Author: dekemp

Niobrara Public School
December 2017
December 2015
Business Name

Sportsmanship

Basketball season is here. Here are some tips for parents to do before, during and after the games. Before the games ask yourself, “Why do I want my son/daughter to play this activity? What do I think a successful season will be?” Next ask your child the same questions. If you do not have the same answers, it is time to support your child and drop yours.
Some suggestions for parents regarding games:
be there
model appropriate behavior
focus on the team and team goals not your child
allow there to be only ONE instructional voice (the coach), multiple voices are confusing, and
choose one role you are going to show up to the game as:
Coach-become certified and apply for the job.
Official - get the proper certification and training and let schools know you are ready for hire.
Player –get out there and actually play the game.
Spectator-support the team and encourage them in only a positive way.
After the game, parents can simply ask the child what their favorite memory of the game was and their worst memory. Save the analysis, most kids need space and time to recover. They need to learn how to resolve issues themselves. The time to step in as a parent is when their behavior on the court is not an acceptable behavior in your own home. Lastly, always tell kids “I love to watch you play!”
Come out and watch our students play! Have fun! Go Cougars!
Happy Holidays from everyone at Niobrara Public Schools.

School closing announcements, due to inclement weather or some other emergency will be made over Alert Solutions, our phone messenger service. Please ensure that we have the most current emergency contact information. Notify the school with changes.

Dates to Note:
December 1 - G/B JV/V BB vs. EPPJ @ Verdigre; JH Wrestling @ O’Neill
December 2 - Wrestling @ Creighton
December 4 – JH Girls BB @ St. Mary’s; JV Wrestling @ Ponca
December 5 - G/B JV/V BB vs. St. Mary’s @ Niobrara
December 8 - Wrestling @ Sargent; G/B JV/V BB @ Orchard
December 9 - G/B JV/V BB @ Bloomfield
December 11 - Xmas Concert Preschool-12
December 12 - G/B JV/V BB vs. Ewing @ Niobrara
December 13 - JH Boys & Girls BB vs. Crofton @ Niobrara
December 16 - G/B JV/V BB vs. Creighton @ Niobrara; Wrestling @ Osmond
December 18 - G/B JV/V BB @ Wausa
December 19 - Girls JV/V BB vs. Nel-Oakdale @ Niobrara
December 21 - Early Dismissal 2:08 p.m.; End of 2nd Quarter
December 22 - January 2 - Winter Break
December 28 & 29 - Verdigre Holiday Tournament
School resumes January 3rd Staff and Students

ATTENDANCE This is a reminder to all students and their parents regarding attendance. The school day is from 8:10 a.m. to 3:52 p.m. Monday - Thursday and 8:10 a.m. to 2:08 p.m. on Fridays and early dismissals. Students that are not in attendance during these times, for reasons other than school activities will be counted tardy or absent. Also, letters may be sent home reflecting attendance issues. Please review the attendance policy in the student handbook. If you have any questions, please contact Superintendent Mrs. Sandoz 857-3323 or Principal Mrs. Guenther 857-3322. Thanks for your support.

Bus Safety
Always be alert for students on or near the roadway when a school bus is stopped.
When a school bus is about to stop and load or unload children, the bus driver activates amber warning lights.
When meeting or overtaking a bus, slow to 25 MPH and prepare to stop.
The amber warning lights will stay on until the bus door opens.
When the bus driver opens the bus door, the red stop lights and STOP arm activates.
Stop and remain stopped until the bus driver retracts the stop arm and deactivates the red warning lights.
Stop a reasonable distance from the bus. Not stopping when approaching or overtaking a school bus which has stop lights on and the stop arm extended is unlawful. The only exception occurs when approaching a school bus in the opposite direction on a roadway divided by a median.
Every child who rides a school bus must be a responsible rider. Children must follow all school bus safety practices and respect the authority of the bus driver.
We want your children to be safe when they travel to and from school. School bus safety begins at home.

FROM THE HEALTH OFFICE:
With cold and flu season upon us, please keep the following guidelines in mind when deciding whether or not to send your child to school. This will help to control the spread of infectious diseases at school and allow your child to be available for learning.
Students should remain home for the following reasons:
• For a temperature greater than 100.5 degrees. Children should be fever free for 24 hours before returning to school and not taking fever reducing medication to control symptoms (Tylenol or Ibuprofen).
• If diagnosed with a strep infection. Students need to be on an antibiotic for a minimum of 24 hours, fever free, and feeling well before returning to school.
• If your child has vomited or had persistent diarrhea during the night or in the morning before school.
• If your child has a heavy, moist productive cough, chest congestion, or discolored nasal drainage.
• If your child has pinkeye (conjunctivitis). Students need to have completed 24 hours of medication, and have no visible redness or discharge before returning to school.
Students returning to school should be kept home until they have been symptom free for 24 hours. This is important for your child’s health and the health of his/her classmates.
Please continue to remind your child of the importance of frequent hand washing, healthy eating, and proper use and disposal of tissues during this cold and flu season.
When notifying the school of your child’s absence, please give us the reason for the absence. We monitor student illnesses and need to report “outbreaks” of illnesses to the health department.
Head Lice: This time of year, we tend to see an increase incidence of Head Lice. Please do your part to check your student’s hair for live lice and nits. If you are unsure of what you are looking for, please let me know and I can provide some information. Remind them to not share hats, hair ties, or brushes. Keep coats and backpacks away from other students as much as possible. I will continue to monitor and do checks and will notify you and/or send home shampoo if I see a concern. There are many great products available for purchase for treatment of Head Lice. If you would like recommendations, let me know. Also remember that rarely will you “get rid of Head Lice” with one treatment. It usually takes at least 2 treatments (a week apart) and cleaning/washing all bedding and anywhere that the child may lay their head.
Thank you for your attention to this important matter concerning the health of our students. Please feel free to contact the Health Office with any questions or concerns. Wishing you all “Happy Healthy Holidays”!!
Nurse Chelsey

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Niobrara Public School

Niobrara Public School
December 2017
December 2015
Business Name

DECEMBER
BIRTHDAYS
2 - Alex Bustamante
5 - Isabella Wright
6 - Sadie Antelope; Lane & Lynae Nielsen; Tracen Runnels
8 - Brady Koehn
11 - Jade Brandt
12 - Meadow Leboldus; Wichiana Grant-Wabasha
14 - Paizlee Klug
15 - Yesenia Deanda
16 - James Mackey; Chase Pritchett
23 - Christine Mechaley

Winter Attire
Many students look forward to recess each day! Students enjoy it best when they are properly dressed. Cold weather has arrived along with snow. This is a reminder of appropriate clothing for students who participate in recess. Students shall have winter coats, hats and gloves. When the snow arrives, they must wear snow boots and bring along a pair of shoes to wear indoors. Snow pants are optional, but recommended if the student wishes to play in the snow. On days where the temperature drops into the lower digits, recess will be indoors. We appreciate your support by ensuring your child wears appropriate clothing.

Parents and Guardians, if you are changing the travel arrangements of your child, all calls must reach the school one hour prior to dismissal. Changes to ride arrangements late in the day have created confusion and unsafe situations for our students. Parents and Guardians are reminded that leaving your child at school or not picking them up at the bus stop is a reportable neglect concern. We hope that with this reminder we will have an improved afterschool ride process and need not resort to contacting Child Protection Services. Monday through Thursday the normal dismissal time is 3:52 p.m. and on Fridays dismissal is 2:08 p.m.

Fifth Grade News
Well, we have blown through another month of 2017! November was very windy, and just as busy at that. The fifth graders were patiently waiting for Thanksgiving break and now are worrying about how long Christmas break will be.
When we get ourselves on track for our learning we realize how much we can do. These fifth graders have been finishing books in novel studies and stories in Reading Mastery. These texts have them using their skills in main idea and supporting details, similes, contradictions, and finding themes like perseverance. The other two language arts classes the students have are all about using rules you know for spelling and grammar.
Along with language arts, math class has them finding fractions and percentages of numbers, multiplying and dividing, and solving word problems. Those are just a few examples of their practice each day. We keep getting better and better at our daily work.
In social studies, we are just finishing up talking about the triangular trade between Great Britain, the colonies, and Africa. We are moving onto the difference of Loyalists, Patriots, and Neutralists in the colonies. We are slowly making our way through United States history.
In case you missed our section of the Family/Community night it was Isabella Wright, Ponca Princess. The fifth graders asked her about 40 questions. The questions ranged from, “what do you wear?” to “what are your responsibilities as a princess?” We had the questions and answers printed out after they were typed by Lori DeCora. It was a simple, yet nice presentation. It was pleasing to see kids interested in their classmate’s cultural tradition.
If anyone would want to come present to our class to help us learn more about each other we would love to fit it in! Please give me a call at the school: 402-857-3323. We look forward to hearing from you.

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Niobrara Public School

New Members Inducted into the National Honor Society The Niobrara Chapter of the National Honor Society inducted three new members, sophomores Adam DeKay, Camden Eisenhauer, and Tala Henry. The ceremony took place November 22nd in the east gymnasium with all students and staff in grades 5-12 attending. Mrs. Mona Weatherwax was the speaker. She gave a very inspiring speech on scholarship, service, character, and leadership. She stressed that it was everyone’s own choice to succeed in these areas. Present members; Dakota Crosley, Jeanene Henry, Genesis Saul, Bryce Stark, Abbigail Holz, Abby Swanson, and Brooke Swanson; reviewed what it means to be a member of the National Honor Society. The four parts of National Honor Society are scholarship, leadership, service, and character. To be a member of the National Honor Society a student must be a high achiever in all four parts. The Niobrara Chapter’s advisor is Mrs. Tami Heiser.

Parents-
If you would like to have 24/7 access to your K-12 student’s grades, attendance record, missing assignments, teacher’s comments on assignments, school account balances and more, please ask a staff member about how to set up your PowerSchool account. This is a free online program that also offers an app for your mobile phone. Mobile phone users can elect to receive notifications regarding grades and attendance to pop up on your mobile device.

Food Drive to be Held
The FBLA is sponsoring two different food drives.
The first food drive is in the community. Boxes have been placed in various businesses in Niobrara. There will also be a box at Santa Days this Saturday, December 2.
The second food drive is a competition amongst the 9th-12th grade classes. There will be prize to the class that has the most items and a prize to the class that can build the tallest pyramid with their donated items. Staff may either donate to one of the classes, or they may place their items in the box in the office.
All food must be non-perishable and will donated to a food pantry in Knox County.

When? December 13th, 14th, 15th
Who? For participating high school and middle school students. (There will be a sign-up sheet from Dec. 1—7th).
Why? To join in on the holiday fun of giving and receiving gifts!
What? Gifts usually consist of pop and candy.
Prior to the sign-up there will be fliers around the school campus created by FBLA members to provide more additional information on the event.

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Niobrara Public School

4th Grade Writing

Magnificent Niobrara / What does your town look like in spring? Niobrara looks like it just hatched from an egg, and the fields are getting plowed. You can hear the birds chirp, and you can smell wonderful flowers. You can taste watermelon from Farnik’s Grocery Store and it tastes divine. In winter, one thing that changes is the snow falling and it sounds as crunch as a chip. It’s as cold as an ice cube! This is what Niobrara looks like in spring and winter. / By: Amaryah Block	Spring and Winter Time in Niobrara / What does your town look like in spring time and winter time? In my town, Niobrara, springtime is warm and nice. I hear birds chirping in the morning and I smell the fresh cut grass. Niobrara looks beautiful and has so many warm colors. In the winter, the leaves fall, gray clouds come in, and it’s super cold. The snow is as white as paper and you can vividly see the white snow fall like a blanket. The snow crunches like paper crumbling. That is what my town looks like in the spring and winter. By: Taylen Stark
My Marvelous Town / What does it look like in spring where you live? I live in Niobrara. Niobrara looks like it just hatched in spring time. Niobrara has glorious buds of flowers in many colors. In the fall and winter, it’s gray and the beautiful leaves fall off the trees. The snow looks as white as marshmallows and the snow is as crunchy as crackers. This is my amazing town. / By: Kady Koehn	Weather in Nebraska / How is your town different in spring than in winter? In spring, I hear birds chirping. It sounds like music to my ears. The leaves crunch like a person crumbling paper. It rains a lot in spring. In winter, the snow is as white and puffy as clouds. It feels like an iceberg outside! It tastes like I just got done eating an Ice Breaker. These are my differences between spring and winter in my town. / By: Miley Pike

The FBLA is making and selling sports buttons for junior high and high school basketball and wrestling players.
The prices are $3 for one button or $5 for two buttons.
Each additional button will be $2.
If you would like to buy a sports button of an athlete, please return the bottom portion ASAP so you have the button to wear to the games/events.
Your Name______________________________________________
Student Name___________________________________________
_____ First Button $3.00____________
_____ Additional Buttons $2.00 each_______
Total __________

Cougar Pride

Skills USA Holiday Food
Sale Distribution
Saturday,
December 16th
10:00 a.m. - Noon
Niobrara School Lunch Room
Thanks for your support!

Congratulations
to Millie Swalley! Gift Card winner from
Family
Fun Night!

Post Prom will be selling Little Caesars Pizza November 27 — December 8. Pick up Monday, December 18 4:00-6:00 pm
Thanks for your Support!

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Niobrara Public School