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New Underwood
School Newsletter
New Underwood School District 51-3
PO Box 128
New Underwood, SD 57761
Published Irregularly
November 2014
Issue No. 3
Superintendent’s Notes
Our School Family
When visiting with our students, we often refer to our school, our student body and our staff as our school
family. We are all fortunate to be part of a small school and receive all of the benefits that come along with that small
school atmosphere. In good times we celebrate as a family and in hard times we band together and rise up to meet
challenges as a family. It is a time of banding together and rising up to meet challenges that we now find ourselves in.
We as a school family are attempting to support third grade student Kallie Flint as she battles Cancer and first grade
student Taylor Schaub as he recovers from an accident which resulted in the loss of his foot.
Kallie & Taylor’s stories have touched the heart of every student and staff member in our school. Their
strength, their faith and their positive attitudes have been inspiring to us all. Almost immediately, as the students and
staff of our school learned of Kallie’s illness and Taylor’s injury, they began to look for ways to help our students.
The Student Council, the National Honor Society, the staff and the student body, along with outstanding community
support, have rallied to help these students.
On October 2nd a Soup Supper event was held in conjunction with school conferences. The following night
students sold yard lines at the Wall vs. New Underwood football game as a benefit fund raiser. So far to date, their
efforts have raised over $3,200, which was split between the two students to help with medical costs. Both Kallie’s
and Taylor’s recovery will be long and will be very expensive. The students and staff don’t want their support to be a
one-time thing and then forgotten about. They are continuing to make plans for additional events throughout the
school year that will provide additional help for Kallie and Taylor. We hope everyone will continue to support this
great cause and will help us show Kallie & Taylor that their school family and community are with them all the way.
Jeff Marlette
Superintendent
Non-Discrimination
The New Underwood School District 51-3 does not
discriminate on the basis of race or color, national origin,
gender, disability, age, religion and creed, or marital
status, in admission or access to or treatment or
employment in its programs and activities. For inquiries
concerning the district’s compliance with Title VI or
Title IX please contact Jeff Marlette, Superintendent,
Box 128, New Underwood, SD, 57761, (605) 754-6485.
Inquiries concerning Section 504 or the Americans with
Disabilities (ADA) acts contact Peggy Petersen, Dean of
Students, Box 128, New Underwood, SD, 57761, (605)
754-6485. For further inquiries contact the Regional
Director, Department of Education, Office for Civil
Rights, 10220 North Executive Hills Boulevard, 8th
Floor, Kansas City, Missouri, 64153-1367, telephone
(816) 880-4200, TDD (816) 891-0552, or Fax (816) 8910644. (Forms are available for submitting grievances.).
The New Underwood High School Drama Department
Proudly Presents
“A Partridge
in a Palm Tree”
by Megan Orr
December 5-6, 2014 at 7:00pm
New Underwood High School
Little gym
Produced by special arrangement with Heuer Publishing LLC in association
with Brooklyn Publishers LLC
LIBRARY NEWS
Although we are still getting new books in the school library, we thought you might like to hear
about some other ways to get the latest in literature and film: electronically through your public
libraries in Rapid City and Sturgis.
If you live in Pennington County you can request a library card from the Rapid City Library. Then
you can download e-books via Overdrive; stream video via Overdrive, IndieFlix, and Hoopla Digital,
as well as access the Library’s numerous magazines via Zinio. The card is free and can be applied for
online, over the phone, or in person.
Go to the Rapid City Public Library Home Page and click on Downloadables for specific information
on how to access e-books, videos, and magazines. The instructions are simple, and there is easy
access to a librarian who can help.
If you live in Meade County you can go on-line and easily apply for a Sturgis Public Library card
which will give you access to the entire South Dakota State Library catalog which includes hundreds
of e-book titles. Again, the librarians are only a phone call away.
Overdrive is web-based but also available as an app for your phone, iPad, etc. There is no app for
the Chrome book; however, e-books can still be accessed with the Chrome book via the Overdrive
website.
Feel free to stop in to the school library as there are always new titles and a limited number of new
movies mostly aimed for our school population. However, adults can always find some new fiction
and nonfiction titles of interest as well.
~ Ms. Richey
A Tiger Above All Tigers
Clay Paulson, a sophomore at New Underwood
High School, is a Student of the Month for September.
Clay is a very hard worker in class according to his
teacher, Mr. Nelson. “He is always willing to participate in
discussion and in group activities.” Mr. Nelson also said
that Clay always stays on task and completes work in a
timely fashion with above proficient standards. “Overall
his grades have improved from the previous year and he is
excelling in each class.”
In addition to being a great student, Clay also has a
fantastic personality. John Wayne is Clay’s favorite actor.
As a result of John Wayne being his favorite actor, if Clay
could be in any movie it would be McLintock! Clay’s
favorite sports team is the Texas Longhorns, and his
favorite color is red. Clay’s favorite teacher is Mr. Nelson,
but his favorite class is geometry. Clay is a four year track
participant. John Deere is his favorite farming company.
When he gets out of high school, Clay wants to be a
mechanic.
A Tiger and Her Stripes
“Do or do not, there is no try.” is a famous quote from
Master Yoda and is also Sarah Pickering’s favorite
quote. Being the quiet, conservative young lady she is;
Sarah works diligently hard in the classroom. “Sarah is a
great student and a pleasure to have in class,” said Mr.
Nelson. “She is respectful and prides herself on doing
the absolute best she can.” In Sociology class Sarah was
one of six students in her class to complete her task,
way to go Sarah!
While Master Yoda might be a master with
words, Spider Man is Sarah’s favorite movie. Although
Spider-Man can spin webs, nothing compares with KJ
52, a Christian rapper. During the interview I asked
Sarah who her favorite person was and why. She replied
with “KJ 52. He’s my favorite Christian rapper and came
to my youth group and sat with all of us”.
With future plans of being in Cosmetology, Sarah
wants to open up her own Salon in California! Imagine
how purple the Salon would be, being that purple is her
favorite color. Living in Cali could be dangerous, but
Sarah could hold her own. She is a first degree Black
belt in Taekwondo, and has been doing this for years.
Congratulations on Student of the Month Sarah!
News from the Booster Club….
Congratulations to the football team for having a successful football season and making
the playoffs. We sold shirts for the football playoffs. We gave shirts to the football
players, student managers, and statisticians.
Congratulations to Adrienne Gossard and Cade Venhuizen for qualifying for the state
cross country meet. We provided a meal and t-shirts to the participants.
Good luck to the volleyball team in their district tournament.
We have a new clothing flyer out and the orders are due and paid for by October 10th.
Please turn all orders in to the office. Extra flyers are available in the office.
Our Holiday Open House will be December 7th in the school gym. Booster Club will have
a lunch available for all that attend. Hours are 10:00-3:00. Please stop by and do some
Christmas shopping and have lunch. We will be having drawings for door prizes this year.
For more information, please contact any Booster Club officer.
Our officers are: President – Leona Oberlander 605-441-5034, Vice President – Helen
Richter 605-441-8263, Treasurer – Shirley Koch 605-515-1455, and Secretary – Melisa
Byrne 605-393-7165.
Our next meeting will be November 10th at 6:30pm in the school lunch room.
This document is available in alternate formats upon a 5 working day request. Examples of alternate formats include: Braille, large print, tape,
etc. Please contact Peggy Petersen at 754-6485 to make a request.
From the Dean of Students
Can you believe that another month has flown by and here we are at the end of the first quarter of school? Report cards will be
sent out shortly. Please take time to check them over and discuss them with your child. If you have any questions concerning your
child’s progress, please feel free to contact their teacher.
Did you know that you can have instant access to your child’s grades? There is actually an app that you can add to your smart
phone whether it is an Apple or Android product that will allow you to check your child’s progress right from your phone. You just
need to download the Infinite Campus Mobil Portal application from any of the following app stores: The App Store, Google Play,
or Amazon app store for Android. Then launch the Campus app and enter the District ID: PVCZKC. You will then be asked to enter
your Campus Portal Username and Password and click sign in.
Fall Activities
Another month has flown by and as our fall sports seasons draw to a close I want to recognize all of those people behind the scenes
that volunteer and make our programs run so smoothly. Without all of the volunteer labor that is supplied by these people we
would be hard pressed to run our activities. So thank you very much to everyone that helped out: chain gang, bookkeepers, clock
personnel, announcers, line judges, referees, timers, concessions workers, float judges, coaches, sponsors, and ticket-takers. I also
want to take time to thank all of our very dedicated fans who follow our teams and cheer on our players. Your support helps our
teams do their best. Congratulations go out to Adrienne Gossard and Cade Venhuizen on qualifying for the state cross country
meet, which will be held in Huron on October 25th. We wish them the very best and we want them to know that, “We are behind
you all the way.” We also want to wish our football and volleyball teams the best as they head into the post-season part of each of
their seasons. We look forward to cheering you on to victory.
I would also like to wish our All State Chorus members the best as they get ready to perform in Sioux Falls at the All State Chorus
Event October 31-November 1. We know that you will represent us well.
Upcoming Scholarship Deadlines:
The following scholarship deadlines are approaching. For more information on each of these scholarships, please check my wiki
site at http://newunderwood-studentadvisor.wikispaces.com/Scholarships .
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AXA Achievement Scholarship – December 15, 2014
Big Idea Contest – October 31, 2014
Burger King Scholars Program – December 15, 2014
Christopher Reeve Award Scholarship – December 1, 2014
Coca-Cola Scholars Program Scholarship – October 31, 2014
Courage to Grow Scholarship – awarded monthly
Dell Scholars Program – January 15, 2015
Elks National Foundation – 2015 Most Valuable Student Scholarship Contest – December 5, 2014
Elks National Foundation – Legacy Awards – January 30, 2015
Gates Millennium Scholars Program – January 14, 2015
GE-Reagan Foundation Scholarship Program – January 8, 2015
Horatio-Alger Scholarship – October 25, 2014
Prudential Spirit of Community Awards Scholarship – November 4, 2014
Scholastic Art and Writing Awards – December 19, 2014
You may also want to check out college/technical college scholarships as many schools have funds available for new students. You
can find this information by going to the college website and then looking under their scholarship tab. It is very important that you
do this early so that you do not miss their deadlines.
Dual Credit
Through a new program that was approved by the South Dakota Legislature, dual credit coursework is available to high school
students in grades 11-12 at the rate of $40 per credit. That compares to about $200 per credit at the state’s four technical
institutes and $300 per credit at the state’s public universities. Students are responsible for the $40 per-credit cost and any
required textbooks or related course materials.
Dual credit is an opportunity for high school students to enroll in post-secondary institutions in South Dakota while earning credits
for both their high school diploma and post-secondary degree or certificate at the same time. It provides students with a number
of benefits, including:
 A jump start to students’ post-secondary careers
 Significant cost savings for students and parents through reduced tuition costs
 Increased confidence for college success.
The list of courses that are available is located on the dual credit tab of my wiki site at http://newunderwoodstudentadvisor.wikispaces.com . If you have any further questions about this program, please feel free to contact me at the
school office at 754-6485.
New Underwood Music Department
We are off to a fantastic start in our music classroom!
I would like to invite each of you to our Elementary Concert December 4th at 7pm and our Junior High/High
School Concert on December 11th at 7pm.
This year is the 200th Anniversary of our National Anthem. All students K-12 were invited to audition to sing our
Anthem at a school event. You may notice a wonderful variety of performers.
A big congratulations to Jhett Finkbeiner, Fallon Condra, Hope Rucker, and Nathan Nixon on being chosen to
perform in the All-State Chorus and Orchestra concert held in Sioux Falls. They recently traveled to the campus
of Black Hills State University for an area wide rehearsal!
Elementary Festival Chorus participants will be getting their take home music and accompaniment CD’s soon.
This auditional choir, held March 2, 2015 in Sturgis, is a wonderful way to showcase our elementary vocal
students.
I am still looking for clean 5 gallon buckets. If you have some, please drop them off at the music room. A BIG
thank you to those of you who have already donated!
Select band and choir students will be making final decisions on choosing contest pieces. Practice will start the
week after our Christmas Concert.
If you or someone you know play an instrument, please contact me to see how you can join our High School
Band! This is a great opportunity to merge our community and school talents.
If you ever have any questions over our music program, class work, or anything listed above please contact
me through the school office or via email.
Thank you for your support of the Music program!
Mrs. Delayna Jensen
Happy fall from third grade!
We are having lots of fun learning together in the
first quarter. In reading we have learned about
problem solving and have created persuasive
posters for our book clubs. We are starting
nonfiction text study and are beginning to use
strategies to find evidence from the text, as well as
make inferences and generalizations in both fiction
and nonfiction text. In math we have been
working hard to memorize math facts and
combinations up to 100. The third graders have
also been formulating questions, collecting and
representing data based on other classes’
responses.
We just had our first field trip of the year, which
was at Outdoor Campus West. The class made
connections to our science text, in which we
studied living things. At Outdoor Campus, we had
the opportunity to see the life cycle of worms, as
well as find and name worms, then construct a
worm hotel for observation in our classroom. I am
looking forward to a great 2nd quarter with this
wonderful class!
Mrs. Wermager
Third graders celebrating homecoming
Future NUHS Cheerleaders