School Pages Feb. 2011

Brainerd Dispatch | www.brainerddispatch.com Wednesday, February 23 1S

Baxter Elementary

Central Lakes College

Crosby/Ironton

Crosslake

Garfi eld Elementary

Harrison Elementary

Lake Region Christian School

Learning Tree Pre-School

Lowell Elementary

Nisswa Elementary

Oak Street Christian School

Pillager Elementary/High School

Pine River/Backus

St. Francis Catholic School

Staples/Motely Schools

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Brainerd Dispatch | www.brainerddispatch.com 2S Wednesday, February 23

BAXTERELEMENTARY

DO YOUR EARS HANG LOW, CLAP YOUR HANDS AND GET TOGETHERBaxter School Library turns into Camp Baxter one week every year in February.

It’s a camping wonderland, well equipped with books, tents, bird sounds and darkness. Flashlights, fi refl ies, camp fi re and Songs create giggles, laughs and memories. It’s a week never forgotten in the life of a Buccaneer.A Night of

Reading and FunKindergarteners at Baxter School, had a fun night

with their dads. The FRED program, AKA: Fathers Reading Every Day, was a huge success.

Games were played, books were read, and there were many smiles on the faces of Baxter kids and their dads!!

CRAZY RACERS2nd Graders had a blast creating their Crazy Racing cars out of kleenex boxes.


International ice experienceInternational students attending Central Lakes College toured the Brainerd Jaycees

$150,000 Ice Fishing Extravaganza on a well-frozen Gull Lake, where they met Minne-sota Governor Mark Dayton.

State Rep. John Ward was the Governor’s escort for the fi rst-ever visit by a chief execu-tive of Minnesota to the popular event.

Most of the i n t e r n a t i o n a l students at CLC have never ex-perienced a cold winter. Friends and needed vol-unteers for the students hope to take them to the

same area (thawed) by boat this spring to maximize the seasonal wonder of northland experience.

As members of the International Club, they are planning the second annual Celebra-tion of Nations at CLC April 1 from 4-8 p.m.

New mascotThe Student Senate at Central Lakes College has announced the

arrival of a Central Lakes College mascot. Raz is the new symbol of student spirit, prepared to rally support for athletic teams and any other occasion suited to exemplifying all things Raider. From 182 submissions, Elizabeth Trenkenschuh of Pequot Lakes came up with the preferred name Raz, and she received a prize of $15. Raz will be the sideline support leader for CLC athletic teams.

‘The Drowsy Chaperone’Central Lakes College

Theatre presents “The Drowsy Chaperone,” an award-winning musical, in John Chalberg The-atre at 7:30 p.m. Feb. 24-26 and March 3-5 and 2 p.m. March 6. It has been called the funniest musi-cal of the 21st century. Ralph Knowlton (left) is a gangster posing as a pastry chef, Marc Oliph-ant is a frustrated pro-ducer, and Wendy De-Geest is the producer’s no-talent girlfriend. For tickets call the theatre box offi ce at 218-855-8199 or order online at www.clctickets.com

Nursing students get disaster training

Members of the AD Nursing Club at Cen-tral Lakes College recently participated in two voluntary training activities.

On one Saturday 35 students signed up for disaster training from the American Red Cross in the Lecture Hall on the Brainerd campus. A few days later several students were trained through MN Responds and Crow Wing County Public Health at CLC.

“I am very pleased with the professional participation of the club related to service learning and continuing education efforts, such as this training,” said Darci Goeden, club adviser. “We must be life-long learners in the nursing profession in orderto provide the highest quality of care to clients, families, and communities.”

Cultural ThursdayHeidi Purdy and

Abra Fisk presented the February Cultural Thursday Feb. 3 on the Brainerd campus of Central Lakes Col-lege, showing images from last May’s trip to Mexico. Their journey included a short stint of schooling in the Span-ish language and deliv-ery of donated clothing to Nuestros Pequenos Hermanos (Our Little Brothers and Sisters), a network of orphanages. Theirtrip included an archaeological tour of pyramids, the cultural experience ofCatholicism, and rural markets of commerce.

Celebration of Nations

The second Central Lakes College Celebration of Nations is scheduled for Friday, April 1 from 4 to 8 p.m. at the Brain-erd campus. Cultural musicians, which begin performing at 4 p.m., perform music from Africa, Latin America, Asia, and Scandi-navia. The gymnasium becomes a one-stop shop/travel experi-ence, with African story-telling and drumming in an authentic African hut, aSouth American beach experience, Indian henna, Korean origami activitiesin an Asian rest house, and World Cup soccer experience of Latin Americaand Europe. Enjoy ethnic treats from Africa, Asia, Europe, and the Americas.The CLC International Club and Diversity Leadership Council are co-host-ing. The Asian Lion Dance team will lead the crowd outside for fi reworks at8:15. Admission: $6 adults, $4 CLC students, free for children.

Concert tonight

Gaelic Storm, a Celtic quintet, performs tonight (Wed., Feb. 23) at 7:30 p.m. in Tornstrom Auditorium at the Washington Educa-tion Building, 804 W. Oak Street. Admission to the Feb. 23 con-cert is $16, $12 for age 60-up, $8 for high school and junior high students, and $5 for CLC students. The next Cultural Arts Se-ries event this spring is the Fabulous Armadillos presenting the multimedia storytelling soul music showcase, “Motown & Soul,” March 11 in Chalberg Theatre at CLC. On March 18 and 19, CLC hosts Minnesota’s Central Lakes Ego Fest, an extravaganza of short fi lms from Minnesota and beyond featuring fi lmmakers, awards, and food.

Give Kids a Smile

Central Lakes College Dental As-sisting students, including Jordan Ylinen of East Gull Lake, helped volunteer dentists provide free ex-ams and teeth cleaning to about 150 children at Give Kids a Smile Day. In the ninth year of the program, Dr. William Beasley examined the teeth of Necole Lyons, 10, in the Commu-nity Dental Clinic at CLC.

CLC instrumental concert is March 1The Central Lakes College Instrumental Music Department on Tuesday, March 1 at 7:30 p.m. pres-

ents “Snowdrift Serenade,” the winter concert featuring the CLC Jazz Band, the CLC Brass Ensemble and, for the second year, the CLC Woodwind Ensemble. The concert will be in the Music Rehearsal Hall on the Brainerd campus. Admission is $5 for adults, free for ages 12-under and CLC students with I.D. Proceeds will go to the 2011 Summer European Tour fund for the Community Band.


Pennies for PatientsStudents at Cuyuna Range Elementary School collected donations during the week of January 24-28

as part of the 20th annual Pennies for Patients program, benefi ting the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society.Students teamed together, each contributing a little and the total was an amazing $1,849.62! We wouldlike to say a special thanks to Mid-Minnesota Federal Credit Union for counting all the coins.

The top fundraising class was third grade Ms. Hanson’s class. They donated $370.74 and won a pizzaparty. The top fi ve fundraising classes are:

Ms. Hanson’s $370.74

Mrs. Cordie’s $194.50

Mrs. Abear’s 4164. 31

Mrs. Jensen’s $132.29

Mrs. Ayken’s $120.37

One student or one penny acting alone doesn’t accomplish much, but when we all work together, anything is possible. our students and staff did a great job of giving selfl essly to help children and others battling blood cancer.

“These students serve as an example to all of us through their commitment to helping others”, said Angie Lundeen, cam-paign director of the Minnesota Chapter. “Their efforts will help local patients and their families along with funding blood can-cer research at the University of Minnesota and Mayo Clinic.”

Leukemia is the most common cancer in children and young adults less than 20 years old. An estimated 957,902 Americans are living with a blood cancer, and every four minutes, some-one new is diagnosed. Since 1992, $5.9 million has been raised locally by thousands of pre-kindergarten, elementary, middle,high school and college students. For information regarding lo-cal programs and services of the Minnesota Chapter of the Leu-kemia & Lymphoma Society, call (888) 220-4440 or visit www.LLS.org/mn.

Crosby-IrontonRangers

In Ms. Hansen’s 3rd grade classroom we raised $370.74 for Pennies for Patients to fi nd a cure for childhood cancer. Students got to do Ms. Hansen’s and student teacher, Mr. Rengo’s hair and makeup for reaching their classroom goal of $300.

60’s Day

In Mrs. Pierner’s class, the students have been busy reading books for “I Love to Read” month. Students will give a book report on a favorite book to stir up interest in new books. The students have also made Valentine Bear bags for our Valentine’s Day party. Crosby Super Valu donated the bags for the students.

Cuyler Watson and Dad Brian. Cuyler raised $70.00 for pennies for patients. His Dad Brian had acute leukemia when he was 18 years old, and Cuyler and his Mom say they are lucky to have him around. Culyer wanted to do this for his Dad. He shoveled sidewalks and etc. to raise the money. Cuyler is in Third grade in Ms. Aykens class.

The Digital Photography II students created posters to honor the Crosby-Ironton athletes who were chosen by the Brainerd Dispatch as athletes of the week during the fall season.

Caught you being goodStudents at Crosby-Ironton High School can receive “caught you being good” tickets

from any staff member at the high school. These students “caught being good” dis-played respect, responsibility, and integrity in classrooms, the commons, hallways etc. After a student receives a “caught you being good ticket” they can enter their ticket to win prizes given away throughout the school year. (Not all students are pictured)

The percentage of students “caught being good” for fi rst semester were:

Mrs. Pribyl’s kindergarten class celebrated the 100th day of school by collecting 100 food items for the local food shelf.

7th Grade--43% 8th Grade--34%



After reading Marven of the Great North Woods by Kathryn Lasky, some of the 4th graders at CRES tried their hand at snowshoeing.

Snowshoeing

Larissa Neilson and Marlee Zender concerning a hill on their snowshoes.

Gabe Gibson enjoying his time trekking along.


CrosslakeLUMBERJACKS

Community School

January science fair Spelling Bee Winners

Seth Srock, Kiley Anderson, and Zion Kramer.

Kate Grossman, not picturedThese students received recognition for “Ex-

ceptional Creativity on the ‘Create a Musical’ project. For Qtr. 2.

Star ClassBev Loeffl er’s 2/3 classroom. They received the Star Class Music Award for 2nd Quarter.

Lifesize Kindergarteners

Mrs. Steffen’s Kindergarten group at Crosslake Com-munity School created lifesize pictures of themselves. After reading the story “This is the Jacket I wear in the snow”, the students colored thier clothes on the lifesize drawings and then wrote their own sentences about the outdoor gear they wear in the snow. All of the lifesized drawings lined the hallways in the school and the students love to see themselves on the walls.

Jack Friday, an 8th grader, was recognized for bringing in the most Box Tops for Education points for the 2nd Quarter for all grades K-8.

ScrapbookingScrapbooking project in Mrs. Loeffl er’s

2/3 combination classroom.

A Honor Roll GRADING PERIOD: QUARTER 2

8th gradeKelsi Bergquist Debra Mitchell Seth Srock 7th grade.Ethan Gibbs Samuel Hendrickson 6th grade.Katriana Grossman Dylan Nelson Anthony Popehn Kelsie Weite 5th grade.Matthew Bonfi g John Engstrom Joseph Hendrickson Veronica Hulke Emily Mitchell Victoria Popehn Kayla Richey

B Honor Roll GRADING PERIOD: QUARTER 2

8th grade.Kiley Anderson Kyler Huckabay 7th grade.Jack Friday LoganOlson Jacob Young 6th grade.Leona Crabb Jonathan Rabe 5th grade.Hannah Dahlberg William Gustafson Cameron Huckabay Samantha Swanson Victoria Tilbury-Shetka Stasha Vesterby Abigail Wedge

Annie Berndt, Beau Engstrom, Ella Archambault and Stephen Maschhoff


GARFIELDELEMENTARY

On January 10, the Garfi eld fourth graders headed out on their 3 day ad-venture to Deep Portage Environmental Learning Center, near Hackensack. The fourth graders were accompanied by their teachers, other Garfi eld staff mem-bers, and most importantly, a number of parent chaperones. It is unsure who en-joys the trip more, the kids or the adults.

Deep Portage Learning Center is a residential environmental learning cen-ter, fully accredited by the North Cen-

tral Association of Colleges and Schools. Garfi eld’s students, teachers, and par-ents participated in the following classes: Pioneer Olympics (Voyageur and Native American cultural history), Winter Sur-vival (focus on safety while enjoying the outdoors), Animal Signs/Snowshoeing (study of 8 basic clues animals leave be-hind), TEAM (Together We Accomplish More: teamwork and cooperation), Cross Country Skiing, Climbing Wall (focus on technical skill of climbing on a 34 foot

state-of-the-art climbing wall as well as team skills), and Fish Printing (a Japa-nese art form studying information on fi sh population), Nightstalker (predator/prey simulation), Wolf Howling (explores pack structure, behavior, and communi-cation), and an activity of their choice during a Recreation time.

This was Garfi eld’s 7th annual trip. As teachers we are committed to giving our students this experience. The trip is funded with payments from families,

fund raising, and community sponsor-ships. All of Garfi eld’s students are cur-rently participating in a Cookie Dough Fundraiser. We appreciate everyone’ssupport.

“The Spirit of Deep Portage” lives on in Garfi eld’s students. Can you hear it in these essays?

My Deep Portage ExperienceBy: Kelsey Miller

On Monday, January 10th we were on our way to Deep Portage. I was nervous and scared at the same time. Our whole class went with the teachers and chaperones. There were 77 kids and about 30 adults. When we got there we had to go down the long driveway. The driveway was two miles long. It took ten minutes to get to the building. Deep Portage has about 6,300 acres, which I learned is enough land for one wolf to survive on. Our class only used about twenty acres to survive our three days.

There were a lot of things I liked at Deep Portage and Pioneer Olympics was one of them. We started with the tomahawk throw. We had to throw the tomahawk in to a wood block. It was very hard! Then we threw the atle-latle. We threw them into a hay bail. It was fun! My favorite game was “Cat and Mouse”. We had a rope and two people on two blocks. We pulled the rope and tried to pull it out of the other per-son’s hands. Although, we didn’t get to do all the games during that class it was still a lot of fun.

I really enjoyed Animal Signs Class and walk-ing along the trail in snowshoes. In a tree, a por-cupine sat and looked at us. When I was walk-ing I saw all kinds of tracks and animal homes. There was deep snow. I could hear it crunch un-der your snowshoes when I walked. Everyone in my class fell once or twice, at least. My dad and I got sweaty because it was a lot of exercise. These are some of my favorite things I did during Ani-mal Signs Class and snowshoeing.

In Survival Class I learned a lot. One thing I learned was how to build a fi re. After our team got the fi re going, we fi lled a pot with snow and melted it in to water. Our team also had to build a shelter. The only supplies we had was a pot, a tray, a shovel, some birch bark, and a tarp. We all had to fi nd some dry wood. It was very hard, but when we worked together it got a lot easier. These are the things I learned in Survival Class with my teammates.

The campfi re was the last class and it was my favorite. My favorite part was when Casey did his toaster song. We sang a lot of other songs, too. Another thing we did at the campfi re was watched some great skits. Some of the dads and some of the kids both did amazing skits. They all were very funny!! Casey also did some magic, although it was not really magic. For one of the tricks he got a coat and lifted his leg and said his leg disappeared. You had to be there!! He also got some cool whip and told us to look out the window and he ate the cool whip!! Casey did a lot more, too. A couple of people told stories. The stories were really silly! I loved the Musky story. It is easy to see why the campfi re was my favor-ite class at Deep Portage.

Our last day at Deep Portage was January 12th. I was so sleepy! I didn’t want to go home, but I was missing my family and bed. Deep Por-tage was not just one of the best fi eld trips ever; it was the best fi eld trip EVER!!!!! I’m sure I will remember Deep Portage all of my life. All of the staff at Deep Portage was so nice, and they all were very fun to be around. The teachers and chaperones were all very helpful. It was a life experience. Deep Portage will be in my heart forever!

My Time at Deep PortageBy: Luke Engelmeyer

On January 10th, 2011 all of the Garfi eld 4th grade students went on a fi eld trip to Deep Portage for threedays and two nights. When my dad and I got to school, I felt nervous and anxious to go. When we started to load up, I was excited because we have been waiting since we got to school. When we got in my dad’s truckwe drove for what felt like twenty hours. Then, we fi -nally got there and started to unload, and we went toa big room called The Great Hall. The teachers talkedto us. Then they dismissed us to our rooms. When Igot to my dorm room I asked everyone where theywanted to sleep. Four kids wanted top bunks and twokids wanted bottom bunks. That was my fi rst morn-ing at Deep Portage.

My favorite thing at Deep Portage was cross-coun-try skiing. At fi rst, we saw a porcupine in a tree. It was funny when my dad was falling while skiing. Isaw him fall two times. When we went down hill wegot a lot of speed. It’s harder to go up hill than downhill. Those are the reasons I liked cross-country ski-ing.

My second favorite thing was survival. First we gathered sticks, and put them on a piece of wood.Then we put our tarp on top of the wood. Next, we shoveled snow out of our fort. After that, we gathered sticks for a fi re. Finally, we made fi re. Those are the reasons why I liked survival.

My third favorite thing was The Tower Hike. On our way Ethan, Chuck, my dad, and I went geo cashing.We found the treasure right away. Then we walked to the tower. When we went to the top of the tower, I held on to the railing as hard as I could. The tower is 55 ft. tall on top of a 100 ft. hill. When I made it to the top I looked out and there was an extraordinary view.These are the reasons I liked The Tower Hike.

On January 12th, 2011 I got up from bed and packed my stuff together, and then my dad put it in his truck. Later, we went to breakfast. Then, we got ready for our last class. It was Pioneer Olympics. I liked that class because we got to throw things at fake animals. When we were done in that class we had lunch. Finally, we left. Deep Portage was best place I have ever visited!

Tate vs. Deep PortageBy: Tate Magnan

On January 10th, 2011 my mom brought me to school and

I had to wait in the classroom for an hour. Next, we loaded all of our bags on the bus and we were off to Deep Portage. The bus ride there was an hour and a half, but it felt like fi ve hours. Then we got to Deep Portage and unpacked all of our bags in our rooms. I was excited to get started.

My fi rst class was Cross-Country Skiing Class. It was hard to get up after you fall. Then going down the big hill was awesome. Next, going up the big hill was hard to do. It was not as hard as getting up after falling. Going down the biggest hill was awesome! Cross-Country Skiing Class was my favorite class at Deep Portage.

Another favorite class was Survival Class. There was one bad part; I burned my fi nger trying to light the fi re. My group got snow to boil so it was purifi ed water. We had to make a shelter that could fi t my entire group under the tarp. Finally, Survival Class was awesome.

My next favorite class was climbing the rock wall. It was marvelous! I made it to the top four times. When I looked down I got the shivers. I saw Mr.A’s initials, in the wall, at the very top. Finally, climbing the rock wall was another one of my favorite classes at Deep Portage.

There are so many things I haven’t shared about yet. For example, the 55 foot tower was tremendous and I climbed to the top. The food at Deep Portage was terrifi c. We also did a class called Pioneer Olympics where we threw old weapons at fake animals and we threw tomahawks at a large stump. The campfi re was amazing and marvelous. I enjoyed the fun-ny skits and the musky story. Finally, the experience I had at Deep Portage was one of my best experiences ever.

This year’s trip is in loving memory of Gary Reiten. To learn more about Deep Portage go to: www.deep-portage.org

Deep Portage: A Place for Learning

Our “AR Wall of Fame” is continuing to grow. Recently our students were able to go shopping in the AR store, which is funded by our school PTA. T-shirts, hats and other treasures were purchased with their reading points. Keep up the awesome job kids. Our students have now read OVER 36 MILLION words and over 9,600 books! Amazing!!


HARRISONELEMENTARY

My Hopes and Dreams for 2011(Typed as written by students in Mrs. Tetreault’s 3rd Grade Classroom)

By Noah These are my hopes and dreams for 2011. Would you like to hear them?I want to be a singer in Hawaii, California, and Florida because it would be cool to

sing country songs. I could also sing in different states.I hope that I can be an artist because I could paint my dogs. I could also paint

lakes.I wish the war will stop because I don’t like to see people die. I don’t like to see

people get hurt.Would it be cool if some of my dreams came true?

By Arica I hope my hopes and dreams come true for 2011. Do you think my hopes and

dreams will come true?This year, I would like to get a blue ribbon for the fi rst time at the Crow Wing

County Fair for doing my needle point. My second hope and dream is to pass 3rd grade. To pass I will have a lot of studying, working hard, listening to directions and doing my homework. My last dream is to spend the night at the cabin this summer. It would be fun to go tubing, swimming and to sleep in.

Those are my hopes and dreams for 2011. I hope my dreams come true.

By MacanzieI hope my hopes and dreams come true. I have lots of dreams. I hope they will

come true this year. I love all of them.My fi rst wish is I want to be a teacher when I grow up so I can see what kids are

like. I can go to my mom’s house so I can get better learning.The second thing is that I want to get rich so I can buy a big house and have a

lovely car. I can get cool stuff.I hope blind people get to see. My mom works with a blind person. If she could

see, then my mom could stay home.Do you think these wonderful hopes and dreams will come true?

By Zach T.These are my hopes and dreams for 2011. I have wishes and hope they come true.I wish my dad’s athletes foot goes away. He has had it for 1 year. He has a special

medicated cream for it.I hope my sister starts to be nice to me. I want her to stop punching me. She needs

to stop making me do her chores and stuff.My last wish is for my parents to be able to buy the new house. The house has a

big back yard. I will be able to have my very own bedroom.Are these wishes going to come true?

By ShaynaHere are some of my hopes and dreams for 2011. Do you think they will come

true?My fi rst dream is to become a professional artist. Drawing is my passion. My

favorite thing to draw is trees because they are fun and easy. I like to draw with pencils.

I also would like to see a real dolphin. I will have to travel somewhere warm, like Florida, to see a real dolphin pillow pet.

I wish that everything was made out of candy. It would make me feel happy to have candy all around. It might be interesting because I never saw Minnesota made of chocolate.

Do you think my hopes and dreams will come true? I do.

By BeauI hope my hopes and dreams come true. These are some of them.I want to be a famous dirt biker. That would be cool! I want to make a lot of money

doing that.I also want to be rich when I grow up so I can help people out by paying for their

health bills.I want people who have been slaves for a very, very long time to be free so that they

don’t have to be torchered all the time. I wish that their houses could be torn down and they rebuilt their houses. I wish that people do not lose a lot of money. I want people to live in their houses and not live on the street.

These are some of the things I want to change for 2011.

By JasmynThese are my hopes and dreams for 2011. Would you like to hear about some of

my hopes and dreams?I wish that I can pass third grade so I can learn more stuff in forth grade and

get smarter. I wish when I grow up I would like to be a veterinarian so I can help animals that are sick or hurt. I wish that the animals and the people in the hospital gets better soon. I wish that the people that have cancer are cured or get better. I wish that I will get to go to Florida and go to Disneyland and then go to SeaWorld.

Those were my wishes for 2011. Do you think they will come true?

The Harrison School Patrol has 21 extremely responsible 4th grade students. They’re an awesome group of students who are leaders in our school. We are very proud of all Harrison’s School Patrols!

Statue of LibertyMadeliene in Mrs. Tetreault’s 3rd grade

classroom drew a picture of the Statue of Lib-erty so she could enter it in a school contest. Third grade students could enter their picture of the Statue of Liberty and have it sent to The Ladies Auxiliary to the Veterans of Foreign Wars to determine the winning entries.

Valentines Box

Arica in Mrs. Tetreault’s 3rd grade classroom is holding aValentine Box she made for the classroom Valentine party.

Honorary HawksFor the months December and January,

Harrison students were working on the char-acter trait “Work Together=Cooperation”. Students worked on helping others out, thinking of others fi rst, taking turns, work-ing together and learning together. The fol-lowing students were honored at a Harrison Hawks gathering on Monday, February 7.

By RichardThese are my hopes and dreams for 2011. If they come true I will be happy.My fi rst dream is I want to be a wizard. I will have a wand, spellbooks and a fl y-

ing broom. I want to be a wizard so I can grant everyone a wish on their birthday. I would be a good wizard!

I hope I pass my math facts. I am working on my multiplication facts. I study hard every night.

I hope they put a chucke cheese across from my house. I feel happy when I am there because the pizza is awesome and I like the games. They have a lot of fun games I like to play.

I hope these things happen. Do you?

By BritneyWould you like to hear some of my hopes and dreams for 2011.I would like to be a famous fashion designer and singer. The two reasons that I

want to be a designer and singer is because it’s fun and so I get money. I would like to explore the worlds places like Japan, Mexico, Brazil, France and Europe with Madi. I’m going to take my family on a vacation exploring the world.

Would you like to come with me? Will three of my wishes come true?

By DavidThese are my hopes and dreams for 2011. These are my three wishes.Do you have three wishes for 2011?I wish I could be a wizard. I would wish for a mansion. I would wish for a car

and for my license and I would be rich just by wishing. I wish the wars will quit because if it wasn’t for the wars people won’t get hurt. I wish violence were not al-lowed and guns were not invented.

I wish I could go to Florida so I could go to Sea World and Disneyland.I hope my homes and dreams come true.

Kindergarten

1st Grade 2nd Grade

3rd Grade 4th Grade


Lake RegionChristian School

Hornets Sweep Chisago InvitationalThe Hornets recently traveled to

the Chisago Lakes Invitational Bas-ketball Tournament. The girls won all four of their games to land a spot in the championship game. The Lady Hornets defeated Tri-City Christian from Kansas City, Missouri, by a score of 40-30. Senior Kelsey Grider was named MVP of the tournament, and Sophomore Bethany Cressman was named to the all-tournament team.

The boys also won all four of their games. Their competition in the championship game was the AFSA charter school from Minnesota. The guys defeated their opponents by a score of 46-37. Sophomore Daniel Newton was named MVP of the tourna-ment. Junior Patrick Trout was named to the all-tournament team. Congratulations, Teams, on a great weekend of basketball!

Spirit Week at LRCSSpirit Week, a much-anticipated event at LRCS, took place from February 7-February 10. The entire school

participated in dress-up days. Monday was “Fake an Injury Day”; Tuesday was “Hero Day”; Wednesday was “Old Folks Day”; and Thursday was “Sports Day.” Staff and students alike participated each day. Each afternoon, the high school students were involved in some friendly team competitions. Students tested their academic knowledge with a Jeopardy academic bowl, and their physical abilities were tested by playing sheet volleyball, fl oor hockey, and indoor fi eld hockey. A new event this year was the Big Foot races. Three people from each team “raced” on giant board feet. The races provided great entertainment for all who watched! Missionary Kevin Za-kariasen spent two days with the high school students challenging their spiritual lives as well as participating in many of the activities. Thursday morning, the students were treated to a pancake breakfast compliments of the school board. A highlight for the entire student body was the Pep Fest held Thursday afternoon. The week culminated with parent night for the parents of the varsity basketball players at the basketball games Thursday night. Everyone enjoyed the special week as school spirit was shown!


LEARNING TREEPRESCHOOL

In January we ask the parents to come to school to enjoy an evening with their child. We show them a regular school day by having circle, playtime, preparing their own snack and singing a few songs. This year’s theme was “Winter Fun.”

We are having an Open House for Fall Registration

When: Thursday, March 3

Time: 9 am– 6 pm

Where: Learning Tree Preschool 424 South 8th Street

Call to Pre-register:

829-6175

Natalie, Evan, Gavin, Dylan and Simon are pretending to ice fi sh with their parents. Bailey and her parents roasting marshmallows after they pretended to ice skate.

Raven and her mom and dad are making the snowman art project. The morning class this year. The afternoon class this year.

These are parents that went to Learning Tree as a child and now their child attends. Left to right, Amanda, Jamie, Kloi, Ella, dad Ryan, Kiley, Libby, Kelly, (front) Sheila and Alayna

These are parents that went to Learning Tree as a child and now their child attends. Left to right, Maggie and her son Kaden, Madysen and her dad Jason, Hendrix and his mom Amelia.

The afternoon class playing a game at circle. Left to right, Alissa, Colin, Emily, Asher, Daniel, Dawson, Tanner, teacher Kathy, and Delika.

The afternoon class is singing “I’m a Little Snowman.”

The afternoon class listening to a story.


Students of the Month

Super Citizen

Back L: Avery E.; Taya P.; Teerza S.; Andrew K.; Brayden M.; Karter B.; Riley M.; Spencer L.; Kalie S.

Middle L: Avery G.; James L.; Aden E.; Riley D.; Madison B.; Jadon P.; Jacob V.; Maddy S.; Riley T.

Front L: Logan P.; Breanna V.; Jazmyn S.; Griffi n C.; Quinci L.; Olivia N.; Tyler B.

Crosby Cares.The Medical Campus in Crosby.

www.crosbycares.com

First Graders at Lowell School love playing in the snow!

Teddy Bear PicnicLowell Kindergarteners showed off their ‘stuff ’ to their

parents with a Teddy Bear Picnic held in the library. Songs, poems and reading were highlighted for parents to see what they have learned this year.

Hands on Science

Science abounds in all grade levels at Lowell School. Students in these pictures are from third and fourth grades. Students are learning and teaching and using hands on to totally immerse them selves in what is happening in each of their programs.

Valentines DayValentine’s Day was enjoyed by all classroom on Friday, February 11th. Mr. Marohn’s fourth grade stu-

dents had a balloon pop contest. No hands were allowed.


ELEMENTARYNisswa

Beach DayThere may have been a cloudy chill in the air outside, but inside

Nisswa School on Friday, February 4th it was sunny and 80 degrees as Beach Day was celebrated. Students and staff broke out their shorts, summer t-shirts and sunglasses as they limboed their way through the hallways and surfed to Beach boy music. In the library students read books while fl oating on air mattresses among the fi sh and sharks.

Winter Olympics ChallengeAfter reading Ready Freddy: Ready, Set, Snow! Mrs. O’Brien’s class challenged Mr. Koman’s

class to a Winter Olympics based on the events in the book. The two classes competed in snowballtoss, snowball stack, snowshoe race, and sled relay. The snowball toss winner won by one inch! The snowshoe racers wore milk jugs over their boots! It was fun to see them run in the deep snow. The snowball stack winner stacked 12 snowballs. The snow sled pullers worked hard to pull theirpartners in the snow. At the end of the day Mrs. O’Brien’s class was awarded the Snowball Cupfor winning the most events.

2nd graders enjoyed reading a story by the fi replace on a cold winter day with Briley, a trainerd therapy dog. Briley, along with his trainer Tracy Vosen, visit Nisswa school every few weeks and enjoys laying by students as they practice their reading.

4th graders Will Lundstrom, Kevin Chrisinger and Jaylynn Ruikka displayed artwork they created based on artist Clementine Hunter.

Kindergartners from Mrs. Wards class were busy getting ready for Valentine’s Day by creating these special bags and valentines.

Mrs. Ward’s kindergarten class is working on building words during writing time. Our focus today was the “an” family.

1st graders in Mrs. Lambert’s class created runways duringscience class to learn about balance and motion.

Our friend Briley

Clementine Hunter

Valentine Fun Science

Word Building


Christian Kids Fellowship

Oak Street Christian School operates a home-school group called Christian Kids Fellowship. Twice a month homeschool fam-ilies from all over the Brainerd Lakes Area come to our school to participate in different fun, ed-ucational classes that might be a little more chal-lenging to do in a homeschool setting. We offer physical educa-tion, art classes, and a time for science experi-ments. We also spend time wor-shiping God and getting to know each other better. Most classes are taught by the dedicated parents who attend Christian Kids Fellowship. It is so exciting to see the halls FULL of children and to see so many smiling facing interacting with each other. God has blessed our home-school group

Community Outreach

The students of Oak Street Christian School get an opportuni-ty each month to bond with people

of a different generation. Once a month, our school goes to a local retirement community where the students get to interact with the residents. Relationships develop between the students and the resi-dents as they pair up to play BIN-GO or work together on a craft. The residents look forward to our visit and to working with their “special little person.” The kids enjoy the break in routine and the opportunity to reach out to the elderly people of our community.

Lower Grade “Face Lift”The lower grade

students at Oak Street Christian School have been blessed by a lo-cal volunteer with a heart for young chil-dren. For many years, Oak Street Christian School has been a one teacher school. Kids in all 9 grades (K-8) study, socialize, and grow in a single class-room. While this mul-tigrade setting has many academic and social advantages, at times it can limit the amount of “movement” that many younger students crave. Mrs. Donna Shanholtzer recently started volunteering two days a week at our school, where she works with the lower grade students. She helps them with their studies and teaches them new concepts. But most importantly, she creates a hands-on learning environment where younger students are free to move about as they learn. She has brought many new ideas and fun projects into the classroom.

Memorial LibraryThe students of Oak Street Christian School have always been

blessed with a reading library. Unfortunately, years of limited funds have meant very few new books get added to the library each year. This year however, our library received a new name along with many new books. Jeanette Lowe, a long time member of the Brainerd SDA Church, passed away on October 3, 2010. Jeanette had a heart for Ad-ventist education, and specifi cally for our little school. She kept Oak Street Christian School and all the dear children in attendance in her prayers year after year. Prayer is powerful and God has been good to our school, but Jeanette always longed to help out in a more concrete way. So when she passed away this last fall, her children put together a memorial fund, in her honor, for the library at our school. Through this very generous donation, the Jeanette Lowe Memorial Library received many new books that the children will enjoy reading for years to come.

Why We Love Our School“I like my teacher and I like the gym. We can teach Christian stuff at our school and we

can praise God.”- Amanda Olson, 4th Grade

“I like that I still have recess in 8th grade. I like that we have a gymnasium and that we can ride ripstick in the gymnasium.”

- Nathan Olson, 8th Grade

“I love school because it’s fun. I like it because there’s a big gym. I like it because we can play with legos.”

- Michael Olson, 2nd Grade

“What I love about school is friends and having a nice teacher that lets us talk and help each other on assignments.”

- Taylor Olson, 7th Grade

“Our school is a safe place to be; there is no bullying. The kids who go here are all nice. I have guitar lessons at school. The teacher gives you direction. She always helps with school work before you start it. Jesus is here.”

- Hannah Northburg, 7th Grade

“We get a Christian education.”- Calvin Hanson, 8th Grade

“The people are nice. We learn new stuff. We have fun. It’s a Christian school.”- Colby Hanson, 2nd Grade

“I like the stop light (a classroom discipline strategy). I like the reading loft.”- Carter Woodward, 1st Grade

“My school work is fun. I like rollerblading. I like going in the loft. I like reading books.”- Millie Holbrook, Kindergarten

“We have a big gym. We have fun. We learn lots of stuff. We believe in God.”- Owen Schwartz, 2nd Grade

There is no bullying. We have a good teacher. I wish there were more kids here. Every-body can talk about God without being made fun of. When someone gets hurt, one of the older kids can help out. We have good kids.”

- Carlie Hanson, 6th Grade

“Everyone is nice. School is a place where you can learn about God.”- Jodie Doxtator, 6th Grade


PILLAGERHome of the HuskiesPassports

Pillager schools fi rst graders are traveling around the world! They are having tea with the queen of Europe, mak-ing blubber in Antarctica, weaving Kente cloths in Africa, making maracas in South America, and much much more!

Mrs. Cousino’s class of readers studied various animals, chose interesting facts, and created reports to present to the fi rst grade. They learned the writing process and showed Husky PRIDE in their creations!

Recordersby Autumn Meyer and Morgan Kohout

The 4th grade class has been learning to play record-ers. The recorders are really fun to use. They look really cool. Mr. Stoneking and the whole class say they look fes-tive and you can see through them. The recorders will be a really fun experience for the 4th grade.

Front row: Seth Jones, Braedon Nelson, Becca Smith. Row 2: Ben Oie, Annie Posner. Row 3: Krystal Yoder, Adina Dosser, Andrea Torres.

Aquatic BiologyThis is the third year that Mr. Saulsbury’s Aquatic Biology class has

attempted to recreate a type of water treatment plant, in the classroom. This may just be the year we get it to work! The fi rst step for the stu-dents is to gain some knowledge about water quality. What does that mean exactly? Quality water for whom? For what purpose? How do you measure quality? It is with questions like this that we start talk-ing about water.

From there they learn about things like dissolved oxygen, surface water runoff, pollution, habitat alterations and much more. Techniques used to measure chemical, physical, and biological factors that impact our waters are discussed and practiced. Then they have to fi gure out how to “clean” some water using the contraption seen below.

Growing on the rocks in the tubs is a biofi lm. A layer of living crea-tures comprised of single celled organisms. The biofi lm is mainly com-posed of organisms called Protists. Over time the Protists cover all the rocks and the walls and are found free-fl oating in the water. These organisms need food to survive. So we feed them a variety of things including sunlight (many are photosynthetic), hay, wheat, soil, and of course a little fertilizer.

The fertilizer contains limiting agents, compounds that limit growth due to their scarcity. The main two limiting agents we discuss being nitrogen and phosphorous. Some pollution is then added to the water in the form of excess fertilizer. The exact concentration is calculated, and placed in the top. This should cause and algae bloom in the tanks. As the Protists grow and eat the pollution (fertilizer) the water should become cleaner. Or will another problem arise? Perhaps you know what will happen, perhaps you don’t. To fi nd out what exactly happens you will have to wait and see. Or you could always stop on by and check it out for yourself!

Mr. Saulsbury

Spelling BeeChase Muller. 6th Grade won the Pil-

lager Spelling Bee held on 1/20 in the Media Center. He went 13 rounds to be our District winner and will advance to The Lakes Bee at Tornstrum Audito-rim on February 18, 2011 at 1:30 for a chance to win our regional bee and ad-vance to Washington DC!

Acrylic/Oil on Masonite“Cedar Snack Time”

Grade 10

ARTIST’S CORNER

Artist: Matthew Neururer

Forensic Science Final Each year as a part of the fi nal exam for Forensics, a crime scene is created to test the stu-

dents knowledge of the techniques covered in class. This year The Pillager Family center waskind enough to allow us to use the old church located by the Early Childhood wing of our school.It worked out great! The Pillager Fire Department also allowed us to use their c.p.r. mannequinfor a body in addition to the one created out of old clothes, newspaper and a balloon. This meantthere could be a double homicide, with lots of room to look for evidence.

Students photograph and sketch the crime scene the fi rst two days. They take detailed mea-surements and record everything they see. Then the students collect each piece of evidence foranalysis back in the lab. This process takes a couple days as well. Once back in the lab thestudents examine: fi ngerprints, shoe impressions, and tire prints; handwriting, paper, pencilsand markers, hair, fi bers, impressions, unknown powders, blood type, blood spatter and DNAevidence.

Finally, the class is given folders containing information on both the victims and several sus-pects. It is then their job to determine who was involved, who wasn’t, and the chain of eventsthat lead to the deaths. It is this part where their minds are truly stretched. Can you prove,based on fact, not opinion or ”what you think”, but based on fact, what happened?

There is a lot of room for mistakes, but those tend to be some of the best teachers. The stu-dents that really dive into the scene and get caught up in the details learn the most, and havethe most fun along the way. In the end, this year, they solved the crime. If you want to knowwhat happened just fi nd a PHS CSI and ask. I bet they would love to tell you about it. Mr. Saulsbury

It’s All in Knowing HowThat’s what the soldiers said as they left the village in the story

“Stone Soup.” Mrs. Fredman’s kin-dergartners are memorizing the lines from this story and the lines from the story titled, “The Enormous Turnip” for their Family Program on February 25th. The students are working on expression, clarity, and stage blocking. Other parts of this program include narration, recita-tion, and songs. The students are extending invitations to parents, grandparents, and other special people. By the time February 25th arrives, everyone in the class will be saying, “It’s all in knowing how,” and they’ll be excited to show it!

Lutefi sk ChristmasBy Braden Kramer

Mrs. Jacobson came to Pillager Elementa-ry to teach Mrs. Nordin’s 4th grader class all about Christmas in Norway. We learned how to decorate a Norwegian tree. We ate lutefi sk and we learned some Norwegian words. We also learned that a Norwegian Santa is called a Nisse.

Husky of the Month

The Pil-lager Hus-ky Booster Club’s Husky of the Month is a member of the ImPrint n e w s p a p e r staff. Lauren Jeziorski was selected by Advisor Ryan Ihrke. Ihrke states, “Lauren is always positive and ready to help; even if that includes bringing food for long meetings.” The Booster Club meets the fi rst Monday of each month in the school board meet-ing area. Those interested in joining, may contact Greg Bennett for more in-formation.

Raptor Center VisitsOn January 5th the Raptor Center visited Pillager Elementary.

Adam brought four feathered friends to school to teach us about a special group of birds called raptors. The students learned that rap-tors have really good eyes, hooked beaks, and special feet called tal-ons. Raptors eat meat and are called predators.


Fun With School Readiness!

Preschool students sing with enthusiasm during their School Readiness performance.

Dad and daughter are decorating a gingerbread house before the School Readiness program held in December.

PRB Raises Funds for Ronald McDonald House

The Pine River Backus Elementary School brought in 62 pounds of pop tabs to raise funds to help children and their families at the Ronald Mc-Donald House. Mrs. Goddard’s Kindergarten class helped Miss Henkel weigh the pop tabs.

Making Old New Again

Mrs. Sether’s 4th Grade class learned about recycling paper to make new paper. They used old book orders and, with the help of Barb and Michelle from Happy Dancing Turtle, created new paper to draw on or make projects from.

3rd Grade DictionariesThird grade students from Ms. TeHenneppe’s and Mr. Hof-

farth’s classes received student dictionaries donated by the Cen-tral Lake Area Rotary. A representative from the rotary, Bob McLean, is pictured with the students. Student members of In-teract were also present to assist with the dictionaries.

Gingerbread Baby Escapes Again!

The fi rst graders at Pine River-Backus kicked off “I Love to Read Month” with a serious scavenger hunt throughout the el-ementary and high school. After reading Jan Brett’s The Ginger-bread Baby, all three classes followed a recipe to make their own life-size gingerbread baby, and then.. Oh No! When they went to take him out of the oven, he had run away! They followed the clues from staff throughout the school building until fi nally they came to the principal’s offi ce. Mrs. Bruns said that she had let the gingerbread baby join fi rst grade! The fi rst graders returned to their rooms only to fi nd that the gingerbread baby had left each of them one of his little friends to snack on... but they never did catch the Gingerbread Baby !

Go Wild!Go Wild with Fruits & Veggies! is designed to in-

volve students in active and experimental learning. Rather than reading the traditional textbook, stu-dents gather around a large fl ip book that the educa-tor (Monica De La Cruz, Cass County) uses to share information and guide discussion. Lessons are orga-nized by fruit and veggie colors. An animal charac-ter is associated with each lesson to make learning more enjoyable and educate the students about area wildlife. Lessons include games, music, dance, tast-ing, and other activities to stimulate all fi ve senses and keep the students engaged!

Clifford Visits PRBE!

Clifford and Emily Elizabeth were surprise guests in Miss Richards’s Kindergarten class!

Super Spellers!The PRB District Spelling Bee was held on Thurs-

day, Feb. 3 in the High School gym. Twelve contes-tants from grades 5-8 participated, and 5th grader Shaun Jacobsen was declared the 2011 Champion. Shaun will compete at the Lakes Bee in Brainerd on Friday, Feb. 18.

Students from Ms. TeHennepe’s third grade put on plays for parents and classmates in December.


Mission StatementSt. Francis of the Lakes Catholic School, in cooperation with the family, is a vibrant school committed to challenging students to grow spiritually, academically and socially within a

Catholic-centered environment. Our students come from the entire region including Brainerd, Baxter, Pillager, Nisswa, Pequot Lakes, Merrifi eld, Aitkin, Deerwood, Ironton, Crosby, Garrison,

Pine River, Crosslake, E. Gull Lake & Fort Ripley.

LENTEN FISH FRIES Friday nights: March 11th through April 15th

Community, tradition and appetites reign during our fish fries! Everyone is invited to join us for an old-fashioned fish fry with sides, dessert and lemonade on Friday nights during Lent. The students of St. Francis

School will serve meals to raise money for their school.

St. Francis Catholic Church Social Hall (basement)

404 North 9th St., Brainerd, MN 56401 Fridays March 11 – April 15

4:30pm - 7:00pm Children <12 - $4.00, Everyone else - $8.00

If you would like to volunteer, please call 829-2344

Valentines by Fourth Graders:

Valentines are red, sometimes blue. Yours is purple because I love you. Josh

One Valentine’s Day Garret was walking, and all of a sudden

he tripped. He fell into a heart and sunk into it. He was now in a world of Valentine’s Day. Garrett

There once was a baby named Cupid. Cupid loved to fl y. Cu-

pid went all around his house with his diaper on and his bow ready to shoot. Amy

Once there were two friends. Their names were Hope and

Lily. They were best friends and always got together on holi-days. Valentine’s Day was coming up so they needed to get each other gifts. They didn’t know what to give each other because they wanted to like it. So they didn’t get each other anything, but Lily and Hope didn’t care. They knew all they needed was love and that’s what they got. Mariko

It was Valentine’s morning and a brand new baby Cupid was

born. There was a party, and they had a great Valentine’s party. The party had heart cookies, cakes, doughnut, and pink marsh-mallows. The were wonderful. There was Twister, karaoke, jump rope, hide and seek, fi nd the pink golden cookie, and all sorts of games, even more than 100,000. It was the best party ever. Ellie

Funny Hat Day Getting ready for the Talent Show Singing at the Talent Show

Catholic Schools Week Celebration

Outside Fun Sports Jersey Day Family Fun Dance

Prayer Buddies read together. Teachers versus Middle School Students Volleyball game

Father Steve and Mrs. Titus (K) watch the Talent Show.

Biztown Field TripOn January 13 the 5th and 6th graders took a fi eld trip to Biztown in Maplewood, MN.

Each student was given a job in one of fi ve different businesses. They were in charge of operating the business, producing goods or services for other students at Biztown, and learned how communities operate.


Staples MotleyIndependent School District #2170Independent School District #2170

First Robotics Competition Staples Motley High School is fortunate to have received two grants aimed at helping our

students become involved in FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technol-ogy) which holds a robotics competition. One grant is from JCPenney and the other from 3M.

Both of which have allowed SM to purchase the equipment and mate-rials needed to build a competition robot. Graco Co. is also providing grant money and as well as an en-gineer, Kevin Mashuga, to help. The robot is being designed to pick up an inner tube and place it on a wall across the arena. At the end it can release a minibot which will be able to climb up a pole. Our 19 students involved are working on designing, building and operating this robot with the help of Nathan Peterson, CLC robotics instructor and a few of his students who are volunteering their time to mentor our students in creating the robot.

We will be demonstrating this robot to the public during half time at the SM Girls basketball game on Feb. 15th. The competition is March 10, 11 and 12 at the DECC in Duluth. Further information can be found about this competition on www.usfi rst.org or check out our facebook page: tfrc clc. (the First Robotic Cardinals).

Pen Pals As a friendly letter lesson, the 4th grade

students in Mrs. Odden’s class at Staples El-ementary wrote pen pals letters to students in Naples, Florida. Even though email was an option, Mrs. Odden believes that the skill of letter writing via “snail mail” is still a very crucial part of communication that could be lost in future generations. She em-phasizes that authentic handwritten letters can be cherished and treasured keepsakes from parents, grandparents, loved ones, and even pen pals for a lifetime.

One of her fourth graders, Olivia Kruchten, who previously attended the Vil-lage School in Naples, matched up the stu-dents, as she knows both classrooms very well. After learning about the fi ve parts of a friendly letter and going through the writ-ing process, the well written and informative letters were delivered via Express Mail just in time for Christmas!

Mrs. Thompson’s students were so excited to receive them and to be-gin communicating with their new friends. They have since sent letters to the Staples kids along with a class picture, and the writing contin-ues! Next, we will be corresponding via Skype in our classrooms!

Dollars for Scholars The annual Staples and Motley Dollars for Scholars Auction and

spaghetti supper was held January 31, 2011. There were well over 100items to be auctioned. Most local businesses were represented as wellas several others who donated homemade food and craft items. Over$11,000 was raised for the scholarship program. Every year the Sta-ples and Motley Dollars for Scholars organization gives scholarships tograduating seniors who plan on attending college. Last year $81,000 ofscholarships were awarded.

WEBSITEOnce again this year, we urge our parents to use our website (www.isd2170.k12.mn.us) and

Family Access. Sports schedules, news items, handbooks, etc. are all on the web! Announce-ments are also posted daily. Family Access is a great way to keep in touch with the school and teachers. This feature allows you to monitor your childs’ attendance, grades, lunch account and much more. Be sure to contact us if you still need a password and instructions. You can also pay your lunch accounts, activity fees and music rental, with check or credit card, through e-funds on our web site. Click on “Links” to fi nd the site, then follow the instructions to set up your e-fund account.

Polar Plunge

Staples Motley High School has 4 seniors that are participating in the “POLAR PLUNGE” in Brainerd (Breezy Point) on March 5th, at 1pm. We are trying to raise money for them to par-ticipate. Money will be donated to Minnesota Special Olympics. The boys are: Philip Smith-ley, Zach Israelson, Erik Nelson, and Derek “Larry” Deyonge.

For more information visit www.plungemn.org. The boys’ team name is CUDDLY CREW and they will be wearing pajamas!

Middle School Respect & Responsibility

Students at MSMS now have the opportunity to have an 18 minutemorning break each day, depending on whether or not they are adher-ing to the new “Respect & Responsibility Break” program. This programstarted at the beginning of the 3rd quarter and it will be an incentivefor students to act respectfully at school and to have their homeworkassignments done well and in a timely fashion.

The 18 minute break was made possible by shaving off three min-utes from each class period. Everyone reports somewhere during that time period and there are three options available which include:

· Socialization/physical activity. Those students who have been both respectful in class and responsible with their homework will be reward-ed. This means a choice of participating in a physical activity outside or in the gym; or socializing and playing games in the cafeteria.

· Time out room. Students who have been disrespectful in class will spend the break time in this room. Students are allowed 2 “time-outs”in a week’s time. If they have a third one, they will also receive a dis-ciplinary notice.

· The study room is available for students who do not have their assignments done or are struggling with their homework. We hope students will view the study room as an opportunity to become better students.

We want our 6th—8th graders to be better students and we want to reward them for doing that. We also realize that some are struggling and hopefully this study room option will give them a chance to catch up.

The idea for the “Respect & Responsibility Break” program came after hearing constructive feedback from MSMS teachers last spring indicating that students needed more incentive in the classroom. The new program will be evaluated in a few months to see how it’s working. Hopefully, the 18th minute break reward will be the incentive neededfor students to show respect in class and to get their assignments doneon time.

STAPLES MOTLEY BUSES GO GREEN RECEIVING A $27,000 GRANT

School buses serv-ing Staples Motley ISD #2170 are now running cleaner and greener thanks to the voluntary efforts of the school district. ISD #2170 recently partnered with Project Green Fleet, a collabo-ration of businesses, government agencies and nonprofi t organi-zation dedicated to improving Minnesota’s air quality by reducing diesel emissions.

Buses are made “green” by the installation of federally approved catalyst muffl ers that can reduce engine emissions and eaters that reduce idling. Five school buses in the Staples Motley School District fl eet have been retrofi t-ted with catalyst muffl ers and nine will have idle-reducing heaters installed, with a com-bined worth over $27,000.

Cleaner running buses serving Staples Motley School District are part of a larger statewide effort by Project Green Fleet. To date, more than 1,800 buses have been retro-fi tted all around the state of Minnesota. Those retrofi ts have reduced emissions exposure for thousands of school children. Because children breathe more air relative to their body weight than adults, they are especially susceptible to the health problems these pollutants can cause, such as asthma and other upper respi-ratory ailments.

Participation in Project Green Fleet is en-tirely voluntary. Air quality in Minnesota cur-rently meets federal standards administered by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

As a result, there is no mandate in Minne-sota to retrofi t diesel engines to make them run cleaner.

Norbert Klimek, who works at the Sta-ples Motley bus garage, worked on obtaining the grant after read-ing an EPA email and watching a news seg-ment about Project

Green Fleet on TV. Klimek says, “I am ex-tremely pleased with the project results. The benefi ts go way beyond cleaning up our envi-ronment. These Espar Heaters being installed on nine of our buses will also save on the lon-gevity of expensive bus components and will make for much easier start in the winter, plus will help keep our buses warmer for the chil-dren on the brutally cold days.

Thanks to Project Green Fleet’s sponsors, participation is completely free to participat-ing bus fl eets. In Staples Motley, clean buses have been made possible through a federal grant from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Project Green Fleet has also received support from project funders such as Flint Hills Resources, Andersen Corporation, Blue Cross Blue Shield Foundation of Minnesota and the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency. Project Green Fleet worked with Donaldson Company Inc., a Minnesota based manufac-turer of clean diesel technologies to purchase the pollution control equipment.

Please visit www.projectgreenfl eet.org to see other school districts that are participating.

Documents

School Pages Feb. 2011