be the artwork students choose to display in the festival of the arts this spring at the school.

(the soup can painting belongs to Carlee Wascheck, she studied Andy Warhol, The black and white puddle painting belongs to Emilee Buell, she studied M.C. Escher)


PILLAGERHome of the Huskies

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Artist: Jessica Kadus

All in a Day’s Work for the Kindergarten

It’s a busy classroom in kindergarten during December. Mrs. Fredman reports that her students are busy with reading, writing and math. Add to that sewing, painting and looking for runaway Gingerbread men. One thing’s is for sure, there’s been not time to sit around twiddling thumbs! Volunteers in the form of moms and grandmas assisted the students with their sewing projects. Paint shirts were a regular part of a days work while Christmas presents were completed one by one. As for the runaway Gingerbread man, various people around the school gave their children clues and he was found! He went by way of all good Gingerbread men, straight into their mouths. What a tasty treat!

The busy bees of Mrs. Balsley’s kindergarten gave thanks and celebrated with a feast fi lled with Pilgrims and Indians. They started off the celebra-tion by making stone soup and butter. Other items include dried blueberries, crackers, popcorn, carrots and milk. The bees shared what they were thankful for and then fi lled their bellies among friends.

The kindergartners at Pillager School have been learning letter recognition, alphabetical order, letter sounds and how to print upper and lower-case letters during “ABC Sharing”. Each letter of the alphabet has its own special day. The kindergartners sing songs, read stories and do activities and projects that begin with the “Letter of the Day.”

Blowing Bubbles on “B” Day

Volcano on “V” Day.

Mrs. King’s kindergarten class celebrated Thanksgiv-ing by having their very own Thanksgiving feast. They ate turkey, dried fruit, pumpkin pie, and crackers with homemade butter. The Kindergartner’s studied Pilgrims during the month of November. They also talked about what they were thankful for at the feast.

Kindergartners lead the pledge at Veteran’s Day.

First Graders Gather a Feast

Mrs. Cousino’s fi rst graders made drumstick-hats and gave reasons to be thankful. They col-lected a feast to share.

Waffl e cones were used in place of a cornucopia!

8th Grade Community Service class and the Elementary school were able to team up for the Pillager Food Shelf. Over 900 pounds of food were delivered to the Pillager Food Shelf on behalf of the elementary students

Service Learning Does Good

Students Enjoy Target FieldBy Caroline Rasinski & Shayla Hunstad

We were glad to see that this fall’s Rewards Dayoptions were more divers than previous years. Be-ing that we are both big Twins fans, going on a tour of Target Field was exciting. On our tour we got to see the club suites, press boxes, commentator booths, bullpens, the clubhouse, historic Twins dis-plays, and much, much more.

The most thrilling part of our tour was walking out onto the fi eld. We never thought we’d be walk-ing on the same ground as our idols or sit inside their dugout. During the tour, we learned many fats about previous decade teams and fi elds as well as Target Field itself. We are very grateful for the opportunity and we will never forget it.

Huskies of the MonthNovember

Last month, John Simmons was chosen as the Football Husky of the Month. Coach Mehr remarked...

Tiana Eng was the Cross Country Husky of the Month. Coach Hollingsworth stated that Tiana’s time at the conference meet.

DecemberMegan Lintner has been chosen as the Yearbook Husky of the Month this month. Mrs.

Devine state, “Megan has picked up a few more yearbook pages to be completed in short amount of time.”

Kayla Rardin was chosen as the National Honor Society Husky of the month. Mrs. Turner states, “Kayla is an outstanding young person, who leads quietly but fi rmly in a manner in which all students respect her character and leadership.”

John Simmons Tiana Eng

Megan LintnerKayla Rardin


Author Mary Casanova Visits Pine River!

Students and staff enjoyed a fi nal celebration of the Community Read Project for 2010 sponsored by the PRB School Board “Catch the Pride” commit-tee. All K-2 students read Mary Casa-nova’s book “One Dog Canoe”, and all 3-6 students read “Dogwatch: Trouble in Pembrook” also by Casanova. Thanks to donations from the PRBE PTO and the Crow Wing Power Community Trust, all students received their own copy of the book to take home and read with their families.

The Community Read fi nal celebra-tion took place on Tuesday, Nov. 23. Mary Casanova presented a schoolwide assembly with all elementary students to talk about her books and her experi-ences as a published author. At noon, the Pine River Chamber of Commerce ate lunch onsite where student work was displayed, and Ms. Casanova was the main speaker. In celebration of Ameri-can Education Week, the 2011 Teacher of the Year was also announced. PRBE staff and students are proud to congratulate our own PRBE special education teacher, Michelle Zeleny.

Mary Casanova shares the joys and challenges of being a published author of children’s literature.

The PRB Elementary Choir sang at the Pine River Chamber of Commerce luncheon held at the school.

All PRB students read one of Casanova’s three books chosen for the 2010 Community Read: “One Dog Canoe”, “Dogwatch: Trouble in Pembrook”, and “The Klipfi sh Code.”

Pine River-Backus Elementary Special Education teacher, Michelle Zeleny, was chosen as the 2011 Teacher of the Year. Congratulations to Ms. Z!

Wii Have Character!To promote the Character Counts

program, PRBE students are be-ing nominated by a staff member or any of their peers for displaying outstanding character traits. Those traits include: friendship, honesty, compassion, respect, generosity, self-discipline, cooperation, accep-tance, responsibility, and persever-ance. From the nominations, stu-dents are chosen randomly to play the new “Wii” during recess time. Students have been bowling, box-ing, dancing, golfi ng and enjoying a number of other good fi tness activi-ties as an incentive for being great “characters.” In addition, during our monthly schoolwide assemblies, PRBE staff have been competing for the Best Dancer award as they share their Wii dance moves and demonstrate how much fun it is to dance and get fi t.

Cooking Up A Storm

Mrs. Cochem’s kindergarten class had a blast making mini holiday pies! The kindergarteners crushed graham crackers for the crust and helped make pumpkin whip for the pie.

One Dog CanoeMrs. Goddard’s class received the book One Dog Canoe by Mary Casanova from

Principal Bruns and Offi cer Chad. They also created a “One Class Canoe” display for Mary Casanova’s visit and won the contest! The class will enjoy the additional“dog member” to their class.

Winter Fun

Miss Richards’s class loves the winter snow! They have enjoyed making snow forts, snowmen and sliding at recess!

Phenology Rules!John Latimer, from KAXE Northern Com-

munity Radio, spent time with Mrs. Dallas Ruud’s fourth grade class to talk Phenology. The fourth grade students have been report-ing their nature observations to the Talkback portion of the John’s Phenology show since September. The students were very excited to learn about what birds to watch for lurking at our feeders this winter. For information about the Phenology show go to www.kaxe.org.

Alaskan Adventure

The students in Mrs. Dallas Ruud’s fourth grade class learned about Alaska when guest teacher Shari Hoefs came for a visit. Ms. Hoefs shared artifacts from her four-month stay on the Alaskan Peninsula. The students saw pictures of bears, several types of salmon, and beautiful landscapes. They even held and learned about Japa-nese glass buoys, just one of Ms. Hoefs’s fi ndings from the Alaskan shore.

Back To The 50’sFirst Grade celebrated the 50th day of

school with a “50s party.” Activities includ-ed a hula hoop contest, bubble gum blowing, jumping rope, hopscotch and watched black and white cartoons while enjoying root beer fl oats. Students were encouraged to dress up with “50s looking” attire.

Munch and Read

Students in Mrs. Holden’s 4th grade class en-joy a weekly session of “Munch and Read”. This tradition was started by PRB teacher, Diane Nor-lin, who recently retired. Mrs. Holden decided to continue the tradition of combining a healthy snack with their favorite book. The students all enjoy the food and the reading time!


RIVERSIDEELEMENTARY

Riverside Staff and Students wish you a holiday season of sharing, caring and giving. Merry Christmas!

Sharing

Each year, students from Mrs. Schirmer’s third grade are chosen to do a commercial at WJJY for the Radio-thon to End Child Abuse. Each student in the classroom writes a commercial telling why he/she wants to end child abuse. Employees from Crow Wing So-cial Services come to the classroom, lis-ten to the commercials of the students that want to participate, and choose the students who will be involved. The following students were chosen: Madison Holm, Gracie Miles, Devin Rudolph, Travis Sawyer, Aiah Smith-Seelen, and Joey Wiskow. When asked why he wanted to participate, Travis Sawyer stated, “I think every kid deserves to have a good home and to be cared for. I also think it will be fun to be on the radio!”

Third Graders write commercials for Radiothon to End Child Abuse Grant Haglin, the woodworking instructor at Brainerd High

School, along with a Riverside parent contacted Mrs. Engler, prin-cipal of Riverside, with an awesome idea for Christmas gifts for ourkindergarteners. Mr. Haglin’s advance woodworking class has beenbusy making a game, Shut the Box. The game is a fun way to intro-duce students to numbers, adding and number combinations. The ob-ject of the game is to cover as many numbers as possible. Mr. Haglinand his elves wrapped and delivered these wonderful games to oursix kindergarten classes. Thank you for sharing, caring and giving! Merry Christmas!

Woodworking Gifts

Reading Buddies share stories and reading time. Mr. Stark’s Third Grade Class and Mr. Aulie’s Kindergarten Class

Caring

Giving

Sharing a favorite book...Reading Buddies....Mrs. Schirmer’s Third Grade and Miss Ramey’s First Grade

Giving - For over 20 years, Riverside students have been collecting cans of cranberries for the holiday food drive for the Salvation Army. Mrs. Hummer’s students are helping with this year’s collection.

Oh, Cranberries!

Warm Winter Friends

Sharing Good Times

Merry Christmas!

Happy Winter!

Jeff Workman of Heartland Detachment with the Marine Corps League receives a check from 3rd Grade Students and Staff for the Toys for Kids Program.

Third Grade staff and students gave Toys for Kids a check and money totaling $217.00.


Mission StatementSt. Francis of the Lakes Catholic School, in cooperation with the family, is a vibrant school committed to challenging students to grow spiritually, academically and socially within a

Catholic-centered environment. Our students come from the entire region including Brainerd, Baxter, Pillager, Nisswa, Pequot Lakes, Merrifi eld, Aitkin, Deerwood, Ironton, Crosby, Garrison,

Pine River, Crosslake, E. Gull Lake & Fort Ripley.

He had lots of lots of animals on the boat and Noah family was on too. God was watching him and his family to and the animals but no water got in the boat. That was good.By: Isabelle

People laughed at Noah’s Ark because there

was no water. Noah said God will make a fl ood and we will get on the boat and sail. It rained for 40 days. When they got to land they saw a rainbow.By: Adam

Noah sailed on the ark for 40 days. Their family

was on the ark. Two animals on the ark. A bird had left. They didn’t have food. They didn’t! Noah built a boat. He sailed in the ocean.By: Olivia

God wanted him to make a ark. He let the ani-mals in the ark. He let the male he let the femalein the ark. He let his family in the ark. He madethe ark out of wood. They got bored on the water.They let the bird out to fi nd the land.By: Sam

There was water around them. They could not

get wet. If they did they would sink. There was noland. Noah might have felt sad. He might havewanted to get wet. They waited for 40 days and 40nights. No one liked it.By: Morgan

Christmas Program Auditorium Overfl ows

Preschool through Eighth Grade students performed in the annual Christmas Program on December7th at Tornstrom Auditorium.

Students Benefi t from Physical Education

Health and fi tness is an integral part of each day. Students warm up with both sustained cardiovascular activities and ac-tivities requiring intervals of cardiovascular endurance. Stu-dents are learning a new bone and muscle so it is no longer your “thigh” (it’s your quadriceps). All grades participated in a heart unit with topics ranging from basic anatomy to calculat-ing target heart rate zones. Students raised and lowered their heart rates and learned to identify those changes. Students learned about cholesterol, what too much of it can do, where it comes from, and how to lower it. Students also learned about blood fl ow, arteries, veins, and oxygen intake.

Marathon Results Our marathon result-

ed in over $46,000. Wow, that’s a record! Thank you to Father Steve & Deacon Roger for shaving their hair to show your support of the children’s efforts. 100% of funds go directly to the school for 2010-11 operating expenses.

St. Nicholas Visits Saint Nicholas visited students on the Feast of St. Nicholas

December 6th and gave goody bags to every child.

Noah and the Ark Stories by First Graders


Staples MotleyIndependent School District #2170Independent School District #2170

Field Trip 60 High School Spanish students re-

cently had an opportunity to attend Mixed Blood’s production of “House of the Spirits” (a play by Caridad Svich based on Isabel Al-lende’s novel by the same name). The play fi rst premiered at Repetorio Espanol in New York City in May of this year, where Allende herself was able to view the produc-tion. The story allowed students to explore different social issues, including human and women’s rights, in the context of Latin American 20th century political history.

After the play, the group which includ-ed SM high school spanish teacher Tracey Kloeckl-Jimenez, went to the Global Mar-ket in Minneapolis, where they were en-couraged to try food from different cultures. Some students ate Chinese food, others tried Greek, some tried Mexican and some, like typical teenagers, decided to stay with a “safe” option - pizza! Popular spots at the market were the candy store and the Ital-ian ice cream parlor. Several exchange stu-dents from Argentina, Austria, Brazil and Germany accompanied the group.

Students Receive FREE School Supplies

All Staples –Motley Elementary Students Receive FREE School

Supplies in November.The Kids In Need Foundation,

a national, non-profi t organizationdedicated to providing free school supplies to economically disadvan-taged school children and under-funded teachers, announces a grant funded by 3M, that provided school supplies to more than 500 elemen-tary students in Staples, Minnesota on November 24, 2010. The Founda-tion provided basic school supplies,including pencils, paper and glue sticks, to every student at Staples and Motley Elementary Schools.

The Kids In Need Foundation is anational 501(c) (3) charitable organi-zation founded in 1995. The Founda-

tion’s mission is to ensure that every child is prepared to learn and succeed by providing free school supplies nationally to students most in need. The Kids in Need National Network of Resource Centers includes 24 facilities that allow teachers from low-income schools to obtain free school supplies for their students. The national sponsor of the Kids In Need Network is Target, a long time supporter of the Kids In Need Foundation. In ad-dition, Kids In Need Teacher Grants pro-vide K-12 educa-tors with funding to provide innovative learning opportuni-ties for students. The Kids in Need Founda-tion has distributed nearly $300 million in school supplies since its founding, di-rectly benefi ting 1.6 million students and 100,000 teachers annually, and has awarded morethan $1 million in grants to teachers. The Kids In Need Foundation hasreceived Charity Navigator’s highest four-star rating, indicating that itexecutes its mission in a fi scally responsible way and outperforms most other charities in America. For more information, visit www.kinf.org.Follow Kids In Need on Twitter, http://twitter.com/kidsinneed.

Chef’s Visit Chefs Mark Good and Steve Wacholz from Grand View Lodge as-

sisted children at Staples Elementary in making a fruit/yogurt parfait.The American Heart Association and the American Culinary Federa-tion teamed up for the heart health presentation in November.

Photo courtesy of Staples World

The Staples Mot-ley Early Childhood Coalition and the Staples Public Li-brary are pleased to announce that Hun-tington Kleinschmidt is the fi rst child to reach a reading goal of 1000 books in the 1000 Books Before Kindergarten pro-gram. This program is a joint effort be-tween the Staples Public Library and the Coalition to pro-mote reading in the early years. Children/parents keep a log of books they read and upon reaching goals along the way are honored with stickers and books. Upon reaching 1000 books the child receives a cer-tifi cate, as well as a special gift. Receiving his certifi cate, Dr. Seuss Book and “Wocket” above is Huntington and his mother Jessica Kleinschmidt. Pictured with them is Ellen Peters, Li-brarian (left) and Myra Horner, Staples Motley Early Childhood Coalition Project Coordinator (right). For more information on the 1000 Books program or the Staples Motley Early Child-hood Coalition, please contact Myra Horner at 218-330-8155.

Knowledge BowlMotley Staples Middle School Knowledge Bowl competitions are an

interdisciplinary academic program designed to help students:¨ Develop retention/recall skills¨ Develop team skills¨ Develop self-confi dence and school pride¨ Develop good sportsmanship¨ Develop competitive skillsQuestions are a mix of every discipline area including MN history

and general knowledge of Minnesota. We are thrilled to be able to expand our Motley Staples Middle

School Knowledge Bowl program this year to include three additionalRound Robin events in January and February held in Brainerd for stu-dents in grades 7 and 8.

Sixth grade students can also participate in MS Knowledge Bowl. Practice is being held on Wednesday and Friday mornings before school. Sixth grade students will be invited to join the 7th and 8th grade teamsin the Regional Jr. High Knowledge Bowl event held in Brainerd onMarch 8.

Haunted HouseThis fall in Staples, 1285 people at-

tended the Haunted Hallow. Because of such a great turnout, the Haunted Hal-low (Owned and organized by the Holst Family) was able to make donations to the following Staples Motley High School clubs: Wrestling Club, Runners Club (cross country), FFA, Cheerlead-ing. They were also able to contribute to many Central Lakes College Clubs: Nursing Club, Robotics Cub, Medical Assistant Club, Artery Club (art and graphics club) and the Heavy Equip-ment Club. The total number of volun-teers was well over 300. Thank you, everyone, for your help in making this such a successful event.

Derek and Jen Holst, right, with Derek’s brother Darren, take a break in the graveyard while preparing for the opening of the Haunted Hollow trail. (Staples World photo by Mark Anderson)

Madrigal DinnerStaples Motley High School choir stu-

dents entertained guests at a Madrigal Din-ner which they perform every other year during the Christmas season. The meal is divided into courses, each of which is herald-ed with traditional music. Tickets are usu-ally sold out on the fi rst day of availability as guests from all over enjoy the incredible talent showcased.

1,000 Books Before Kindergarten

Webcast Can’t make it out to all the Staples Motley High School sporting

events this school year? Have family living out of the area that want towatch their relatives compete? How about the Prom’s Grand March orGraduation?

Not only will many events be available live through internet stream-ing at www.webcast50.com, but all events are also archived for futureviewing. To fi nd Cardinal events just simply type “Staples-Motley” inthe search area on the site and you will be brought to the Staples Mot-ley Event Center.

school pages - dec. 2010

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