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M ESKWAKI S ET TLEMENT S CHOOL
V OLUME 10 I SSUE 2
O CTOBER 2014
U PCOMING E VENTS
OCTOBER
3
Homecoming
10
3rd Grade Fieldtrip, Bluedorn Science
Imaginarium
14 & 15
EC & PreK Hearing Screening
15
Booster Club meeting, 6:00 p.m.
17
Football Senior Night
23
End of 1st Quarter
24
No School, Teacher In-service
27
1:30 Dismissal, ELEMENTARY ONLY,
Conferences
28
1:30 Dismissal, MIDDLE/HIGH ONLY,
Conferences
More Upcoming events on page 9
Homecoming is here! This year the Warriors will be playing
the English Valley Bears. “Anieko Magaki!”
The parade will be on Friday beginning at 1:30 down at the
Casino, up 305th Street to the high school entrance , ending in the
elementary parking lot.
Results for Homecoming Court elections were: Freshmen—
Jarius Bear & Alyssa Lincoln, Sophomore—Richard Horton & Grace
Tahahwah, Junior—Allis Tahahwah & Dairrah Keahna. King and
Queen will be announced during halftime of Friday night’s game.
Candidates are: Jeffrey Jefferson, Darrion Murray, Eammon
Tahahwah, Dana Brown, Lexie Kapayou, and Shyannon Wolf.
Saturday there will be a dance from 7—9 p.m. and a Bonfire
from 10 p.m. to midnight sponsored by MYP. All other Homecoming
events are sponsored by TRU Council.
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F ROM THE D ESK OF M S . H ERINK
Attached please find a letter from Wayne Pushetonequa, Director of the Language Preservation Department. The school will continue to communicate and work with the Language Preservation department to help
with the advancement of language use and culturally based lessons in the school.
We appreciate the continued support and assistance from their department.
Meskwaki Settlement School
As you already know, the Meskwaki Settlement School 2014/2015 school year comes with the launching the Meskwaki Language Immersion Program in the Early Childhood and Pre-K classes. For those teachers in these classes
we send our best wishes for a successful and exciting year.
The Meskwaki Language Preservation Department is honored to be a part of this developmental process. As you
may know the department sponsored cultural-based curriculum development training for the culture staff in July of
this summer and much progress has been made in the development of the culture –based curriculum which includes all represented grades at the Settlement School. Previously, during the summer of 2013, Amanda Davenport, Language Specialist for the Meskwaki Language Preservation Department was instrumental in designing and
implementing a pilot immersion program which had a measure of success and paved the way for the school’s first
full immersion program.
Our department is happy to continue our support to the school and staff in its endeavor to make this a successful
experience for the students and everyone involved. Amanda’s knowledge, experience and educational background
in linguistics are being made available to the culture staff during this critical start-up period. Amanda will be at the
school a lot to provide advice, guidance, and support to the immersion teachers. At the same time she will also be
monitoring the progress of the students and the program to see where improvements can be made to make the program stronger in the years to come.
Wayne Pushetonequa
Director Language Preservation
F ROM THE D ESK OF M R . H ENELY
Hoa! We’ve had a busy month of September. Students were treated with
a visit from the author of the Buck Wilder series, Timothy Smith. Students
enjoyed a 45 minute presentation from the author and had the opportunity to
buy his books. Many students took the opportunity to purchase an autographed copy of several of his books. Meskwaki Art teacher, Rachel Matlack,
created a display case to celebrate the author’s visit to our school. All students were asked to participate in celebrating the author’s visit by wearing
one of their own Meskwaki shirts for the day.
After 26 days of school, we have 94.97% successful attendance at the
elementary. Thank you to all the students and families that have helped this
cause. It cannot be stressed enough the relationship there is between the
success of a student and the percent of attendance at school. Keep setting
your child up for success by helping them attend school. Interestingly enough, 89 students have perfect attendance at Meskwaki Elementary School. This amount of students with perfect attendance translates to
almost 50% of the whole elementary student body. On September 29 there will be an assembly to celebrate
the good news. In addition to attendance success, we will be celebrating students having earned a Warrior
Wow and a presentation by Mrs. Larson’s 6th grade class on bus safety and getting to know our bus drivers.
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Student MISIC testing has been completed for grades 1-6. Teachers will now be able to look at student results to make lesson planning decisions. Look for a report coming your way soon to find out how your child did
and what they need to work on.
On another note, the elementary has been working hard to integrate the Meskwaki language into everyday
lessons. In order to support this cause, a Word of the Week is used to increase the use of the Meskwaki language. Past words are ke tti (great), me nwi ki di ki (Good Day), bab a kyei (axe), and a ba bi ni (chair). Please
support the revitalization of the Meskwaki language and culture by asking your child about the Word of the
Week.
A THLETIC UPDATES @
http://www.iowastarconference.org
F ROM M R . B UTIKOFER ’ S D ESK
I never thought September would fly by so fast, but sure enough, October is upon us. The arrival of
October in Middle and high school means homecoming celebrations that include a parade, pep rally, coronation, and of course football. I would like to invite everyone to our homecoming festivities on Friday, October 3rd. In terms of academics, our 1st quarter will come to a close on October 23 rd followed by parent
teacher conferences at the end of October and the beginning of November. More details on how to sign up
will be sent home with your child in the near future. I would like to take this opportunity to personally invite
you and encourage you to attend your child’s conferences.
Student council elections took place this last month. Each class elected two representatives to serve on
the council for this year. Below are the names and the grade for which they represent. Early this month,
each representative along with several leaders of Unity will attend a student leadership conference in
Parkersburg. Combine this with an upcoming college visit for senior’s means that our students are busy both
here at school and away from school as well.
 7th Grade Emmett Roberts and Addie Seymour
 8th Grade Tate Bear and Danielle Seymour
 9th Jarius Bear and Delicia Guevara
 10th Orlando Kapayou and Grace Tahahwah
 11th Terrell Grant and Lorenzo Lasley
 12th Dana Brown and Darrion Murray
Finally, I would like to address the topic of eligibility. I would encourage each of you to sit down and
have a conversation with your child concerning our eligibility policy. If a student is failing one or more classes on either Monday or Thursday, they will become ineligible until the next grade check occurs. This goes
for both sports and activities. We continue to have students that fall into this category each week and I
would ask for your help to decrease this list to a point where no one is forced to sit out a competition or
activity. If you or your student has questions concerning this policy, please do not hesitate to contact myself or our Athletic Director Todd Dale.
Fall is a wonderful time of year. Whether it’s our upcoming pumpkin decorating contest or the PSAT
test for juniors, students at school are as busy as ever. Before you know it, snow will be flying and Harvest
Meal will be upon us. Until then.
V ISIT THE SCHOOL WEBSITE AT WWW . MSSWARRIORS . ORG
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Send labels to school with your student or drop off at the elementary front office.
R EMIND O UR C HILDREN TO KI DO WI TA KO
The cold weather is here!! Please make sure your children are dressed for recess outside. Our policy is that
pre-k through 5th grades will go out for recess unless the temperature is below 10°. Please make sure your
child has a warm coat, be ki ye a ni (boots), me ne tti a ki ( mittens), wi de bi so ni (scarf) and ma ko ga wi
(hat).
P RE -K INDERGARTEN
A NEMISEGA , A BETTIKABAIGA , M EKESITA , A YAGEKAA
We still have a lot of enthusiasm in the classroom. We are learning our Indian names, clans, and if we are
tokani or kisko. We are working on identifying the numbers besides reciting them. Our colors are getting to
be more familiar. We continue to name animals and beginning to name parts of our faces. We have some Indian corn and some squash in our classroom, we are learning about harvesting the corn. We look forward to
learning about our ancestor’s survival skills and ways they used to live.
K INDERGARTEN
L UANN S LINGLUFF , Y AMALA B ACCAM -L EE
This month in Kindergarten we have been reviewing the letters in the alphabet and have also started our
reading series. In reading we have begun to introduce sight words. We have learned the sight words I, can
and we. Please practice these with your child at home. In math we have worked on sorting items in different ways such as by color, size or shape. We have also started to work on more and less and identifying numbers to ten. In September we have also learned about Apples in Kindergarten. We have read lots of apple
books and done a few apple activities in our classroom.
F IRST G RADE
A NDREA R UTLEDGE , L EIGH S ELL
In literacy this month we have started reading centers and working more independently when completing
a task. Spelling has begun! A new word list is given weekly, on Mondays, and tests are on Fridays.
In Math students have been practicing addition problems and problem solving. We have also been counting by 5’s and 10’s to 120.
In writing we will practice forming our letters correctly, using our spelling knowledge and using capitals
and punctuation in our sentences.
In Social Studies we will finish up our First Grade Experts unit. The students have really started to
show how they can be responsible, safe and respectful 1st graders!
In Science we will be doing a unit on pumpkins. We can’t wait to learn all about how they grow, what
foods we can make from them and go on our very first field trip to a real pumpkin farm!
Please check your child’s folder and planner daily for important news from our classroom.
A
P AGE 5
S ECOND G RADE
TTI MO NI
L ANA R OBERTS
Conferences
Parent/Teacher Conferences
Meskwaki Elementary School
October 27 & November 6
Elementary will dismiss at 1:30.
T HIRD G RADE
C AMARA C OSGROVE , T OM L ARSEN
The year is well underway, and the days are flying by. Fall will soon be arriving, so please remind your
child to dress appropriately for the weather.
The 3rd graders have been hard at work learning how to write and develop stories. We recently read
the Gruffalo, and developed our own version of the story. We also had an author visit from Tim Smith, who
writes the Buck Wilder Series. In reading, we have been working on fluency and comprehension, and have
resumed taking AR quizzes. We have wrapped up our states of matter unit, and are now learning about recycling during Science class. Our Math lessons have been focusing on Place Values and number patterns. We
will soon be moving on to subtraction and addition with regrouping.
Thank you for your interest in your child’s education.
F OURTH G RADE
J ENNA A REY , A LEX H AUNSPERGER
In writing, 4th grade will be working on Personal Narratives and Describing a Single Object.
For grammar we will be working on complex sentences, run on sentences, and sentence fragments.
We will be working on the long “O” and the long “I” in spelling.
We will work on recognizing characters, plot, setting, and sequencing the order of events.
We start multiplication in math! We will learn how to multiply and relate it to division. We will find the
multiples and factors and discuss multiplication and division rules. Parents, help your kids learn their multiplication facts whether it is at home, in the car, or even at the grocery story!
We have started the Human Body in Science. The students will learn the functions of each organ and
where they are located. They will learn the importance of good health and the effects of bad health! Next
month, we will begin Social Studies.
P AGE 6
F IFTH G RADE
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B ARB M ASON , M ERIDITH T HOMAS
We are currently learning about the human body in science. We have read our text, watched videos,
made drawings, and used technology. We are working to make connections to things we already know and how
the body functions. We have MISIC testing so we are not teaching social studies this week, or math. Students in math have been working on rounding and decimals. In reading, we have been making connections
around the theme of carrying on traditions. Our Meskwaki students can completely relate to the importance
of traditions. We also have been working on summarizing, sequencing events, and problem & solution, to increase our comprehension skills.
Mrs. Thomas
Well, it seems as though the 5th graders have hit the ground running….by that I mean they are giving it
their “all” in whatever they are working on. Being a 5th grader encompasses many new and challenging concepts. As a teacher, I like to know where your child is academically when they enter the classroom so several tests are administered. The beginning of the year has students taking several skill specific tests; fluency,
comprehension, and CWS (correct word sequencing). MISIC Fall testing has been taking place this week
(Sept. 15th -19th)…testing includes Reading, Math, Science, and Language Arts. The testing really does help
me better understand how I can help your child in their core subjects. The class is now working independently on their Expository Writing; lots of creativity going on at present as they work on a topic of their
choosing. Once the rough draft and editing is done, the class will use Google-docs for their final copies; editing will continue using Google-docs until a polished final copy is achieved. The Math focus has been whole
numbers and decimals, place values, and problem solving; the latter can be intimidating to many. Your child
will continue to learn strategies to make that process easier as the year progresses. My approach to American History is this: many things have not been written in textbooks. This year the class will be making frequent trips to the Meskwaki Tribal Museum and I will be welcoming the museum staff and Culture Staff into
the classroom to share their knowledge regarding the History of the Meskwaki People as it corresponds to
the development of the United States. Your child will be using laptops for research in several subject areas;
Science, Language Arts, and Social Studies for sure. My goal is to ensure your child develops selfconfidence in many areas; including Public Speaking. All in all, the upcoming year looks like an awesome one!
Please feel free to stop by; the door is always open.
Mrs. Mason
S IXTH G RADE
J ANET L ARSON
The 6th grade is having great success making the announcements each morning. Their confidence at
speaking publically is growing.
The Battle of the Books novels have arrived! Students may now start reading so that they may qualify
for the team. The contest is scheduled for Thursday, April 9th.
On Thursday, September 11, the class went to Mr. Griffen’s science lab in the High School building to
look at pond water using the microscopes. We saw some unusual stuff. It was very interesting and fun.
We are recycling paper and plastic once a week for the entire school so that the students can learn
about helping to save our Earth.
Janet Larson, Roberta Hale, and Mike Kauzlarich
E LEMENTARY M USIC
V ALERIE S ONDAG
Third grade music classes have been drawing collaborative animal posters to “Carnival of the Animals”
by French composer Camille Saint Saens , singing “This Land is your Land” by Woody Guthrie, and learning
about and practicing “The Star Spangled Banner” along with many other patriotic tunes. Students are also
learning how to square dance and how to identify between lines and spaces on the music staff. Some other
parts of the music curriculum for the first semester will include; skips, steps and repeated notes, learning
about ostinatos, playing an African game song and exploring some traditional Native American music from
different tribes in the United States.
P AGE 7
E LEMENTARY A RT
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R ACHEL M ATLACK
Art classes are going really well again this year. At the moment, Kindergarteners are creating selfportraits, second graders are painting line landscapes, fourth graders are starting to study the color wheel,
and fifth graders have just finished their zentangles. The students’ hard work is starting to pay off in the
form of some really great finished projects! Here is a sample of the work students have done so far while
studying shape, line, and color.
F ROM THE D ESK OF THE S CHOOL C OUNSELOR
D INA K EAHNA
 Present: K-2nd will be given a presentation by Care for Kids beginning September 29, 2014 through October
13, 2014. Each year this organization introduces to our student the importance of informing an adult if
someone is hurting them. It is a good idea to listen to their voices when they are hurt or in pain. If you have
any questions regarding this presentation please call me at the school 484-4990 ext 418.
 4th-6th grades are being introduced to Conflict Resolution and how to solve their own problems among themselves. Each year children struggle with not knowing what to do when a conflict arises between themselves.
The are given a four step process and will discuss different scenarios and role play to help better understand how they respond to differences among themselves. This will continue on throughout first and second
quarter.
 Future: This year’s Red Ribbon Theme is Our School has Students Who Achieve Goals – Drug Free. We will
be having an assembly on October 30, 2014 which will include various dances and drug free theme activities.
E LEMENTARY P HYSICAL E DUCATION
S ARAH M URPHY
We’re having a great time in PE so far! We started the year with our first round of fitness testing. The students were tested on their abdominal strength, upper body strength, cardiovascular strength, and flexibility. They were also measured for height. We will do fitness testing three more times this year to measure
growth. We have a few exciting events happening in October. The first is a Punt, Pass, and Kick competition
that will be held during Homecoming Week on Wednesday, October 1st. There will be one girl and one boy
winner from each grade, and the winners will be recognized at half time of the football game on October
3rd and given a t-shirt. The second event is The Healthiest State Walk. This walk will take place on our
school track on Wednesday, October 8th from 9:00-9:30. We will be a part of the 300,000 Iowans who
have pledge to walk 1 kilometer on that day. Family and community members are invited to join in, simply sign
in at the track before 9:00 am on that day.
P AGE 8
G IFTED & T ALENTED
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TTI MO NI
M ARY F ITZGERALD
Gaia? Rhea? Cronus? Zeus? Titans? Perseus? Medusa? These are only a few names/characters the
middle school students are studying in our Greek Mythology unit. Students are analyzing Greek myths to
increase their appreciation for literature and art by understanding mythological allusions.
A “new” thematic day has been added to the G/T week: Make a Stand Monday. Every Monday students
are given a current article from a leading publication (e.g., New York Times, Wall Street Journal) to read
determine the issues presented in the article. Students then “make a stand” by taking a side and arguing
for or against the issue.
In addition, students identify and define the SAT or ACT vocabulary words utilized in the article.
N URSES N EWS
L INDA K APLAN , R.N.
On October 8, 2014, the Meskwaki Health Clinic will come to Meskwaki Settlement School to screen students for height, weight, blood pressure and Acnathosis Nigricans (AN). Passive permission forms will be
sent home with Kindergarten thru 12th grader students in the next few weeks. If you DO NOT want your
child screened, sign the form and return it.
AN is a medical term describing skin changes. A nurse will look at the students neck for a velvety or
darkened appearance and thickening or roughness of the skin. AN may be an indicator for an increased risk
of developing Type 2 diabetes. It does not mean they have diabetes.
Height and weight will be used to measure student’s Body Mass Index (BMI). BMI is used to help identify underweight, normal weight, overweight and obesity. Things like amount of activity in a day or family history can affect BMI.
If your child is in the overweight/obese area by BMI, has AN or has high blood pressure you will receive
a notice from the Diabetes Clinic that your child is at risk for health concerns. A health referral will be
suggested for further medical tests, counseling for physical activity and eating.
E LEMENTARY L IBRARY
M ICHELL P HINNEY
Fall is here! It is also a great time of year to fall into a good book. Through the end of October elementary students will be listening to many different stories about fall, harvest, and Halloween. We also have
been working on skills such as identifying parts of a book, fiction and nonfiction, and ABC order. The older
grades are learning how the library classification system works and why the Dewy Decimal System is so important to a library.
Over the last 25 years, research continues to show that children who read often not only do better in
school, but stay in school longer. Another good place for children to read is in the home. Creating an environment where reading is not only enjoyed, but is part of everyday life will also encourage children to be lifelong readers and learners.
Each month I will share a new educational website that student can use at home or on the go that will
also encourage learning and is student friendly and safe.
Website: www.abcya.com.
Check out our online store. Go to the school’s website, www.msswarriors.org, and click on the link.
Cool stuff at a good price!
P AGE 9
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B EING AN A THLETE
If you are planning to go out for basketball and have not had a physical yet, you need to get it done and
turned in before the first practice.
Grade checks are done on Mondays and Thursdays. If you are failing any classes, you are ineligible until
those grades are brought up. If you fail a class at the end of the term, you will be ineligible for 30 days beginning on the first playing day of that sport. The easiest way to make sure you pass your classes is to do
your work and turn it in on time. If you need extra study time, there is a study hall in the cad lab every day
during lunch.
M ESKWAKI W ARRIORS B OOSTER C LUB
After holding elections during a recent meeting, Meskwaki Warriors Booster Club members voted on officers. The winners are listed below.
 President – Garrett “Joe” Bear
 Vice-President – Allison Lasley
 Treasurer – Christina Alamo
 Secretary – Shoshonis Brown
If you are interested in supporting Warrior activities by joining the Booster, they meet on the third
Monday of the month at 6:00 p.m. in the Meskwaki High School Commons.
Upcoming activities include a Homecoming tailgate, selling a $6.00 Pulled Pork Sandwich plate with Potato
salad, beans and chips, and having an entry in the Homecoming Parade.
NOVEMBER EVENTS
5
1:30 Dismissal, M/H ONLY, Conferences
6
1:30 Dismissal, ELEMENTARY ONLY, Conferences
10
Girls Basketball Practice starts
11
No School—Veteran’s Day
17
Boys Basketball Practice starts
19
Winter Athletic Pictures
19
Booster Club meeting, 6:00 p.m.
21
12:30 Dismissal, Teacher In-service
26
Harvest Meal, 2:30 Dismissal
27 & 28
No School
P AGE 10
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P ARENT /T EACHER C ONFERENCES
Approaching Parent–Teacher Conferences
 A two-way conversation. The parent–teacher conference is an opportunity for parents to learn about their
children’s progress in school and for teachers to gain insights into their students’ home and community lives.
Parent perspectives on student strengths and needs, learning styles, and nonschool learning opportunities can
help teachers shape their instructional methods.
 Emphasis on learning. Research shows that family involvement is most effective when it is “linked to learning.” An important goal of the first parent–teacher conference is to develop new strategies to support student learning at school and at home. Teachers should be prepared to discuss the academic progress of their
students by using examples of student work and assessments during conferences.
 Opportunities and challenges. The tone of parent–teacher conferences should be balanced so that all involved understand what the student is doing well and what he or she can improve upon. Achieving this balance
sends the message that your school values student strengths and has high expectations for all.
L IGHTS , C URTAINS , A CTION
The Meskwaki High School is adding a new activity to its growing list of activities. Under the direction of Julie Bousum and Mary Fitzgerald, the Meskwaki Settlement
School will add Drama during the 2014-2015 school year. With plans of starting off
with some small presentation to get kids interested and to develop the necessary skills
needed to perform. The school hopes in the next couple of years to be able to put on
major productions for the community. The plan is to start this November with a short
production aimed at elementary students to break the ice. How successful our first production is will drive
our next step in the process of building the Drama Program here at Meskwaki. We look forward to the process and are happy to add another activity for the students of the Meskwaki High School.
7-12 A RT
J ULIE B OUSUM
Ms. Pam Dennis and Mr. Ryk Weiss, Boone artists who are well-known to the Meskwaki community, visited
on September 9th. They led a day of making clay leaves! High school students helped elementary students as
we worked to reach our goal of making 250 leaves. Those leaves will be wired onto a sculptural archway at
Pilgrim Heights Retreat and Recreational Center during the Art Educators of Iowa Conference. One day of
the conference will be at Pilgrim Heights and two days will be at Meskwaki in early October. Below is part of
the guests’ email to Mrs. Matlack and Mrs. Bousum:
“Thanks for letting us work with your students. It was very nice to come back to the Settlement School
again. All the students were very focused, and the high schooler's were a great help with the little ones. Always the best group of students we have worked with.
We got the leaves laid out to dry, there was around 220 leaves, so we met our goal. They look great, so
the residency was a complete success.”
Other Art Room News
Art I students are working on 2 point perspective drawings. They will do a final project that incorporates 2 point perspective into Meskwaki life—past, present or future. They are also submit a sketchbook
drawing every other week.
Pottery students have all thrown on the potters wheel. Advanced students will make an animal out of a
thrown pot. Beginners must throw on the wheel three times. We will use our new coil extruder to make coils
for large coil pots!
P AGE 11
7-12 C OMPUTERS & S OCIAL S TUDIES
A
TTI MO NI
C LAUDE S AMPSON
October is math month. Laser Graphics Design Classes require the students to use their math skills. For
example, in Laser Graphics Design, students are regularly required to convert fractions to decimals. Students must also learn to use a caliper to measure thickness or diameter. The software that operates the
laser accepts only decimals as the thickness or diameter dimension. This conversion from fractions to decimals gives the students a real life application of what they learn in math class.
Film Studies Class is currently examining some of the films made by Alfred Hitchcock, Master of Suspense. We have studied filmmaking terms and techniques also and as we watched the Hitchcock films we
have examined the filmmaking techniques Hitchcock used and how he used them. After our Hitchcock series
concludes we will study ‘’Film Noir” (French for black film) starting with the film that is considered by film
historians to be the film that started the genre which has become film noir , The Maltese Falcon (1941)
starring Humphrey Bogart.
7-12 I NDUSTRIAL T ECH
T ODD R OBBINS
Intro to Technology students have been working hard on their CO2 cars. The students are taking the car
building very seriously. I am looking forward to see who has the fastest car.
7th and 8th graders have been building rockets for their first unit. We will be ready to launch the week of
Sept 22nd.
We have added a new class this year called building trades. The class is designed to expose students with
some skill sets and overall awareness of the construction industry. We are hoping to break ground for Jill
Davenport by Oct 1st. Stay tuned for pictures next month.
M/H L IBRARY
B ILL W ILSON
At the present time, the MS/HS Library has 2,253 books in its collection. Included in this number are
460 books that are dedicated to the American Indian culture. The MS/HS library is open to students from
8:00 in the morning to 4:00 in the afternoon. Besides having an outstanding collection of Fiction, NonFiction, Biographies, Reference, American Indian, & Graphic Novels, there are also more than 15 magazines
that we subscribe to. Daily newspapers from Marshalltown and Tama-Toledo are also available to students.
In addition to the print collection, there is a very nice computer lab that is utilized by both students and
staff throughout the day. One thing that you could do that would help out the library this school year is to
monitor the books coming home and then making sure they get returned before becoming overdue or lost.
7-12 PE/H EALTH
C HUCK L YON
In Health class the high school students are working on a violence/abuse presentation. They are learning
the different types of abuse, how to prevent them, who to go to for help, and the consequences for each
type. By the end of this unit each group will present on the information they find.
The middle school Health students are currently working on a self-esteem and personal health unit. During October we will have a guest speaker, Opal Jones, come into the class and talk about drawing the line/
respecting the line. She will be teaching a two week class where she addresses how to determine personal
limits, respecting those limits, and using intrapersonal skills to handle certain situations. I believe this will be
a great opportunity for students, and encourage parents/guardians to return the consent forms for this
class.
Physical Education classes are learning the rules and techniques of volleyball. Currently the students are
competing in a double elimination volleyball tournament. During October the students will also be fitness
testing, so I encourage students to be active after school and on weekends.
P AGE 12
7-12 S OCIAL S TUDIES
A
TTI MO NI
L EAH S LICK -D RISCOLL
Seventh and Eighth grade Early American History students completed a unit on Native American Civilizations in North and South America prior to 1492. Students in groups of 2-3 chose a Native tribal region or
civilization to focus on: Easter Woodlands, Inuit, Hopewell, Anasazi, Olmec, Aztec, Maya, or Inca. They
spent time researching information and visual images and created a poster in which to teach the rest of the
class. We are now studying the first contacts between Europeans and Natives, and how this affected both
the Eastern and Western hemispheres. By the end of October, we will begin researching Spanish, British,
French, and Russian invasion and colonization of the Americas.
Ninth and Tenth grade Modern American History students finished learning about the differing economies of the North and South in the 1800’s. They specifically explored reasons and events that led to Civil
War. During the second half of October, we will be learning about reconstruction (1865-1870’s) and how attempts at Native removal in the west became the specific focus of the U.S government once the Civil war
ended and hundreds of thousands of soldiers were now freed up for assignment to the west. We will also
look at the second industrial revolution, and how new inventions changed the lives of Americans at this time.
Eleventh and Twelfth grade Government students have finished their unit on the American Constitution
and the Bill of rights and will be learning about the legislative branch of government. We are now learning
about the legislative branch of government. The kids read a minimum of two current events articles each
week and turn in a journal each Friday. So your friends or relatives from this class should be able to converse about major events recently in the news. A major emphasis is placed on the student expressing their
own reactions, opinions, and questions in their weekly journal. Hopefully this is the start to a lifelong interest in current events, that may inspire them to continue to be active citizens in their community and world.
Students are encouraged to use local newspapers, online sources that are credible (example the New York
Times online or for Native issues, newsfromindiancountry.com). In the classroom students have access to
Upfront Magazine (NYtimes for teens), Jr. Scholastic, Time, Newsweek, and the Economist). Our Next Unit
will be the executive branch. We will be taking part in Constitution Day activities and participating in a
statewide mock vote in November.
7-12 S CIENCE
F RED G RIFFEN
The school year is off to another great start. Where does the time go? In science we have made a few
reminders. Students should bring to class every day, Textbook, Homework, Writing Utensil, and Vocabulary
Notebook. Biology will be Re-examining the cell and its structures and will do a lab on bacteria this month.
Life science has just learned about bacteria and viruses and will be building a model of a virus in class sometime in the beginning of October. Chemistry has finished learning about substances, elements, compounds
and mixtures and will soon be doing a lab covering how to use density to figure out what an unknown substance is. Remember if you have any questions or need any assistance please feel free to call. My extension
is 710, or email me at [email protected]
Orders are now being accepted for class rings. Tremendous discounts are now
available at the beginning of the school year, making many rings relatively inexpensive. Any 9th through 12th grade students may order a class ring. Oder packets
may be picked up at the high school main office. Completed orders should be returned to the main office. Each ring is customizable based on decisions that you
are able to make individually. Contact Mr. Butikofer if you have questions concerning your order.
Meskwaki Elementary
School
P AGE 13
7-12 M ATH
A
TTI MO NI
T ERRY E YGABROAD
I would like to mention what curriculum that the math classes are covering.
 Algebra 2: Linear Equations and Inequalities and Quadratic Equations (Solutions)
 Algebra 1: Linear Equations with One Variable
 Pre-Calculus: Polynomials and Rational Functions
 Statistics: Descriptive Statistics – Frequency, Graphs, Measures of Central Tendency, Measure of Variation,
and Measures of Position.
The students are doing a great job understanding the curriculum.
When the students come into the classroom they pick up their folders with their notes and homework,
pick up a calculator and their book. We want to start as soon as we can to utilize the class period. The
theme is to be safe, be responsible and be respectful.
7-12 B USINESS
D ELONDA P USHETONEQUA
Personal Finance is a very important part of every individuals life. Budgeting is a skill that every person
needs to have in order to maintain the lifestyle they choose. So this month we are going to be joining the
H&R Block Budget Challenge which will run through December. The simulation mimics a real-life scenario of
earning a paycheck, using a checking account, paying bills, and saving for retirement. Individuals will be
awarded points in the simulation for paying bills on time, minimizing fees, saving for retirement, and negotiating with customer service. Students are also penalized for late fees, insufficient funds, returned checks,
over credit limit fees, overdraft protection fees, balance transfer fees, etc. Classes will be competing
against other schools nationwide, and classes with the most points at the end of the challenge are eligible to
win prizes. Students will be given time during SSR to log on to the simulation, each student will need to log
on a minimum of 3 times per week in order to be successful in the simulation. This will be an ongoing activity
so ask your 9th through 12th grader how they are doing with their simulation and wish them good luck!
7-12 R EADING /Y EARBOOK
B ILL W ILSON
“I used to walk to school with my nose buried in a book.”- Coolio
I teach reading at the middle school and high school levels and there isn’t a class day that does by that
my student aren’t reading a book. It is required of them and I set a timer just to make sure we are getting
at least 15 to 20 minutes of good old fashion reading that I like to call ISRT (Individual Silent Reading
Time). On Fridays, I allow the students to choose a book, a magazine, or a newspaper to reading during their
ISRT. At the conclusion of a reading class period, I encourage the students to continue reading and that
includes books, magazines, newspapers, or to utilize the computers in our library lab. The most challenging
part of any given class day is how to deal with the electronics that are being brought into the classroom.
When I see a student on their phone texting when they aren’t supposed to, then the phone will go to the office for the remainder of the day.
The High School Yearbook Class is working with the Jostens Yeartech Co. this school year. It is the goal
of this class to produce a top quality school yearbook that will be representative of everything good about
our school and community. There is a lot of learning taking place both in the journalistic sense and in the
field of fine photography both for students and staff. With the addition of two very nice Canon cameras,
these yearbook students have and will be taking a lot of pictures in and around school during this school
year. However, we can’t cover every activity so we are asking for your help. If you are attending a sporting
event, a music event, etc. and you’re taking pictures, we would like the opportunity to view them and to consider them for publication. Just email your .jpg to Mr. Wilson ([email protected].) Please do not send
us pictures that you do not want published. Thank you!
P AGE 14
7-12 M ESKWAKI L ANGUAGE & C ULTURE
A
TTI MO NI
M EDIKEA , N ATENIKEGA ,
M ATTINIKEA , N EMIOWA
MESKWAKI CULTURE/LANGUAGE 1 – MEDIKEA-Room 603
TEST, TEST, TESTS! The 7, 8, 9, 10,11 and 12th Grades completed their Six(6) Point Oral Language
Scripts for their Quarter Midterm. Three are asked as Questions and four are statements of what they
want to do. This is daily school language. Inquire about what they have learned and encourage them to recite
them to you. More language to come for our students!
The next segment of the Curriculum will involve the Harvest Season and its vocabulary. Students will
focus on the processes of “Indian corn”.
Submitted by Medikea
7-12 M ATH
B RANDI W ESTERCAMP
Geometry will be working with transversals or two parallel lines intersected by a third line. They will be
finding angles and learning lots of new types of angles in this chapter. Pre-Algebra will be working on reviewing greatest common factor so that we can start factoring problems. Math 7 will be learning about integers or whole numbers. This includes what a negative number is. Consumer Math will be working on shopping, what your total is and how coupons are used.
7-12 C OUNSELOR
M AGARET M ESSENGER
Lunch Room College Visit Days:
 University of Iowa: 9/29/14
 Iowa State University: 10/1/14
 Kirkwood Community College: 10/6/14
 Marshalltown Community College: 10/7/014
Please encourage your child to talk to the college representatives during these lunch visits. These visits
help:
 Students to meet face-to face with a re and ask specific questions
 Bring students attention to a college that may be a good fit but had not considered yet.
 Students with a unique opportunity to make contact with a person who may be evaluating their application in
the future
 Provide students with a specific contact at the college whom they can send questions as they arise.
 Students may be able to provide the college reps their transcripts, test scores and course selections. This
will help student assess their fit at that institution and figure out what they can do to improve their chances
of getting in.
College Visit Field Trips to:
College Fair at Marshalltown Community College on 9/30/14 from 9-11
Iowa State University: 10/9/14
October Testing:
PSAE tests are on 10/15/14 for all Juniors
V OLUME 10 I SSUE 2
7-12 F AMILY & C ONSUMER S CIENCE
P AGE 15
J EAN D ALESKE
Here’s a quick overview of what’s going on in the FCS classroom. The kitchens have been busy…7th & 8th Grade Foods Exploratory have been studying
basic nutrition facts. In teams, they created their own fruit smoothies from
their favorite fruits, then did research to find out what vitamins & minerals
were in their smoothie & how those nutrients benefit their body. Foods I just
finished a unit on Culture & its relationship to food. Those students prepared
tiramisu (Italian dessert) and chocolate fondue (from Switzerland), plus tastetested breads from around the world. Middle Eastern flatbread with hummus
was voted the favorite. Our Meskwaki Foods class has had the great aroma of
N-D-N tacos wafting from the kitchens, plus we had Jerry YoungBear share
some Nenotewi Atamina (Meskwaki Corn) with us & he worked alongside students to prepare the corn & dry it for Tagaani. It’s great to have community
members sharing their knowledge with our youth.
7-12 L ANGUAGE A RTS
B RIAN M URPHY
In October, students in English will be moving from the introductory units into the “heart” of the semester where we tackle some big ideas.
In Middle School English, we will finish reading The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by
Sherman Alexie. This novel is almost always a student favorite as Alexie uses a humorous combination of
profanity, cartoonish illustrations awkward situations to paint a “slightly fictionalized” version of his own life
growing up on the Spokane reservation in Washington. Once we have finished reading the novel, the situation
will work on a multi-genre group project which will require them to combine reading, writing, and drawing
skills into a single project.
In Communications, the 9th and 10th grade students will be in the midst of their third unit of the year.
Thus far, we have been studying the basics of communication and how breakdowns in communication frequently occur. Students then applied these ideas to a project that required them to write a set of written
instructions for any task of their choosing. The only catch was that they were not allowed to explain anything through spoken word; the only instructions that were allowed were those that had been written on
their paper. Every year, students expect this to be an “easy” assignment, but they always underestimate how
detailed instructions have to be in order to be useful. In October we will be in the midst of our first
“Listening” assignment which will require students to interview one MSS staff member. After conducting the
interview, each student will create a short biography based off the responses obtained during the interview
and modified to create brief “introductory” speech for that staff member.
In Native American Literature, we spent the first few weeks of school analyzing the power of perspective on individuals’ lives. Students each selected a “core” value (truth, generosity, honor, etc.) and analyzed
how the Lakota view that value (according to Lakota author Joseph Marshall); how they as individuals view
that value; and how the various groups that they belong to (student, teenager, athlete, younger sibling, etc.)
view that value. After creating a 3-4 page essay that explored these ideas, we spent almost a month exploring a variety of stories and ideas by well-established Native authors. These texts ranged from poems by
Sherman Alexie to essays by Vine & Philip Deloria to personal anecdotes from Linda Hogan & N. Scott Momaday. We also spent time reading creation stories from different tribes all around the continent to look at
how geography can affect our view of the world. In October, we will begin reading some of Winona Laduke’s
essays from the last decade to analyze issues that affect Native tribes and groups throughout the United
States.
October 2014
Breakfast is served with plain milk or fruit juice.
Lunch is served with plain milk with the exception
of Fridays when chocolate milk is offered.
Menu Subject to change.
Date
Breakfast
Lunch
1
Waffle sticks, grapes
Pig in a blanket, potato wedges, broccoli w/cheese, apple slices
2
Pancakes, sausage, peaches
Chicken wrap, lettuce, tomato, Spanish rice, corn tropical
fruit, oatmeal cookie
3
Bagel, orange
Spaghetti w/sauce, salad, green beans, garlic bread, grapes,
fruit
6
7
Breakfast pita w/tomato salsa, apple
Cinnamon roll, fruit cocktail
Taco salad, corn tortilla chips, salsa, refried beans, cinnamon
puff, pineapple, fruit choice
Chicken noodles, mashed potatoes, carrots, Honey roll (9-12),
orange wedges
8
Cereal, yogurt, apricots
Mini meatball sub, ranch potato wedges, salad, peaches
9
Biscuit & gravy, grapes
10
Coffee cake, applesauce
BBQ chicken, roll, jelly, baked beans, sweat potato fries,
pears
White chicken, corn bread, cherry tomato, cucumber slices,
banana, honey apple crisp (9-12)
13
Western quesadilla w/tomato salsa,
pears
Cheese pizza, broccoli, baby carrots, fruit cup
14
French toast sticks, fruit cup
Beef tips over rice, green beans, apricots, dinner roll
15
Cinnamon roll, mandarin oranges
16
Waffles, pineapple chunks
Pork rib on a bun, lettuce leaf, tomato slice, sweet potato
puffs, royal brownie
Taco soup, corn tortilla chips, salsa, fresh broccoli, banana
17
Breakfast pizza, tropical fruit
Corn dog, green beans, apple slices potato wedges, snicker
doodle (9-12)
20
21
Egg taco, tomato salsa, graham
cracker, grapes
Muffin, banana
Chicken quesadilla, tortilla chips, black beans, corn salsa, refried beans, mandarin oranges, string cheese (9-12)
Cowboy cavatina, peas, salad, roll, jelly, fruit cocktail, rice
crispy bar (9-12), fruit
22
Cereal, sausage patty, applesauce
Hamburger on a bun, leaf lettuce, tomato slice, strawberry,
banana, fruit
23
Biscuit & gravy
27
Chicken biscuit breakfast sandwich, orange
Chicken nugget, mashed potatoes, gravy, salad, honey roll,
mandarin oranges
Baked ham with apple glaze, sweet potatoes, green beans, angel biscuit, jelly, fresh grapes
28
Sloppy Joe, French fries, cherry crisp, corn
29
Pancake on a stick, pineapple
chunks
French toast sticks, pears
30
Biscuit & gravy
Beef noodle, dinner roll, vegetable Capri, cookie
31
Kansas granola bar
Chicken strip, potato with gravy, peas & carrots
General Tso chicken, white rice, vegetable, fruit