School board to meet
The Kenai Peninsula Borough School District Board of Education meets at 7 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 2;
■ April 6;
■ May 4 (at Seward High School);
■ June 1;
■ June 2 (Board planning session).
Connections Home School Program
Dates to remember:
■ Fridays: Soldotna Battle of the Books Grades 5th & 6th Mtg @ 11:00 a.m.
■ Wednesdays (Until February 25, 2015): Free Admission To the SeaLife Center in Seward
■ 02/09 – Homer Middle School Battle of the Books Competition
■ 02/13 – Deadline for Science Fair Registration
■ 02/18 – Salmon in the Classroom Sport Lake Ice Fishing @ 11:10-12:10
■ 03/01 – Fee for Winter Ecology Program Due
■ 03/19 – Winter Ecology Overnight Program
■ 03/30-03/31 – Soldotna Safe Sitter Class (see below for more information)
■ 05/07 Talent Show @ SoHi Auditorium @ 5:00 p.m .
Winter Ecology Overnight Program:
The Center for Alaskan Coastal Studies (CACS) and Connections Homeschool Program are teaming up again for a fun and educational overnight field trip at Ageya Wilderness Center on the bench above Homer. This trip is open to all Connections Homeschool students in grades 5-8.
Space is very limited – a maximum of 30 people will be able to attend! Please notify Derek Bynagle in the Homer office or Mark Wackler in the Soldotna office of your interest in this trip as soon as possible or if you have specific questions or concerns. Derek Bynagle – dbynagle@kpbsd.k12.ak.us 226-1880 Mark Wackler – mwackler@kpbsd.k12.ak.us 714-8880
Connections Homeschool Science Fair:
It’s time again for the Connections Homeschool Science Fair! Please fill out a registration form from your local Connections office by February 13th. Once you fill out the registration form we will send you several other documents. Projects will be displayed in the office for 1 week (February 23-27) and each student that submits a project will be awarded a small prize. If you have any additional questions please contact advisor Mark Wackler at mwackler@kpbsd.k12.ak.us or 714-8880.
Interior Distance Education of Alaska
Are you interested in enrolling with IDEA? Please go to our website and click enroll now! You can fill out an application online. As always, please feel free to come by our office to chat with our staff, look through our library, or check out our resource room. We are here to serve you! We have some exciting opportunities for our IDEA Families. Please remember to check your IDEA email regularly!
Cabin Fever
4 Fridays of educational games. These are from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. at Kalifonsky Christian Center. All ages are welcome and coffee will be served for adults. The last Friday will include a salmon dissection. Please remember to sign into your IDEA email account and sign up. You can always call the office to sign up too. Bring warm clothing for parents and children! We will have some outside play time. Remember, if your students come all four Fridays, they will receive a token worth 10 IXL points to use in our special store.
Homer Day
■ February 13- Math games with Adele and Suzanne.
We will meet from 1:00-2:30 p.m. at the Kachemak Community Center.
This is located at the corner of East End Road and Bear Creek Drive. Please sign up!
Do you like to fish?
Then come join us for our annual ice fishing on February 18 from 12:15-1:15 p.m. at Sports Lake.
Alaska Fish and Game is hosting an ice fishing event for school age children. Students will be fishing for rainbow trout and Chinook salmon. They will learn proper fishing techniques, catch and release etiquette, ice fishing regulations and safety on the ice. Participants over 16 will require a fishing license. Our time slot is from 12:15-1:15 p.m.You should plan on arriving by noon. Please remember to dress warm!!Please sign up in your IDEA email.
PAC meeting
February 20 at 12:45 at the IDEA office. This is a little earlier than normal because we will all head over to Cabin Fever at Kalifonsky together!
Race to the Summit with IXL Math.
If you have gone onto the Family Site and gone to Region K, you might have noticed a new blog page. This new page is titled “Region K Community”. This is for events that are happening in our community that aren’t sponsored by IDEA. You will also notice this is in our listserv emails. The new subject line will be Region K Community.
Kalifornsky Beach Elementary
Mr. Daniels’s class is really getting the hang of Mystery Skyping. So far, the class has Mystery Skyped with 10 classrooms, from New Jersey to Alaska! Each time, they try to figure out where this mystery class lives. After the discovery, they get to ask questions about where the class lives such as, “What is your school mascot? What is the weather like? What do you do for fun?”. We have enjoyed the experience and will continue to Skype classrooms through the end of the year. Mr. Daniels has classroom Skypes lined up through April already!
Congratulations to sixth grader Aldon Burns for winning the school Spelling Bee for the second year in a row! He will represent K-Beach at the Alaska State Spelling Bee in March. Congratulations to 5th grader Haylee Hodge for being the runner up, and 3rd grader Danika Buffan for finishing in 3rd place. Way to go!
Kenai Middle
Congratulations to our Character Counts winners: JZ Miller and Lanaya Powell.
We hope you all enjoyed the long weekend and we enjoyed seeing all of you at conferences. Remember that you can schedule a visit with your student’s teachers anytime by calling the school at 283.1700.
On Monday, February 9 our 7 & 8 grade Battle of the Books team will compete. Our 6 grade team will compete on Tuesday, February 10th. Clubs resume this week, on Wednesday, February 11. Volleyball competes against SMS @ Home on February 12 beginning @ 3:00 p.m. The “B” team will play first with the “A” team to follow.
Wrestlers will compete on Saturday, February 14 in Seward beginning @ 10:00 p.m. Cross Country skiers will also compete on the 14 in Homer beginning @ 3:00 p.m.
Congratulations to our January Students of the Month: Veronika Budyanu, Ashley Hamilton, Connor Koppes, Anela Lankford, Kaden McKibben, Maria Salzetti, Jaiden Streifff, and Zahara Wilshusen. Congratulations to our Boxtops for Education pizza winner; Danielle Kjostad. Remember we are now collecting Boxtops for February. The student that brings in the most Boxtops for the month will win a pizza too!
Mountain View Elementary
Congratulations to all our students that had perfect attendance for the 2nd quarter. They are Adam Angelbrandt, Lauryn Avery, Bridger Beck, Emma Beck, Michael Canning, Shade Christin, Logan Dawson, Michael Dominic, Shelby Easling, Jaden Garner, Ethan Gerow, Abigail Giles, Ariana Gonzales, Camilla Gonzalez, Joseph Gottschalk, Sara Gottschalk, Chloe Grimm, Cooper Grimm, Elliott Haga, Nathan Haga, Vincent Hensley, Taylor Huett, Cassandre Jusmable, Bella Kaliberda, Krystyana Kalugin, Branch Keller, Kenzie Keller, Aben Larson, Nova Logston, Alex Martin, Lachlan McManus, Miah Mead, Kaylee Miller, Eli Morris, Mary Nash, Malerie Nunn, Tiernan O’Connor, Leia Parkki, Mycka Phillips, Owen Plumridge, Jason Rowland, Tristin Segura, Nicholas Sloan, Corey Smithwick, James Sparks, Layne Todd, Drake Torgeson, Genesis Trevino, Ayla Waters, Wade Williams, Lydia Williams-Vasilie, Mabon Williamson, & Elijah Williamson. These students and their parents received certificates for this achievement.
There will be a PTA meeting on Tuesday, February 10 at 3:45 p.m. in the Library.
Friday, February 13 is “Rainbow Day.” Students may wear an “explosion of color!”
The Site Council will be meeting on Thursday, February 19 at 4:00 p.m. in the Library.
February is Love of Reading month. We have invited a variety of community members to come visit classrooms at Mountain View and read to students on Thursday, February 26.
Friday, March 6 is an in-service day. There is no school for students.
Spring break is the week of March 9 – March 13.
Nikiski Middle-High
Monday, February 9
■ Grade Check!
■ JV Girls Basketball @ Nikiski vs. SoHi – 3:00 p.m.
■ JV Boys Basketball @ Nikiski vs. SoHi – 4:30 p.m.
■ Middle School Battle of the Books
■ Mass Choir
Tuesday, February 10
■ Mass Choir
■ 6th Grade Battle of the Books
■ Middle School Volleyball @ Skyview – 3:00 p.m.
■ Site Council Meeting – 4:00 p.m.
Thursday, February 12
■ PTSA Meeting – 6:00 in the Library
■ Girls Varsity Basketball @ Homer Tournament vs. Cook Inlet Academy – 3:30 p.m.
■ Boys Varsity Basketball @ Homer Tournament vs. Cook Inlet Academy – 5:00 p.m.
Friday, February 13
■ Middle School Cross Country Skiing @ Skyview Invite – 3:00 p.m.
■ High School Cross Country Skiing Regions @ Colony
■ Middle School Volleyball @ Homer – 3:00 p.m.
■ Varsity Girls Basketball @ Homer Tournament vs. Homer – 6:30 p.m.
■ Varsity Boys Basketball @ Homer Tournament vs. Homer – 8:00 p.m.
Saturday, February 14
■ Middle School Wrestling @ Seward – 10:00 a.m.
■ Middle School Cross Country Skiing @ Homer Invite
■ Middle School Volleyball @ Nikiski vs. Seward
■ High School Cross Country Skiing Regions @ Colony
■ Varsity Girls Basketball @ Homer Tournament vs. Monroe JV – 11:00 a.m.
■ Varsity Boys Basketball @ Homer Tournament vs. Klawock – 12;30 p.m.
Monday, February 16
■ JV Girls Basketball @ Nikiski vs. Homer – 3:00 p.m.
■ JV Boys Basketball @ Nikiski vs. Homer – 4:30 p.m.
Nikiski North Star Elementary
Congratulations to the NNS 2015 spelling bee champion Braeden Porter! Also, congratulations to the other top finishers: 2nd place – Carly Johnson, 3rd place (tie) – Jessica Perry and Trista Apted, 4th place (tie) – Zoey Ellis and Lorenzo Elias. The following students represented their classroom in the bee: Julia Smith, Wilson Kanuk, Abby Rector, Rylee Ellis, Adrienne Seaman, Nolan Boehme, Carter Tennison and Lilly Anderson. The school bee went through 16 rounds! Braedon will represent NNS at the state bee to be held in Anchorage next month.
February is Love of Reading month. Our “One School, One Book” activity is beginning today. The chosen book this year is ‘Charlotte’s Web’ by E. B. White. We ask families to read the assigned chapter at home every night and discuss what happened in the chapter. The following day, we will have questions during announcements and there will be prizes awarded to students for correct answers. This is a fabulous activity for you to be involved in with your children and enjoy the love of reading together!
Wednesday, February 11th is the school Forensics meet in the library. The meet will begin at 9:00 a.m. Also on Wednesday is the NNS site council meeting at 3:45 pm. If you need more information, please call the school office at 776-2600.
Redoubt Elementary
■ February 10 – 5:00 p.m. – PTA meeting, child care will be provide.
■ February 11 – 3:30 p.m. – Site Council Meeting
■ February 12 – 9:30 a.m. – School Spelling Bee – Gym
■ February 26 – Pre-registration forms for next year 15/16 school year will be sent home.
■ February 28 – Winter Carnival Noon – 4:00 p.m.
Yearbooks are on Sale – $15.00 pre-order yours now, make checks payable to Redoubt Elementary. Yearbooks will arrive in May. Order forms have been sent home with students.
We are looking for volunteers for our Winter Carnival, Saturday, February 28. If you would like to help we would be happy to have you join us. Please contact the school office for more information.
Raffle tickets are currently on sale for $20.00 each. First place – iPad Air 64GB, Second Place –
2 RT tickets to Anchorage/Kenai on Grant Aviation & Third Place Toshiba Tablet 8GB. Drawing to be held at the Winter Carnival on February 28. Only 450 tickets will be sold. Stop by the school office to purchase your tickets.
Congratulations to Redoubt’s 4th grade Battle of the Books team members Blake Lewis, Liam Harris & Lily Bahl. Redoubt’s 4th grade team took 1st place at the Kenai Peninsula Borough districtwide Battle of the Books competition last week. The team will go on to battle at the state level February 18th. Other support team members included Carter Kincaid, Krystin Yeager, Emma Knowles, Mrs. Baldwin, team coach & Mrs. Lewis. Awesome Job!
Skyview Middle
Activity Night is Friday, February 13 – Afterschool from 2:45 to 4:45 – Parent volunteers needed! Please contact the school at 260-2500 if you can attend.
Sports Schedule this week:
■ Tuesday February 10 – Volleyball – Nikiski vs. Skyview 8th @ Skyview – 3:00 p.m.
■ Tuesday February 10 – Volleyball – Skyview B vs. Chapman @ Chapman – 3:30 p.m.
■ Wednesday February 11 – Volleyball Pictures – 2:30 p.m.
■ Thursday February 12 – Volleyball – Skyview B vs. Kenai B @ Kenai – 3:00 p.m.
■ Thursday February 12 – Volleyball – Skyview 8th vs. Kenai @ Kenai – 4:30 p.m.
■ Friday February 13 – Volleyball – Seward vs. Skyview 7th @ Seward – 3:00 p.m.
■ Friday February 13 – Volleyball – Seward B vs. Skyview B @ Seward – 4:30 p.m.
■ Friday February 13 – Nordic Skiing – Skyview Invitational @ Skyview – 3:00 p.m.
■ Saturday February 14 – Wrestling – Seward Invite – 10:00 a.m.
Panther Student Council is sponsoring a community building project for the month of February. The “Pawsitive” Panthers effort will highlight the many ways students and staff show kindness and compassion for one another. The Paw heart cutouts will be on display in the Skyview Middle School entryway.
Congratulations to Julie Talbot, Citizen of the Month!
Congratulations to the Students of the Month for December/January!
Kya Ahlers, Cade Appelhans, Whitney Benson, Kortney Birch, Brittani Blossom, Haley Buckbee, Loren Burns, Aaron Callos, Cora Carter, Tim Cashman, Luis Chicas-Sorto, Ray Chumley, Autumn Chumley, Hunter Crosby, Sadie Daly, Payton Diehl, Elena Dimitrovski, Dylan Donham, Jack Dornbusch-Hatten, Savannah Eberhard, Titan Farrell, Tres Faucher, Joseph Fiebelkorn, Colin Fleming, Esther Frederickson, Ruth Frederickson, Cassie Haeg, Kaliesha Hart, Dalten Hulsey, Angel Joseph-Matumeak, Victoria Kitson, Jacey Kosto, Erica Love, Reva Lovett, Joseph McLeod, Darby McMillan, Jake McMullen, Jordan Merrill, Cloe Milbauer, Spencer Mize, Sam Myers, Levi Nelson, Daisy Nichols, Korrin Nyren, David Pannick, Daytona Powell, Mackenzie Powell, Kyler Pritchett, James Redmon, Brody Reger, Iona Reutov, Levi Rosin, Aliann Schmidt, Elora Shockley, Kyla Smith, Seryn Sproul, Allison Towell, Jersey Truesdell, Ashlyn Vehmeier, Trenton Walden, Bradley Walters, Thomas Wells, Kambree Whittom, Mikaele Wong, Amanda Wylie, Jacob Wylie
Soldotna High
SoHi senior, Claire Kincaid, was selected as a recipient of the Spirit of Youth Award for her artistic talents. Claire has been beautifying the community of Soldotna with her art, including a large wall mural at the Central Peninsula Hospital. As a recipient of the award, she will receive a $2000 scholarship. You can read more about her story at http://www.spiritofyouth.org/programs/positive-media-recognition-campaign/award-recipients/
Soldotna High School’s Battle of the Books team took 1st place at the KPBSD district battle February 2. After a close semi-final, the SOHI team moved on to the finals where they battled Kenai Central High School and Homer High School. The finals round was down to the wire and all the teams were sharp. But it was SOHI with the most points at the end of the finals and will represent KPBSD at the state battle on February 24.
The 9th grade class is hosting the last all students’ dance of the year on Friday, February 13 from 7:30 – 10:30pm. The cost is $10 to attend and the theme is Footloose. Parents who wish to help chaperone should contact Soldotna Prep. All proceeds will go to the 9th grade class. Sophomores are selling carnations and balloons for Valentine’s Day. The cost is $2 per carnation and balloons are $1 extra. All purchases will be delivered on Friday, February 13. They will be sold at break and lunch during the week and there is a limited number available for sale.
Congratulations to the following SkillsUSA members who placed in their events:
Afton Carlson: 2nd in Culinary Arts
Anna Coup: 2nd in Early Childhood Development
Coltin Yancey:,3rd in Drafting and 1st in Technical Math
Hannah Katzenberger: 1st in Early Childhood Development
Megan Herrick: 2nd in Technical Math
Michael Lewis: 3rd in Construction and 2nd in Job Interview
Philip Gibson-Platt: 1st in Job Skill Demo
Sabrina Hilbrink: 3rd in Technical Math
Savannah Kreider: 3rd in Early Childhood Development and 2nd in Photography
Megan Herrick: 3rd place finish in Quiz bowl
The Study
“The Study is excited to introduce academic pre-k and first/second grade in the 2015/16 school year! It’s not too early to begin enrolling, so call us to reserve your little ones a spot! The Study is an accredited learning center that partners with the KPBSD, home school entities, and private schools. We offer private tutoring in all academic subjects, music (guitar, voice, and piano), and a variety of courses for high school credit. Contact us and ask about taking Government and AK Studies this summer! Check us out on the web at thestudysoldotna.com or call us at 262-6227.”
Tustumena Elementary
■ February 9-13 Love of Reading Week
■ February 10 5th & 6th Grade Battle of Books
■ February 12 Tustumena School Forensics ■ February 13 Mighty Meatballs Fundraiser Dinner for 6th Grade
■ February 17 PTO Meeting, 4pm ■ February 23 Site Council Meeting ■ February 24 Skyview Middle School Counselor’s Visit 6th Grade
■ February 28 District Wide Forensics at Tustumena School 10am
Wings Christian
This week at Wings, Vanessa Uei and Ethan Berga won the “Cleanest Desk of the Week” award. This is Ethan Berga’s second week in a row winning this award. Will he continue his winning streak next week? Also, this Thursday at 11:00, Honor Roll students will be going bowling at Alaska Lanes in Kenai. After lunch, they will also be enjoying ice cream sundaes of their own creation. Reminder: there will be no school on Monday, February 16, in observance of Presidents’ Day. School will resume on Tuesday, February 17. The deadline to turn in Box Tops and Campbell’s Labels is Thursday, February 19. Quiz’em winners for the month of February are Elijah and Ethan
Newbern. Great job! Some activities to look forward to in March are LLC ice skating, Spring Break, Parent Night for the third quarter, and a school-wide field trip to the Alaska Conservation Center. Dates will be announced in the coming weeks.
