Summer 2014

ReporterTheSHS Cheerleaders head

to camp on A5

What Happened this Summer? Take a Look Inside...

Six Schools Now Provide Meals at No Charge to Students

Over 2,700 students at six RCAS schools will now receive free breakfast and lunch, regardless of income, begin-ning this fall. The benefit comes from a new federal program called the Community Eligi-bility Provision (CEP). CEP allows dis-tricts the ability to offer free breakfast and lunch to students at schools with 40-percent or more children qualifying for free meals. The following schools qualified for CEP: Horace Mann, Knollwood, Gen-eral Beadle, Robbinsdale, South Park and North Middle. Even though some schools may not have qualified on their own for CEP, such as Robbinsdale and South Park, the program allows the dis-trict to combine schools to try to meet the requirements – allowing more stu-dents to be fed. This means, no student at these schools needs money to eat at school. According to the United States De-partment of Agriculture, CEP has been available in Illinois, Kentucky and Michigan since the start of the 2011-2012 school year. Now beginning in the 2014-2015 school year, all schools na-tionwide can take part.

“Rapid City Area Schools is one of the few districts in the entire state of South Dakota that will offer this service to some of our families,” said Food Ser-vice Supervisor Janelle Pe-terson. “We are very excit-ed about the opportunity to provide healthy school meals to students, thereby assisting with the student learning process. Families may also see some relief as they will be able to save some of their hard-earned money.” At the six schools that will now be CEP schools, last year the district served 271,405 breakfasts and 396,596 lunches for a total of 668,001 com-bined meals. This year, the district is shooting for a total of 700,000 meals, as more students will have the oppor-tunity to participate. Peterson esti-mates CEP will save families who pre-viously qualified for reduced-priced meals $122 per child each year and $800 per child each year for families who were paying full-price. Full-price breakfasts will cost $1.95 at elementary schools, $2 at middle schools, and $2.05 at high schools, a

Hannah BakerInformation Services Officer

20-cent increase from last year. Lunches will cost $2.35 for elementary schools (increase of 10 cents), $2.80 at middle schools (increase of 15 cents), and $2.90 at high schools (increase of 20 cents). These increases are necessary due to new meal pattern requirements and the rising cost of food. The RCAS district spends approxi-mately $6 million on its meal program. Peterson said another benefit of CEP is that RCAS will be reimbursed for meals at a higher rate, which will hopefully keep the cost of lunches at non-CEP schools from rising in the future. Currently, families have to fill out a

Jump to Lunch - A2

A2RCAS Gets SocialSummer Meals

A3Summer Music

Meadowbrook Tree

A4Sup. of the Year

Online Meal Payments

A5 & A6Feature Photo

Pages

Children enjoyed free nutritious meals this summer, such as walking tacos, fruit and veggies.

A7NMS Soaring Eagles

BOE Change-up

form to show they qualify for free or reduced meals. The problem is, many qualifying students do not have the com-pleted paperwork. CEP will remove the application process at the six identified schools, thus allowing parents to know their children are being fed without hav-ing to come in and fill out the form. “The school meal program is not a pro-gram that is meant to only feed poor children. This program is meant to offer healthy school meals to all children. CEP allows us to do just that,” said Peterson. “Because all children receive meals at no charge, the social stigma often associat-ed with receiving free meals is removed.” If parents at the newly identified CEP schools have lunch money leftover in their child’s account, that money can be refunded or transferred to another child within the district. For example, a parent with a child at both Horace Mann and Central could transfer the money from Horace Mann to the child at Central. Even if a student does not go to a CEP school, they can still qualify for free and reduced meals if parents fill out the nec-essary form to see if they qualify.

Continued: Lunch

Summer 2014 www.rcas.org A2RCAS Boosts Social Media Presence

Communication is key no matter the circumstance. Whether it be a crisis situa-tion or one of everyday nature, the RCAS district wants to share what’s happening inside its schools. To do this, the district has now increased its social media pres-ence by creating a district Facebook, In-stagram and Vine to go along with the already ex-isting Twitter ac-count. “We are in the process of increasing our communication efforts and because so many parents, students and other com-munity members log on to social media daily, it’s important we utilize as many outlets of communication as possible to share what’s happening within the dis-trict,” said Superintendent Dr. Timothy Mitchell. After someone decides to “like” the dis-trict on Facebook, he or she can quick-ly get information similar to the district

Twitter page (@RCschools), such as school closure information, announce-ments, photos, a list of school holidays or recess days, and much more. Instagram and Vine will be used only for entertainment purposes to actively show what is happening throughout the district with photos and short videos. The point of the district using social me-dia is to keep the community in the loop

by sharing events and updates to cre-ate greater parent and community awareness. These

tools will also allow the district to build relationships with community members by including them in important conver-sations about the district. “The Rapid City Area School District is committed to open, honest and ongoing communication with our parents, stu-dents and community,” said Mitchell. “Ev-eryone has their own preference – some people like Twitter, others like Facebook – and we want to be as accommodating as possible.”

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The Reporter? Email your photo or idea to: RapidCityDistrictCommunications@

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RCAS Feeds 1,000s During Summer

The Free Summer Meals Program was well-received this summer. In just the first three weeks, Rapid City Area Schools Food Service served over 9,000 meals to children. All children ages 0-18 years old were able to eat breakfast or lunch for free (depending upon loca-tion). Even children who are not a part of the RCAS district were able to walk through our school doors and receive a nutritious meal free-of-charge.

Hannah BakerInformation Services Officer

Summer 2014 www.rcas.org A3

Many people like to begin their day with a little peace and quiet. For George Dragoo, Stevens High School assistant director of bands, his Thursday morn-ings began this summer with young fifth graders learning to play the drums. Dragoo, along with other RCAS music instructors Kandy Hastings, Lyn Alber-ty, Don Downs and Jerry Young, taught during the Rapid City Summer Music School held at Stevens High School and South Middle School. The program be-gan following the last week of school and

ran through the 4th of July. Private and group lessons for students grades 5-12 ran Monday through Thursday and be-gan each of those days at 7:30 a.m. Dragoo said having the Summer Mu-sic School, which was sponsored by the Rapid City Band Association, enabled students from across the community – not just RCAS students – to get a jump start on the next school year. “There’s a big difference between the students who come [to the Summer Mu-sic School] and those who don’t,” said Dragoo. “For beginners, it gives them a head start and it also gives them a reason to practice over the summer and learn

Summer Music School Gives Musicians Head Start

Hannah BakerInformation Services Officer

their way around their instrument.” Midwest Marketing recently created a Public Service Announcement video featuring one RCAS student’s perspec-tive about how music has positively in-fluenced his life. Dragoo, who has been teaching band for 20 years, said it’s this love of music that he hopes to encourage in all of his students. “The goal is really just to help students obtain a bigger love for making music,” he said. “We want them to pick up their instruments not because of a specific rea-son, but because of their simple love for playing it.”

Stevens High School Assistant Director of Bands George Dragoo (center in far right photo) leads fifth graders in a morning drum session.

The RCAS Support Services and Mead-owbrook Elementary are making the best out of a disastrous situation, by turning a tree damaged during Winter Storm Atlas (October Blizzard) into a work of art – one buzz, cut, and saw at a time. The tree is a Colorado Blue Spruce that cracked and lost several large limbs due to the weight of snow. For safety reasons, the tree needed to be removed from the elementary courtyard. However, instead of taking out the entire tree – roots and all – it was decided to leave a 15-foot stump to be carved into a branch with eagles. The work of art is being done by chain-saw Artist Jarrett Dahl of Dahl’s Chainsaw Art in Keystone, S.D. The project began Aug. 26 and is estimated to take a few days to complete.

“To be able to still have a tree showing the school mascot of eagles, while also be-ing wise with our natural resources and enjoying the gifts of a local artist, helps us make the best out a difficult situation that touched so many Rapid City folks,” said Meadowbrook Princi-pal Michael Donohoe. Kumar Veluswamy, Construction Man-agement and Main-tenance coordinator, said rather than rip-ping out the entire tree, carving it into something beautiful for students, staff, and parents to enjoy made more sense. “We want schools to be one of the best

buildings on the block, and for Meadow-brook this was a first step,” said Veluswamy. “It is going to look very nice and it’s excited a lot of people.” Donohoe said the Meadowbrook court-

yard is lined with win-dows for staff and stu-dents to watch the artist and chainsaw in action from inside. Dahl will also be going into classrooms to share his story and gift of carving with a chain-saw. “The courtyard is a place kids like to play and hang-out,” said Veluswamy. “The best thing about this is we’re removing a safety hazard while also creating a monument in its place that will be there forever.”

Damaged Meadowbrook Tree Turned into Living ArtHannah BakerInformation Services Officer

Summer 2014 www.rcas.org A4

The South Dakota School Superin-tendents Association (SDSSA) awarded the 2014 South Dakota Superintendent of the Year to Dr. Tim Mitchell, Su-perintendent of the Rapid City Area Schools. The award was presented at their luncheon in Pierre on July 22 as part of the SDSSA Annual Conference. Mitchell will now represent South Dakota in the American Association of School Administrators (AASA) National Superintendent of the Year competition. The winner of that com-petition will be announced during Feb-ruary of 2015. Mitchell became the Superintendent of Schools for RCAS on July 1, 2010. He previously served as the Superin-tendent of Schools of the Chamberlain School District in Chamberlain, S.D. from 1995-2010.

Get online with us at all of our web and social media sites! Watch for school postings on Facebook, Twitter & Nixle; browse photos on Instagram; watch quick videos on Vine and longer videos on Vimeo!

Tim Mitchell NamedSuperintendent

of the Year

New e~Funds™ Option Allows Parents to Make Meal Payments 24 Hours a Day

Mornings can be hectic for any family. Parents are busy making sure the kids are fed, teeth are brushed and hair is combed, all while attempting to get ready for work themselves. Sometimes, writ-ing a check or sending cash for school meals is easily forgotten about. To try to make things easier for busy parents, RCAS is now of-fering an online payment option for school meal ac-counts by partner-ing with e~Funds for Schools™. At any time during the day or night, parents can quickly and easily deposit money using a debit or credit card into their child’s account directly from their computer or smartphone. Also, if a par-ent has more than one child in the dis-trict, one payment can be assigned to multiple children – erasing the need to write multiple checks to each school. “Online payments are a simple, safe and secure way to make payments to your child’s account at your conve-nience,” said Business Analyst Nancy Williams. “That way, when the thought strikes, a parent can pull out their phone or computer and make the transaction right then and there without trying to remember to write a check later.” Online payments put less stress on the

student and provides parents peace-of-mind knowing they don’t have to worry about whether the cash or check makes it from Point A to Point B safely, said Food Service Supervisor Janelle Peterson. To get started, parents can go to www.rcas.org - Parents and Students - Lunch Menus/Applications/eFunds and un-der the Meal Prices heading there is an

e~Funds link. This will take par-ents to the site where they can register and find a Registration Guide with step-by-step instruc-tions about how to create an ac-count to make payments as need-

ed, or to schedule reoccurring payments. To begin, it asks

for a family phone number associ-

ated with the stu-dent. To add students, use

the student’s “Other ID” num-ber. If parents don’t know that number,

they can go into Family Access and look under Student Information. If parents had a PaySchools account, they will have to create an e~Funds™ account. e~Funds™ will be the new way to make online meal payments and is replacing PaySchools. Online payments must be at least $10. There are no transaction fees for par-ents. The district is covering any fees associated with this service. For parents who might not have a com-puter or cellphone, or simply are not in-terested in participating, the traditional cash and check option is still available. The online payment is now a third option. If parents do not want to continue making online payments, they can stop at any time and go back to the cash or check options.

Hannah BakerInformation Services Officer

Summer 2014 www.rcas.org A5

Feature Photos

The Stevens High School cheer team took some time out of their summer plans to practice their gymnastics skills during a Summer Cheer Camp on July 8.

Check out the great things our staff & students did this summer!

SHS Cheer Camp

Gaining work experience, college credit and OSHA (Occupational Safety & Health Administration) 10-hour training all in one stop sounded like a pretty good deal to four students from Stevens and Central high schools: William Rogers, Nicholas Kleinfeldt, Parker Guernsey and Rain Wendland. With the help of RCAS Tech Ed Instructor Curtis Bietz and the SD Associated General Contractors’ Safety Director Ben Holst, the group repaired, built and painted new pergolas at Wilson Park.

Wilson Park Project

Central High SchoolOpen Gym

Summer is no time to let your skills get rusty, which is why many Central High School basketball players stopped by open gym this summer to practice their hoop and dribbling skills.

Summer 2014 www.rcas.org A6

Feature PhotosCheck out the great things our staff & students did this summer!

Children gathered at General Beadle on Wednesdays to hear stories read by the Rapid City Public Libraries staff.

(Below) The RCAS Technology staff planted a vegetable garden with the Adult Transition students as a way to stay active and also teach the impor-tance of eating healthy foods.

RCAS staff, students & other commu-nity members met at West Middle School to take part in a Sign Lan-guage class taught by Leslee Wallis this summer. Sign Language (ASL) is the third most used language in the United States.

(Below) Reading is a vital part of the education process. Teachers from across the RCAS district met this sum-mer for a class called “Literacy Across the Curriculum”. In this class, teachers learned new ways to strengthen their teaching skills.

(Below) Kids who appear lazy, unmo-tivated, uncaring & non-productive are often unaware of what is wrong. RCAS educators, & others, took a class during July from RCAS Educator Myr-na Becker about how to deal with these sorts of frustrating behaviors.

Want to see yourself, class or activity in The Reporter? Email your photo or story idea to: RapidCityDistrictCommunications@k12.sd.us

Summer 2014 www.rcas.org A7

Teachers: Have a student who wrote

something awesome, took a great

photo, or made an amazing art project? Share it with the rest of us by emailing it to RapidCityDistrictCommunications@

k12.sd.usand it could be featured in an

upcoming issue of The Reporter!

Leadership Change-up for the BOE The faces of the Rapid City Board of Education might be staying the same, but the leadership roles have changed. At the BOE An-nual Meeting on July 15 at the City/School Admin-istration Center, Jim Hansen and Ed McLaughlin, both incumbents, were sworn in for new three-year terms. After that, the board voted unani-mously to make Jim Hansen the new President, Laura Schad the First Vice President and Matt Stephens the Sec-ond Vice President.

North Middle School Gets 6th Graders Ready for New Year with ‘Soaring Eagles’ Program

Sixth-grade students new this year to North Middle School got a taste of what was waiting for them at their new school on Aug. 13 during the Soaring Eagles program.

New 6th graders aren’t the only thing new to North Middle School this year! This summer, the gym received a new mural of the school’s mascot. Not pic-tured, but also on the wall, are mascots of the four other middle schools.

North Middle School was filled this August with eager, new sixth graders waiting to get a taste of what middle school is all about. For the first time, NMS held a “Soar-ing Eagles” program. At this program, students were able to come a few weeks before school started to get acquainted with the building, find their lockers, meet some of their teachers, and gain other information to take home to their parents. NMS Principal Danny Janklow said about one-third of the incoming sixth-grade class participated. “That first day can be intimidating for a student coming from an elemen-tary school,” he said. “We did this so it could cut down on some of those nerves.” The program wasn’t all business, though, and there was plenty of time for fun and games, which included pairing up with a partner and running around the gym in what appeared to be (semi)organized chaos.

“Looking around the room, you didn’t see a bunch of nervous fifth graders,” said Janklow. “You saw a bunch of kids having fun and that’s what we wanted.”

Hannah BakerInformation Services Officer