Inspire 199 - October 2015
Published on Oct 23, 2015 12:31

ISD 199

 

A note from your superintendent

Families,

As you might have heard, an area near 70th and Claude was cordoned off Thursday afternoon by the Inver Grove Heights Police Department. Accordingly, a lockdown was put in place at Hilltop Elementary. The lock down took place after students had been dismissed for the day.  The students involved in the lockdown were those in the Spartan Kids’ Care after school program.

At no time were students, staff or visitors at Hilltop in danger. Hilltop’s staff quickly and efficiently put the lockdown in place. Hilltop’s staff did an outstanding job during the incident and I want to thank them publicly for their efforts.

I’d also like to thank our friends and colleagues at Safeway Bus Company who also responded to the situation with complete professionalism.

My thanks also to the Inver Grove Heights Police Department for keeping ISD 199, and the community as a whole, updated with as much information as the situation allowed.

I understand situations like these can be scary and frustrating for community members, especially parents, so I also offer my thanks for your understanding and patience.

 

Sincerely,

Dave Bernhardson
ISD 199 Superintendent

 




Get out and vote

On Nov. 3, residents will head to the polls for a school board election. Five names will appear on the ballot: incumbents Susan Gliva and Sherry Warrick and challengers Bill Klein, Mathias J. Schaefer and Rachel Hanson. 

Since it’s a school board election, there will only be two polling places. Voters can cast their ballots at Emanuel Lutheran Church, 2075 70th Street E. in Inver Grove Heights, and Good Shepherd Church, 7600 Cahill Avenue in Inver Grove Heights.

 


 

 

Get your tickets 

Tickets for Footloose will go on sale Monday, Oct. 26. Visit Simleytheatre.org- purchase tickets to purchase tickets. Tickets can also be purchased at the Community Ed office, 2990 80th St. E. (between the IGH Middle School 8th- grade wing/District Office and Cahill Court).

Performances:

  • Wednesday, Nov. 11 at 3:30 p.m. — Senior Citizen and ISD 199 staff preview.
  • Thursday, Nov. 12 at 7 p.m.
  • Friday, Nov. 13 at 7 p.m.
  • Saturday, Nov. 14 at 7 p.m.
  • Sunday, Nov. 15 at 2 p.m.

Ticket Prices:

  • Adults — $10
  • Students/senior citizens — $5
  • Children under 5 — $3

There will be an open house in the new Simley High School Performing Arts Center on Thursday, Nov. 5 from 5-7 p.m. Spread the word and plan to drop-in. There will be sneak peek performances scheduled throughout the evening by students in theater, band and choir.



 

An even better stadium

ISD 199

It was a night of celebration at Spartan Stadium on Tuesday!

The varsity football team defeated Hill-Murray 33-13 in the Section 3AAAA playoffs, improving its record to 6-3 and setting up a showdown at South St. Paul on Saturday at 2 p.m.

ISD 199

Tuesday night's game also marked the debut of the stadium's new all-purpose building that will house concessions, ticket booths and restrooms. In addition to offering more convenience for fans, it also enhances security because the public will no longer have to access Simley High School for snacks or restrooms.


 

An inspirational guest

ISD199

Katie Spotz visited Salem Hills Monday morning to share her incredible story of perseverance and advocacy.

Katie, of Mentor, Ohio, has a list of athletic accomplishments that’s all the more amazing when you consider she’s just 28-years-old. Those accomplishments include: rowing solo across the Atlantic Ocean, cycling across the United States, a 325-mile river swim, cycling the Tour of New Zealand and an ultra-marathon in Australia.

To date, Katie is the youngest solo ocean rower in history. While she might have been rowing solo, her reasons for the amazing trek were anything but singular, thanks to her fundraising efforts to bring clean and safe drinking water to the parts of the world that desperately need it. As interest in Katie’s rowing adventure grew, donations began to build and currently stand at more than $150,000.

Katie works with H2O For Life, a nonprofit that seeks to encourage young people to learn about the global water crisis and to take action to combat it. Salem Hills students have donated more than $20,000 to H2O For Life during the past several years.

Additionally, the school’s status as an Ashoka Changemaker School was a driving force behind Katie’s appearance on Monday. Salem Hills is a Changemaker School thanks to its innovative B.U.C.K.E.T. (Being: Understanding, Compassionate, Kind, Empathetic, Tolerant) program. Visit https://startempathy.org/schools for more information about Changemaker Schools.

During Katie’s presentation, older students sat with younger students as part of the B.U.C.K.E.T Buddies mentoring program. The gym was nearly silent as students were captivated by Katie’s story of crossing the Atlantic, a trip in which she saw dolphins, sharks, sea turtles and countless birds.

Visit http://www.katiespotz.com/ to read more about Katie!



 

Great teamwork for great goals

ISD 199

Salem Hills teachers recently got together to set SMART (Specific/Measurable/Achievable/Results-focused/Time-bound) goals. These SMART goals help them target and focus their work throughout the course of the school year and are also part of the Teacher Development and Evaluation plan that teachers submit annually.


 

Inspirational runners 

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The recent Twin Cities Marathon and Twin Cities 10-Mile event featured some faces from Hilltop Elementary! Phy Ed/DAPE teacher Katie Schletty ran the 10-Mile event and second grade teacher Brittney Gibson ran the marathon!

Congrats to Katie and Brittney for helping to ?#‎inspire199!


 

Something to chalk about

ISD 199

October is National Bullying Awareness Month and that means students across the country are talking about what bullying is and how each of them can work to prevent it.

In ISD 199 on Friday Oct. 9, Pine Bend and Salem Hills elementary schools participated in Kindness in Chalk. The goal of the event was to simply spend a few minutes writing and drawing messages of friendship, hope and support on sidewalks.

Here’s a little more about the event: http://www.minnemamaadventures.com/kindness-chalk/

Kevin Warner's 1st graders at Salem Hills showed off their artistic flair!

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Sonja Steele’s Pine Bend 4th graders came up with some great ideas!

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Lessons with Viktor

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Hilltop students took a bus ride to the Mall of America on Tuesday, Oct. 20, to discuss how to prevent bullying with a very special new friend — Viktor the Viking!

The visit was part of Viktor’s Quest to Stop Bullying, an anti-bullying initiative developed by the Minnesota Vikings. During the visit, Viktor addressed three key areas.

The first, S.T.O.P (Stand up to the bullying, Take appropriate action, Open up to an adult, Protect yourself and others) explained to the audience of young Hilltoppers what they should do when they see bullying.

The second shed light on four main types of bullying: verbal, physical, social and cyber.

The third and final area showed students what people in a typical bullying situation act like: the person doing the bullying, the person being bullied, the people who watch or run away and the people who encourage the bully to continue their behavior.

During the presentation, students were shown videos, were presented with specific scenarios and played games, all in an effort to help them handle bullying.

Visit vikings.com/stopbullying to learn more about the program.

THANK YOU Hilltop for learning the skills that will help make ISD 199 an even greater place to call home!

 


 

Salem Hills selfies

What better way to get ready for conferences than with a few selfies? Just before conferences began, Salem Hills students and staff had some fun before sharing their successes and goals with their families!

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Upcoming Events

Thursday, Oct. 22

  • Varsity cross country hosts a meet at 4 p.m.
  • B team volleyball is at Visitation at 4:30 p.m.
  • Varsity volleyball is at Visitation at 4:30 p.m.
  • Dance team has two events today, the first is a practice from 5:30-8:30 p.m. and a team dinner from 6-7:30 p.m. in the middle school cafeteria.
  • Girls varsity swimming and diving hosts Henry Sibley at 6 p.m.
  • The girls tennis banquet is from 6-8 p.m. in Cahill Court.
  • JV volleyball is at Visitation at 6 p.m.
  • The alpine ski parent/player meeting is from 6:30-8:30 p.m. in WA 101.

 

Friday, Oct. 23

  • The football team dinner is from 4:30-6:30 p.m. in Cahill Court.


Saturday, Oct. 24

  • The dance team practices from 9 a.m. to noon in the main gym.
  • Varsity football plays for the section title at South St. Paul at 2 p.m.

 

Monday, Oct. 26

  • The choir will perform from 7-9 p.m. in the auditorium.


Tuesday, Oct. 27

  • The boys swimming and diving preseason meeting is from 2:45-3:45 p.m. in the middle school cafeteria.
  • The dance team practices from 5:30-8:30 p.m. in the main gym.
  • The dance boosters meeting is from 6:30-8 p.m. in the Simley IMC.

 

Thursday, Oct. 29

  • Varsity cross country sections are at Valleywood Golf Course at 3:30 p.m.
  • Girls varsity swimming and diving is at Skyview Middle School at 4 p.m.
  • The dance team practices from 5:30-8:30 p.m. in the main gym.