December 18, 2021 - Issue #83 |
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Building a Healthy Community Through Healthy Parenting |
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Parenting is the most important job you will ever have.
Our new program, Pioneer Parenting, is designed to help guide you on the parenting journey. Families who are familiar with ECFE know the value of networking and sharing the day-to-day parenting joys and challenges. Just knowing you are not the only one experiencing the ups, the downs, the parenting ‘wins’, or the inevitable parenting ‘fails’, helps better equip you for the next step. As many of us know, the parenting challenges don’t stop after early childhood; rather, the challenges often become more intense and even isolating for parents. As such, many parents have expressed the desire to attend an ECFE-type program for their teens and tweens.
Enter Beka Swisher.
Beka is a parent of four, parent educator, and facilitator earning her license in Marriage and Family Therapy. She has taught ECFE for 15 years, developed a parent education curriculum alongside Pioneer teacher Jennifer Sadlovsky, and is excited to partner with Pierz Schools to create a support network for parents of all ages. Beka believes strongly in helping parents understand their child’s developmental stages, including brain development, which then helps provide guidance on building relationships with tweens and teens. While there is no perfect parenting plan for all children, there are skills that can be developed both in parents and children as we journey through the stages of raising children together, supporting each other along the way.
Pioneer Parenting is a pilot program with the ultimate goal of equipping parents to feel like they have the tools to be the best parent they can be. Through participation in the program, parents will build connections, create parent networks, and share in the vision of a community of support for Pierz parents. In the months to come, watch for opportunities to share your experiences via several short surveys, attend parenting topic sessions through Community Education in-person and online, and begin to form a network with other parents to continue this journey with you.
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Courtyard, students getting ready for Christmas |
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Everyone's getting dressed for the holidays. FFA students used the mild fall days to get the courtyard ready for the season. This week, Healy students continue their 12 Days of Holiday Cheer with dress-up themes for each day, e.g. Wear Your Favorite Color Day, Candy Cane (stripes) Day, PJ day, Ugly Holiday Sweater Day, Holiday Headwear, and more. Oh, what fun it is! |
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Learning is loud and messy |
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Last week, much of the south wing of Healy could hear the 8th graders learning about chemical reactions. In the exploding egg reaction, hydrochloric acid and zinc are mixed together to create hydrogen gas. Then, (under close supervision and the delight of their classmates), fire was added to the hydrogen gas that had collected in the hollow eggshell. When the flaming hydrogen gas mixed with the oxygen in the hollow eggshell, it caused the shells to explode, sending shards of shells all over the room. And it was pretty dang cool! |
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Happenings at Pioneer Elementary |
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'Bucketfillers' earn balloon party |
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At the beginning of the year, Mrs. Lefebvre's first graders learned that everyone has an invisible bucket: when it gets filled we feel good, and when it gets dipped, we feel bad. It goes with the book How to Be a Bucketfiller. Every time the entire class is either working hard, being kind, doing well in the hallway, being good listeners, and participating, the class earns a gem in their class bucket. Once they earned twelve gems, their bucket is full and they earn the reward. They also lose gems if they are being 'bucket-dippers'.
Last week, their well-earned reward was a balloon party. Self-taught balloon artist Mary Roesler, a student's grandmother, came to the classroom armed with lots of pre-filled balloons and creativity!
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Second graders as programmers |
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Second graders took on the role of robot coders as they learned how to use block code to program Edison Robots from TechMobile. And once you've finished a line of code...and you test it...and the robot actually does what you've programmed it to do--- it's pretty exhilarating (as you can see)! |
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- Winter Break December 24—January 2
- School resumes January 3
- No School January 21 & January 24 - End of First Semester
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MHS Blood Drive
When: December 22 from 9am - 3pm
Where: Healy MAC gym; enter door 22. Click image to sign up.
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Watch for info coming soon about an Introduction to Welding class starting in January or call the community education office at 320-468-6458 ext 7 to add your name to the list.
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The halls are open for walking after school. You can call the community education office at 320-468-6458 ext 7 to have your FOB reactivated or you can stop by the district office; inside door 2 of the high school between 7:30 and 4:30 to pick up a FOB. This little device allows access into the locked door on the east side between 4:00 and 7:00 pm on school days. There is a $10 deposit for the FOB. |
More information on all classes can be found at
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Pierz Public Schools #484
District Office: 320.468.6458
112 Kamnic Street, Pierz, MN 56364
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