RCAS FREE Community Closet |
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Did you know that Rapid City Area Schools offers a FREE Community Closet most Fridays at General Beadle Elementary School? This closet is open to anyone in the community with children in Rapid City Area schools, no matter their child's school. Items include but are not limited to shoes, boots, jackets, pants, shirts, and they even have in a limited stock infant or toddler-sized items.
Please note the Free Community closet will be outdoors and all Covid-19 protocols and precautions will take place!
See you Friday, March 12th!
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E- Learning Friday Cultural Events |
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E - Learning Friday Cultural Events |
- March 5th - Gunner Jules - Lakota Music Artist Performance & Positivity Talk
- March 12th - No Activity due to Lakota Language Virtual Weekend (March 13th- 14th)
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March 19th - Jessie TakenAlive Rencountre Author Reading & Talk on her book, "Thunder's Hair" - Sign up for a FREE Copy of Thunder's Hair by 3/15/21 by emailing Angel.Lee@k12.sd.us. *Limited Supply. First Come, First Served.
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March 26th- Evans Flammond Sr. - Lakota Winter Count - Sign up for a FREE supply kit by 3/19/21 by emailing Angel.lee@k12.sd.us. *Limited Supply. First Come, First Served.
If you don't have Facebook, don't worry! Check out these videos and past videos on our Youtube Channel.
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School & Student Shout Outs! |
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Wilson Elementary - Virtual Guest Speaker, Starr Chief Eagle
We love seeing when teachers and community partners think outside of the box to maintain COVID-19 safety precautions and still deliver unique learning opportunities. Kati Pechota's class had a virtual guest speaker, Starr Chief Eagle.
Starr zoomed into both 4th-grade classes at Wilson Elementary with a 45-minute presentation focusing on hoop dancing and Lakota culture. Students were able to learn through hands-on activities and were provided time to ask questions to the world-renown hoop dancer.
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South Middle School, North Middle School, and East Middle School - Lodge Building
All 7th-grade Social Studies classes at South Middle School, North Middle School, and East Middle School did a 3-day OSEU learning opportunity for 415 students focusing on lodge making. Students have been able to learn from Lakota author Luther Standing Bear and Professor Corey Yellowboy, an enrolled member of the Oglala Sioux Tribe about Lakota Lodges and how kinship relates to their assembly. Nice job!
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Yucca Soap Making at Knollwood |
Students in Ms. Minick, Ms. Schmitt, and Ms. Tays’ classes were polite, eager, and engaged learners who helped one another learn about how the Yucca plant can be used. Way to go!
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Black Hawk Elementary's Cougars are excelling with the use of Conscious Discipline®, rooted in both trauma-informed and restorative practices building-wide. Students are provided spaces where they feel safe, have consistency, are validated for who they are, and have the opportunity to express their emotions in healthy ways.
As you will see, Mrs. Kanta, Principal at Black Hawk, has students show a process called the "Time Machine" for conflict management, one core method of Conscious Discipline. This process coaches children and adults through the necessary steps for resolving conflict in a healthy way and through assertive language.
We appreciate all the work that Black Hawk is doing in their implementation of Whole CHILD!
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Students in Jonni Hertel’s class at General Beadle Elementary School recently learned about tipis. They were able to create their own and also did reading and writing activities based on the knowledge they learned from the book “The Storm Maker’s Tipi”.
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Celebration of National School Social Worker Week |
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Thank you, School Social Workers for |
Rapid City Area Schools is fortunate to have a team of social workers who provide services to students, families, staff, and the school community. Our School Social Workers are part of the Whole Child Initiative and work with youth to promote social and emotional success in their school, at home, and in their community. School Social Workers invest their time, training, and expertise to remedy barriers to student learning. They work with teachers, administrators, parents, and other educators to provide coordinated interventions and consultation designed to keep students in school and offer hope. School Social Workers play a linking role, helping families access the supports and resources needed to promote student success. They also provide crisis intervention and mental health support to students who may be experiencing symptoms that interfere with learning. Our school Social Workers also advocate on behalf of students and families.
March 8th-12th, 2021 is School Social Worker week. In this week, we celebrate our School Social Workers and the difference they make in the lives of individual students, families, and our school community. Thank you for your hard work, dedication, and compassionate care provided to our students and families.
Thank you:
Heather Wood
Ashley Evans
Mitchell Brewer
Kyla Woodard
Abbie Waitman
Kerri Stephen
Sarah Zimmerman
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"I love being a part of the McKinney-Vento team because I get to build relationships with our students and their families. It is an honor to be able to meet their basic needs and help get them to school so they are able to be successful in their education."
Penny Osborne, McKinney Vento Paraprofessional, works with families and students who qualify for our McKinney Vento Homeless/Migrant Program. She assists families and students in getting some of their basic needs met and ensures that students are able to attend school consistently and without outside hindrances. Penny works with families who have students at Valley View Elementary, Rapid Valley Elementary, and East Middle School.
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"I love being a School Social Worker at Rapid City Area Schools because of the great kids and families I get to work with every day. As a School Social worker my job looks different from day to day, ranging from teaching kids healthy ways to manage their stress, to helping kids emotionally regulate in Central High School's calming room, to meeting with families to brainstorm our next steps in solving obstacles together. Helping students and families find their inner strengths to overcome their challenges is very powerful to be a part of as a School Social Worker and deepens my love for my job here. Although I play many roles, my daily focus is building strong relationships with students and families to create a sense of trust and safety in our work together at Central!
Ashley Evans is a District Social Worker at Central High School where she works with students to provide direct mental health services. She frequently collaborates with families when they are met with challenges and helps provide support and resources within our district and community for them to overcome those challenges.
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First 506 Form Contest Winners - Title VI
We had our first two Title VI 506 Form Contest Winners - Honey (age 8) and Braxton (age 7). These students either had a Title VI 506 Form submitted already at the start of the school year or they recently submitted one!
Weekly drawings will occur for students with active Title VI 506 Forms to be entered into a raffle for prizes!
The school with the most 506 forms on 4/2/2021 will win a school-wide prize!
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Title VI 506 Form Contest-
To participate in Title VI Indian Education Programs, a 506 form must be on file for your student.
Starting 2/22/2021 through 4/2/2021 we will be doing weekly drawings for prizes for students who
- Have a completed and submitted 506 Form on file with Title VI Indian Education Office
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- Completes a 506 Form not previously on file
Each week will have a winner for each category. School with the most active 506 Forms on file on 4/2/2021 will win a school-wide prize!
For more info on 506 Forms for Title VI Indian Education please contact your student's school, Title VI Indian Education office at 605-394-4071 or visit here.
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FREE Regifting Store Success
This is what happens when a community pulls together to help others!
Great work to our department’s Whole CHILD coordinator, Jeanne McKenna, for organizing this amazing event providing free items such as clothes, toys, and housing supplies to families in Rapid City. Over 373 adults plus children were able to attend and take what they needed. All schools had families that participated.
Also, special thanks to the National Honor Society students at Rapid City Central High School and Rapid City Stevens High School for volunteering their time!
Excellent work!
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Director Pearce 'Reads Across America' to Classroom in Kentucky
Whitnee Pearce, Director of Diversity, Equity & Federal Programs, had a fantastic opportunity to read to a classroom in Kentucky for Read Across America Week!
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Free & Virtual Lakota Language Weekend!
Rapid City Area Schools- Title VI Indian Education will be sponsoring another FREE Virtual Lakota Language Weekend with the Lakota Language Consortium March 13-14. We are excited to host students, parents, teachers, and staff of the Rapid City Area School District during this weekend geared toward beginning-level Lakota speakers and those who want to learn!
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COVID-19 Community Resources- Here's a list of COVID-19 Resources in the Rapid City and the Black Hills areas. These resources were created by the RCAS Social Work Team, are continually updated, and housed in a living document. It holds information for utilities, food, COVID-19 relief, mental health resources, online school tutorials, and more. Please check it out and share!
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Free Developmental Screenings -
The Rapid City Area School District will offer free developmental screenings at Jefferson School for children ages three through five. These developmental screenings check a child’s development in the areas of language and articulation, concept development, hearing, vision, and motor skills. Information about their child’s development is shared with parents, and parents will be provided with ideas to help enhance their children’s development. Preschool children ages three through five will be screened March 8 and 9, 2021. Parents who live in the Rapid City Area School District can make an appointment to have their children screened by calling
394-1813.
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Link up & Follow Us on Social Media |
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Rapid City Area Schools - Department of Diversity, Equity & Federal Programs| Our Website
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Rapid City Area Schools - Department of Diversity, Equity & Federal Programs| Our Website
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