Tri-Center Newsletter 2013

High School 485-2257 Middle School 485-2211 www.tri-center.k12.ia.us Elementary 485-2271

Superintendents News and Comments

Brett Nanninga

Learning should be approached as a life-long, continual process. In order to function in a global society, students need to understand individual and cultural diversities.

The Annual Progress Report for 2012-2013 may be found on the Tri-Center website at www.tri-center.k12.ia.us.

It is the responsibility of everyone associated with the school to develop a climate that fosters positive self-concepts and self-esteem. Learning occurs best in a safe, clean, attractive, and comfortable, non-threatening environment. Students learn best when their unique personal, social, and academic needs are met by caring teachers and administrators. Excellence will be achieved by hiring, nurturing, and retaining innovative teachers who are leaders in their field. Learning occurs best when students are involved in a variety of academic and extra-curricular activities.

Tri-Center Community Schools Mission Statement

Committed to Maximizing Student Potential

Tri-Center Community Schools Belief Statements All students can learn and succeed, although in different ways and at an individual pace. Learning should take place in real-life contexts and should reflect the interrelated nature of subject areas. Using resources in the community can help students to understand how present learning is connected to future work experiences.
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Self-discipline, personal responsibility, respect, and a commitment to a strong work ethic will be encouraged, expected and exemplified. Family and community support enhances the learning process. Functional families are an integral part of student achievement.

Board of Educations Belief Statements

Guiding Statement: It is understood that children and families form the foundation on which all of the following beliefs must be maintained. The following are eight of the primary beliefs held and valued by the TriCenter Community School Districts Board of Education as paramount to maintaining a sound educational system. Academics will be recognized as the highest priority and will be demonstrated by . . . Hiring the best teaching staff available, regardless of salary schedule placement. Keeping pay/benefits for staff (certified and classified) competitive with that of regional and comparably sized schools, such as those in the Western Iowa Conference. Striving to keep lower elementary (PK-2) classroom numbers at twenty or less and continuing to provide all day and half-day prekindergarten programs. Focusing curriculum and professional development primarily on reading, writing, math, and science; and pursuing research-based instructional practices that will bolster student achievement in all teaching areas. Keeping the plant/facilities and the transportation fleet updated each fiscal year; and providing a safe educational environment for students and staff. Valuing co-curricular activities and demonstrating that belief through facilities, equipment, and the selection of auxiliary staff. Recognizing the various booster clubs/support groups as vital partners in the education process. Hiring the best administrative staff and allowing them to make operational, managerial, and procedural decisions for the district with the overall welfare of the students as the focus. Striving to maintain a high level of parental/community involvement, and keeping people informed about the educational opportunities for district youth.

Continuing to emphasize curricular offerings which will meet the needs of all students at all grade levels. Encouragement . . . Opportunity Knocks It is a proven fact that people (children and adults) need affirmation and encouragement in life. Opportunities usually abound for us to compliment or positively reinforce someonewe dont have to look real hard for those instances and they usually cost us nothing more than a little time. Unfortunately, we tend to notice more things that are wrong and end up applying unnecessary energy or drama that often results in making matters worse. We must take time to tell our kids, other kids, and those that influence the lives of all kids (teachers, coaches/sponsors, support staff, and administrators) that they are doing a fine job and need to keep making a difference. This far-from-perfect world is very adept at promoting the negative or tragic issues in society. We must remember that it is part of our responsibility to recognize what is right and good, and apply some of our energy toward making more of the same happen. Watch for the opportunity to affirm or show gratitude, and then watch the results of your encouragement. We could all benefit from more acts and words of kindness. The most important profession in the world is parenting. The second is teaching, and everyone is a teacher to someone. --John Wooden

From the Principals Desk Angie Huseman

October 18th: End of 1st Quarter. Power School Remember, you can check your childs grade at anytime through the Power School System. All you need is Internet access. If you do not have Internet access, call me, and we can figure out a way for you to stay as informed about your childs academic performance as possible. If you see something on Power School that you do not feel makes sense, make sure you contact the teacher. It is vital for your childs progress in school to be involved in his/her daily activities. Let your child know what your expectations are for him/her, and talk frequently about what is going on in school. PowerSchool also has a nice app if you have an apple device. Just search for PowerSchool in the apps and select the one for parents (it is an orange school house). As with everything that happens at the high school, if you have any questions that I can answer, please call 485-2257. New Parent Log-Ins, Apps and Alert Numbers If you have not already created your parent account (some of you did this last year), following are the instructions you will need to follow. First, parents will need to create a new account with their own chosen user name and password. You will need to enter the Parent username and information listed following this paragraph into the Parent Log-in site to accomplish this. You can access this location by going to the Tri-Center website: www.tri-center.k12.ia.us. Once you are in our website, click on the Power School Student link located on the left hand column. Then, click on the red Apple Power School logo at the top of the page. You will see near the bottom of that page. Click on "Create Account". Complete the information on the form, selecting your own user name and password; this will become your username and password for all of your children. At the bottom of the form, you will

type in the name(s) of your child(ren). You will need to use your old parent log-in information for the Access Ids and Access Passwords for your student(s). If you have more than one student, you will be getting this same letter for each of your children, but you should enter all of your children on this same page when you first create your account. THE SYSTEM IS CASE SENSITIVE, SO IF THERE ARE CAPITAL LETTERS, USE CAPITAL LETTERS. This will enable you to have one log in for all of your children. Hit enter when all of the fields are full. Second, YOU NOW HAVE THE ABILITY TO SET UP AND CONTROL YOUR OWN ACCESS TO THE DISTRICT WIDE ALERT SYSTEM. We have a new notification system that allows parents to update any and all contact information at any time by simply logging into their parent account and clicking on Power Announcement in the side bar. Once you have clicked on Power Announcement, you should click on EXPAND ALL. Now you have the power to tell us if you want to be notified by text, email, phone or any combination. You can add a lot of numbers or just one. That is up to you. We do need to have at least one number so we can reach you in case of emergency. If you need additional help, please do not hesitate to call any of the building secretaries or principals. The help you will need is close at hand. Celebrate My Drive Our school is committed to keeping teens safe on the road, and thats why were participating in Celebrate My Drive, a program thats all about celebrating the fun of getting your drivers license while helping you drive safely so you arrive safely. Whats really sweet abot participating int his program is YOU can also help our school win a $100,000 grantand possibly a concert by a charttopping music artist right here in our town! Its simple: Log onto celebratemydrive.com Indicate you want to support Tri-Center High School Commit to drive safely! Make a safe driving commitment once a day, every day, between OCTOBER 18 and 26. The more safe-driving commitments we make, the better
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chance we have to win $100,000 and host a concert. Tell your friends and family who are age 14 and older to get involved too! Thanks for your support of Tri-Center High School and our teen drivers. Remember, 2N2: 2 eyes on the road, 2 hands on the wheel.

the Iowa College Access Network (ICAN) will be here to give the presentation and answer questions about the financial aid process. If you are a first time parent sending your first off to some sort of post-secondary educational facility, this will be a very informative meeting for you. Juniors: There will be a John Baylor Test Prep offered to juniors before the February 8th test date. It would be a great idea to have your daughter/son take the December test for the first time, do the Prep before the February test date. There will be 24 juniors taking the PSAT/NMSQT test on October 16th here at TriCenter. This test is a preliminary SAT test and is the only opportunity to qualify for the National Merit Scholarship program. This is not an automatic scholarship program but they must take this test to qualify. This is also great practice for taking the ACT test. Sophomores: The Sophomores will be taking the PLAN test on November 4th here at Tri-Center. This is ACT endorsed and students will receive an estimated ACT Assessment Composite score. It looks at growth in the areas of English, Math, Reading, and Science Reasoning. All Seniors, Juniors, Sophomores and Freshmen will be taking the ITED tests (Iowa Tests of Educational Development) the week of November 11th. Please encourage your daughter/son to do their best, it is a great measurement tool for the student, parents and the school. National Honor Society: The National Honor Society Birthday and Activity calendars should have been delivered to businesses by now. If you purchased an ad and did not receive a calendar, please call the high school and we will be sure that one is delivered to your business promptly. Thank you for contributing to the National Honor Society Organization. Our yearly Blood Drive will be February 28th here at Tri-Center from 8:30 - 2:30. Please mark your calendars!
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Counselor Comments
Tami Harman

October and November are busy months for students and for the counseling department. We have all settled in and things are going well. These next two months are full of multiple standardized tests and all kinds of activities for the students. Time management will be your best friend as we plunge into the early fall schedule. Seniors: There are several representatives that will be visiting TC in October and November, please take a look at those and plan to visit with any that you may be interested in. I have also included them on my website for parents to view. Letters have gone out to all senior parents to schedule a meeting to review your daughter/son's credits, graduation plans, scholarship procedures, college visits, and application processes. Please call and set up a time to meet and review those plans. I will be conducting the John Baylor Test Prep this month for the seniors taking the October 26th test. We will meet 12 times before the test date to review the different tests and help prepare them to do the best they can on this ACT. Seniors should be wrapping up ACT testing by December unless a college or scholarship requires a later test date. Mark your calendars!! There will be a Financial Aid Night on Wednesday, November 13th at 7:00 here at Tri-Center. A representative from

photo is not received by December 18, it may be difficult to include it. GET PICTURES IN EARLY TO BE SAFE! PARENT AND PERSONAL ADS: Support the yearbook and honor your son/daughter, grandson/daughter, sibling, friend, or others at the same time. Parent and personal ads are $35 and include the honored persons name, a small photo, and a message limited to 20 words. Senior parents can expect to receive a letter in December or early next semester. Parent and personal ads can be purchased from Publications Adviser Sarah Elliott or Yearbook Editor Zach Denning at 485-2257, ext. 100. PICTURES ARE ACCEPTED: The publications staff is in need of and will accept pictures for possible use in the yearbook and/or the newspaper. Pictures can be submitted by email (selliott@tricenter,k12.ia.us) or brought in to be scanned and returned ASAP. The staff is currently in need of Homecoming, summer and fall sports, and candid pictures for all grades. AD CAMPAIGN: We will be starting our ad/ page sponsor campaign soon. If you are or know of a business owner or individual who may want to advertise and/or sponsor a page, contact Adviser Sarah Elliott at 485-2257, ext. 100. Advertisers and sponsors not only help fund a yearbook of which the district and surrounding communities can be proud, but have the opportunity to support an educational program that teaches students valuable skills in writing, design, photography, computer use, and business.

Picture Retakes
Picture retakes are scheduled for Tuesday, October 22nd in the elementary.

Yearbook News and Information . ..Sarah Elliott

2013-2014 Publications Staff Members: Seniors: CyaNet and Newspaper CoConsultants/Editors Elise Christenson, Lia Grover, Christian Severn; Juniors: Yearbook Editor Zach Denning, Brandon Jensen, Stephanie Nelson, Allison Ploen, Megan Ryan, Austin Sondag; and Sophomores: Whitney Matthews, Megan Rohatsch. 2013 YEARBOOKS! The 2013 Trojan Yearbooks are NOT in yet. We are working on finishing the proofs and submitting them, and the books will get it around the end of October. We appreciate your patience with both the Publications staff doing proofs and the publisher (Walsworth Publishing) printing it. We will have a handful of extras which may be purchased for $50 each while supplies last. At the time see or call Adviser Mrs. Sarah Elliott at the high school at 485-2257, ext. 100. 2014 YEARBOOK SALES!!! The 2014 Trojan Yearbook sales will begin after the 2013 books have arrived and are out. We will also try to do on-line sales this year. Some specials and discounts will be offered throughout the year. SENIOR PICTURES: Seniors and senior parents, pictures are due to the yearbook by Wednesday, December 18, 2013. These may be in color or black and white, but they should be wallet-sized, and head and shoulder shots work or look best. Dont assume your photographer will send them in to us. If the

Tri-Center Middle School

Brian Wedemeyer, Principal

NWEA Fall tests will be taken during Sept. 30-Oct. 11th. Test results will be sent home with your 4th quarter report card after the Spring tests are completed. If you would like to know how your student did on the Fall tests you can contact the MS office.
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The Iowa Test of Basic Skills will be given the week of November 11-15th. We will only test in the areas of Math, Science and Reading this year. Please encourage your students to do their best on these exams, the results will be included in several documents and will ultimately be used as one of the gauges of how well Tri-Center is doing in educating the youth of our school district. Winter posters and pocket calendars will be in shortly you can pick those up in any school office. All athletic calendars are available at www.westerniowaconference.org Developing a reading habit, tips from a school librarian: 1. Leave lots of reading material, books, magazines, newspapers, even comic books all around the house. If theyre lying there, hell pick them up. 2. Stop at the library when you are out and about. Once inside, steer him towards sections he might like. 3. Discuss the books Im reading. That will give him a chance to talk about what he has read that day and give us a reading habit to share.

Elementary Principal
Diane White

October Highlights
1-8 NWEA testing 3rd 5th Grades 2 5th Grade Public Art Trip 2 Lions Club visits 3rd Grade 3 PK to Minden Fire Station 3 TAG Parent Mtg. 6 PM 6-12 Fire Prevention Week 8 Neola Fire Station Trips Grades 1-5 8 Kindergarten to Minden Fire Station 9 5th Grade to Living History Farms 9 Fall Fitness Day 10 - PK Field Trip to Valas Pumpkin Patch 11 No School Teacher In Service 14-18 Natl School Lunch Week 14 Baby Sitting Class 3:30 16 3rd Grade to Hitchcock Park 18 No Preschool today 18 1:30 Dismissal End of 1st Quarter 21 Babysitting Class 3:30 22 - Picture Retakes 8:00 AM 28 No PK today 28-29 Hearing Tests 28 Baby Sitting Class 3:30 28-31 Red Ribbon Week 31 Halloween

Special Olympics . Julie Theulen

The Special Olympic Team will be traveling to Thunderbowl in Council Bluffs on October 8 to compete in bowling. Members of the team include Harrison Dollen, Alanna Haubrich, Cole Osbahr, Shawn Pickett, and Elijah Bearley. Wish the team "Good Luck" when you see them.

High School Band Paul Hart

October is a busy month for the Trojan Jr. High and High School Marching Bands. On October 5, both bands will travel to Clarinda for the Clarinda Band Jamboree. The Jr. High Band will be participating in the parade competition while the High School Band will be doing both parade and field competition. Please check Mr. Harts website for details. The HS Trojan Marching Band will be traveling to West Des Moines on October 12 to perform at Valleyfest. On October 19, the Trojan Marching Band will be trying for its 17th straight Division I rating at State Marching Band in Glenwood. More details on our performance time coming on Mr. Harts website.

Help support the Ronald McDonald House!

The Tri-Center Elementary Student Council will be assisting the Tri-Center Middle School with collecting aluminum pop tabs during the 2013-14 school year. Students are encouraged to collect and bring clean pop tabs to the elementary school office. Student volunteers will then count them and turn them into the Ronald McDonald House. The Ronald McDonald House recycles the tabs and uses the proceeds to assist families who have a child receiving treatment at our local health care facilities. Why pop tabs and not the entire can? Because pop tabs are smaller and easier to store. The tabs are also paint free and pure aluminum, which increases their value and profit when recycled. So pull your tabs for the Ronald McDonald House, but be sure to recycle the cans.