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 http://www.kpbsd.k12.ak.us/board.aspx?id=28035. 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 School Board meetings should contact Debbie Tressler at 907-714-8836 or email dtressleratkpbsd.k12.ak.us no later than three business days before the meeting date. The board will meet:
■ March 3;
■ April 14;
■ May 5 (at Seward High School);
■ June 2;
■ June 3 (Board Planning Session).
School district plans budget meetings
The Kenai Peninsula Borough School District is holding Public Budget Meetings at the following locations:
■ February 18, at 5:30 p.m. in the Seward High School library
■ February 19 at 5:30 p.m. in the Soldotna High School library
■ February 25 at 5:30 p.m. in the Homer High School library
Everyone interested is encouraged to attend one of the meetings. If there are questions, please contact Lassie Nelson at 714-8838.
Early release dates for KPBSD schools
Six times throughout the academic year, on a Wednesday, schools will meet the minimum day, so that teachers may have approximately 90 minutes of additional time to work on improvement strategies. On these early release dates, school will end 90 minutes earlier. Bus transportation will be adjusted by 90 minutes. Upcoming early release dates are: Feb. 26; and Apr. 16.
Scholarship available to Nikiski student
If you will be a graduate in 2014, live in the community of Nikiski, and plan on continuing your education after graduation, please consider applying for the Thelma McConnell Scholarship. Applications are available at Nikiski Middle-High School. The deadline for applications is March 31. If you have questions, please contact Patti Floyd at the Nikiski Senior Center at 907-776-7654.
Infant and preschooler screening available
The KPBSD Child Find Program and Frontier Community Services Infant Learning will be offering free screenings for children 5 years old and younger. The screening will be on Feb. 21 from 9 a.m.- 3 p.m. at the Frontier Community Services, Suite 14 in the Red Diamond Center. Your child will be screened for early development, motor skills, speech, early learning concepts, vision and hearing. To make an appointment or for more information, call 714-6647.
Career and Tech training offered
KPBSD Career and Tech Department is offering free after school academies to train students in the Welding, Construction and Medical Field.
Upcoming Academies for the 2013-2014 school year include Welding.
Any high school student is able to participate in any of our academies. If a student successfully completes the 60 hour academy they will receive 1/2 practical art credit.
At the Workforce Development Center (located behind KCHS) there will be a welding academy with Mr. Widaman. This academy runs Feb. 10-May 1. Class days will be Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays from 2:30-4:30.
There will be a summer construction academy at the Workforce Development Center. Students will be constructing a green house. Class days will be May 28-30 and June 2-6. Class times TBA.
To sign up go to http://onestop.kpbsd.k12.ak.us/ For more information call Debbie Pearson at 283-2145 or see your counselor.
Funding for the Alaska Construction Academies comes from a grant from the Alaska Department of Labor and Workforce Development, the Alaska Department of Commerce and Economic Development and the Alaska Youth First Program.
Science program delves into force
Dynamic home-school program STEAM ahead, session IV explores the uses of force and motion and begins Feb. 11 at the Challenger Learning Center of Alaska. Science curriculum is delivered to your home-schooler in a format designed for maximum engagement. Three classes per session, $149, for kindergarten through eighth grades. For more information, call 907-283-2000 or email spring.larrowatakchallenger.org www.akchallenger.org.
KPBSD to hold first National Braille Challenge
Public is welcome to check out how your neighbors who read and write Braille do to command their future in communication and academics. Beginning at 1:15 p.m, Feb. 21, at the Soldotna Public Library, Community Room there will be a display with assistive technology devices and historical information concerning the development of Braille as well as a variety of presentations offered through Braille users of how Braille functions and creates a great system for their own success in the academic and daily working world. Children to Adults will find this display informative and fun to understand how their friends develop skill with this technology, so come home school, community leaders, families, and anyone to meet and greet our local students who are excelling in their grades within the school district using this system. Three students are competing earlier in the day with a nationwide competition called “Braille Challenge” where their skills for reading, dictating, writing, and comprehending Braille text will be evaluated. We welcome all to come and check it out. For additional information please call the KPBSD Vision Resource room at 783-1764. Contact: Mrs. Jordana Engebretsen, KPBSD Vision Program, 907-283-1764.
Tustumena Elementary
Our school will be sponsoring the district-wide Forensics Match on March 1st. We are looking for volunteers to help with judging and parking so if you have some time that morning, we could certainly use your help. Just contact me at: dhayman@kpbsd.k12.ak.us and I will sign you up.
Feb. 18 — PTO Meeting, 4 p.m.
Feb. 21 — School Forensics
Feb. 24 — Site Council Meeting, 4 p.m.
Feb. 27 — Title I Meeting, 3:45-5 p.m.; Last day of X-Country Skiing
Mar. 1 — District Wide Forensics @ Tustumena School
Mar. 4 — SMS Counselor’s visit the 6th Grade Class
Mar. 18 — PTO Meeting, 4 p.m.; 6th Grade Parent Orientation at Skyview, 6:30 p.m.
Soldotna High
Congratulations to our Battle of the Books team for winning 3rd place among 9 district high school teams! The final rounds got very intense and the teams were so evenly matched we were wondering if we were going to go into overtime! The team members were Audrey Helgevold, Chloe Kincaid, Sabrina Hilbrink, and Nicole Mills with Ila Cobb as a student/assistance coach and a great help. Sabrina and Carmen Kelly were our cheerleading sisters!
SoHi will be well represented on the Alaska Junior National Nordic Team. Sadie Fox & Hannah Pothast will both be competing in Stowe, Vermont the first week in March. Congratulations!!
I have created a page on our school website that has updated information about where we are and there are links to the photo replayit.com site and how to order yearbooks and advertising space.
Higher Expectations Greater Success Parent Guide (Alaska Standards for English Language Arts and Mathematics) is now available at the front office. Alaska’s standards in English and math set high expectations for students from kindergarten to grade 12. Students who meet these goals will be ready for success after high school-whether it is in the military, on the job, or in a union apprenticeship, technical school, or college. Your schools will decide how to meet the standards through a local curriculum and teaching methods that respect your community’s cultures.
Soldotna High School is collecting gently used formal dresses, shoes, and accessories for 2014 Cinderella’s Closet. This is a program which helps all area high school ladies with prom attire for free. Please email mbos@kpbsd.k12.ak.us for more info. All donations can be dropped off to the front office 8am-2pm.
There are two ways to order a transcript. Each way serves a different purpose.
If you need a transcript sent to a college or NCAA or a similar agency, then you will need to log on to: www.parchment.com to order transcripts to be sent. The request is then forwarded to SoHi. After processing, it then goes through cyberspace… rather than the US mail… to get to its destination, which is much faster! ALL transcripts that are headed for NCAA, colleges, etc. have to be processed this way!
FINAL TRANSCRIPTS! A final transcript is one that shows your second semester grades… If you order your transcript when we are IN second semester,,, you will need to make sure you choose “next grading period” when you go on to Parchment… that way your transcript request will wait until the grades are in at the end of the year before it is sent.
Redoubt Elementary
Thank you to all of the volunteers and participants who helped make our 2nd Annual Winter Carnival a huge success. A great time was had by everyone. Thank you to all of the families and business that donated items and services for our silent auction.
Redoubt’s Beginning Band Concert will be held Feb. 20 in the Redoubt gym at 6-7 p.m. Band students should arrive by 5:30 p.m.
Yearbooks are on sale, please pre-order your year book before March 31st. Cost to purchase a yearbook is $15. A limited number of yearbooks will be ordered. Order forms have been sent home with students.
Redoubt Elementary 2014/2015 Preschool applications can be picked up at the school office. Children must be 4 years old by Sept. 1.
Box Top winners last week were; Xavier West, Rylen Weed, Avery Powell and Lincoln Saito. Keep turning in those Box Tops for Education.
Mar. 4 – Wax Museum, presented by Redoubt’s 5th graders
Skyview High
Weekend Highlights:
The ski team raced at Boroughs Feb. 7 and 8. Mika Morton finished 4th, Mieka Chythlook finished 10th and Brittany Hollers was 16th.
Brenner Musgrave finished 8th in Friday’s race, followed by Jeremiah Hudson in 14th, Sky Schlung in 15th, Daniel Shuler in 17th, Sterling Stasak in 19th and Logan Hemphill was 24th. In Saturday’s race, Mika again led the girls with a 2nd place finish, followed by Mieka in 13th and Brittany in 18th. Also on Saturday, Brenner was 7th, Jeremiah was 12th, Sky was 13th, Sterling was 18th, Daniel was 19th and Logan Hemphill finished 22nd.
The boys and girls basketball teams both finished 2nd at the Ninilchik Invitational Tournament. The girls defeated Chevak (50-47) and Noatak 59-45 before finishing a close second to Unalakleet in the championship game 39-36. The boys team started the tourney with a win over Noorvik 73-51 before being one-upped by Unalakleet Friday (61-46) and in the championship game (70-48). Selected to the All-tournament team for the girls were: Meghan Powers and Sam Reynolds. Selected to the All-tournament team for the boys were: Tim Duke and Jacob Carlson. Jacob Carlson also had the highest score in an individualized All-tournament team shooting competition
All World History students at KCHS and Skyview will be taking their 3rd field trip of the year on Feb. 19 from 8:45 to 9:55. They will be traveling back in time to learn about nationalism in Eastern and Western Europe and what impact music had. We will be connecting to the Manhattan School of Music who has put together a program for our students with an expert in this field.
The Tunisia Collaboration project involving KCHS and Skyview students have met three times and will be working on a multinational cook book. With recipes from Tunisia and Alaska students hope to hold a community banquet to raise money for people living in poverty in Tunisia and homeless efforts here on the Peninsula.
CWOW (Classroom WithOut Walls) co-teacher Greg Zorbas from KCHS has been named the Alaska Society for Technology in Education 2014 Teacher of the Year. Skyview World History students are fortunate to have Mr. Zorbas as one of their teachers.
Nikiski North Star Elementary
Love of Reading month is in full swing at NNS! We are participating in the “One School, One Book” activity during the month of February. We have distributed the book, ‘My Father’s Dragon’ by Ruth Stiles Gannett to each family and ask that you read the assigned chapter at home every night and discuss what happened in the chapter. The following day, we will ask questions related to the chapter during morning announcements. There will be prizes awarded to students who answer the questions correctly. This is a wonderful family activity and a way for you to enjoy reading together as a family.
Congratulations to the students who submitted entries in the PTA Reflections contest. The theme this year was “Believe, Dream, Inspire”. These students won at the local level: Literature – 1st place, Telon Fallon, 2nd place, Brendan Boehme, and 3rd place, Aubrey Day. Photography – 1st place, Liam Quiner, 2nd place, Aubrey Day, and 3rd place, Cooper Stock. Visual Arts (Primary Division) – 1st place, Aiden Quiner, 2nd place, Thayne Quiner, and 3rd place, Leora Meader. Visual Arts (Intermediate Division) – 1st place, Boden Quiner, 2nd place, Brendan Boehme, and 3rd place, Carter Tennison.
It is cinnamon roll time again! Mrs. Matson’s 5th graders will be baking cinnamon rolls/sticky buns as part of their fractions/World of Work studies and also a fundraiser for their spring field trips. The rolls will sell for $1.50 each. Order forms are available in the office or from Mrs. Matson’s students. The Matson Bakery will be open Feb. 19, 20, 21. Please order early because they always sell out. If you need more information, please call the school at 776-2600.
Soldotna Elementary
Congratulations to our Reading Counts classroom winners for last week! They were Tori Morse, Willow Duffy, Kaylee Brewer, Brock Poe, Rhys Cannava, Nate Downs, and Ryann Cannava. Keep reading those books and passing the quizzes, kids! We are all proud of you.
Child Find Screenings: The KPBSD Child Find Program and Frontier Community Services Infant Learning will be offering free screenings for children 5 years and younger. The screenings will be on Feb. 21, from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. at Frontier Community Services, Suite 14, in the Red Diamond Center. They will screen your child’s early development, motor skills, speech, early learning concepts, vision and hearing. To make an appointment or for more information, please call 714-6647.
Soldotna Elementary recently purchased a television for our foyer featuring our students, activities, upcoming events, etc. We would also love to highlight our students’ extracurricular activities and accomplishments and would like to request that SOEL parents submit photos to display in the foyer slide show. The photos need to be emailed to Dana Cannava at dcannava@kpbsd.k12.ak.us in a jpeg format. Thank you.
PTA Meeting tonight, Feb. 17 at 3:45 p.m. in the library. Come join us and help plan activities for the remainder of the school year. Child care will be provided.
Another Early Release Day coming up on Wednesday, Feb. 17. Students will be dismissed at 1:55 p.m. Bus schedules will be adjusted by 90 minutes. There will not be an afternoon pre-school class for Mrs. Cannava’s students. Thank you.
Congratulations to our wonderful and brilliant Clara Moore who was the top speller in the Soldotna Elementary Spelling Bee held on Feb. 5. Clara will be representing our school at the State Spelling Bee in March. Congratulations also to Tim Cashman who became the alternate winner in the school’s Spelling Bee!
Crazy Hair and/or Crazy Socks Day is coming up on Feb. 28.
We are accepting Title I applications for the 2014/2015 school year. Please stop by the office to pick one up if you’re interested. To be eligible, students must be 4 years old by September 1st, 2014. Please contact Katrina Cannava at 260-5142 or katrinacannava@kpbsd.k12.ak.us.
Our 3rd and 4th graders have noticed the picture of Frosty the Snowman ( in the intermediate hallway) who is smoking an old corncob pipe, and they have written letters to Frosty and letters about Frosty’s behavior explaining why they believe old Frosty should kick that nasty habit. These letters are wonderful and show that the kids have been paying attention to the dangers of smoking! Smart kids!
IDEA Home-school
IDEA students will be joining the Alaska Department of Fish and Game at Sport Lake on Feb. 19 from 1:30 to 2:30 p.m. for a fun hour of ice fishing. Fish and Game will supply the poles and tackle but families are encouraged to bring popcorn shrimp for bait. Anyone over 16 years old that plans to fish must have a fishing license. Please call the office for more information on this great event.
Congratulations to several IDEA students for their recent achievements: Hannah Hess, the IDEA Spelling Bee Champ who will travel to anchorage to the Alaska State Spelling Bee, Peter Hilbish, the IDEA Geo Bee winner who will represent us at the Alaska State Geo Bee in April and Dominick Aliotto who will represent IDEA Kenai Peninsula at the statewide Battle of the Books competition later this month.
IDEA families plan now to join us for an afternoon learning salmon anatomy and physiology at a special dissection workshop to be held on Feb. 26 at the Soldotna Public Library. This opportunity will encourage students to explore science and learn about the structures of a living organism. Call the office to reserve your spot, 260-7555.
Connections Home-school
Dates To Remember:
Feb. 19 — ADFG Ice Fishing Field Trip Sport Lake – Meet @ boat ramp at Sports Lake @ 10:00am: PLEASE RSVP 907-714-8880
Feb. 24 – 28 — Science Fair Projects due to office, Projects displayed from 24-28 and prizes awarded on 28
Feb. 25 — Movie day! 1 p.m. at Orca Theater featuring The Lego Movie ! RSVP with Shelli Furlong 714-8880 sfurlong@kpbsd.k12.ak.us
Mar. 1 — Iditaread Starts!
Mar. 7 — High School Eligibility Due
Mar. 31 — Last Day to Turn in Connection Orders; Last day to turn in Iditaread minutes;
ADFG Ice Fishing Field Trip Sport Lake:
Hello Connections families, please join Alaska Fish and Game and your Connections advisors for an hour of ice fishing on Feb. 19 at Sport Lake. We will meet at the boat ramp on Sport Lake at 10 a.m. Sport Lake is located one mile outside of Soldotna off the Kenai Spur Highway. ADFG will have the fishing rods and Connections will have the bait. All you need is warm clothes and a fishing license for anglers 16 and older. This event is dependent upon the weather. All are welcome but we do request that you RSVP with Reubin Payne at the Connections office rpayne@kpbsd.k12.ak.us714-8880.
Lights, Camera, Action!
Connections is planning a Lego Movie get together at the Orca Theater on Feb. 25 1 p.m. I
Iditaread!
Attention all readers: the 2014 Iditaread is just around the corner and it’s time again for Connections Homeschool’s Iditaread Challenge to all K-6th grade students! The Iditaread Challenge will begin Feb. 28. Stop by your local Connections Office between now and then for more information and to get your sled ready to hit the trail! The challenge will run through Mar. 31.
Kalifornsky Beach Elementary
Congratulations to Avrie Medina in Mrs. Romatz’s third grade class! She won first place in the Tustumena 200 Art Contest. The race was cancelled due to the lack of snow but the Race Committee decided to award the prizes anyway. Avrie received a beautiful canvas print of her artwork, a plethora of art supplies for home, and a pizza party for her class! A special thank you to Tami Murray from the Soldotna Chamber of Commerce for visiting the classroom and personally awarding Avrie with her print and prizes and for treating her classmates to pizza and soda. Check out the Soldotna Chamber of Commerce Facebook page to see Avrie and her beautiful artwork! Way to go Avrie!
Mar. 18 — Band concert in the K-Beach gym at 6:30 p.m.
Kenai Middle
The very young Kenai MathCounts team had a fun day of challenging math in Anchorage on Feb. 8 at the Chapter (South-Central Region) Competition. The team consisted of Justin Anderson, Kai McKibben, Kaden McKibben, Maria Salzetti, Sarah Foutty, Tucker Muller (Kaleidoscope) and Dominic Efta (Aurora Borealis). KMS 6th grader Justin Anderson stood out by finishing 9th overall. Because he was the third-place student not on a State-bound team, he qualified for State Finals on March 29th as an individual. Congratulations to all of our Math-letes!
Congratulations to Keegan Gardner, Hunter Beck and Gary Dent who represented KMS in the 6th grade Battle of the Books competition last week. They did a fabulous job in the competition narrowly missing the championship rounds!! Way to go guys!
Kenai Middle School will be hosting Volleyball twice this week. Tuesday’s game will be at 3 p.m. against Homer and Thursday’s game will be at 3 p.m. against Nikiski. There will be a xc ski meet at SVHS on Friday starting at 3 p.m.. The Borough wrestling meet will be held at Seward Middle School starting at 10 a.m. on Saturday.
Nikiski Middle-High
Feb. 17 – B Team Middle School Volleyball at Nikolaevsk at 4:30 p.m.
Feb. 18 – Basketball at Skyview. Girls Varsity at 4:30 p.m. Boys Varsity at 6 p.m.; Middle School Volleyball at Soldotna Middle School at 3 p.m.
Feb. 20 – Middle School Volleyball at Kenai Middle School at 3 p.m.
Feb. 21 – 22 – Middle School Cross Country Skiing Regions at Su-Valley
Feb. 21 – Middle School Cross Country Skiing at Soldotna Middle School at 3 p.m.; Basketball at Seward JV Girls at 3 p.m., JV Boys at 4:30 p.m., Varsity Girls at 6 p.m., Varsity Boys at 7:30 p.m.
Feb. 22 – Middle School Borough Wrestling at Seward at 10 a.m.
The NMHS sixth grade team took fourth place in the KPBSD Battle of the Books competition on Tuesday. Good Job sixth graders Joe Yourkoski, Tika Zimmerman, Aura Petrick and Kaycee Bostic. They spent many hours reading and studying their books.
Congratulations to Jaylen Uhls and Jamie Yerkes for earning Honorable Mention status in the 22nd annual Peninsula Creative Writing Contest. Jaylen’s recognition came in Grades 7-9 fiction – and Jamie’s recognition came in Grades 7-9 non-fiction. Complete results can be found at http://homerart.org/calendar/events/winners-of-the-kenai-peninsula-writers-contest.
Kaleidoscope School of Arts and Science
Feb. 17 — Shala Dobson is our visiting artist and will be working with staff and students daily for this week; 5:30 – 6:30 p.m. Kindergarten will be having a Winter Celebration and will be sharing music, art, and dance from their study of the sky.
Feb. 18 — 5 p.m. is “Play a Part in the KSAS Schoolyard Habitat, Trail & Outdoor Classroom Meeting” in the gym. There is great value in enhancing the habitat and incorporating an outdoor classroom thus enriching our student experience at Kaleidoscope by connecting them to nature right in our backyard.
Feb. 19 — School Tours from 9:30-10 a.m. If you know of a family that is interested in attending Kaleidoscope next year, please share this with them; Cooking Club and Backcountry Snow Club are meeting from 3:45-4:45.
Feb. 20 — Tap Dance Club is meeting from 3:45-4:45 p.m.; Shala Dobson is giving the Display Workshop at 9:30 a.m. for volunteers; 6 p.m. is an Artist Reception and Parent Night.
Feb. 22 — 10 -11 a.m. New Parent Informational Meeting for any families new to Kaleidoscope or entered into our lottery. We ask that you attend a meeting if you have not attended one in the past.
PTA
Yearbooks are on sale through Apr. 4 for $18.
The next general PTA meeting is Mar. 4 at 9:15 a.m.
Reminders
Please note that Feb. 26 is an early dismissal day and there will be no afterschool activity clubs on this day.
The LifeSkill we are focusing on this week is Problem Solving: To create solutions to difficult situations and everyday problems.
Mountain View Elementary
February is “Love of Reading Month” and Mountain View Elementary will celebrate it with the theme of IditaRead. Students will have the opportunity to make the journey to Nome by matching reading minutes to checkpoints along the trail. Students participating in the journey will be entered into a drawing for free books of their choice. Classrooms will also make this reading journey together for a chance to win a classroom special event.
Classrooms will “PAWS” for reading from 8:45 to 8:55 am. each day. Everybody reads. Guest readers will celebrate reading with Mountain View students on Feb. 18. Join in the fun and support reading at home!
There will be a site council meeting on Feb. 20 at 4 p.m. The agenda will include Mountain View start/stop times, Climate Committee progress, FY ’15 planning, & Title 1 parent activity plans.
Soldotna Middle
Sports Schedule this week:
Feb. 18 – Volleyball Soldotna Maroon vs. Nikiski at Soldotna Middle School at 3 p.m.
Feb. 19 – Volleyball Soldotna Maroon vs. Soldotna White at Soldotna Middle School at 3 p.m.
Feb. 21 – Volleyball Homer vs. Soldotna Maroon at Soldotna Middle School at 3 p.m.
Feb. 22 – Volleyball Soldotna White vs. Homer at Homer at 10 a.m.
Feb. 21 – Skiing Soldotna Invitational at Skyview High School at 3 p.m.
Feb. 22 – Wrestling Borough Tournament at Seward at 10 a.m.
Kenai Central High
It is Homegoing Week at Kenai Central High School. This year’s theme is Neon Nights, so students come get your glow on and dance underneath black lights Saturday from 8-10. The cost of the dance is $2 and 3 canned goods or $5 per person. Our assembly will be on Thursday from 1:45 – 2:15 p.m. The dress-up days and assembly schedule is listed below.
Monday – Class Colors (Freshmen – Grey, Sophomores-Black , Juniors- Green, Seniors-Camo)
Tuesday-Tacky Tourist Tuesday
Wednesday- Twin Day
Thursday- Urkel Day (Homegoing Assembly)
Friday – School Spirit
Weekly Events
Tuesday-Basketball vs. Homer 6/7:30 p.m.
Thursday-Basketball vs. Palmer 6/7:30 p.m.
Friday-Basketball vs. Colony 6/7:30 p.m.
Saturday-Basketball vs. Wasilla (Senior Night) 3 p.m. and 5 p.m.
