MHS National Honor Society NEWS The Empty Bowl Project Since 2008 the George Halvorson Jr., Menahga Chapter of National Honor Society has been involved in the nationwide Empty Bowl Project. As of last year the chapter has raised $3,275.00 to go to the Menahga food shelf from this project. The chapter is able to purchase the bowls from Glazed and Amused in Bemidji, MN. The Empty Bowl Project started in 1990 as a classroom project in Michigan in which a teacher wanted his students to be able to help with the issue of hunger. This project has slowly spread throughout the United States and 14 other countries. The money that is raised through the project is then given to food shelves, homeless shelters, or an organization working to end hunger. MHS NHS will be hosting our own Empty Bowl Project fund raiser in February or March. Students have already begun working on painting the bowls. The bowls are sold for $10 and proceeds go to the local food shelf. Watch the Braves Bulletin in the Review Messenger as we firm up a date for the fund raiser. INFO FROM TEAM FUSION There is no doubt that schools across the country are making some drastic changes in the way students are learning, being taught, and types of courses now available from multiple sources. Because these changes are moving at an exponential rate, the school board advocated for researching different avenues that could best meet the needs of the students of Menahga. Team Fusion is a six member team that consists of high school teachers and Principal Dan Stifter. The goal of the team is to filter through research, case studies, school visits, and strategies to develop an education model that will meet the needs of all Menahga students. So far, the team has visited Edgewood Middle School, Alexandria High School, Blaine High School, Avalon High School in St. Paul. Edgewood Middle school is a 6-8 STEAM center (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Mathematics) located in Mounds View. Alexandria recently built a new 9-12 Academy focused school. The team met with a blended learning specialist from Odysseyware and Judy Richter from Brainerd Central Lakes College about the Bridges Career Academy program. In addition the team has researched STEM, STEAM, academies, blended learning, collaborative learning, and project based learning. All have similar goals in that the students are actively engaged. Active learning engages students in two aspects – doing things and thinking about the things they are doing. Active learning addresses solving problems and students must engage in such higher-order thinking tasks as analysis, synthesis, and evaluation. Team Fusion plans to visit several other schools such as: New Country School in Henderson, Salk Middle School, Heritage Academy, and Anoka School of Arts. They will observe and gather information related to how these schools implemented change. The team will use that information, merge it with our current model and programs such as the CIHS (college in the high school), post secondary options, career choice and college bound students, to develop a customized model that gives our students the opportunities and skills to be successful in their chosen paths in life. PLEASE DRIVE CAREFULLY! Andrea Korvela (above) and Elyse Skoog (right) as they work on painting "empty bowls" for this year's NHS fund raiser. Student Council NEWS The elementary student council: S.W.A.T. (Students Working as a Team) has had a very active fall. Most recently, S.W.A.T. helped Mr. Wright and the 6th grade General Music classes co-host a Holiday Sing-along for the entire elementary school. Following the sing-along, S.W.A.T. put on an activity day in the Big Gymnasium featuring a variety of stations including games, face painting, and a coloring contest. Students in kindergarten through sixth grade attended throughout the afternoon with their classroom teachers. It was a fabulous way to send students off to Christmas Break! In the weeks ahead, S.W.A.T members will be planning the annual Menahga food drive. The students are excited to extend their hard work and enthusiasm beyond the walls of Menahga Elementary School to support their community. The Menahga High School Student Council is an organization that is comprised of student leaders who represent their fellow students and school. The purpose of student council is to provide leadership, and to serve the student body, the school, and the community. Throughout the year, student council members contribute positively to their school and community in a variety of ways. In addition to hosting activities and events throughout the year, student council organizes homecoming activities and events, holds an annual Holiday Food Drive to benefit the Menahga Food Shelf, attends the regional Minnesota Association of Student Councils(MASC) conventions, and participates in a MASC regional service project. MHS Student Council has worked to extend leadership opportunities and positions to non-elected students to participate in student council-led initiatives. Interested MHS students join student council to perform community and global service projects through We Day/We Act. The student council also provides a student representative to the Menahga School Board. This representative attends all school board meetings, reports to the school board on school events and acts as a representative of the student body. Student Council recently attended We Day at the Excel Energy Center in St. Paul with 18,000 other Minnesota students. At We Day, students committed to perform one local and one global service project this school year, and heard from a variety of inspirational speakers, celebrities and music groups. Last year, Menahga students collected $404.75 and 890 lbs of food for the Menahga Food Shelf and donated $500 to package food for famine victims in Afghanistan as part of their We Day commitment.