EDGEMONT SCHOOL DISTRICT NEWSLETTER S u p e r i n t e n d e n t
Dave
Cortney
December vaca on is just around the corner. You will be visi ng friends, a ending gatherings or celebra ons, shopping and exchanging gi s. To manage your hec c schedule, I encourage you to set realis c goals. Accomplishing just a por on of a smaller list with higher priori es reaps be er results in the long run. Times that you spend together with your children talking, sharing thoughts and relaxing are a vital part of all family ac vi es. Find me each day to have family discussions. Talk about favorite books, memorable stories, and family tradi ons. Children love to hear tales from your childhood or that of your parents. Even simple, every day occurrences become the founda on of an oral family history to be passed from genera on to genera on. Sing songs or share poems that you enjoy. If you are fixing any special meals, give your children the opportunity to help you. Let them read the recipe or help with the prepara on. Create a scrapbook. It can become a treasure to look back through or a though+ul gi for a family member. Make me to laugh and play. Prac ce relaxa on and calm thoughts. These habits can be learned through prac ce. Treasure you me together. It is a gi for everyone that is always the right size and price!
Happy Holidays Dave Cortney Deanne Brown Terri Brown Nancy Cape Sarah Callan Rhonda Chance Sco Corbe Nate Cortney Gary Darrow Melinda Edmondson Amy Ferley Connie Gerard Micheal Gaul Carol Harding Suzanne Hollenbeck
Susan Hendricks Susan Humiston Michele Joint Pam Koller Pam Lauritsen Julie Mar an Joe Mar n Cindy Millburn Ashley Mills Kathi Nelsen Lane Ostenson Nikki Ostenson Susan Ostenson Becky Peterson
Holly Peterson Jasmyne Poste Jus n Printz Chidawn Rippentrop Linda Sedlacek Cheryl Shook Larryssa Soiland Diane Stevens Linda TIdball Kari Tonkin Dennis Tubb Michelle Urban Perry West Garland Wright
Edgemont School Staff and Board
Veterans Day Program By: Sue Hendricks
The 2015 Veterans Day Program was held on November 11, 2015 at 8:00 am in the Edgemont School Armory. Veterans were treated to coffee and donuts prior to the program in the school cafeteria. Chief (retired) Jan C. and Captain (retired) Janel P. Uiterwyk presented the colors. Dustin Curl, a high school senior, sang the Star Spangled Banner. A short video was shown called Green Light A Vet that encourages people to display a green light in or on their home to show support for American Veterans. After the video, the High School Choir, under the direction of Suzanne Hollenbeck sang O America. Sue Hendricks told the story of Lawrence Joel, who was a medic serving in Vietnam. His battalion found themselves in an ambush, outnumbered six to one. Joel administered first aid to wounded soldiers in spite of having been shot twice himself. The battle lasted twentyfour hours. After being hospitalized for his wounds, he received the Silver Star and the Medal of Honor for his activities on November 8, 1965. Niles Harris, from South Dakota, was one of the wounded that survived that day. The song, The 8th of November, was written and performed by Big and Rich. It tells the story of Lawrence Joel and Niles Harris. A video of that story was shown to the audience, followed by a moment of silence. The Edgemont Elementary sang the service songs of each branch of the military. As the veterans stood, they were presented flags by members of the Edgemont Student Council. The Middle School Choir also sang A merica The Beautiful.
Veterans Day continued
As the members of the Student council read the names of the veterans buried in the Edgemont Cemetery, one person stood for each name. Every student, staff member, and several community members were needed. There are 193 veterans buried in the cemetery. This shows the contribution made by a small community to protect our freedom. Becky Peterson introduced speakers, Janel and JC Uiterwyk. JC entered the United States Navy in 1991 and was trained as a Submarine Logistics Support Specialist. He completed five shore duty assignments and eleven strategic patrols while assigned to three submarines. Chief Uiterwyk deployed to Kuwit in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom and Enduring Freedom. After twenty-two years, he retired in June 2013. Janel Heidebrink Uiterwyk is a 1993 Edgemont High School graduate. She entered the United States Air Force in 1995 and completed her weather forecaster certification. In 2005, she earned her commission as a Second Lieutenant. During her career, she was assigned to eight duty locations and completed five worldwide deployments in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom, Enduring Freedom, and Afghanistan twice. After more than 20 years, she retired in 2013. A special thank you to Janel and JC for presenting the Colors and speaking at the 2015 Veterans Day program. Thank you to Becky Peterson for assisting with the organization of the program; Linda Tidball and the art students for the wonderful art displays; Kari Tonkin for her technical assistance; Suzanne Hollenbeck and the choirs for sharing their musical talents; Jasmyne Post for recording the program; Scott Corbett and the Student Council for their assistance with the program; and the kitchen staff for providing donuts and coffee. The price of freedom is high. We cannot afford to forget those willing to pay it. Thank you to all the veterans who have served, who are currently serving, and those who will serve in the armed forces.
Get Outside with Technology This Winter By Kari Tonkin, Computer, Tech Ed, CAD teacher
It may sound strange to many people, but bringing nature and technology together is a lot easier than you may think! There are many technological tools, some new and some that have been around for many years, that can help children overcome the new “nature deficit disorder” that is sweeping American society. What is this disorder? Children that have no experience being out in nature have no concept that nature actually exists! The brain is a muscle and needs to be trained just like the rest of our muscles. Input = output. Therefore, children who are lacking in posi ve experiences with nature will no longer realize the importance of it: clean water, clean air, and food and mineral sources. How do we get those “digital na ves” out the door? Here are a few sugges ons that are easy and free, and a great way to involve the en re family, while applying some fun technologies that kids today are so fond of using: Geocaching (h ps://www.geocaching.com/play): This ac vity involves a li le research ahead of me, as you will need to look on the internet for coordinates for the caches that are hidden around your area. For us, there are two hidden in the Edgemont area, several between Edgemont and Hot Springs, and over a dozen in Hot Springs. How do you cache? Using your GPS or the GPS on your phone, you locate boxes at the coordinates given. Inside each box is a li le trinket. You take the trinket and leave another of similar value for the next cache hunter. SkyView (h p://www.terminaleleven.com/skyview/iphone/): If you like star gazing, winter is a spectacular me to try it! There is something about a cold, clear night in winter that brings the stars and planets closer and brighter. SkyView is a free phone or tablet applica on (Apple OR Android) that shows you the sky in real me, or you can look at past or future mes to see what you missed or what is coming soon. You can adjust seDngs to show constella ons, the real horizon view (including trees or farmlands), and even turn on or off satellites and planets. If you don’t know which direc on you are looking, be sure to also download a free compass app – there are many to choose from for all phone types. iNaturalist (h p://www.inaturalist.org/): This is a newer app for both Apple and Android devices, as well as through their website, that allows you to belong to a world-wide community of nature catalogers. The point of this website is to record what you see (including taking photos), see where others have found similar plants or animals, and build your knowledge by talking with naturalists and other enthusiasts in the community. iNaturalist is free to join, and from personal experience, our family is very excited about logging informa on to this app when we find something new! LeafSnap (h p://leafsnap.com/): LeafSnap is another electronic field guide similar to iNaturalist, but focused on plant iden fica on. This is currently only available to Apple devices, but an Android version is currently in development. Take a picture of a leaf, and use their app to either iden fy it right then and there, or submit it to the system if it is not yet catalogued. Children (and adults!) can learn to iden fy trees and plants on the fly, without having to lug around large field guides in a backpack.
Get Outside con%nued
State and Na%onal Park Apps: If you have a park pass for Custer State Park or plan to drive through Wind Cave or another Na onal Park this winter, check your app store for online versions of maps, hiking trails, and tourist informa on. Some apps for these things are free, others have a small cost to support the developers. They can sure be handy to have instead of carrying around a large, fold-out paper version of the park map/info brochure. Some state and most na onal parks have these apps available (our favorite is put out by Chimani – h p://www.chimani.com – which has offline versions of topography and hiking maps for most na onal parks in the US). While on Wi-Fi, the maps can automa cally update, so you have the latest informa on while outside playing. Instagram + Digital Camera/Phone Camera (h p://www.instagram.com): If you’ve never explored Instagram, it is an incredible social photography website/app. If you have a budding photographer in your family, you can encourage them to create an online por+olio of their work (kids 13 and over can have their own page, or create a family page like we did) for the en re world to view, appreciate, and comment on your photos. Our family has been pos ng wildlife and landscape photos for a year on Instagram, and I have not run into any nega ve or inappropriate comments on our work from strangers. Rather, I feel of all the social sites, Instagram users are very posi ve and suppor ve of one another. Of course, be sure to monitor since it is a social site, but this has inspired both my sons, ages 8 and 4, to be outside snapping more photos, so they can share them with people around the world! The key to geDng today’s kids outside might just happen to lie in using technology in new ways. I am always on the lookout for new apps and programs that can excite kids about being outside. It should go without saying that playing outside has so many benefits: geDng Vitamin D from the sun, building up the immune system, geDng ample exercise, and s mula ng the imagina on and problem solving skills. And besides, nothing beats the feeling of coming back into the house to find a big, steaming cup of cocoa wai ng for you a er a hard day of geocaching!
December 2015 Mon
Tue
Sophomores Concession
2
Thu
3 Parent Teacher
Fri
4
Conferences. 4-8:00pm Students dismissed at 2:00
Sat
5 HS boys & girls BB Jamboree RC Stevens TBA 8:30 JH Wrestling
6
1 4:00pm JHGBB (Home) vs Newcastle
Wed
P a g e
Sun
@ Central HS Rapid
6 Junior Concession
7 4pm JHGBB @ RC Chris an One Man Volleyball Evening Rally @ 7:00pm
9 Senior NCRC Test
10 7pm K-5 Concert
11 2pm HSG & HSBB @ New Underwood
12 2pm HSG & HSBB @ Wall
13 14 Senior Concession JHGBB Panhandle Tournament @ Hay Springs 7pm School Board
15 7PM Concert 5-12 Band 6-12 choir
16
17 FULL DAY OF
18 JHGBB 5th & 6th
SCHOOL 4pm JHGBB @Sioux Co. 6pm HSGG @
grade only @ Hot Springs 4pm HSGBB & HSBBB @
Sioux Co.
Morrill , NE
19 2:30pm HSG and HSBBB vs Phillip HOME
20
22
23
24
25
26
21
CHRISTMAS BREAK 28
29
30
CHRISTMAS BREAK
31 SCHOOL RESUMES JANUARY 4TH
T it l e
27
N e w s l et t e r
8 4pm JHGBB (Home) vs Hot Springs 4pm JH Wrestling @ Douglas, SD
1
2
3
DECEMBER
Hamburger Gravy
BBQ Chicken Flatbread
Chicken Quesadilla
WG Roll
Refried Beans Grapes Banana Bar
8
9
10
Mini Corn Dogs
Lasagna
Burrito Bowl
Pepperoni Pizza
Roasted Vegetables
WG Garlic Bread
WG Rice
Sweet Potato Fries
Pineapple Chunks
Corn
Fiesta Black Bean
Manderine Oranges
Tropical Fruit
Frozen Fruit Cup
15
16
17
Grande Nacho’s
Chicken Drumstick
14 Meatball Sub
Teriyaki Chicken
WG Bun
WG Rice
Nacho Chips
WG Roll
California Blend
Stir Frye Vegetables
Baked Zucchini Sticks
Applesauce
Grapes
Peaches
Mashed Potatoes & Gravy
22
18
Pears
Ice Cream Cup
21
11
1
7
I s s u e
Apricots
Citrus Fruit Cup
All meals served with choice of milk and salad bar. 1 ,
Mashed Potato
Broccoli
4
V o l u m e
30
23
24
25
No School!
No School!
No School!
No School!
No School!
Winter Break
Winter Break
Winter Break
Winter Break
Winter Break
28
29
30
31
1
No School!
No School!
No School!
No School!
Winter Break
Winter Break
Winter Break
Winter Break
Winter Break
P a g e
No School!
7
E D G E M O N T S C H O O L P O B O X 2 9 E D G E M O N T , S D
edgemont.k12.sd.us
Albert & Gertrude DeVore PO Box 285 Edgemont, SD 57735
Parent teacher conferences are December 3 from 4-8pm.
School will be dis-
missed on the 3rd at 2:00pm. PARENTS OF K-5 STUDENTS YOUR TIME REMAINS THE SAME AS THE FIRST CONFERENCE. IF YOU NEED TO RESCHEDULE CALL THE SCHOOL. 6th –12th conferences will be held in the gym.
