Friday, March 6, 2020 - Issue #49
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Healy Showcase, Soup Benefit, & Health Fair - Oh My!
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The annual Healy High School Open House/Showcase night is next Wednesday, March 11 and you'll want to be here! The evening kicks off at 4pm with the Empty Bowls Soup Supper Benefit with all proceeds going to the Pierz Food Shelf and the Pioneer Packs program. The $10/$30 max/family includes soup made from scratch by the Foods students, ice cream and a beautiful bowl hand-made by Art Club students (pictured).
This evening will also host a Community Health Fair in the PAC, a Social Media Dangers Presentation (highly recommended for ALL parents presented by Officer Jason Thompson of the Waite Park PD), and sixth grade orientation to Healy. In addition, students will be showcasing their talents and projects in various classrooms throughout the high school all evening.
MHS students are also collecting donations for the Pierz Food Shelf during this event. Please consider bringing in a non-perishable food item to donate.
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A Capella Choir Earns Top Honors
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The a capella choir competed at the large group state contest in Albany on March 4 against eight other competing choirs throughout the day. Pierz sang a piece called "Serenity" which is in the category of the most difficult music----generally only performed by college choirs. This week, Pierz was the first choir in the state to sing this song at a competition.
The choir received three superior ratings which is extremely difficult to get in choral competitions
. Performers are judged on how they sound, the balance of the choir, the difficulty of the literature, accuracy of pitch and rhythms and interpretation (emotion) that the students emote. Our choirs have taken top honors for the last eight competitions that we've participated in. 'Sounds' pretty awesome!
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During the month of February, Peer Helpers at Healy collected gently used shoes for the Shoe Drive, supporting families in need through Schuler Shoes in St. Cloud, which is also a distribution site. Families can purchase shoes at a greatly reduced cost, and all proceeds go to 'Shoe Away Hunger' foundation, further assisting those in need of food. All told, nearly 300 pairs of shoes were donated from this community and will directly help those in need. Thank you, all!
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'Tis the Season for College and Industry Site Visits
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[Little Falls Granite Works]
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[Seniors at Alexandria Technical & Community College (ATCC)]
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[ATCC - machine tool technology classroom]
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[ATCC - exploring careers in diesel mechanics]
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Last week, juniors and seniors spent time exploring colleges and careers through site visits at campuses and area industries. Staff chaperoned seniors and juniors to their college and business site visits. The students and staff appreciated this first time event.
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Pioneer Elementary School News
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Mrs. Sandy is 2020 Minnesota Teacher of Year Finalist
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Sixth grade teacher at Pioneer, Mrs. Faye Sandy, has made it to the semi-finalist round for Minnesota Teacher of the Year. Mrs. Sandy has moved on from the first round of 135 teachers from around the state. Last week, the field was narrowed to just 36 teachers--and Mrs. Sandy is one of them. This year, the theme for which each teacher is nominated is around equity--the ability to teach each student as individuals no matter their learning ability, race, gender, socio-economic background, etc. Mrs. Sandy was nominated, and now a semi-finalist, because of her ability to not only creatively teach successful learners who need extra help and explanation, but also teach those students who excel, finding ways to challenge that drive and motivate them. The next round will narrow the field from 36 top teachers to just 10. Best of luck to Mrs. Sandy from everyone at ISD 484!
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Sixth Grade Fishing Trip Fun
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"On Friday, February 28th, the 6th grade students of Pioneer Elementary had the opportunity to spend a beautiful afternoon fishing on Platte Lake. This was our 22nd annual fishing contest. Our fishing experience was made possible by Red’s Auto and Bait who supplied the bait as well as some expert advice. We also had the chance to share the day, learn some fishing secrets, and even hear some 'Fishing Stories' from members of the Harding Sportsman Club. Together with these fine people, the kids learned a lifelong sport, and had a fun, memorable day with classmates, friends, and family. Special thanks to Red's Auto & Bait, Ken's Kans, and Harding Sportsman Club.
Sincerely,
Your Friends-6th grade students of Pioneer Elementary &
Steve Holbrook, Craig Johnshoy & Faye Sandy"
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Celebrating Dr. Seuss's Birthday
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[Kindergarten staff as 'Teachers of All Things']
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[Making 'Thing' hats in Mrs. Adamski's class]
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[PK and 5th graders reading Dr. Seuss stories together]
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Students and staff at Pioneer Elementary celebrated children's author Dr. Seuss's birthday this week. Kindergartners read all about the mischievous "Cat in the Hat", let their creative side show with 'Wild Wednesday', and made oobleck after reading Dr. Seuss's "Bartholomew and the Oobleck." Mrs. Burnett was even treated to a haircut by her students as their reading reward--donated to the "Children with Hair Loss" organization.
Miss Hannah’s preschool class and Mrs. Gruber’s 5th graders celebrated Dr. Seuss by making Cat in the Hat hats and reading stories together.
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**
Staff Spotlight
**
This week we are spotlighting our ReadingCorps Team at Pioneer Elementary!
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AmeriCorps Week, March 8-14, 2020, is a celebration of all things AmeriCorps – from the programs and organizations that make this national service initiative possible in communities across the country, to the members who have pledged to “Get Things Done” since the program's inception in 1994. We are celebrating 25 years of National Service this program year.
Pioneer Elementary is thankful to have two amazing members, Cathy and Ervin, along with their Internal Coach, Annette, serving our students this year. So far this year, they have served 31 students with almost 50% of those students exceeding target growth with their support!
Cathy Tetrault (Mrs. T., as she is known to our students and staff), worked as a Title 1 paraprofessional for reading and math here at Pioneer for 21 years before becoming a Reading Corps tutor. She loves working with the students and helping them reach their goals. Her favorite part of tutoring is the opportunity to work one-on-one with students everyday.
Our newest member of the Pioneer family is Mr. Ervin Yahr. He joins us from the great state of Iowa where he recently graduated from Loras College in Dubuque. Mr. Ervin said that
Pioneer Elementary came highly recommended from his brother-in-law, Joel Pohl, and he
agrees that Pioneer is a great fit and feels welcomed by all of the students and staff. He looks forward to coming to work everyday and enjoys seeing the progress that students are making in their reading.
Mrs. Annette Magstadt has been the Internal Coach for Reading Corps at Pioneer for the past 9 years. She has had the pleasure to meet and work with many wonderful people all for the purpose of improving students’ reading.
And now it's your turn! Do you want an exciting opportunity to make a difference and change lives in our community? We are now recruiting for the 2020-21 school year. The stipend for next year has increased by almost 50% for full-time members. Please visit
www.readingandmath.net
or call our recruiter, Mickey, at (320) 247-5815 if you're interested in learning more.
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March 11 - Empty Bowls Soup Supper, Open House and Health Fair @ Healy 4-7pm
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Spring Play
"And Then There Were None"
March 12 & 13 @ 7pm
March 14 @ 4:30pm - Dinner Theatre
March 16 - Band-O-Rama, Mass Band Concert at the MAC @ 7pm
March 18 - Kindergarten Roundup 5:30-6:45pm at Pioneer
March 20 - No School - (Pioneer only)
March 23-27 - Spring Break
No School - all schools
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All parents are highly encouraged to attend the Social Media Trends and Safety presentation by Officer Thompson from the Watie Park PD on Open House night, March 11, at 6pm in the Band Room at Healy.
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Upcoming Community Ed classes:
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March 9
, 4:30pm Introduction to Medicare $5
March 10 & 11
, 8 hour Defensive Driver course (55 Alive)
Summer Softball
registration for grades 3-11 is due the 11th!
Summer Baseball
information for grades 2-7 will be out soon!
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Pierz Public Schools #484
District Office: 320.468.6458
112 Kamnic Street, Pierz, MN 56364
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