March 17th, 2016

District FFA Volume 2, Issue 9

The PHS Press

March 2nd is celebrat-ed in Texas as the an-niversary of inde-pendence from Mexi-co

March 14th is Pi Day

March 20th is the first day of spring

March 17th is St. Patrick’s day

February 22nd and 23rd, Plevna FFA traveled to Baker for Spring Dis-tricts. On Monday the 22nd, the Agronomy Team and Creed speakers left at noon to compete. In Agronomy, the team consisting of Jessica Stock-ett, Jessica Paul, Dylan Sander and Jake Edgell placed 2nd. Individually, Dylan placed 2nd, Jake 4th and Jessica Stockett 8th. In Creed Speaking, Jessica Paul placed 1st while Taylor Bertsch placed 2nd in Jr. Creed Speaking. Tuesday the 23rd, Mechanics, Farm Business Management, Floriculture and Parli Pro competitions occurred. In farm business man-agement, the team consisting of Jessica Paul, Jessica Stockett, Dylan Sander and Jake Edgell placed 1st. Individually Jessica Stockett placed 1st, Dylan Sander 2nd and Jessica Paul 3rd. In Floriculture, the team con-sisting of Trinity Rieger, Ashley Sander, Jessica Paul and Taylor Bertsch placed 1st. Individually Taylor placed 1st, Ashley 3rd, Jessica 4th and Trin-ity 7th. In Junior Parli Pro, Ashley Sander placed 4th and Taylor Bertsch placed 5th. The Mechanics team consisting of Dylan Sander, Chris Skogas, Jacob Edgell and Jessica stockett placed 4th as a team. Individu-ally Dylan placed 11th, Chris 15th. Overall, the teams were very satisfied with the results and look forward to competing at state.

Produced by Dylan Sander, Jake Edgell, Jessica Stockett, Layne Farris, and Nicole Allerdings, Editor

The birthstone for March is Aquamarine

The first Wednesday in March is World Math Day

March is American Red Cross Month as well as Fire Preven-tion month

Backrow(l‐r):JennaPaul,JessicaPaul,DylanSander,JakeEdgell,JessicaStockettFrontrow(l‐r):TaylorBertsch,DacyBuerkle,TrinityRieger,AshleySander

Five Plevna BPA members, along with advisor Ms. Kirstchen, traveled to Billings to compete at the State BPA Conference March 13th-15th. On Sunday, Jessica Stockett, Dylan Sander, and Nicole Allerdings took several tests at City College. That evening over 1,000 BPA members gathered for the opening session and heard from comedian Lukas Seely. On Monday morning, Laylah Dulin and Jessica Paul presented their Web Site Design Team project. That evening there was another session followed by a dance. Tuesday morning was the awards and closing session. Jessica Stockett placed 2nd in Advanced Ac-counting, qualifying her to compete at National BPA in Boston this May. In Payroll Accounting, she placed 6th and Nicole Allerdings placed 7th. Dylan Sander took 9th place in Per-sonal Financial Management. Nicole Allerdings was awarded one of the two $500 Montana BPA State Leadership Scholarships. Congratulations, students!

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FFA Floriculture Team

The Plevna FFA Floriculture team consisting of Taylor Bertsch, Dacy Buerkle, Jessica Paul, Jenna Paul, Ashley Sander, and Trinity Rieger placed 1st at Spring Districts.

Plevna School is having a Kindergarten Roundup on April 29. Schedule is as follows: 8:30-9:00 Tour of Kindergarten Classroom 9:00-9:50 Games in the gym with Ms. Coon and testing for Kindergarten Readiness. (No Hearing or Vision) 10:50-11:50 Tour of School 10:50-11:30 Lunch for Pre Kindergartners 11:30-12:00 Recess on the playground and parent questions in Kindergar-ten Room. If your child will be starting school next year, please bring their birth certif-icate, social security card and immunization records. Please call the school (772-5666) and let us know if you will be attending.

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On March 8th, five Plevna junior high students participated in the junior high Academ-ic Olympics in Miles City. Eighth grader Taylor Bertsch, and seventh graders Dacy Buerkle, Ashley Sander, Trinity Rieger, and Jenna Paul took a 100-question written test and then competed in oral rounds. Their team placed 8th out of 22 teams in the written competitions. Dacy placed 7th and Ashley placed 11th out of the seventh grade students on the written test. On March 9th, six Plevna high school students participated in the high school Academic Olympics. Seniors Dylan Sander, Nicole Allerdings, Jessica Stockett, and Jake Edgell; junior Layne Silver-Farris, and freshman Jessica Paul also took a 100-question written test and competed in oral rounds. Nicole Allerdings placed 3rd and Dylan Sander placed 7th out of the seniors of the written test. Congratulations, students!

Ashley Sander - 11th place and Dacy Buerkle -7th place

Dylan Sander -7th place and Nicole Allerdings -3rd place

A Taste of Reading On February 23rd, elementary students participated in some special activities after school while their parents visited with teachers. First, Mrs. Stickney taught the stu-dents about diversity. With help from Isaiah Prather, she asked the students to think of some similarities and differences she shares with Isaiah. Some similarities were they both have dark, curly hair and wear glasses. The students listed several differ-ences as well, including the fact that Mrs. Stickney is a teacher and Isaiah is a student, Mrs. Stickney is a female and Isaiah is a male, and Mrs. Stickney has light skin and Isaiah has dark skin. Mrs. Stickney explained that even though she and Isaiah are dif-ferent, they should still be treated with equal respect. The students watched part of Martin Luther King, Jr.’s “I Have a Dream” speech and then colored booklets portray-ing ideas mentioned in the speech. Following this activity, the students spent time reading at several different “picnic” spots. There were nonfiction, fiction, fable, poetry, fantasy, and mystery stations. The fifth grade class also presented posters and shared parts of books they recently read. Students were also able to view movie trailers the sixth grade class made using an iPad app. Several books were given away, and stu-dents were able to read to their parents at the various stations. These activities were a great way to encourage children to read.

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Mrs. Stickney wrote down each student’s own dream Teaching the students about diversity

The Family, Career and Community Leaders of America organization cares about children and their safety. The Plevna School was in need of child care for the Internet Safety presen-tation for parents, so three seventh grade students- Dacy Buerkle, Jenna Paul and Sophia Dulin- stepped up to the plate and volunteered to fill the need. They created a Focus on Children Project entitled “Kids Care Center – KCC”, and planned a variety of activities to keep children sixth grade and under busy for over 1 ½ hours. This couldn’t be possible with-out the help of other volunteers in the FCCLA organization. Children had the opportunity to shoot hoops, play golf, cut letter cookies to spell their names, listen to books be read to them, have relay races, bounce balloons and watch movies. Twenty-nine children participat-ed in the activities and when the evening was finished, the FCCLA members all decided they weren’t prepared to be parents or teachers yet. Prior to the activities, a meal was prepared and served by Mrs. Stickney’s FCS classes.

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Dacy Buerkle reading to some of the children

Students cutting out letters from sugar cookie dough to spell their names

Several people enjoyed the lasagna meal Students taking their shot at putting

During the last week in February, the Plevna FFA chapter sponsored activities incorporating the entire school for celebration of National FFA Week. On Wednesday, all the students came to school dressed in their formal clothes, ranging from bright button-down shirts to dresses. Bright and early Thursday morn-ing, the members started a pancake and sausage breakfast, which was free for the entire school to attend. The students enjoyed creating artistic pancakes, ranging from different animals to FFA symbols. After the breakfast was concluded, an Ag trivia was handed out to each class. The trivia consisted of random facts about leaders in agriculture, as well as FFA knowledge. Prizes were given to each class according to how they placed. Thursday afternoon, the Ag Olympics was presented, with 6 different competitions. The dif-ferent teams were comprised of 7-12 grade students, as well as a team of teachers. Competitions included pie eating, pie trivia, a frozen t-shirt contest, tire races, minnow transfer, and a construction project. After all the chaos was over, the senior team beat the teachers in a close race by one point. On Friday, everyone was encouraged to come dressed in their pajamas for the end of a long week. The FFA enjoyed involving the school in a week of agriculture related activities and looks forward to more interactive activities throughout the year.

The Plevna FFA Chapter ready to begin Ag Olympics Taylor Bertsch rolling tires

Measure twice, cut once

Jessica Paul and Jessica Stockett making pancakes for the all-school breakfast.

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Did you know that many mobile apps request unnecessary access to your phones, tablets, and other mobile devices? As technology advances, more conven-iences as well as dangers come with it. Earl Campbell, a police officer for the Billings Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force, presented the cold hard facts of the po-tential dangers on the internet. For instance, if you use Snapchat to communicate with your friends, Snapchat's servers can hold those pictures indefinitely. This should make you think twice about anything you send. Facebook requires access to your phone’s camera and microphone. Though you may think nothing of it, they can record audio and video anytime they want. Now obviously, if you are not doing anything wrong or saying anything wrong, then this should not matter, but if you are sharing personal information across Facebook messenger, it may be good to remember that other people may see this as it is the World Wide Web. There are 1.4 billion people on Facebook. If Facebook was a country it would be the 3rd largest country in the world. If someone manages to hack an account some-where online, they may be able to use your personal photos and/or information to do whatever they want. Remember nothing on the social networks is verified and social networks are not secure. As to the cyber bullying that occurs on the social networks, the numbers are astounding. Mr. Campbell showed a video of Thumper from Bambi and strongly sug-gested that we live by the advice Thumper’s mother gave him: “If you can’t say any-thing nice, don’t say nothing at all!!” This had validity in 1942 and should still be the Golden Rule we follow today. Mr. Campbell reminded the students that in today’s world, Employers and Col-leges are looking at people’s online profiles before hiring or admitting them into their organizations. Think about what your digital footprint might tell others about you. In conclusion, the internet is a great technological tool with many conveniences,

but you must be careful what you put out there because you can never get it back. THINK BEFORE YOU POST!

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Internet Footprints

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On Friday, March 4th, the Student Council organized a trip for grades 6-12 on a fun-filled adventure to Rapid City, SD. Advisors Mr. Coon, Mr. Isaacs, Chaperones Ms. Coon and Mrs. Isaacs, and several students left after school, making it to Pizza Hut in Sturgis for supper. They then spent the evening at the Watiki Water Park in Rapid City, swimming till closing. They arose early for breakfast and swam until 10:00, after which they headed to Flags N’ Wheels where they played some reball – a form of paintball; had fun with the laser tag; drove the go-carts, and played in the arcade. They visited the Sturgis Pizza Ranch on their trip home. It was a fun outing and a good time was had by all.

On Tuesday, March 15, the third grade students showcased their science projects, which explained various scientific ideas that we take for granted, as well as some other interesting experiments.

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Tonna MacYeaple— “The Magic Egg” - using heat to suck an egg inside the bottle.

Hayden Lane— “Making a Water Filter”

Jordan Hauff— “Elephant Toothpaste”—using yeast and hydrogen peroxide

Lyann Gajeske— “The Pickled Egg” - Shows how vinegar breaks down egg shells.

Billie Jo Miller— “Colored Car-nations” - to show how water travels to the flower.

Aidyn Schwartz— “Rust Cleaner” - uses Coke, vinegar, Dr. Pepper and Mt. Dew to clean rusty bolts.

Sophia Tudor— “Crystal Mining”

Trae Oberlander— “Making a Potato Clock”

Kalob Bolinger— “Meat Preservation”

Kali Dulin— “Glow in the Dark Xylophone” showing how different levels of water in a glass changes pitch.

Tristan Buerkle— “Geodes” “using aluminum sulfate.

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Congratulations to Miss Parks who recently earned funding at DonorsChoose.org for a classroom project called “5th Grade is Head Over Heels for Desks”. Ms. Parks’s classroom will soon receive 2 Stand-up Desks. DonorsChoose.org is a free nonprofit website where teachers at your school can receive funding for student re-sources. Thank you for Ms. Parks for being a teacher who goes above and beyond for her students. Let’s give her a high five!

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Kick the Habit Wednesday March 16, 2016, Ms. Coon and her health class, Laylah Dulin, Cole Edgell, Isaiah Prather, Jessica Paul and Colter Peterson made posters with tobac-co facts and hung them in the hallway. They then went around to each of the clas-ses and talked to them about why tobacco is bad for you. They also presented the classes with some facts about tobacco. Ms. Coon had the 5th and 6th grade work on a project to promote kicking the habit also. They made t-shirts that have to-bacco facts and quotes on them. Both groups enjoyed working on projects to pro-mote “Kick the Habit” and through the sharing of their projects, passed along some great information for others.

Colter Peterson, Laylah Dulin, and Isaiah Prather sharing the facts they learned about tobacco.

We are often asked if our school will remain open. The answer is a resounding “YES!” Our trustees and staff are dedicated to the education of our students.

At this point our numbers are low in the high school, but if we remain dedicated to our school and community, the following table shows the projections:

HS JH Elementary TOTAL 9-12 7-8 K-6 K-12

2017 8 14 52 74 2018 13 13 57 83 2019 19 18 48 85 2020 20 18 53 91

We are proud to be a small school where we can personalize and maximize learning. We have a combination of dedicated veteran teachers and new teachers who are willing to assist students in the classroom as well as outside of the classroom to encourage academic success.

Following are some of the innovative programs we have at our school:

1:1 Chromebook initiative provides all 6th through 12th grade students with a Chromebook. We are committed to providing state of the art technology for global learning.

A greenhouse supplies vegetables for our lunchroom. Students and staff have the opportunity to plant and harvest the produce to serve in our school cafeteria. This spring we will have raised beds in our courtyard for outdoor classroom experiences for grades K-12. It will produce a greater variety of vegetables for the lunch program.

Graphic tablets provide students access to digital graphics and industry standard software which allows them to create digital media projects while honing their 21st Century skills.

A 3-D printer prints with a variety of plastic, metal, and wood materials which allows student to print models to enhance and complement their learning.

A Robotics program is available for grades 7-12

Journalism class generates weekly news articles which are published in the local paper as well as a monthly school newspaper.

Buddy Program which offers an opportunity for older students to be a mentor for younger students

A free After School program is provided for all students which includes snacks, homework, and activity time.

We offered Enrichment presentations in the following areas:

Heritage Art Center where students created art with warm/cool colors

“The Jungle Book” performance through the Missoula Children’s Theatre

Miss Montana presentation with an anti-bullying message

I Love to Read presentations from our young readers to parents and community members

Passion Projects for 6th-8th Grade students

Reading to the elderly

Band and Music concerts throughout the year

We have a variety of organizations at the junior high and high school levels to provide positive opportunities for interaction with oth-ers as well as developing leadership skills in areas of interest. These organizations include Business Professionals of America (BPA); Family, Career, and Community Leaders of America (FCCLA) as well as FFA. Each organization offers many opportunities for in-volvement at the local, state, and national levels based upon student focus and commitment.

Our district maintains a focus on academic achievement through a reading emphasis in grades K-2 as well as “What I Need”--WIN time for all students grades K-12 which gives additional time for extra assistance or enrichment. MAP scores provide information in regard to individual academic growth and SBAC testing indicates that students within the District have achieved Annual Yearly Pro-gress guidelines as set forth by the Montana Office of Public Instruction.

Having these opportunities available makes for a well-rounded individual who is life, college, and career ready.

Our Kids, Our School, Our Community—PLEVNA PROUD!!

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