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POMEROY SCHOOL DISTRICT #110 PARENT NEWSLETTER |
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Volume 9 |
Number 10 |
May 2008 |
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Kim Spacek Superintendent/ Elementary Principal kspacek@psd.wednet.edu |
Doug LaMunyan Jr./Sr. High Principal dlamunyan@psd.wednet.edu |
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Mailing Address: PO Box 950 Pomeroy WA 99347 |
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Website: www.psd.wednet.edu |
Skyward Family Access |
Partnership for Learning: WASL Resource Center |
Washington
State Board of Education |
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SuperintendentÕs
Message . . .
Whichever way you look at it, the WASL (Washington Assessment of Student Learning) has an impact on studentÕs lives each April as well as into the future. The SBE (State Board of Education) is considering raising graduation requirements. Pomeroy School District #110 has been ahead of the game so far in its educational offerings.
Any way you look at it school reform is headed down a college readiness pathway. College readiness should not be confused with the only way to make a decent living is to earn a four-year degree. That has been the theme with the WASL and undercurrent with the SBE as the Legislature gave it a new mission about two years ago.
Pomeroy School
District #110 has recognized that a decent living can be earned through many
avenues after high school. High
expectations for students to learn the material presented by the teacher has
been the norm. When students
graduate, they are prepared for entrance into the workforce, as well as any
form of post-secondary education.
Any way you look
at it parents need to become more active in understanding how the Legislature
and SBE have a huge impact on the future of their child. This relates to elementary parents as
well as secondary parents as you will all be effected by changes to be made
soon. The information you receive
in this newsletter about current legislation should cause you to want to
contact your legislator and voice your opinion.
Whichever
way you look at it Pomeroy School District #110 will need you as an active
partner in your childÕs education.
We can express our educational opinion and concerns with legislators
until a bill has been passed, then we must implement it. Use the link in the left column to
access the SBE website for a better understanding of the proposed graduation
requirements.
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Elementary News |
e-Principal Notes . . .
May signals the end of the school year for students as
June is a short time away.
Teachers, have the same anticipation, but realize there is much to do
for the upcoming year. What is on
the horizon for next year?
The districtÕs Wellness Committee recommended
exploration of recess before lunch.
Student health and nutrition were the reasons for the
recommendation. For the past
month, the elementary faculty has discussed this possibility.
Reasons for the potential change are as follows:
1) exercise before lunch will cause students to want
to eat a full meal
2) students will slow down eating, as getting out to
recess will not be a priority
3) the nutritious meal they eat will have a chance to
settle before exercise
4) a two-hour instructional block of time will be
available for learning, an amount of time many teachers desire in the morning
There have been challenges identified in faculty
discussions so far. However, the
four reasons for the potential change have remained at the top. These reasons drive putting students
and their health needs first.
Sometimes change is the biggest challenge to the field
of education, as there has been so much the past fifteen years. To understand the impact recess before
lunch may have on the elementary school, a trial period of one week this year
has been proposed. It will be the
basis for determining whether this potential change can meet the challenge of a
better learning environment for students.
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Junior-Senior High News 2007 School of Distinction A
Navigation 101 School 2007 U.S. News & World
Report – Bronze Medal High School |
Principal Notes . . .
Spring time has been a whirlwind of activities. Field trips, FFA, Stock Show, WASL
testing and spring athletics are just a few examples of how staff and students
have been keeping busy. As a
parent, I have found how busy an elementary student can be with little league
and tee ball. Before we can catch
our breath graduation will be here.
June 7th is the day!
Seniors have fewer and fewer days.
They are definitely becoming shortimers. ASB elections are set to be completed by May 12th. There are quite a few students signed
up, and I am excited about the direction our student leadership is
heading.
Donkey basketball was an exciting event that began
with the executive student council putting in the leg work. Bravo, Amy Slaybaugh for initiating the
process, and Kudos, to Greg Feider, Nolan Koller, Allie Herres, Andrew Wade,
Monica Bartlow and others for your support. I would also like to thank the coaches for serving at the
hamburger feed during the event. A
big thank you to all that came and supported the ASB and Pomeroy
athletics. I believe all had a
good time, and maybe we can make this an annual event with more community
members involved.
FFA RECOGNITION
The
following FFA members applied for and were awarded their State FFA Degree.
Jordan Beale Corey
Cochran Meagan
FitzGerald
Allie
Herres Zach
Hyer Nolan
Koller
Mercedes
Macomber
Pomeroy
FFA members will also be recognized at the Washington State FFA Convention in
May of 2008 for their FFA Supervised Agricultural Experience (SAE)
Projects. Proficiency winners
included:
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Lory Cochran |
1st Place |
Beef Production Placement |
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Greg Beale |
1st Place |
Diversified Crop Production
Placement |
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Brian Bingman |
1st Place |
Grain Production Placement |
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C.J. McGreevy |
2nd Place |
Grain Production Placement |
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Craig Heistuman |
3rd Place |
Grain Production Placement |
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Sara Riley |
3rd Place |
Equine Production
Entrepreneurship |
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Megan Nelson |
3rd Place |
Sheep Production
Entrepreneurship |
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Justin Bingman |
4th Place |
Grain Production Placement |
WIAA
Scholastic Recognition
Submitted By Fred Knebel,
Counselor
Baseball 3.431
G.P.A.
Coach: Dave Boyer (14 participants)
BoyÕs Golf 3.243
G.P.A.
Coach: Jim Greene (7 participants)
Softball 3.302
G.P.A.
Coach: Rob Monahan (15 participants)
BoyÕs Track & Field 3.101
G.P.A.
Coach: Adam Van Vogt (11 participants)
GirlÕs Track & Field 3.522
G.P.A.
Coach: Adam Van Vogt (13 participants)
Booster Club Calendar
It is calendar time again. This is
the 9th year for the Booster Club project. The funds help the school
district academically and athletically. The calendars are $7.00 each per
household. This year you may get your order form by mail or by a representative
calling on you. If you get yours in the mail there will be a
self-addressed envelope for you to return your order and payment by May 21st.
We would also appreciate having a current mailing address, physical address,
phone number and email if you have one. If you are not presently receiving a
calendar and would like one please call Wendy Synder, Lori Flynn, or Diana
Burt. There will also be order forms in a few of the businesses. Thank you again for your support.
Washington Math
Standards Move Forward
Partnership for Learning – April
23, 2008
It
has already been a busy year for those involved with Washington's new math
standards. There have been multiple rounds of edits and revisions. The Office
of Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI) has held numerous public
hearings. And, at the end of the legislative session, oversight of the math
standards process was transferred from OSPI to the State Board of Education.
Last
Friday, however, the State Board moved the standards one step closer to the
finish line. After receiving several rounds of public comment, the State Board
approved state consultant Strategic Teaching's "Edited Expectations"
report on the new K-8 math standards with three final requests:
á Add more examples to
requirements
á Provide more explicit language concerning
calculator use, and
á Give the document a good proofread.
Otherwise,
they agreed, the new standards "provide greater clarity about what is
expected of students in each grade, give more explicit guidance to educators
about what to teach when, and increase the rigor of math to ensure more
Washington students succeed."
From a Student Leader. . .
By Sean Beale, Freshman
Class President
Laughs filled the gym, but over that, the commentating
of Mr. LaMunyan could be heard.
These were the sounds of the crowd-pleasing show, Donkey Basketball,
which traveled on April 14th to Pomeroy Jr/Sr High School. The event was a success as soon as the
donkeys entered the gymnasium. It
started with the students trying to get on the animals. Kids were jumping over the donkeys and
falling off left and right. Next
came the riding. Some people were
fortunate and picked donkeys that actually moved. I was one of the unlucky ones. I picked one Andrew Wade later named ŌSnowflakeĶ. I was trying to pull it but if you know
donkeys, you canÕt just yank them around.
Donkey basketball turned out to be a lot of fun and our A.S.B. also
raised around 1,100 dollars.
The
softball and baseball teams each had league games here on April 19th
against Tekoa-Oakesdale-Rosalia. All four games turned out to be losses but
they were entertaining games. One of the reasons is that the baseball team made
a comeback in their first game and only ended up losing by one run. The
softball team made a great deal of improvement over the two games.
WASL tests have come again to bite us in the
back. Lucky for me, IÕm not a
sophomore yet. The 10th
graders were all pretty nervous, but IÕm sure they did fine.
IÕm getting ready for summer break and IÕm sure most
of the student body is. Most
teachers think that we all slack off after spring break, but I think we will
all give a valiant final effort to raise those grades before semester ends and
do well on our final exams.