Sibley Star-Ocotber 2012
Transcription
Sibley Star-Ocotber 2012
Dear Sibley Families, We have had an excellent start here at Sibley! Transitioning from summer-mode to school-mode isn’t always easy. On behalf of the Sibley staff, I’d like to thank you for your efforts as parents/ guardians. October 2012 Newsletter Scott Sannes, Principal 507.645.3470 Attendance Line 507.645.3474 The PTO sponsored walk-a-thon has been scheduled for Friday, October 12th. Please mark your calendars as we are hoping we can get as many of you out to Sibley from 2:30-3:00 that day for our all school walk. More details will be emailed or sent home from PTO in the near future. Speaking of email…if you are not receiving all of the Sibley updates via email, please contact either Lindsay or Kim in our office (507-645-3470) and they will get your email address added to the list. We continue to communicate more and more with technology and we’d really like to reduce our use of paper. With so many new families in the school, I’ve been asked to send out the following information about bullying. This information was shared last March in our Sibley Star: Although bullying was once dismissed as an ordinary part of growing up, we now know that it is an antisocial behavior that traumatizes millions of students each year and disrupts school life for millions more. Bullying encompasses a spectrum of aggressive behaviors ranging from overt acts of physical violence to far more subtle, yet equally destructive, patterns of verbal or relational cruelty; and that bullying is often a common thread linking a school's most troubling issues, including suicide, substance abuse, increased absenteeism, and academic failure. The greater challenge for those of us working in schools is recognizing bullying. We would be foolish to believe bullying doesn’t occur at Sibley Elementary School. That said, those doing the bullying are savvy and many of their actions occur under the radar. The victims are masterful at shielding their social-and antisocial-lives from adults. Moreover, although students know bullying is painful, they often are not clear that bullying is wrong or preventable, so they do not report it. Being alert and observant is critical, since victims are often reluctant to report bullying. Many victims don't report it to their parents or teachers because they're embarrassed or humiliated by the bullying. They may assume that adults will accuse them of tattling or will tell them to deal with it themselves. Some victims believe there is nothing adults can do to get the bully to stop. Naturally, bullies don't discuss their misdeeds with their parents or teachers. If their bullying behavior is reported and their parents confront them, bullies usually deny their involvement. If the bullying occurs at school, then the main responsibility for dealing with it lies with those of us working in the school. It's important, however, that the parents of the victim collaborate with the school to implement an agreed-upon plan for solving the problem. According to Marlene Snyder, Ph.D., if your child has been the victim of bullying at school, here are some suggestions for reporting the problem to school authorities: • After talking to your child, but before contacting school personnel, write down the details of the bullying situations reported to you by your child. Note the dates and the names of the kids involved. Try to view the situation objectively and determine how serious it is. • Your child may resist your involvement if he fears retaliation by the bully. If so, explain to your child that most bullying situations require adult intervention to resolve the problem. Let him/ her know exactly who you plan to talk to. • Contact school personnel for assistance in ending the bullying. First share the problem with your child's teacher(s), and work together to decide how to approach the problem. If the teacher isn't able to get the bullying under control, go to the principal and make a formal request in writing (link to District form below) that s/he get the bullying to stop. • Do not contact the bully or the bully's family directly. • Keep an ongoing log of the dates of any further bullying incidents and the actions you take to help your child deal with the bullying. Inform the school of ongoing bullying incidents. Along with Northfield Public School Policy 514 we have a Bullying Report Form. I encourage you to use this form if you suspect your child is being bullied or your child shows signs of any of the following: • • • • • • Appears afraid or reluctant to go to school in the morning, complaining repeatedly of headaches or stomach pains. Chooses an "illogical" route for going to and from school. Has bad dreams or cries in his/her sleep. Appears sad or depressed, or shows unexpected mood shifts, irritability, and sudden outbursts of temper. Comes home from school with clothing that's torn or in disarray, or with damaged books. Has bruises, cuts, and scratches, but can't give a logical explanation for how he got them. Please know that Sibley Elementary School is absolutely loaded with excellent students who make great decisions every day. These 5-11 year olds are going to make mistakes during their time here and we know that. Intervening early, gaining the support of the families and helping students learn from their mistakes along the way is our job ~ together with families. Every child is a work in progress and we thank you for your support as we move forward. Sincerely, Scott Sannes Queridas familias de Sibley, ¡Hemos tenido un comienzo excelente en Sibley! Pasar del ritmo de las vacaciones al ritmo de la escuela no es siempre fácil. De parte de los que trabajamos en Sibley me gustaría darles las gracias por sus esfuerzos como padres, madres y tutores. El walk-a-thon patrocinado por el PTO tendrá lugar el viernes 12 de octubre. Por favor, anoten ese día en sus calendarios ya que esperamos poder contar con muchos de ustedes para que vengan a Sibley desde las 2:30 hasta las 3:00 ese día para caminar con toda la escuela. Les enviaremos un correo electrónico o información adicional del PTO cuando se acerque el día del walk-athon. Y por cierto, hablando de correos electrónicos… si no está recibiendo los mensajes de Sibley, por favor, pónganse en contacto con Lindsay o Kim en nuestra oficina (507-645-3470) y ellas pueden poner su correo electrónico en la lista. Cada día nos comunicamos más y más con la ayuda de la tecnología y nos gustaría mucho poder reducir el uso del papel. Con tantas familias nuevas en la escuela, me han pedido que les envíe la siguiente información sobre acoso escolar (bullying). Esta información ya apareció en nuestro boletín de noticias del Sibley Star el pasado mes de marzo: Aunque en otras épocas el acoso escolar entre estudiantes se consideraba como una parte típica de la infancia y adolescencia ahora sabemos sin embargo que se trata de una conducta antisocial que traumatiza a millones de estudiantes cada año y que afecta negativamente la vida escolar de otros tantos millones de estudiantes. El acoso escolar tiene muchas formas desde conductas agresivas que van desde las más violentas físicamente a otras más sutiles, pero igualmente destructivas, conductas de agresión verbal o en las relaciones personales. El acoso se asocia en muchas ocasiones a problemas graves en la escuela incluyendo el suicidio, el consumo de sustancias nocivas, el no asistir a la escuela y el no tener buenas notas. El mayor reto para todos los que trabajamos en las escuelas es reconocer el acoso. No podemos pensar que este tipo de acoso no existe en nuestra escuela Sibley Elementary. Una vez dicho y admitido que existe hay que entender que muchos que acosan a otros son listos y en muchas ocasiones no nos damos cuenta de que está ocurriendo. Las víctimas del acoso hacen lo posible para ocultar sus vidas sociales y anti sociales de los adultos. Muchos estudiantes saben que el acoso hace daño y sin embargo no tienen muy claro que el acoso es algo que es malo y que se puede evitar, así que no lo denuncian a los adultos. 2 Es muy importante estar alerta y observar lo que ocurre ya que las víctimas no suelen denunciar el acoso que sufren. Muchas víctimas no se lo cuentan a sus padres o profesores porque se sienten humillados y con pena por culpa del acoso que sufren. Asumen que los adultos les van a acusar de ser unos chismosos o que les van a decir que tienen que enfrentarse al acoso ellos mismos. Algunas víctimas creen que los adultos no pueden hacer nada para que el acoso pare. Naturalmente, los que realizan el acoso nunca hablan de lo que hacen mal con sus padres o profesores. Si alguien los denuncia y sus padres les preguntan sobre la acusación de que están acosando a otro estudiante la mayoría de las veces niegan que acosen a otros. Si el acoso ocurre en la escuela, entonces la responsabilidad de qué hacer sobre el acoso es de los que trabajamos en la escuela. Es importante sin embargo contar con la colaboración de los padres de los que acosan y la escuela para lograr un plan en común para resolver el problema. Siguiendo a Marlene Snyder, Doctora, si su hijo/a es víctima de algún acoso en la escuela, pueden tener en cuenta las siguientes sugerencias de cómo denunciar el problema a las autoridades de la escuela: • • • • • Después de hablar con su hijo/a, pero antes de contactar con el personal de la escuela, escriban todos los detalles de la situación de acoso que les cuenten su hijo/a. Escriban las fechas y los nombres de los niños en cada situación. Intenten enfrentarse a la situación de una forma objetiva y piensen en si es seria o no. Puede que su hijo/a se resista a que ustedes lo ayuden por miedo a que quien le/la acosa le haga algo peor. Si es así, expliquen a su hijo/a que en la mayoría de las situaciones de acoso es necesaria la intervención de los adultos para resolver el problema. Expliquen a su hijo/a exactamente con quién va a hablar en la escuela. Pónganse en contacto con personal de la escuela que les pueden ayudar a que el acoso pare. Primero compartan el problema con el profesor/a de su hijo/a y trabajen juntos para decidir cómo hacer frente al problema. Si el profesor/a no puede controlar la situación de acoso tienen que ir al director y hacer un informe oficial escrito (vean la conexión por internet al documento a rellenar del distrito sobre acoso) para que el director pueda poner fin al acoso. No se pongan en contacto con el que acosa o su familia directamente. Escriban las fechas de otros momentos en los que ocurre el acoso y lo que están haciendo para ayudar a su hijo/a a enfrentarse a la situación de acoso. Informen a la escuela de las situaciones de acoso que puedan estar ocurriendo. Junto con los documentos en Northfield Public School Policy 514 tenemos un documento para informar sobre el acoso del distrito en Bullying Report Form. Les animo a que usen estos documentos si sospechan que su hijo/a es víctima de algún tipo de acoso y si su hijo/a muestra alguno de los signos que siguen a continuación: • • • • • • Su hijo/a tiene miedo o no quiere ir a la escuela por las mañanas, se queja mucho de tener dolores de cabeza y dolores de estómago. Elige ir y venir de la escuela por un camino que no es el normal para ir a la escuela. Tiene muchas pesadillas y llora cuando duerme. Se muestra deprimido o triste o tiene cambios de humor inesperados, está irritado/a y siente mal genio y mal humor de pronto. Llega de la escuela con la ropa rota o descolocada o con libros rotos. Tiene cortes, moratones, magulladuras y no parece tener una explicación lógica que explique cómo se los hizo. Quiero que sepan que Sibley Elementary está lleno de estudiantes estupendos y excelentes que toman buenas decisiones todos los días. Pero estos niños de entre 5 y 11 años cometen errores alguna vez mientras están en Sibley y lo sabemos. Intervenir a tiempo y temprano, lograr el apoyo de las familias y ayudar a los estudiantes a que aprendan de sus errores es nuestro trabajo junto con el trabajo de las familias. Cada niño/a es una obra en construcción y les damos las gracias por su apoyo en nuestro trabajo en el avance de nuestros estudiantes. Atentamente, Scott Sannes Traducción: Mar Valdecantos 3 October 2012 Monday Tuesday 1 Wednesday Thursday Friday 2 3 4 5 Vision & Hearing Screening 1 Hour Late Start Vision & Hearing Screening 8 9 10 11 12 School Board Meeting– NHS @ 7pm PTO Meeting 1 Hour Late Start Fall Conferences 3:30-8:15 WALK-A-THON 15 16 17 Fall Conferences 3:30-8:15 Fall Conferences 3:30-6:00 Vision & Hearing ReScreening 1 Hour Late Start 18 19 No School—Education MN Break 22 23 24 25 School Board Meeting– NHS @ 7pm Picture Retake Day 1 Hour Late Start Kindness Retreat 9:302:30 29 30 Band Concert 7:00 p.m. @ NHS Kindergarten @ 9:00-9:25 Grade 1 @ 9:30-9:55 Grade 2 @ 10:00-10:25 Grade 3 @ 10:30-10:55 Grade 4 @ 12:45-1:10 Grade 5 @ 1:15-1:40 All School Walk@ 2:30-2:55 26 31 1 Hour Late Start Mark your calendars for these upcoming events! . 11/5 - Teacher Workshop - No School 11/8 - Site Council Meeting 7:30-8:15 a.m. 11/13 - PTO Meeting 6:30 - 8:00 p.m. 11/21-11/23- Thanksgiving Break - No School 11/26 - School Board Meeting– NHS @ 7pm 11/29 - Choir Concert at Middle School 7:00 p.m. 12/13 - Site Council Meeting 12/24-1/1 - Winter Break - No School 5 Trash to Cash - Larisa Jenrich The “Trash to Cash” program is the easiest way to earn money for Sibley School, where your trash is Sibley’s cash! When in doubt, clip it, save it and turn it in! The programs we will participate in for the 2012-2013 school year are: • Box Tops for Education (http://boxtops4education.com) • Milk Moola and Donuts to Dough (www.milkmoola.com) • Land O Lakes Save Five for Schools (www.savefiveforschools.com) • Our Family Labels for Learning (www.ourfamilyfoods.com) • Labels for Education (www.labelsforeducation.org) • Tyson Project A+ (http://projectaplus.tyson.com) • Holy Land Brand Hummus (www.holylandbrand.com) • Target Take Charge of Education (www.target.com/tcoe) Sibley will have a fall contest November 1-9, 2012 – watch for more information coming soon! Remember: The Kemps Nickels for Schools program is retiring soon, so if you have any Kemps caps at home, please turn them in to school no later than Friday, October 5! Any questions or if you want to help, please email me at [email protected]. Health Office - Jane Ehlers September came and went in a flurry as everyone here at Sibley is settling into their routines. I want to thank the many parents who have stopped in the Sibley Health office this month and notified me of health concerns for their students. I appreciate the help in caring for your students during the school day! A few reminders as we start this new school year 2012-2013: Parents or guardians of a student who will not be in school should call every day of absence to the Sibley Attendance Voicemail. It is available 24 hours a day. The number is 507-645-3474. If a phone call is not received by 8:30 a.m. and your child does not arrive at school, you will be telephoned to verify the absence. It is a great help if you call for each absence. Thank you for your cooperation! Vision and hearing screening will be taking place on Tuesday, October 2nd, and Wednesday, October 3rd. Every student will be screened for hearing and vision problems during those two days. If you have concerns regarding your students vision or hearing please don’t hesitate to call the Sibley Health office. If a problem is detected, you will receive a letter prompting further evaluation by a physician. If you are interested in helping with our screening please send me an email or give me call. Your help is greatly appreciated :) Jane M. Ehlers, RN 507-645-347 6 Northfield Library Thursday, October 11, at 7 pm in the meeting room: Bestselling author comes to Northfield Library! Often likened to Harlan Coben and David Baldacci, award-winning author Brian Freeman is an internationally bestselling author of psychological suspense novels. His books have been sold in 46 countries and translated into 20 languages. Brian’s debut thriller, Immoral, won the Macavity Award and was a nominee for the Edgar®, Dagger, Anthony, and Barry awards for best first novel. Since then, each subsequent novel has been published to similar acclaim. Freeman lives and writes in his native state of Minnesota. Thursday, October 18, at 7 pm in the meeting room: Chad Lewis takes the audience on a ghostly journey to some of the most haunted places in Minnesota from wandering ghosts in the North Woods to a haunted B&B in Wabasha. From phantom creatures prowling the woods to graveyard apparitions located in your own backyard, no place in Minnesota is without its own haunting. Complete with photos, case history, eyewitness accounts, ghost lore, and directions, this unique presentation encourages you to visit these places for your own ghost story. Sponsored by the Friends & Foundation of the Library TAB’s Fall Festival! Sunday, Oct 28th 1-3 in the afternoon. Hay bale maze, face painting, apple fun, horse drawn hay rides, library laser tag, music, pumpkin & costume contest! Fun for everyone! Library Hours Monday-Thursday: 9:30-8:00 Friday: 9:30-5:30 Saturday: 9:30-5:00 Tuesday, October 23, at 7 pm in the meeting room: Mary Sharrat will present a program on Hildegard von Bingen and talk about her novel Illuminations; a novel of Hildegard von Bingen. The novel reveals the unforgettable story of how Hildegard, offered as a tithe to the Church at the age of eight, triumphed against impossible odds to become the greatest woman of her age. Combining fiction, history, and Hildegardian philosophy, Illuminations presents an arresting portrait of a woman of faith and power—a visionary in every sense of the word. Illuminations will be released in October 2012 to celebrate Hildegard's long awaited canonization and elevation to Doctor of the Church. Social Worker News—Noreen Cooney Parent Resource Groups An opportunity for parents and caregivers of children with challenging behaviors to get together to share similar experiences, discover resources and learn coping skills. Pizza and childcare is provided at evening groups. Please check NAMI website for date/ location changes. Apple Valley FASD and Mental Health Valley Girl Coffee 7703 147th St. Tanya 952-836-7182 9:45 a.m. Every Tuesday Burnsville Jo Jo’s Rise and Wine 128501 Nicollet Ave NAMI 612-645-2948 9:30 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. Every Wednesday Inver Grove Heights Amazing Grace Lutheran 7160 South Robert Trail NAMI Minnesota 651-645-2948 9:30 to 11:00 a.m. Every Thursday Apple Valley Shepherd of the Valley Lutheran Church 12650 Johnny Cake Ridge Rd NAMI 651-645-2948 6:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. 2nd / 4th Thursdays All support groups are free, call NAMI-Minnesota at 651-645-2948 or 1-888-NAMI-HELPS for more information. 7 Fifth Grade Band News - Paul Beck The band is off to a good start. We are rehearsing Tuesday mornings at 7:15 in the music room. Our first concert will be in the high school gym at 7:00 PM on Monday, October 29th. Students should report to the high school gym at 6:30 PM that night. Students starting to play a band instrument for the first time this fall are rehearsing Friday mornings starting at 7:15 AM. These students are invited to join the Tuesday group as soon as they feel confident and comfortable playing their instrument. They should plan on joining the Tuesday morning group on October 9th in order to prepare for our November concert. Any 5th grade student wishing to join band should contact Mr. Beck. It is not too late to participate in band. My phone number is 663-0672 or email me at [email protected] Choir News - Holly Fischer Important Date Change!!! We are working hard on the music for our November concert. Because of a conflict with Prairie Fire Theater our concert date has been changed to November 29th. It will still be at the Middle School at 7 PM. We will also sing the concert for the Sibley student body in the afternoon that same day. Please update your calendars. KidVentures - Lacey Neuman Bissonnette KidVentures will provide programming on October 18 and 19 for children in grades K-5. Release days for the month of October will be held at Bridgewater Elementary in the cafeteria from 6:30am until 6:00pm. These will be filled on a first come-first served basis at the rate of $35 per day. The cost of the day includes a morning and afternoon snack, bus ride, field trip admission and all day supervision. All Release Days are non-refundable. To participate in Release Day programming, you must register your child for KidVentures programming. October 18 we will visit Afton Apple Orchard in Hastings. Children will go on an educational hayride and learn about all the different kinds of apples and how they grow. They will be able to take home 3 apples and a small pumpkin, too! After the hayride, children will sample fresh apple cider and have a picnic lunch. Afton Apple Orchard has a great playground that children will be able to enjoy after lunch. At the end of our visit, children will be able to explore their way through an exciting corn maze. Please be at Bridgewater by 8:30; we will return around 3:30. Children will need their KidVentures t-shirt and a bag lunch. October 19 we will be going to Chuck E. Cheese in Burnsville! Children receive a pizza lunch with a soft drink and 16 game tokens. Please be at Bridgewater by 10:00; we will return by 4:00. Children need to wear their KidVentures t-shirt and a pair of socks. SIBLEY WALK-A-THON 2012 All students will walk with their grade level and then again as an entire school. The walk will take place on the Sibley soccer fields. We invite parents to come and walk with your child during the all school walk. Please no dogs or other pets. Schedule Kindergarten @ 9:00-9:25 Grade 1 @ 9:30-9:55 Grade 2 @ 10:00-10:25 Grade 3 @ 10:30-10:55 Grade 4 @ 12:45-1:10 Grade 5 @ 1:15-1:40 All School Walk@ 2:30-2:55 9 Art Room - Karna Hauck Drawing is one of the very first languages of a child. Small children draw even before they start to form letters and write words. All kids can and do willingly enter the world of spontaneous drawing if given encouragement. This encouragement to draw at times comes from adults – parents or teachers or both – and at times from involvement with other children. Art Donation Corner Needed in the art room… ∗ We, at Sibley, are so fortunate to have an ART CLASS where kids are working right along side their peers. I have observed the ripple effect of one drawing child on others. This is one of my favorite things about my job – to have the opportunity to watch and carefully encourage children to create. It is so natural to have children developing their artwork together in the same room, as they do gain so many ideas and differing perspectives by interacting with one another. Lots of art-making going on around here! This is what we are working on currently: • Kindergarteners: “My Shapes Book” • 1st graders: Snakes in the Grass and Kandinsky Music Paintings • 2nd graders: Line Pattern Compositions and Pattern Animals • 3rd graders: Circle Pattern Paintings • 4th graders: Tubular Tornado Drawings and Self-Portrait Caricatures • 5th graders: Cool Tool Compositions ∗ ∗ ∗ Cookie sheets National Geographic magazines Gallon-size ice cream buckets Egg cartons If you have items to donate, you may deliver them to the front office or to the art room at your convenience. I am so very fortunate to be working with Sibley’s very capable young visual artists. When you find the opportunity, please take a look around he school building as the walls will very soon begin to fill showing evidence of the wonder and imaginations of your little ones. Mrs. Hauck Media News The school year is off to a great start! Please help your child find a safe place to keep his/her library book(s) at your home. Your child will have book checkout with their classroom teacher once a week. Books need to be returned the day before their scheduled book checkout. The media center is in need of volunteers to help re-shelve books. Last year 23,881 items were checked out of the media center! So far this year we have checked out over 2,000 books. If you would be interested in volunteering, please contact Ann Hehr or Karen Jensen. We hope that you will visit the media center web page and take a look at some of the useful links. BookFlix is one of the numerous sites listed. BookFlix: This site has numerous great fiction and nonfiction books! http://bkflix.grolier.com (From the media center page go to Useful Links—Student Links for K-5th Grade—BookFlix) Username: sibleynfld Password: bookflix Please contact me if you have any questions. Ann Hehr, Sibley Media Specialist [email protected] 507-645-3470 10 Book Fair - Mark Your Calendars When: Thursday, October 11 — 3:00p.m. to 8:30p.m. Friday, October 12 — 8:00a.m. to 5:00p.m. Monday, October 15 — 3:00p.m. to 8:30p.m. Tuesday, October 16 — 3:00p.m. to 6:00p.m. Wednesday, October 17 — 9:00a.m. to 4:00p.m. Location: Sibley Media Center Check out http://bookfairs.scholastic.com/homepage/sibleystars for additional book fair information. If you have questions or would like to volunteer at the event, please contact Laura Heiman - [email protected] Community Services- Niki Kolb Clean out Your Costume Box for a Good Cause! Northfield Public Schools Community Services is looking for donations of lightly used and new costumes for the third annual Costume Closet. Costumes can range from all ages and sizes. Costume pieces such as hats, accessories, masks, shoes, etc. can also be donated. Donations may be dropped off by Friday, October 5th at: Community Services, located at 1651 Jefferson Parkway, or the KidVentures sites at each elementary school. The Costume Closet sale will take place at: Northfield Middle School Media Center, from 10 a.m. to noon on Saturday, Oct. 13, at which donations will be sold at affordable costs with proceeds going to the Community Services Youth Scholarship Fund. The purpose is to provide low cost options for families looking for Halloween costumes and to support Community Services youth programs. Call 507.664.3649 for more information. Kindness Retreat On October 25th, Youth Frontiers will join 5th grade at Sibley to teach them all about how to be kind to one another. They will discuss what bully behavior is and how to stop it by creating a positive atmosphere. Throughout the year we will keep the kindness boomerang flying, by smiling, inviting new people to play, and listening. The retreat is made possible by Sibley PTO, Northfield Area Foundation, HCI and College City Beverage. Supported in part by the Northfield Healthy Community Initiative, with funding from the Northfield Area United Way, and SAMHSA (grant number SP012242-10).A special thank you goes out to all of them. For more information about Youth Frontiers go to www.youthfrontiers.org 11 Annual Report Approved by School Board October 2012 Newsletter Main Office 507.663.0600 Chris Richardson, Superintendent of Schools 507.663.0629 Donita Delzer, Admin. Assistant to the Superintendent & School Board 507.663.0629 Buildings & Grounds 507.663.0610 Business Office 507.663.0626 Community Services Division & Community Relations 507.664.3650 Curriculum Office 507.663.0622 Food Service 507.663.0618 Health Services 507.645.1205 The Annual Report on Curriculum, Instruction and Student Achievement for 2011-12 has been published on the district website and made accessible from the homepage, at www.nfld.k12.mn.us. The report was approved by the Northfield Board of Education at its regular meeting on Sept. 24. The annual report includes information on student performance goals for meeting the Minnesota Graduation Standards, student testing data, curriculum improvement plans, progress on previous curriculum improvement plans, and the District Educational Program Advisory Council membership. National Merit Semi-Finalist and Commended Students Named Northfield High School senior Chen Ye has been identified as a semi-finalist in the 58th annual National Merit Scholarship Program, a competition that uses the results of the PSAT for qualification. In addition, the following seniors were identified as Commended Students: Emily Bristol, Elizabeth Buckheit, Tyler Landvik-Geyen, Sara Ludewig, Sullivan Ojala-Helmbolt and David Stenzel. Although Commended Students do not continue in the competition for National Merit Scholarships, some of the students do become candidates for special scholarships sponsored by corporations and businesses. Northfield High School will host a reception for the students and their families on Oct. 22. Greenvale Park Receives Funds for Healthy Initiatives ! Payroll Office 507.663.0628 Personnel Office 507.663.0627 Student Services 507.645.3410 Technology Services 507.645.1260 ! Greenvale Park Elementary School has been awarded $4,000 by the Midwest Dairy Council for its Fuel Up to Play 60 program. A portion of the funds will be used to purchase a fruit and vegetable cold cart and a media device to display healthy announcements, the breakfast and lunch menus, and Fuel Up to Play 60 announcements and food facts. Greenvale Park has also received $1,000 from the Rice County Statewide Health Improvement Program, which will be used to purchase pedometers so that students can participate in a step activity during the school day. Northfield One of Nation’s Best for Young People Northfield is one of three Minnesota cities named to a national list of the “100 Best Communities for Young People,” by America’s Promise Alliance. The competition recognizes communities across the country that focus on reducing high school dropout rates and providing service and support to their youth. The other two Minnesota cities include Edina and St. Louis Park. This is the fourth time Northfield has made the list. This year, winners were chosen from a pool of more than 320 nominees from all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. They hail from 42 states, which is a record for the competition. A grant of $2,500 will be given to every community that is named one of the 100 Best Communities for Young People. For a review of the programs and opportunities for youth in Northfield, check out the Alliance’s profile at: http://www.americaspromise.org/Our-Work/100-Best-Communities-for-Young-People/2012-Winners/Northfield-MN.aspx DISTRICT NEWS Northfield Youth Organizations 5th Bridge Big Brothers/Big Sisters Bowling Boy Scouts Cannon Valley Youth Orchestra Carleton ACT Center Check it Out Singers Community Resource Bank Junior Board Dakota County Extension - 4-H Dance 'N Fitness Girl Scouts Healthy Community Initiative Jr. Curator Program Just for Kix Leo Club Advisor Library Teen Advisory Board Making Waves Swim School Northfield Area Family YMCA Northfield Arts Guild Northfield Basketball Association Northfield Community Chinese School Northfield Dance Academy Northfield Fastpitch Softball Assoc. Northfield Gymnastics Club Northfield Hockey Association Northfield Lacrosse Association Northfield Library Northfield Mentoring Coalition Northfield Police Dept Explorers Northfield Skating School Northfield Soccer Association Northfield Swim Club Northfield Tennis Association Northfield Union of Youth Northfield Volleyball Club Northfield Youth Baseball Assoc Northfield Youth Choir Northfield Youth Wrestling Project Friendship Rainbow Saddle Club Reaching Our Goals - St. Olaf College Rice County Extension - 4-H St. Olaf Volunteer Network Candy Taylor Robyn Goldy Terry Heilman Sam Trebnick Deonne Gray Laura Riehle-Merrill Todd Thompson Christina Jerome Kathy Johnson Colleen Day Liz Cooney Zach Pruitt Nfld Historical Society Liz Rohach Alice Nasby Kathy Ness Cindy Varley Virginia Kaczmarek Sheryl Joy Kevin Rodgers Gao Hong Kristin Lauenstein Mark Pritchard Melissa Bernhard Marietta Ruppe Natalie Marfleet Kathy Ness Zach Pruitt Sgt. Mark Murphy Carey Tinkelenberg Paula Manor Troy Nystuen Andy Ringlien Amy Merritt Tim Wilgohs Roger/Kim Thompson Liz Shepley Shaun Murphy Kathy Lansing Nancy Becker Education Dept. 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