Career Academy Newsletter

Recently Governor Kim Reynolds published a story about the increase in dual credit courses taken across the state. While the state saw an increase of just over 2% between the 2018-19 and 2019-20 school years, locally we saw an increase of 9% with 10,240 credits earned during the 2019-20 school year. What an incredible number. Students who are taking advantage of this opportunity are making difficult decisions about what to study and where to further their education while in high school; while it's free. Students are going into college able to finish in 3 years rather than 4; saving time and money. Students are making connections with local business and industry and because of these connections they are being offered career employment before they even graduate from high school. Exploring college and careers while in high school is the way to a brighter future. The proof is in the numbers.

Thank you to all of our educational, business, industry, and family partners who have helped us make the most of an unusual year. We are stronger because of your support.

Katie Towler

ACT Update: Juniors along some sophomores and seniors were unable to complete the district ACT Test on Tuesday, April 20th. ACT has since provided the district with pre-paid vouchers and fee waivers for students who are interested in taking the ACT in June or July. Vouchers and fee waivers are available in the counseling office and East, North, and West High. There is no cost for students to take either the June or July ACT if they obtain a form. Registration deadline for the June 12th ACT is May 7th and the deadline to register for the July 17th test is June 18th.

FAFSA Help: Western Iowa Tech will be providing FAFSA assistance for any seniors who have not submitted their FAFSA for financial aid assistance for the fall 2021. By submitting the FAFSA you may qualify for grants, work study and loans. FAFSA help is available on following dates and times.

West High: Thursday, May 6th from 8:00 AM to 11:00 AM

North High: Thursday, May 6th from 12:00 PM to 3:00 PM

East High: Tuesday, May 11th from 12:0 PM to 3:00 PM

AP Exams/College Credit: Seniors who are taking AP Exams over the next two weeks remember to contact the college/university you are attending in the fall in regards to college credits you can earn with your AP exam score(s). Most colleges/universities will have a link within their admissions or academics tab explaining how AP Exams for college credit work. If you are unable to find information contact your admissions representative for assistance.

Juniors and Scholarships: Juniors as summer nears it is not too early to begin the scholarship search for your senior year. Within your Canvas account, the district has created a scholarship page for each high school. The listing are found in the High School Advisory or High School Homeroom course. Along with the Canvas listings a few of the more popular online sites where you can create an account are:

Fastweb.com

Scholarshipowl.com

Cappex.com

Scholarships.com

The annual Invent-to-Innovate (i2i) Entrepreneurial Competition at the University of South Dakota was held virtually this on Friday, April 16th. The virtual format was a modified version of this competition. Students in the Career Academy’s Entrepreneurship class submitted their entries online and then the judges watched the live pitches by each team and determined the winners. They were required to submit a business plan for a new business or for a product/service idea using the Lean Canvas format.

This year, two teams from the Sioux City Career Academy’s Entrepreneurship class won prizes at this competition. Please congratulate these students on this accomplishment. The business professionals, and professors from the university, were very impressed with their submissions and pitches. All of the teams did a great job!

The prizes for this competition are:

1st place: $1,000.00

2nd place: $ 750.00

3rd place: $ 500.00

The results of the 2021 Invent-to-Innovate (i2i) Entrepreneurial Competition:

2nd Place:

Meganography: A wedding and senior photography business looking to expand into elopement and destination weddings.

· Megan Thompson, East High School

3rd Place:

Lock Clock: An app to help students lock out distractions by other apps in order to stay focused and limit procrastination.

· Rehman Mian, East/Heelan High School (dual-enrolled)

· Rebecka Lynn, East High School

· Melissa Gomez, North High School

Additional Finalists in the competition:

Fog-No-More: A business dedicated to creating masks that prevent the wearers glasses from fogging up. We are tackling this problem to "Rid the world of Unclear Vision".

Drew Benson, West High School

Bereket Ware, East/Heelan High School (dual-enrolled)

Favian Zaragoza, West High School

Thynking: An app and a website, of a quick, easy, and simple gradebook and learning resources at students’ fingertips.

Tania Callejas, East High School

Elly Rosauer, East High School

Brisa Rivera, East High School

Gas App: New app for keeping up to date with gas prices, electric car charging stations, car washes, and repair shops

Carter Bertrand, North High School

Alex Johnson, East High School

SoapStone: A new language app to help build connections by focusing on holding conversations

Jeriah Thomas, West High School

Reminders That Care: a scheduler app that works as a team with you the consumer to not only learn your schedule but gives you friendly reminders to

take a break, advises you to say no when your schedule is too full, and reminds you when to actually do your tasks.

Dalany Dolan, West High School

Submission, but not selected as finalists (did not attend virtual competition):

BreatheEZ: A one-way vented mask with clip

Hermon Alemu, North High School

Josh Etherington, East/Siouxland Christian High School (dual-enrolled)

Daniel Nguyen, North High School

Christopher Verdin, West High School

Gissel Zamora-Montoya, North High School

Phone Professional:

Anna Grace Macaspac

Gretchen Hoffman will learn to hack, fix, and explore cyber security during GenCyber Camp this summer at Dakota State.. DSU GenCyber is a Cyber Security camp designed for high school students entering grades 10 through 12 (currently in 9-11). Students will participate in hands-on education sessions with DSU professors, alumni, and current students as well as other industry professionals. The camp's main purpose is to educate and excite groups of students that may not have considered studying and working in cyber security. Dakota State has received funding from the National Security Agency (NSA) and National Science Foundation (NSF) to host a cyber security camp. The grant will allow DSU to host over 140 students on-campus for the camp at no cost to the student!

Presented by the Sioux City Public Schools Foundation

You are invited to the 4th Annual, “Are You Smarter Than Our Fourth Graders?” virtual game show on Friday, May 7, from 7-8 p.m

Reserve your FREE virtual seat at https://snbl.it/e70NAF

Questions?

Contact office@scpsf.org. or 712-224-7490

Student medication and/or medical supplies will be sent home with your child on the last day of school. If you would like to make other arrangements, please contact the school office before the last day of school. Any unused medication that remains at school will be disposed of in compliance with federal and state law or will be given to the School Resource Officers for proper disposal.

The Sioux City Community School District offers career and technical programs in the following areas: Business & Marketing, Family & Consumer Science, Health Science, and Industrial Arts, Technology, & PLTW.

The Sioux City Community School District is an equal opportunity/affirmative action employer and does not discriminate on the basis of race, creed, color, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, genetic information (for employment), national origin, religion, age (for employment), disability, socioeconomic status (for programs), marital status (for programs), or veteran status (for employment) in its educational programs and its employment practices. The District is required by Title IX and 34 CFR Part 106 not to discriminate on the basis of sex in its programs, activities, or employment.

Inquiries or grievances under Section 504 and Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act may be directed to Jen Gomez, Director of Student Services & Equity Education/Title IX Coordinator at 627 4th Street, Sioux City, IA 51101, (712) 279-6075, gomezj2@live.siouxcityschools.com. Inquiries about the application of Title IX and its regulations to the District may be referred to the Title IX Coordinator, the Assistant Secretary of the U.S. Department of Education, or both. Please see District Board policies 103 and 504.4 for additional information on available grievance procedures.

Contact us!

Principal: Katie Towler

Website: https://www.siouxcityschools.org/sioux-city-career-academy/
Location: 627 4th Street, Sioux City, IA, USA
Phone: 712-279-6668
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SiouxCityCareerAcademy/
Twitter: @SCCareerAcademy