IOWA-GRANT'S PANTHER PRESS

In partnership with the community, the Iowa-Grant School District will

empower all students to reach their full potential as responsible

individuals who strive for life-long learning to successfully compete in

an ever-changing global society.

Welcome back to another school year and welcome to all who are new to the Iowa-Grant School District. It’s a great time to be a Panther and to lead off with our mission statement, especially the first few words, “In partnership with the community…” A little more than a month ago, we made an appeal on behalf of the Iowa-Grant Booster Club. We needed volunteers and joiners to help support the concession stand and our activities.. The response has been tremendous. Thank You! Then, as we were launching the new school year with professional development and organizational meetings, Pastor Kristen Lowe and the United Methodist Church hosted all our staff for a luncheon, including homemade pies and desserts. Thank You! Our teachers and staff feel so supported by the community. Thank you also to Community First Bank for their donations to our all-staff, back-to-school breakfasts and refreshments during our school safety training. Finally, thank you to Ritchie’s for the loan of ATV’s as we hosted the Iowa-Grant Invitational Track meet.

The year ahead looks promising as we make improvements to school facilities and our curriculum with the federal funds we were allotted through ESSER. You may remember that last year, we hosted a Family and Community Town Supper as part of a community engagement strategy to gather public input on how we should budget those funds. The ESSER funds are now being used to make improvements in curriculum and facilities. At the same time, we are working hard to present a balanced budget for the upcoming school year. Additional state revenue and adjustments to staffing levels make this look promising.

Things are moving ahead as planned. At IGEMS, we are ahead of the curve in professional development as we provide training for our teachers in the science of reading. Recent legislation will now require this training for all school districts and we are already in progress. Curriculum purchases and upgrades are on schedule at the high school as well. Administrators and counselors have been trained in Sources of Strength, an initiative we are bringing to Iowa-Grant aimed at building assets among student leaders to support their peers and build positive social networks.

At the facility level, flooring is being replaced in IGEMS and the Family and Consumer Education classroom has been re-opened with some of the most used fitness equipment relocated for continued use. At the high school, rusty exterior doors are being replaced, and the board of education has allotted additional funds from reserves to take care of critical electrical issues. While the electrical work is behind the scenes and may not be noticeable, it is essential to keeping our high school building online.

As a sixty year old building, our high school has aged well. There are a few concerns however, which we would like to hear your voice on in another Family and Community Town Supper, on October 26th. Our locker rooms are in tough shape, with low ceilings and poor ventilation. Our wrestling team practices in a space which was not designed for occupancy and our gyms are being used to capacity. We may also need to review the entrance and office area at the high school to improve school security.Your voice will be important as the board considers a long-range facilities plan. We look forward to your participation and input as we celebrate the many great things happening in the Iowa-Grant School District.

Michael Shimshak

The McKinney-Vento Act defines homeless children and youth (twenty-one years of age and younger) as:

Children and youth who lack a fixed, regular, and adequate nighttime residence, and includes children and unaccompanied youth who are:

• sharing the housing of other persons due to loss of housing, economic hardship, or a similar reason (sometimes referred to as a “Double-up”);

• living in motels, hotels, trailer parks, or camping grounds due to the lack of alternative adequate accommodations;

• abandoned in hospitals; or

• Awaiting foster care placement;

• living in a primary nighttime residence that is a public or private place not designed for or ordinarily used as a regular sleeping accommodation for human beings;

• living in cars, parks, public spaces, abandoned buildings, substandard housing, bus or train stations, or similar settings; and

• migratory children who qualify as homeless because the children are living in circumstances described above.

If you are personally aware of or are acquainted with any children or youth who may qualify according to the above criteria, the Iowa-Grant School District provides the following assurances to parents and guardians of homeless children and youth and unaccompanied homeless youth:

• There shall be immediate enrollment and school participation, even if educational and medical records and proof of residency are not available.

• All educational opportunities and related opportunities for homeless students (preschool to age 21), including unaccompanied youth, shall be the same as for the general student population.

• Meaningful opportunities for parents to participate in the education of their children. These shall include: special notices of events, parent-teacher conferences, newsletters, and access to student records.

• Immediate enrollment and transportation to the school of origin. “School of origin” means the school that a child or youth attended when permanently housed or the school in which the child or youth was last enrolled, including a preschool.

• Written explanation of a child or youth’s school placement, other than school of origin or the school requested by the parent, with the right to appeal within the local dispute resolution process.

Please contact Jennifer Leeser, homeless liaison for the Iowa-Grant School District, at (608) 943-6311 or jleeser@igs.k12.wi.us for additional information about the rights and services described above.

School Board President Ross Leix accepted a donation from the Iowa-Grant Education Foundation in honor of the former Iowa-Grant superintendent Linda Erickson.

9/2 8:45 AM Cross Country: JV/Varsity Invitational vs Multiple Schools @ Darlington HS

9/5 FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL

9/5 8:00 AM - 11:00 AM IGHS Picture Day

9/5 4:30 PM Cross Country: Varsity Invitational vs Multiple Schools @ Boscobel

9/5 5:00 PM Football: JV vs Boscobel (Home)

9/5 5:45 PM Volleyball: Freshmen / JV Match vs Mineral Point (Away)

9/5 7:15 PM Volleyball: Varsity Match vs Mineral Point (Away)

9/7 5:45 PM Volleyball: Freshmen / JV Match vs Riverdale (Home)

9/7 7:00 PM Football: Varsity vs Hillsboro (Away)

9/7 7:15 PM Volleyball: Varsity vs Riverdale (Home)

9/9 8:30 AM Cross Country: Varsity Invitational vs Multiple Schools @ Spring Green Municipal Golf Course

9/11 5:00 PM Football: JV vs Hillsboro (Home)

9/12 5:00 PM Cross Country: Varsity Invitational vs Multiple Schools @ North Crawford HS

9/12 5:45 PM Volleyball: JV vs Boscobel (Away)

9/12 7:15 PM Volleyball: Varsity vs Boscobel (Away)

9/13 6:00 PM Booster Club Meeting - IGHS Cafeteria

9/14 5:45 PM Volleyball: JV vs Southwestern (Away)

9/14 7:00 PM Cross Country: Varsity Invitational vs Multiple Schools @ Boscobel HS

9/14 7:15 PM Volleyball: Varsity vs Southwestern (Away)

9/15 7:00 PM Football: Varsity vs Riverdale (Home)

9/16 9:00 AM Volleyball: Varsity Invitational vs Multiple Schools (Home)

9/18 4:45 PM Volleyball: JV Invitational vs Multiple Schools (Home) (IGEMS)

9/18 5:00 PM Football: JV vs Riverdale (Away)

9/19 5:45 PM Volleyball: Freshmen / JV Match vs Cuba City (Away)

9/19 7:15 PM Volleyball: Varsity vs Cuba City (Away)

9/21 5:45 PM Volleyball: Freshmen / JV Match vs Darlington (Home)

9/21 7:15 PM Volleyball: Varsity vs Darlington (Home)

9/22 Homecoming

9/22 7:00 PM Football: Varsity vs Wauzeka-Steuben (Home)

9/23 8:00 AM Volleyball: Freshmen / JV Invitational vs Multiple Schools @ Belmont HS

9/23 9:30 AM Cross Country: Varsity Invitational vs Multiple Schools @ Reedsburg Hartje Center XCC Trail

9/23 8:00 PM Homecoming Dance

9/23 8:30 Grand March

9/25 5:00 PM Football: JV vs Wauzeka-Steuben (Away)

9/26 5:45 PM Volleyball: Freshmen / JV Match vs Mineral Point (Home)

9/26 7:15 PM Volleyball: Varsity vs Mineral Point (Home)

9/28 American Players Senior Field Trip

9/28 4:45 PM Volleyball: Freshmen / JV Match vs Riverdale (Away)

9/28 5:00 PM Cross Country: Varsity Invitational vs Multiple Schools @ Kickapoo HS

9/28 6:00 PM Volleyball: Varsity vs Riverdale (Away)

9/29 5:30 PM - 8:30 PM Great Steak Night

9/29 7:00 PM Football: Varsity vs Highland (Home)

9/30 8:00 AM Cross Country: Varsity Invitational vs Multiple Schools

9/30 9:00 AM Volleyball: Varsity Invitational vs Multiple Schools @ Belmont HS

Reminder to not wear green for picture day due to the green screen Jostens uses.

Jostens, the leading producer of yearbooks and student-created content, announced that Iowa-Grant High School’s yearbook program has achieved the Jostens 2023 National Yearbook Program of Excellence award at the Gold Level. The National Yearbook Program of Excellence recognizes engaging yearbooks that reflect a broad representation of the student body while helping students develop 21st-century skills such as communication, collaboration, and information and communication technologies (ICT) literacy.

Congratulations to the Iowa-Grant award-winning yearbook staff members under the direction of Mrs. Rosemeyer, I-G's yearbook adviser.

The 2024 yearbook is on sale now. Please visit jostens.com/2024yearbook or pick up an order form in the high school office. The cost is $40.00 if you order by September 15. After that date, the price goes up to $45.00. Don't delay, order today!

9/22 2:40 PM Homecoming Parade

7:00 PM Varsity Football takes on Wauzeka-Steuben

9/23 8:00 PM Homecoming Dance

8:30PM Grand March

Cross Country's first meet was at home, where Junior Bret C finished first with a time of 17:53. The boys team placed 2nd overall. The girls team placed 4th overall.

Then the Cross County teams traveled to Darlington where Bret C placed 3rd with a time of 17:44 and the boys team placed 4th overall. The girls team placed 7th overall.

For football, the iconic “Milk Can” game took place at Fennimore. The Panthers were up at half over the Eagles, but unfortunately came up short and lost to the Eagles.

In Week 2, the Panthers took on the New Lisbon Rockets. It was a well-played game, just some errors that cost us in the end. Resulting in a loss of 12-22.

In Week 3, the Panthers traveled to take on the Boscobel Bulldogs. The Panthers got their first win of the season with a score of 44-26.

To start the conference season, the volleyball team traveled to Darlington. Unfortunately, they did not start the season how they wanted to and lost all three sets. They are 0-1 in the conference.

Upcoming activities/sports in September:

• First home volleyball game is on Thursday, September 7th.

• Homecoming week is 18th - 22nd

• 9/18: JV Football @Riverdale

• 9/19: Volleyball @Cuba City

• 9/21: Volleyball vs Darlington

• 9/22: Football vs Wauzeka-Steuben

• 9/23: Cross Country @Reedsburg

• Great Steak Night is on Friday, September 29th. Come out and enjoy delicious food while watching the football team take on Highland!

The Iowa-Grant Student Council and LEO Club will be collecting old pairs of eyeglasses and old cell phones throughout the school year again. Please send them to Mr. Boland. Thank you for supporting the IGHS Student Council and LEO Club!

Did you know Iowa-Grant serves breakfast every morning? We always offer fruits, whole grains and dairy. School breakfast provides a healthy start to the day for everybody.

Welcome Back! It will be great to see the students back in the building. This fall we will welcome a new teacher into our IGEMS family. Kirby Grutz will be in the physical education department. We will also welcome Ms. Pross from the high school into our 8th grade math and Algebra program. Both are fantastic additions to our staff and we are lucky to have both of them! We have had a few other changes with teaching staff and we appreciate their talents and flexibility!

Ms. Hasburgh and Ms. Kennicker have worked very hard to help get things ready for the start of the year in the main office and I appreciate all that they have done this summer from summer recreation, summer school, to fall preparation for our students.

The floor is a little different in the hallways, as you may have noticed during Back to School Night. We are excited for our new carpeting which we hope will be installed in mid-September. We will also have 4 new scoreboards in the gym with special thanks to Royal Bank, Community First Bank, Compeer Financial, and Clare Bank for their donations to this project.

We have had many wonderful donations of backpacks and school supplies to the office. I do not want to miss anyone, so if you were someone who passed along this generosity, we appreciate you and your support of our students.

This is such a special place with small communities that come together to accomplish great things for students. If you need anything, please reach out to me. I will try my best to understand the need and help. Have a great start to your school year I - GEMS! You are all truly gems!

Having easy to follow evening and morning routines is one of my top tips for parents with young school-aged children. Routines help kids feel more secure and confident. They also build independence and responsibility. Below, you will find some possible routines for you to consider for your own family this school year.

Evening Routines:

• Pack backpacks and bags with everything needed for the next day. Double check that papers are signed and homework is finished.

• Pick out clothing items and set them out (check the weather forecast first!).

• Bath, book, bed! Following bathtime with reading a story is a favorite routine for many families.

• Turn off the television and put away other distractions (phones and tablets).

• Routines should allow for children between the ages of 3 and 5 to get 10-13 hours of sleep per night. Children ages 6-13 need 9-12 hours of sleep (Healthychildren.org). When kids are well-rested, they have an easier time getting up in the morning and handling the demands of a school day.

Morning Routines:

• For young children, try making a list of things to do each morning with pictures. Post it in a place where it can be seen by your child. Examples: use the bathroom, make the bed, get dressed, eat breakfast, brush teeth, put on shoes, grab a coat and backpack.

• Create a good-bye ritual between you and your child to help make the transition from home to school less challenging. A special good-bye saying, silly handshake, or a hug and “I love you,” provides your child with comfort and reassurance.

Children work hard during the school day; listening and physical activity requires energy and focus. Having an evening routine, a good night’s sleep, and a morning routine can help your child both at school and at home. Take time to think about the right routines for your family, so you’re ready to start strong this school year!

School pictures are available for viewing at jostenspix.com. If your student is not showing on your account please click on Find Your Student? Use the Event Code that is in the picture below and search. The name of your student should show up and you will need to click add. If it states that you need an access code please click on request access code and we will approve it. Once approved you will log back into your account and your student's picture should show up.

Picture Day #2 for IGEMS will be held on September 5th along with Picture Day #1 for the High School. Retakes will take place for both buildings on October 5th.

The Panther Pack Program is designed to send child-friendly food home to hungry children in 4K-8th grades who may be experiencing food shortages at home. If you need assistance feeding your child(ren) on weekends, the volunteers and staff members would like to give your family the opportunity to participate in the Panther Pack Program. Before a weekend or break, a bag of food will be discreetly placed in your child’s backpack for him or her to bring home and eat over the break. If your family is in need, please contact the IGEMS office to sign your family up for the program.

The Panther Pack Program is made possible through the generous donations of our community. We are in need of individual cups of fruit, oatmeal packets, cereal boxes, mac and cheese packets, spaghetti cups, individually packaged meals, and individually packaged snacks. Please bring any donations to the IGEMS office. If you would like to provide a monetary donation please make the check out to Iowa-Grant and mark it to the attention of the Panther Packs Program. Thank you for your generosity in making sure the students in the Iowa-Grant School District have what they need!

Email: mschimshak@igs.k12.wi.us
Website: https://www.igs.k12.wi.us/
Location: 498 Iowa Grant Road, Livingston, WI, USA
Phone: 608-943-6311
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/IowaGrantPanthers