November 22, 2024 - Issue #134 | |
Nationally renowned educator worked with Pierz teachers and students this week | |
Along with building principals, Phil Warrick met with a focus group of students in grades 7-12. They spent about 30 minutes having conversations around what it's like being a student in our high school. The students did great, provided valuable feedback, and we learned a lot in the process about their experiences! | |
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This week, Pierz Schools had the privilege of hosting Phil Warrick, a highly respected education expert and author. Nationally renowned, Mr. Warrick is one of the lead authors of the High Reliability Schools process, which helps schools continuously improve in key areas.
For several years, Pierz Schools has been working toward becoming a certified High Reliability School, and we’re making great progress. So far, both Healy and Pioneer Schools have earned certification at Level 1 for creating Safe, Supportive, and Continuous Schools. Now, both schools are working hard to earn Level 2 certification, which focuses on Effective Teaching in Every Classroom.
During his visit, Mr. Warrick toured classrooms, observed hallway transitions, and met with our teaching staff, student panels, and leadership teams. He shared his thoughts with the school administration and provided valuable feedback. Pierz Schools is also proud to be recognized as a High Reliability School Model Site, meaning that experts from Marzano Research see our district as a model that other schools can learn from. Because of this, we expect to welcome schools from across Minnesota, and even from other states, to visit Pierz in the coming years to see what we're doing right.
We’re excited about the progress we’ve made and look forward to continuing this journey toward excellence with the help of Mr. Warrick and our partners at Sourcewell.
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Hands-on learning opportunities | |
Mr. Essen's Intro to Chemistry ninth graders were in the lab this week for their Reaction Lab. Students conducted four different types of chemical reactions in order to closer examine evidence that shows how the reactions differ and how they are similar. Students witnessed evidence such as fizzing, precipitate formation, and pH change. Students managed risks and hazards well as they worked with partners. | |
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One of the major goals of the AVID class is to spend time looking into life after high school. This semester, Mr. Eastman's AVID students have been studying various colleges and career paths, and yesterday had the opportunity to start bringing in speakers from those various career paths.
Pete Rogers, president of Central McGowan, talked about what a career path in robotics might look like. He discussed the coding of their machines and how the robots are programmed. Students learned about the careers they employ and the roadmap to those careers.
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This week, students in Mr. Teske's Life Science class explored the process of osmosis using gummy bears.
Osmosis is the movement of water molecules through a permeable membrane from an area of higher concentration to an area of lower concentration. By measuring the volume and mass of the gummy bears before and after the experiment, students were able to observe how water moved into or out of the gummy bears, causing them to swell or shrink. This hands-on activity helped them better understand how the osmosis process works in living cells.
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Happenings at Pioneer Elementary | |
It's the most wonderful time of the year | |
Maybe the turkey hasn't been caught, stuffed, cooked and eaten yet, but it's time to start thinking about the season of giving!
The Pioneer elves (some of them pictured here) have already begun shopping for our annual Toy Drive, and we are excited to once again to help our friends in need this holiday season.
We are so grateful for donations and are accepting them anytime between now and December 16; just bring unwrapped, new items to the Pioneer Elementary office during school hours. If you don't know what to donate and want to send our elves off to do the shopping with some extra cash, please bring money to the Pioneer office before December 12th.
If you are a family in need, simply come to our distribution night on December 17th from 4:30-6:30pm at Pioneer Elementary gymnasium, but leave your cherubs at home!
Thank you to all, and to all a good night!
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Last week, Pioneer Elementary students in grades 4-6 had the exciting opportunity to attend the Young Author Conference at CLC, Staples Campus. Around 40 students participated in this inspiring event, where they listened to presentations from authors, illustrators, musicians, and other creative professionals. The experience left them energized and eager to dive into books and explore their own writing!
Presenting authors and artists included Dawn Quigley, Abby Cooper, Art Coulson, Jason Walz, John Coy, Ken Lonnquist, Stacy Ebert, and Ty Chapman.
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Ms. Bednar's phy ed classes were 'lit' as the preschoolers through fourth graders were learning how to bowl in the coolest way possible: Cosmic Bowling. Rope lights and discos balls made the experience 'out of this world', while students learned how to score, work as a team, and knock over those pins without gutter guards (admittedly, the lanes are a little wider)!
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Looking Ahead (this season gets a little busy!) | |
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November 22: 2-Hour Early Release Day TODAY! 1pm
November 25: Pioneer PTO Fundraiser Pickup Day, after school
November 26: Band and Choir Concert: Grades 5-8, 5:30pm & 7:15pm
November 28: Turkey Trot 5K, 8am, MAC
November 28 & 29: No School, Thanksgiving Break
December 10: Pioneer Christmas Program: Grades K-2, 9:30am & 5:30pm
December 11: High School Parent Teacher Conferences
December 11: Blood Drive, 8-2pm, MAC
December 12: Pioneer Christmas Program: Grades 3-4, 1:20pm & 5:30pm
December 16: Band and Choir Concert: Grades 9-12, 6:30pm, MS Gym
December 17: Toy Drive Distribution Night, 4:30pm-6:30pm, Pioneer Gym
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Community Education will use the same class registration as the Activities Department starting with fall camps and preschool. Please call if you have any trouble creating your account. Although both activities and community ed will use rSchools, you won't be able to check out a varsity sport and a youth camp simultaneously. User experience will be the same making it easier to navigate but they are two different stores requiring separate log-ins. You can create the accounts with the same user name and password to keep things simple! A link to both stores will be on the Activities page and the Community Ed page.
Lunch payments will still be made with Edutrak.
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Join us each Sunday for open pickleball! We rotate courts and players. If you are new, we can set up a court just for beginners to give you a chance to get a feel for play and learn the rules.
Purchase a punch card online for 10 sessions or pay $3 when you arrive.
Use the form to let us know you're coming! Email Sarah if you are new and want a beginner's court.
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