Around the District

School board to meet

The Kenai Peninsula Borough School District Board of Education meets at 6 p.m. in the borough building at 148 N. Binkley Street in Soldotna (unless otherwise noted). For more information, call 907-714-8888 or visit kpbsd.k12.ak.us. The agenda and packet items are posted on Wednesday afternoon prior to the date of the Board meeting. Persons with disabilities who need accommodations to participate at the School Board meetings should contact Debbie Tressler at 907-714-8836 or email dtressler@kpbsd.k12.ak.us no later than three business days before the meeting date. The board will meet:

■ March 7;

■ March 21;

■ April 4;

■ April 5 (Worksession);

■ May 2 (Seward High School);

■ June 6;

■ June 7 (Planning Session);

Holidays and vacation days scheduled

■ March 11 — End of third quarter, no school for students;

■ March 14-18 — Spring Break;

■ May 18 — Last day of school.

2016 Scholarships for students

The Kenai Borough Employees Association (KBEA) Scholarship Committee is currently accepting applications for four scholarships of $500 each. The scholarships are available to all 2016 graduates of the Kenai Peninsula Borough (including public, private, and home-schooled).

Applications and instructions are available from any Kenai Peninsula Borough High School counselors’ office or on the Borough’s web site at kpb.us under “Hot Topics.”

Applications must be delivered, or postmarked by March 31.

Applications can be mailed, or dropped off at the Kenai Peninsula Borough, KBEA Scholarship Committee, 144 North Binkley Street, Soldotna, Alaska 99669.

Connections Home School Program

Dates To Remember:

■ Feb. 23 – Kenai Rec Center Gym Time

■ Feb. 24 – Homer Rock Climbing at the Bay Club at 1:30 p.m., contact Jake Parrett at jparrett@kpbsd.org for more information

■ Feb. 25 – Homer Pickle Ball at Paul Banks at 3:30 p.m., contact Jake Parrett at jparrett@kpbsd.org for more information

■ Feb. 25 – Soldotna Connections Fly Tying Club at 1:30 p.m.

■ Feb. 26 – Homer Rock Climbing at the Bay Club at 3:30-5 p.m., contact Jake Parrett at jparrett@kpbsd.org for more information

■ Feb. 26 – Johnson Lake Ice Fishing with Alaska Department of Fish & Game for South Peninsula Students. More info below

■ March 1 – Iditaread Starts

■ March 10 – High School Eligibility Due

— April is the Connections Talent Show

Also check out our Connections website for numerous student activities, contests and more.

Battle of the Books Results:

For fifth and sixth grades, the Soldotna team finished with a strong second place and Homer’s team came in next with a third place finish.

For third and fourth grades, the Homer team battled all the way to a second place finish while the Soldotna team finished in the top half of the competition. The school says ‘Congratulations to everyone involved.’ Soldotna Connections Fly Tying Club:

The Soldotna Connections office is offering a Fly Tying Club – six weeks of free fly tying instruction for students in grades third through twelfth. Meetings will be held at the Soldotna Connections office from 1:30-3 p.m. each Thursday and all materials are provided. All ability levels are welcome to attend. Please RSVP with Mark Wackler at mwackler@kpbsd.k12.ak.us.

Interior Distance Education of Alaska

IDEA Homeschool is now enrolling for the 2016-2017 school year! Check out the website at ideafamilies.org. Click enroll now. Families are always welcome to come visit the staff at the office in the Red Diamond Center. Come check out the library, Resource Room, used curriculum, and speak with a certified teacher. IDEA staff is here to serve families in their homeschooling journey.

IDEA’s annual curriculum fair is coming on May 4. With the curriculum fair, there are a few employment opportunities including: Arts Attack-Atelier looking for IDEA family members (preferably past Arts Attack customers) who would be interested in hosting and manning their booth for the upcoming IDEA curriculum fairs in early May.

They are seeking hosts for the fairs in Soldotna, Anchorage, Fairbanks and Juneau. Please send an email to larry@artsattack.com, and they will contact families to discuss compensation and job description. In the email, please describe any prior experience with Arts Attack and/or with hosting and manning a booth at a previous curriculum fair. Also, please provide them with both an email address and a telephone number where families can be reached, as well as any other information families feel would be helpful or pertinent.

— Rainbow Resource is also looking for an IDEA parent to run their booth. If families are interested, please contact Suzanne.alioto@ideafamilies.org.

— IDEA’s annual curriculum fair also provides a time for local educators to advertise a product, lessons or services. Each year, IDEA provides hand-out sacks to attendees. Family’s advertisements could be included in these sacks. The small fee families pay to include a family’s advertisement goes directly to youth groups for their activities. Send 200 flyers and a check for $15 to the address at the bottom, following these guidelines:

— Weight – Only catalogs or flyers that weigh less than two ounces each may be sent to be included in these sacks.

— Content – Materials for the hand-out sacks must be homeschool-related. If families are not sure if their item would qualify, please get it pre-approved before printing multiple copies.

— Note to vendors for activities/instruction – No vendor flyer may claim that the vendor is “approved by IDEA.” They may state that they are willing to bill IDEA directly if that is the case.

— Payment – Enclose a $15 check in the box with 200 flyers.

Shipping – Please mail or deliver flyers to the office below so that they arrive by April 15. Please specify “Hand-Out Sacks” on the box.

Mail or deliver to:

IDEA

Attn: Hand-Out Sacks

43335 Kalifornsky Beach Rd., Suite 31

Soldotna, AK 99669

— First time advertising in hand-out sacks and have questions? Contact Suzanne Alioto at 260-3158 or visit the school’s website atideafamilies.org and click on “Curriculum Fair” in the left navigation pane.

— Graduation ordering – it’s time to order that cap and gown! This is available online or by phone with Jostens. Jostens in located in Anchorage, but they do not have a walk-in store. Their phone number is 562-2001. Emails may be sent to scott.brown@jostens.com.

— Next year’s Battle of the Books have been posted atakla.org/akasl/bb/bbhome. Now is the time to make voices heard. IDEA staff asks that the list is what parents want. The goal is to create a great list of books for students to read.

Please remember to check IDEA’s webmail or Region K Blog and to sign up for these events and more information.

Kaleidoscope School of Arts and Science

All week is Staff Appreciation Week

■ Feb. 22 – Kindergarten visits with Mr. Dan at 1:45 p.m.

— APC special meeting at 4:15 p.m.

— APC work session at 4:30 p.m.

■ Feb. 24 – PTA Yearbook Committee Meeting at 9 a.m.

— Kaleidoscope School Tour for all families interested in Kaleidoscope at 9:30 a.m.

Upcoming Events

■ March 3, End of quarter celebration-Science Night.

— Spring Pictures

■ March 4 Lottery Application Deadline at 4 p.m.

— APC bios are due

■ March 11, In-service-No School

■ March 14-18 is Spring Break

Reminders:

— The Life Skill classes are focusing on this week is Pride; Satisfaction from doing one’s personal best.

— If a child arrives after 9:10 a.m., please come in and sign him or her in at the office.

— If families would like to be a volunteer, be sure to complete a background check and volunteer training. Go to kaleidoscope.blogs.kpbsd.k12.ak.us/wpmu/volunteers kaleidoscope.blogs.kpbsd.k12.ak.us/wpmu/volunteers and click the link to the background check. Please allow up to two weeks for this to clear. The next link on the page will take visitors to the Online Volunteer Training. These two steps must be completed in order to volunteer at Kaleidoscope. Completed Volunteer Indemnification forms are needed 48 hours before all field trips.

Kalifornsky Beach Elementary

Congratulations to the students who competed in the school Forensics competition on Friday, with judges of Mrs. Christopherson, Mrs. Stockton and Mr. Dolphin.

These students scored high enough to compete at the district level on Feb. 27: Madison Richmond, Bethany Richmond, Hally Hanson, Mercedes Leadens, Kendal England, Eva Sorensen, Avrie Medina, Josie Ekle, Logan Shane, Guy Peterson, Jolie Widaman and Bella Rodriguez.

Mr. Daniels’s Class is going on a trip to the Kenai National Wildlife Refuge! They will learn about animal adaptations in winter, life in the subnivean world, and take a snowshoe walk to the lake to act like a wolf pack! They are also wrapping up a study of teeth.

They read a Great Body Shop magazine on Dental Health, had a class speaker come in to present information, and they will create a Dental Health comic strip as a culminating project to show what they have learned. They will combine their comics into a book to take home.

This week’s Box Tops winners are Byron Patat and Elliot Stockton. Great job bringing in those Box Tops, Caribou!

Kenai Central High

The Kenai Central Cross Country Ski, Hockey and Basketball teams will continue to compete this month. The school hopes students will come out and show their Kardinal pride.

■ Feb. 23 – Varsity and J.V. Boys Basketball (Home) versus Seward at 4:30 and 7:30 p.m.

C & J.V. Girls Basketball (Home) versus Seward at 3 and 6 p.m.

■ Feb. 26 – Home Going Dance 8–11 a.m.

■ Feb. 27 – Basketball Senior Night

Boys C-Team J.V. & Varsity Basketball (Home) vs Palmer at 10:30 a.m., 1:30 and 5 p.m.

Girls C-Team J.V. & Varsity Basketball (Home) vs Palmer 9 a.m., 12 and 3 p.m.

Mountain View Elementary

Congratulations to the Mountain View “Battle of the Books” teams. Competing for the third and fourth grade team were Camilla Gonzalez, William Roberts, Ty Morris and Ben Roberts. They placed fifth in the district. Eli Morris, Esther Joseph and Carmen Mallory competed for the fifth grade. The students were required to read 15 books and competed against other schools in the district.

To celebrate “Love of Reading” month, Mountain View Elementary will be hosting community readers on Friday, Feb. 26. If families would like to volunteer to read to students, please call Mountain View Elementary at 283-8600. Volunteers need to pass a background check through the school district.

Spring pictures are scheduled for Wednesday, March 2. Order forms were sent home with students on Friday. Only those students returning order forms will have their pictures taken.

Friday, March 11 is an in-service day. There is no school for students.

Spring break is the week of March 14 – March 18.

Nikiski North Star Elementary

NNS will conclude “One School, One Book” activity and Love Of Reading Month with a family night celebration on Friday, Feb. 26. There will be a fun night of Bingo for Books beginning at 5:45 p.m. Refreshments will be available. Please call the school at 776-2600 if families need more information.

Congratulations to the school Forensics winners who will represent NNS at the District Forensics Meet at Tustumena Elementary on Saturday, Feb. 27: 4th graders Leora McCaughey – Humorous Poetry; Averi Wolf, Wynter Yeager, Giaseena Nicks, and Anna Roza – Interpretive Reading Multiples; 5th graders Celina Martinez – Humorous Poetry; Liam Quiner – Non Humorous Poetry; Dwyght Mullins – Non Humorous Prose; Braeden Porter – Storytelling Single; Brady Bostic – Interpretive Reading Single; Izzy Ley, Jacolyn Hightower, Jasmine Durfee – Poetry Multiples and Tyler Treider, Nikole Emerson, Jaydon Northrup, Jerrica Northrup, Hannah Leach – Interpretive Reading Multiples.

Redoubt Elementary

Keep those Box Tops for education and Labels for education coming, weekly drawings are held so don’t forget to have children put their name on the back of each Box Top and turn them in at school. Help earn money for the school.

Support Redoubt Elementary while shopping at Fred Meyer. Every time families shop with their linked Rewards Card at Fred Meyer, they are helping Redoubt Elementary earn a donation. And the more supporters who link their Rewards Cards to Redoubt Elementary the more Redoubt can earn. To link a Rewards account go to: fredmeyer.com

Yearbooks – Pre-order forms have been sent home with students. Only 175 books have been ordered, so make sure to get an order form and payment, $15, submitted.

Redoubt’s Spelling Bee Champion 2015-2016 was Lainey Wattam. Runner-ups, Brock Poe, Naomi Frederickson, Liam Hartman, Airah Cude, and Isabella Valenzuala. Congratulations to all of the participants of this year’s Spelling Bee competition.

— Fundraiser Art Auction to benefit Redoubt’s sixth Grade Peterson Bay field trip.

Beautiful hand-painted artwork by Redoubt’s sixth grade students is up for auction.

The art display and information about the action is located on the bulletin board in the school hallway. This auction will close Feb. 29.

— 2016-2017 preschool progrham Registration is now open.

Children must be 4-years-old by Sept. 1, 2016 and live in Redoubt’s attendance area. Admission will be based on student need. Complete information and applications are available at the school office. Yearbook order forms have been sent home. Please pre-order by March 31 to be sure families receive one. Please make checks payable to: Redoubt Elementary. Yearbooks will arrive in early May. Cost for yearbook is $15.

— Fred Meyer Community Rewards – Community Rewards is a hassle-free way for Redoubt to raise funds through everyday purchases made at Fred Meyer.

Here’s how simple it is to support Redoubt: Every time families shop with a linked Rewards Card at Fred Meyer, they are helping Redoubt Elementary earn a donation. And the more supporters who link their Rewards Cards to Redoubt Elementary the more Redoubt can earn. Fundraising for Redoubt with zero effort.

If families are interested in volunteering at Redoubt they will be required to complete a screening process. To complete the screening process, visit the District’s Web page at kpbsd.k12.ak.us and click on Employment, then click on Volunteer, then on Volunteer All Vacancies, and find the location where someone wishes to volunteer. Click the Apply button that corresponds to that location, then follow the instructions. Please contact the Human Resources department at 714-8888 with questions.

Just a reminder that any prescription or over the counter medications that are sent to school for a student must be registered with the school nurse.

A medication form must be completed by the parent or guardian and on file with the school nurse. Forms are available in the school office.

Skyview Middle

Final week of Winter Sports!

■ Feb. 23 – Volleyball First Round of Borough Tournament – TBA

■ Feb. 27 – Volleyball Finals of Borough Tournament at Homer – 10 a.m.

■ Feb. 27 – Nordic Skiing Borough Tournament at Homer – 10 a.m.

Great job to both teams that completed their season last week – Volleyball B and Wresting!

Skyview Middle School Administrator-Counselor will visit local elementary sixth grade students this week!

■ Feb. 29 – Kalifornsky Beach Elementary

■ March 1 – Sterling Elementary and Tustumena Elementary

■ March 2 – Soldotna Elementary and Soldotna Montessori

■ March 3 – Redoubt Elementary

Sierra Kuntz was chosen as the Feb. 7 Grade Chamber Student of the Month. She will be honored at the Soldotna Chamber of Commerce luncheon on Tuesday, Feb. 23 at Froso’s Restaurant at noon. Congratulations Sierra!

Congratulations to Skyview Middle School Spelling Bee champion Tiffany Chesley! The Statewide Spelling Bee will be held in Anchorage at the Performing Arts Center on Tuesday, March 22 at 9 a.m. Great job to all the students who participated: Austin Adlam, Ryan Long, Levi Rosin, Trevor Peterson, Payton Diehl, Catherine O’Dell, Lucas Kline, Tyler Morrison, Calyssa Saporito-Mills, Makayla Raemaeker, Noah Land, Carson Fischer, Caius Hagelund, Angel Howlett, Janna Krieger, Amanda Wylie and Stevie Berninger.

Last chance to order a 2015-16 Skyview Middle School Yearbook. Place an order at the front office or online at Jostens.com – shop Skyview Middle School Yearbooks. Books are hardback, full color and packed full of fun times from this school year. Books are $35 each with the option to personalize with a students name embossed in silver on the cover. Orders must be placed by Feb. 29 to guarantee a student will receive one.

Soldotna Elementary

Mark calendars for these upcoming events:

■ Feb. 23 Parents are welcome to attend the annual “Soup-er” Lunch. Watch for details in weekly folders.

School News:

Soldotna Elementary is participating in the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society’s Pennies for Patients fundraiser now through March 4. Please consider sending any spare change with students to support this cause.

Soldotna High

Anyone interested in purchasing SoHi apparel, SoHi has a new website that families can go to and look at the items and order straight from the website. There must be at least six orders of an item before they will print it. They will ship to the school for free. Families can pick up the orders at the school.

SoHi Parents of Seniors are fundraising for the After Grad event. Prospective donor letters as well as the google doc link for tracking donors and donations are available by contacting Sheilah-Margaret Pothast at agr8fulmom@hotmail.com.

Please include “After Grad” in the subject line. All Parents of Seniors are encouraged to make at least three donor contacts to assist with the fundraising for this event. The next Parent meeting will be Thursday, March 3 in the SoHi Staff Lounge at 6 p.m.

Soldotna High School is collecting gently used formal dresses, shoes, and accessories for 2015 Cinderella’s Closet. This is a program which helps all area high school ladies with prom attire for free. Please email meggean@kpbsd.k12.ak.us for more info. All donations can be dropped off to the front office 8 a.m. to 2 p.m.

As of Jan 1 the FAFSA for the 2016-2017 school year is now open and available atfafsa.gov.

The FAFSA, or Free Application for Federal Student Aid, is the form that colleges use to determine a student’s financial need, taking into account both student and parent income.

Every high school senior should file a FAFSA regardless of income, as many scholarships, including the Alaska Performance Scholarship, require that the student complete the FAFSA before award funds are released. If parents and students would like free assistance in completing the FAFSA, please attend our FAFSA Completion Event on Jan. 26 at 6 p.m. at Kenai Peninsula College. For more information, please contact Emily Knight at 260-7083 or emily.knight@alaska.gov.

Soldotna High School PTSA’s primary fundraiser is the Fred Meyer Rewards Program. It’s easy to sign up and makes a BIG difference for the PTSA and the school. Visit fredmeyer.com with a Rewards Program number and select Soldotna High School PTSA. It’s quick and simple and families can make a positive impact just by doing everyday shopping! Thank you!

Soldotna Stars Letterman Jackets are available to order atneffco.com. Click on Varsity Jackets, find our school by State, select Soldotna High School, starting at $149 families can personalize it anyway they would like. Any questions contact Heather Parkki, 260-7022. Makes a great Christmas gift.

Every Friday is spirit Friday. Wear SoHi gear for a chance to win gift cards and more. The SOHI Library Media Center will be open 7:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday-Friday. Contact Ms. Wear at 260.7036 or twear@kpbsd.k12.ak.us for information on the 4:15 p.m. bus.

Soldotna Prep

Soldotna Prep is pleased to announce David Michael has been selected as the Soldotna Chamber of Commerce Student of the month for February.

Check SOPREP school blog for important information and updates: soldotnaprep.blogs.kpbsd.k12.ak.us/wpmu

Tustumena Elementary

■ Feb. 25 – SEM from 2-3 p.m.

■ Feb. 27 – District Wide Forensics

■ Feb. 29 – Site council at 4 p.m.

■ March 3 – SEM from 2-3 p.m.

■ March 8 – Soldotna band and choir tour from 9:30 a.m.

■ March 10 – Sixth grade versus staff basketball game at 2 p.m.

■ March 11 – No school for Students for the inservice Day

■ March 14-18 – Spring Break