News of the Huskies

Twelve months ago, we were doing everything possible to make it through the 2019-2020 school year after the pandemic shut down face-to-face learning.

Fortunately, we were able to open up for in-person learning last fall and we kept students in school while many others delayed everyday, in-classroom learning for several months.

Now a year later, while we still practice proper hygiene and social distancing where appropriate, our students and staff returned to a more normalized educational rhythm. Not only did students celebrate Homecoming, Tip-Off, and Prom, they are getting ready for scholarships, awards and graduation.

By the way, we don't have any restrictions on our graduation ceremonies.

I applaud all the students, their families, our teachers and staff for an outstanding year and want to wish everyone a fantastic summer.

I’m also excited that Ola Elementary students will be able to return to their classroom in August, now that the repairs and renovations at the two-room school are well underway to eliminate the dry rot, unstable foundation and lead paint.

I also want to thank the Gem County community for taking time to learn about the proposed bond on the May 18th ballot. We’ve had some good conversations as we’ve discussed the pros and cons of a $68 million bond for a new high school, a new gym at Butte View, major renovations at the existing High School and Middle School, along with other much-needed improvements at the other schools.

Efforts like this are not easy, but they are very important in a growing community like Emmett. I’d like to remind you to vote Tuesday if you haven’t already done so. It’s been my hope that 70 percent of the registered voters cast a ballot in this election.

For more information about the bond, please visit our informational website.

Here are links to the new school year calendars. Elementary and Secondary.

The bell schedule will be slightly different for the new school year. The exact times are expected to be finalized by early summer.

Secondary students are shifting from trimester to semester scheduling for better access to more electives and to match most, if not all, other high schools in the Treasure Valley and beyond.

We'll share more details once the bell schedules are solidified.

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The 50th annual induction into the National Honor Society was held Wednesday night. Superintendent Craig Woods delivered a brief message focused on the four areas student members must exemplify: scholarship, leadership, service and character. Advisor Tina Myers and the Honor Society leadership team, led by Jenny Neil (third from the right), did a wonderful job celebrating the students and their hard work. Another fine example of why we are proud of Emmett students and their outstanding achievements.

To see names of the newly inducted members and more photos of the celebration, visit: https://www.facebook.com/EmmettSchools/posts/1593943590809333

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Congratulations to the scholarship winners and those Emmett High School Class of 2021 graduates who have been accepted into colleges or trade schools to further their education. We will share a complete list of recipients once everything is finalized for graduation. But for now, we wanted to share some of the highlights and a few of the many happy faces at Wednesday's celebration. This is the sixth year Kerilee Jewkes has organized the annual celebration, and sadly, it will be her last because she is moving on. As the Emmett School District Advanced Opportunities Coordinator, Mrs. Jewkes works with students to pursue scholarships and post-secondary educational opportunities. Principal Wade Carter had the final word with advice for the students. We also want to thank all the people and organizations that provide scholarships. The generosity is tremendous. This is Emmett Pride at its greatest.

For more photos from the scholarship celebration, please visit: https://www.facebook.com/EmmettSchools/posts/1593934787476880.

The drive-up curbside summer program at the Emmett Middle School begins June 4th and runs through August 13th. Distribution begins at 11:00 am and ends at 12:30 pm.

Once again, the Emmett School District will serve breakfast and lunch in a single bag pick up at Emmett Middle School as part of the Summer Food Service Program to all children, ages 1-18, in Gem County.

“We are excited to connect with our community again for summer meals,” Food Services Director Tyree E. White said. “We served an average of 610 meals per day last summer. We are also hoping to partner again with a local produce company to hand out boxes of produce once weekly.”

This institution is an equal opportunity provider.

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The Emmett School District’s Community School recently received a $500 grant from Walmart, located on 5001 N Ten Mile Road, Meridian, to supplement its Food Pantry.

The Pantry, located at Kenneth J. Carberry Elementary School is used to supply students in need with food to take home on the weekends. It also has other basic items such as socks, underwear, shoes, clothing, and blankets. A lot of these items are given to families within the Emmett School District who are in a displaced housing situation.

The Walmart grant provides a great boost to the pantry and came at just the right time, because the shelves were getting bare, Burr said.

Carberry Elementary has also partnered with WICAP & the USDA to become an Emergency Food Organization. Since its inception in December, the emergency food organization has given away 79 boxes of food to help families in Gem County, Community School Coordinator Burr said.

This food comes from the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare, which receives funds from the USDA.

The Community School program is funded by a United Way grant and the program is expected to continue to expand. Burr reaches out to Emmett businesses and organizations who can also partner with the Community School.

People who receive food boxes must be Idaho residents and must sign a form indicating that they meet the current poverty guidelines, but only need to sign the form once per year. Burr said recipients are not required to provide paperwork.

At this point, there is not a summer distribution schedule. Anyone with questions should contact Burr at aburr@isd221.net or 208-365-0839.

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We’ve talked about this fabulous opportunity where people can fill the needs of students and families via the Purposity App and how wonderful it is when people fill the needs. We have more than 180 followers now and many people have been generous.

However, we’ve found that people often forget to check the app to see if there are new needs. And of course there are needs.

Purposity recognizes that it has not figured out how to remind our faithful followers to check for new needs.

We hope this serves as a gentle reminder to either put the app on your phone or go check to see if there’s a “need” that you would like to fulfil.

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Congratulations to these Butte View preschool graduates as they mark a big day in their early years of a long educational journey.

View a Story video, processional, general photos.

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This is the fifth edition of the Emmett School District Newsletter. It’s designed to celebrate the good and important news in the Emmett School District.

We will continue to distribute press releases on immediate news and share information on the web and Facebook. If you have an idea or want to contribute something, please email Public Information Officer Vickie Holbrook.