Holiday Music Program

The elementary music programs will be held on Tuesday, December 6 in the varsity gym. Preschool children should arrive by 6:15 for their 6:30 program. Preschool children will meet in the multipurpose room (Go in the main doors, go past the gym, go up the ramp; take a left down the hallway). After the concert, preschool students may be picked up in the same room (multipurpose room).

TK-3 students should arrive by 6:45 for their 7:00 program. TK will meet in Room #108 (When you enter HS, keep walking forward to the elementary hall. It is the first door on the left.) Kindergarten meets in the chorus room (go in the main doors; immediately turn left and go in the first door) and first grade meets in the band room (go in the main doors: immediately turn left; go down the hallway and enter the 4th door). Second and third grade students meet in the multipurpose room. Students may be picked up in these same rooms following the concert.

This a great opportunity for us, as adults, to model proper concert behavior for our children. Please take off hats and shut off cell phones when entering the building. Arrive on time and stay for the entire concert. We are all busy and tend to multi-task to try to get everything done, however, our children will benefit from us taking a one hour pause and simply focusing on their joy and talent.

Morning Drop Off

Please drop TK-3 students off at the south doors so they do not have to cross the bus lane. An adult will greet them between 8:00 and 8:15 a.m. For preschool parents and those who choose to park in the east parking lot and walk their child across the street, please use the crosswalk lanes. Cars and buses watch for and expect to see people cross at those lanes. They are not as prepared to slow or stop for people crossing in the middle of the street.

HPA Activities

Students are currently participating in the Spellathon to raise funds for playground equipment and possibly an assembly. Last year, funds were used to purchase updated iPads and prior to that, our new slide. If you missed the Spellathon, donations toward our goal are ALWAYS accepted and appreciated.

Our favorite fundraiser will begin on December 20 when we start selling Scratch Cupcakes. Order forms and payment will be due on Wednesday, January 5. The cupcakes will arrive and need to be picked up on January 26. We will be sending out a volunteer form in January for those who want to help sort cupcakes for pick up. We had such great help last year which make the job go quickly and efficiently. We greatly appreciate our faithful volunteers.

Besides raising funds, our HPA also tries to provide fun family-oriented opportunities for our students outside of school hours.

Attendance

Children should arrive at school between 8:00 and 8:15 each morning. We start the day with Walk to Read. WTR is a critical time when students get extra help in areas of reading based on their specific needs. This is also a time when children who are strong in reading get challenged. When a child is late, he or she is losing the opportunity to get 30 minutes of reading instruction designed specifically for them based on their reading screenings.

A child who is 15 minutes late each day, misses an hour and 15 minutes of instruction each week which adds up to an entire day of instruction by the end of the month. In an elementary, this time can never really be made up. Our education is experience and activity based. When students miss participating in discussions and activities, there is no worksheet or assignment that can recreate the experience.

Books Make Great Gifts

Learning to read and understanding what is read are two of the most important skills students learn. They are the foundation and basis for all future learning. Parents can help their child learn this skill by making sure their child has books to read at home, providing time and incentive to read, and taking the time to ask their child questions about what they have read. You can ask specific questions about the characters and story line or simply ask your child to retell the story. You can ask why characters might have made the decisions they made or what the character could have done differently. Asking about the author’s purpose is another idea to spark a comprehension discussion.

Books make wonderful Christmas gifts. The personnel at bookstores have great ideas for children of all ages. Your child’s teacher and our librarian can also provide good ideas regarding series of books that children enjoy. When you give the gift of reading, you not only ensure that your child has books available to read at any time, you also send the message to your child that you value reading.

PBIS

Hinton Elementary is a PBIS school. This means that we take a positive approach to teaching children to manage and be responsible for their behavior. Instead of managing behaviors with a punitive approach, we work on building relationships between students and staff. Students are taking responsibility for their behavior and thinking ahead about making decisions based on the Blackhawk Code. We proactively teach and post expectations to ensure students are always aware of what is expected of them. On those occasions when students do not choose to meet the expectations, we help the student set up a plan to make better decisions in the future.

Check In/Check Out is one way that students learn to make better decisions. CICO is a highly effective, research-based intervention that consists of students checking in daily with an adult at the start of the school day to pick up a goal sheet and receive some encouragement. Throughout the day, adults provide feedback on the goal sheet. At the end of the day, the child meets again with their assigned adult to go over the goal sheet, receive more encouragement and make a plan to either keep up the great progress or improve the results the next day. The goal sheet goes home to parents each day so parents can also support their child’s progress. This is a great intervention to improve student accountability and get students excited about their ability to succeed, self-monitor, and accomplish goals. Students also benefit from knowing that their parents and the school staff are on the same page and all want the child to make great choices and be successful.

If you have questions about PBIS or CICO, please contact your child’s teacher, Danica Held (school counselor), or Kathy Rhodes (principal) at 947-4327 or through the school e-mail.

18 Excellent Gifts for Kids That Aren’t Even Toys

by Rachel Jones

All of us who have children have too many toys scattered throughout the house. No matter how diligent we are about keeping them at bay, it seems to be a constant fight. It’s especially hard when special days come and we want to give gifts to our children, or grandparents want to give gifts.

Gifts are good things!

But, too much of anything isn’t good.

A great way to combat having too many toys is to shift all the gifts to non-toy items.

18 Non-Toy Gifts for Children

1. Classes. Music, dance, riding, drawing — classes are a great way to encourage children in their interests and let them know that you pay attention to them and what they enjoy.

2. Memberships. Zoo, science museum, children’s museum, YMCA membership, etc. These are particularly great for family gifts! Many young families want to enjoy day outings, but affording them can be a challenge, so give them the gift of a yearly membership.

3. Subscriptions. Kids enjoy getting things in the mail. Why not encourage their reading by getting them a magazine subscription for something they are interested in!

4. Events. Movie tickets, or tickets to a play, concert or sports event are really exciting! Having an event to look forward to makes the rest of life more enjoyable.

5. Activities. Mini golf, bowling, skating rink. These are so much fun! And a big part of the fun is going together. Children love spending time with the adults in their lives; they want to see you enjoying your time as well as enjoying them.

6. Recipe and Ingredients. Kids love cooking with their parents. Baking something special or cooking dinner is an ideal time to spend together and learn life skills. Print out a recipe, purchase all the ingredients and set a date for cooking together.

7. Crafting Date. Our daughter loves making crafts. I do, too; I really do enjoy the creative aspect. But I rarely take time out to do it with her. These crafting dates mean the world to our creative little girl. Keep a basket of craft supplies and get out a book for inspiration. We like Sneaky Art: Crafty Surprises to Hide in Plain Sight, by Marthe Jocelyn.

8. Arts and Crafts supplies. If your craft box is running low, stock up a little on things you need. Add in something fun the kids haven’t used before. A gift of arts and crafts supplies often brings on the imagination, and kids can’t wait to get to work!

9. Coupons. An envelope of coupons that they can “spend” at any time: I’ll do one chore — no questions asked; movie and popcorn night, you pick the movie!; 1:1 game of cards or basketball (whatever the child’s interest is in); sit and read a book with me; stay up 1/2 hour past bedtime.

10. Restaurant Gift Card. Dinner, ice cream, coffee, cupcake — whatever suits their fancy! Give them the freedom of inviting whomever they wish: it may be mom or dad; it may be a grandparent, aunt or even teacher they would like to spend more time with.

11. Dress-Up Clothes. These do need to be limited, but two dresses and a couple play silks can get hours and hours of play!

12. Books. We get a lot of books from the library, but there are some that I just can’t find there, or it takes us longer to read through. We have read through the entire Little House series, Narnia, and are working our way through Shel Silverstein’s books. Be sure to pass the books on when you are done, so they don’t clutter up your home.

13. Clothes. When kids only have a certain amount of clothes, they often enjoy getting clothes. Make it a point to get something that fits their style. That may mean Western clothes, superhero, fancy dresses, etc.

Fundraising Labels

The TK-3 building collects Country Hearth bread proofs of purchase. These proofs of purchase can be redeemed for cash to help support the educational needs in our building. Please send Country Hearth proofs of purchase to school with any TK-3 child or drop off in the elementary office. Tell your friends and family to save them too. We appreciate the time and effort taken to support our school!

**We also collect pop tabs to support the Ronald McDonald house. Those can be dropped off in the box in the front entry.

HyVee Receipts

Our preschool raises funds by collecting HyVee receipts. Please send in Sioux City HyVee receipts dated between August 1, 2021 and May 1, 2022 to help us earn extra money to purchase needed items for our preschool program. Receipts can be dropped off at the elementary office between the hours of 7:45 and 3:45 or sent to school with any of our students.

Mark These Dates . . .

Dec. 1 - Blackhawk Readers Calendars due

TK off-site learning experience at the Tree Farm

Dec. 3 – Spellathon Test

Dec. 6 – 6:30 Little Hawks Concert, 7:00 TK-3 Concert in 4-12 gym

Dec. 7 – 3:30-5:00 Clover Kids Group 1

Dec. 8 - 2 hour early dismissal for PD

Dec. 10 - Spellathon pledge funds due

Dec. 13 – 3:30-5:00 Clover Kids Group 3

Cub Scout Meeting

Dec. 14 – 3:30-5:00 Clover Kids Group 2

Dec. 20 – Scratch Cupcake Fundraiser begins

Dec. 21 – End of 2nd Quarter

Student of the Month Awards:Wear PBIS shirt

2 hour early dismissal for holiday break

Dec. 22-Jan.3 - No School

Jan. 4 - School resumes

4-6

We are moving into the colder season. Please have your child(ren) prepared for the elements. Shorts and flip flops should not be worn to school at this time. We do have recess and kids are expected to go outside.

Congratulations to our students of the month. I believe those are listed under Ms. Held's section of the newsletter.

ACTIVITIES

Winter activities are off and running! Below is a link to our activity calendar. Admission to all HS games is $5.

https://www.wareagleconference.org/public/genie/94/school/4/

November has been a busy month for our students. Here are some of the highlights:

- Some of our FCCLA members went to Washington, D.C. for the National Leadership Conference during the first week of November.

- 8 juniors were inducted into the National Honor Society on Nov. 8th. Congratulations to Emily Attrill, Emily Bach, Garrett Divis, Dylan Hartman, Natalee Junck, Isabella Kimbell, Kaylee Stabe, and Zach Sypersma!

- 7-12th grade had an assembly presented by professional snowboarder, Tom Gillen, who presented on encouraging positive choices, equipping students for transformation, and empowering them for success.

- 4-12th graders were able to join us for a special Veteran's Day program. 12th grader Gavin Nelson presented our new retractable American flag and Mr. Slater presented the new "Chair of Honor". Air Force Commander Will Paulson was our guest speaker and the local American Legion members were part of the color guards for the program. Our high school band and choir were integral parts of the service. Thank you to all of those involved, including Board Members, Kyle Hoefling and Brett Stanley!

-We had a State send-off for Emily Bach recently as she was selected to perform with the All-State Band.

-8th graders recently went to LeMars' Historical Museum to listen to published book author, Tom Montag. Students had an opportunity to learn and practice what it entails to write poetry.

Holiday Present for Yourself!

With the semester ending before Christmas break, there is no better time for seniors to dive into scholarship searching and completing! The local and regional scholarship search list starts at the hintonschool.com website under the 7-12 Counseling link. The link takes you to the list of over 80 scholarships in which one could be eligible. It is a time consuming process to see which scholarships actually match the student's pathway, but there should be something for everyone.

The Last Dollar Scholar is toward the bottom of the spreadsheet, but it is super important. This is for students attending a community college and majoring in a high need job pathway. WITCC lists the following free tuition programs once the student completes the FAFSA and Last Dollar Scholar application: Administrative Assistant, Medical Coding, Medical Transcriptionist, Medical Scribe, AGribusiness Technology, AGriculture Management, Agriculture, Networking Administration and Security, Computer Support Technician, Cyber Security and Digital Crime, Information Security Analyst, Construction, Electrician, Air Conditioning/Heating and Refrigeration, Plumbing, Welding, Industrial Welding, Culinary Arts, Food Service, Medical Assistant, Emergency Medical Services, Paramedic, Nursing, Practical Nursing, Physical Therapist Assistant, Surgical Technology, Dental Assisting, Police Science Technology, Police Science Corrections, Law Enforcement, Robotics and Automation, Electromechanical Technician, Mechanical Engineering Technology, Industrial Drafting Technology. Northwest Iowa Community College also has a set of free pathways including the popular Powerline pathway. Each community college pathway list varies depending on the needs of their regional population.

To be eligible for the Last Dollar Scholar, the family and student do need to have the FAFSA submitted by July 1, but this scholarship is NOT income based.

FAFSA - The gateway to grants, scholarships, and loans

The FAFSA application opened on October 1, and the holiday break would be a great time to complete this form. The school financial aid offices wait for the FAFSA to be completed before offering award letters to students. Go to www.studentaid.gov.

Virtual Job Shadow -

Hinton 7-12 students have all been given free access to the www.virtualjobshadow.com website with information about careers, videos showing people in those careers, and training needed. Ask your student to show you this site. It is an impressive resource paid for by the Win Intermediary Network through WITCC.

Skyler DeGroot played in the 3rd annual Miracle League All-Star game in early November. She is part of the Miracle League of Sioux City, which had 11 athletes participate in the event in Houston, Texas. While there, she was a member of the Milwaukee Brewers team. Congrats, Skyler on being selected and participating in such an amazing event! We are proud of you!

New 5th grade computer coding curriculum.

This year I received a grant from the Iowa Governor’s STEM Advisory Council. I received the CodeJoy Computational Thinking in Action with Micro:bit curriculum. CodeJoy’s goal is to help students understand the power of computer science and how things work in the real world by seeing projects come to life.

During the week of November 15-19, students in 5th grade science participated in an introductory week of computer science. Each student has their own microchip which works with their Chromebook. They coded projects including an electronic nameplate, a rock paper scissors game, and they made their own virtual pet. The 5th graders enjoyed using new technology.

Throughout this school year, students will use this new curriculum to create science projects that demonstrate their understanding of science concepts.

Concert Info:

Our concerts this year will be

• December 6th at 7:00 p.m. for TK-3rd grade
• December 9th at 7:00 p.m. for 4th-6th grade Vocal & Band

Both concerts will be LIVE this year in person in our High School Gym.

The students have been working very hard to prepare their songs, and we appreciate your support. I know they are so excited to share their music with you in person again this year! Attendance at the concerts is important. The students have been working on this music for 4-6 weeks, and each individual voice matters. In music we learn that we are all part of a team, working together to present our songs successfully.

Preparing songs for a concert fosters a love of music and gives students the opportunity to hone their performance skills. These skills include:

• singing on pitch and in rhythm
• keeping a steady beat
  
• creative thinking
  
• maintaining focus
  
• memorization
  
• reading comprehension and vocabulary growth
  
• performing with expression
  
• increased confidence
  

There are many special holidays to celebrate in the winter, and in music class we love to learn about them! Some holidays we study are Christmas, Hanukkah and Kwanzaa. We learn about the traditions of each holiday and sing songs from each one. All through the school year, we perform songs from a variety of cultures and places to encourage respect for all people.

Thank you for all you do to support your child’s music education!

Happy Holidays!

The 7th and 8th grade TAG Students have been working on Genius Hour Projects. Genius Hour is an opportunity for students to pick their own topic and learn about it. The interests of the students, their background knowledge and their curiosity about the topic make Genius Hour an engaging open-ended process. Students are learning important 21st century skills such as initiative, time management, self direction and accountability while recognizing what they know and identifying what they need to learn.

In Genius Hour, students are guided through a six step process: pick their passion, plan what they want to learn and create, pitch their plan, research their project, create a product, and present their project and product. There are a variety of topics being explored ranging from Food, Music, Sports and everything in between. Currently, the class is finishing up their project (the research) and moving on to the creation of their product.

At first, the students were not sure what to do with the flexibility and high level choice. As the semester progresses, they have become quite invested in the process, what they have learned and now what they are creating as a result. I am excited to see how it all comes together on Presentation Day!

“Genius is one percent inspiration and ninety-nine percent perspiration.” Thomas Edison

On 11-23, 7th and 8th grade TAG students took a brief break from their Genius Hour projects to celebrate Fibonacci Day.

The Fibonacci Sequence is the series of numbers:

0, 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21, 34, ...

The next number is found by adding up the two numbers before it.

They learned about the Fibonacci sequence, its presence in the natural world and looked at the different patterns the numbers created. A few students were inspired to continue the sequence for as long as they could. As of 11/24, I was told they had reached the billions and could no longer use a calculator for the calculations!

The Yearbook Staff has been busy working on the first set of spreads for the 21-22 Hinton Yearbook. They have familiarized themselves with the program and are teaching themselves techniques to make this year’s Yearbook unique.

If you would like to order a yearbook, please see Mrs. Clabaugh or any of the Yearbook Staff. You may also order online via the following link: https://yearbookforever.com/schools/hinton_high_school_buy_yearbook_3570

The year has certainly flown by for the physics students! They have studied motion in both one and two dimensions. One thing they really have to work on is learning how to utilize all the equations that are possible, and whether or not they need to find more information before they can solve the problem. We spent a class period trying to calculate personal velocities based on different actions. The students also used homemade clinometers to try and calculate the height of banners hanging in the gym. The final activity for the unit involved a scavenger hunt around the school based on their homework answers, with food as the prize.

They have moved on to studying different types of forces. They are currently working on applied, frictional, and gravitational force. Several years in a row the students have taken a quiz with a problem about sledding down Titan on a snow day - then we end up having a snow day within a day or two!! Sledding is a great way to study firsthand the small coefficient of friction between the sled and the snow. Many times I relate moving into a college dorm to the problems involving moving things - just to get them ready for next fall!

Watch the video below for a glimpse into our velocity activity. Hinton may have a future Olympic speed walker in our midst!

Well this year seems to be flying by. It seems we hit the ground running in August and haven’t looked back. This year I am fortunate to have the most students I have ever had enrolled in my classes since I have had the pleasure of starting here 10 years ago. I think a lot of that has to do with the push for the advancement of CTE( Career and Technical Education) classes across the state of Iowa, the recent swell of job opportunities in the trades and the fact that our school does a fantastic job of supporting our CTE classes.

After the last year of Hybrid learning and virtual teaching, zoom meetings, masking and shut downs it is nice to get back to normal. BUT I have to stop and ask myself what is normal and do we have a new normal? I have learned to be able to use technology to reach out to my students and give them assignments that they can access remotely if they or I are gone from school. That is something new that was not normal for me before but is such a useful tool that I won’t go back to not using it. It is too valuable. It will be the new normal. I think everyone has had their fill of zoom meetings but like them or not they have their place. I am on several committees and we have gone completely to Zoom, not because we are concerned about COVID but because it is easier to meet for an hour in our living room than to drive to our normal meeting site. It is all about convenience. This is also becoming a new normal.

We are back to being face to face in the classroom and nothing can replace that kind of learning for me or for my students. There are benefits to videos and reading in Industrial Technology, but nothing can replace the hands-on learning that is needed in the classroom. That normal will never change. We are back to doing field trips. Something I feel is crucial for students. It is always beneficial for them to see what careers are available to them and to see the skills they are learning being put to use in the real world. That is a normal that should never change.

The biggest highlight of the year so far was taking 48 of my students to the “Build My Future Expo” at the Siouxland Convention Center in Sioux City. Over 1000 area students were able to visit over 40 local businesses and their hands-on booths. There was everything from welding and skid-steer competitions to brick laying and drywall demonstrations. It was informative and a lot of fun for both the students and the Instructors.

So this year is feeling a lot more normal than last year but my outlook has changed somewhat on what normal is and that is o.k. Change is good. We need change to grow, just like trees need to change with the seasons to grow and be healthy. I also need to make some changes sometimes in the way I teach and the way I define normal so my teaching remains relevant and fresh to my students. I always want to keep the projects flowing, the man glitter flying and the opportunities available to my students.

Proud to be a Blackhawk!

Website: hintonschool.com
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Twitter: @HintonSchool