We're just days away from our big Sept. 29 Rumble on the River event, which will bring together our entire Maize family at the Riverfront Stadium in Wichita, and we are buzzing with excitement!

Of course, our Eagle-Maverick rivalry/friendship isn't just about the game or sports. It's about tradition, camaraderie, and the undeniable sense of pride that comes from supporting our teams, schools, students, and district. I can't wait to see everyone in their red and gold, and I will be proud for the greater Wichita community to take note of our district's spirit and the excellence we aspire to reach in all categories. It is awesome that our game is the first in the inaugural Air Capital High School Football Series!

Regardless of the final score, we really all win from being part of this community. Our Lead Forward strategic plan aims to continue to grow our community culture. In fact, one of our four focus areas is Nurture a Cohesive Culture. Our lead measures that support this include to cultivate and sustain relationships and to embrace family partnerships. These efforts certainly will be underway while alumni reunite at the Maize Education Foundation alumni tailgate, Booster Club supporters volunteer at the concession stands, and our community members root for all of our students, including those playing football, marching in the band, performing with the the OneMa1ze Dance team, singing the national anthem, broadcasting their videos, cheering for their peers, and more. What a great stage to celebrate all our district has to offer.

Let's come together Friday night to cheer as loudly as we can as we Rumble on the River. Go Eagles! Go Mavericks! Go Maize USD 266!

Dr. Raquel Greer

Superintendent

Maize USD 266

• On Twitter: @rockigreer
• Email: rgreer@usd266.com
• Online: www.usd266.com/superintendent

This is a friendly reminder that there is no school on Thursday, Sept. 28 and Friday, Sept. 29. We hope to see many parents and families at Parent/Teacher Conferences to discuss student progress!

September

• Thursday, Sept. 28: No school, Parent/Teacher Conferences 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. (Additional information to come from schools.)
• Friday, Sept. 29: No school, Conference Comp Day

October

• Friday, Oct. 13: End of Term 1
  
• Monday, Oct. 16: No school
• Tuesday, Oct. 17: Start Term 2

November

• Friday, Nov. 10: No school, Professional Development Day
• Monday, Nov. 20 through Friday, Nov. 24: No school, Fall Break

Please note that the updated 2023-24 district calendar, approved during the July 10 Maize Board of Education meeting, includes a half day of school on Tuesday, May 21, 2024, the last day of school for the school year. Please stay tuned for more information about that day's schedule.

The Maize High School Eagles and Maize South High School Mavericks will take the field at Wichita’s Riverfront Stadium, home of the Wichita Wind Surge, on Friday, Sept. 29, 2023! The game is the first in the inaugural Air Capital High School Football Series.

Rumble on the River game festivities start at 6:45 p.m. Friday when Maize High School senior Jovi Garcia sings the Star Spangled Banner. She also is co-captain of the school's dance team and a member of Maize Superintendent Dr. Raquel Greer’s Superintendent Student Advisory Team. She wants to pursue music in college and minor in psychology. Click here to read more about her.

Maize USD 266 and the Maize Police Department worked together to bring the D.A.R.E. program back into schools. Fifth graders at Maize Intermediate School and Maize South Intermediate School will take the program this year and learn about healthy choices and good decisions, bullying, not falling into peer pressure, and not doing drugs or alcohol.

The D.A.R.E. program is only one change Maize USD 266 is making this school year in terms of school resource office (SRO) presence. There are currently school resource officers in the intermediate, middle, and high schools. This year, there also will be an additional SRO who splits time between the five elementary schools.

Maize USD 266's District Site Council met Monday for its first meeting of the school year. They learned more about current district initiatives, including the Lead Forward strategic plan. Thanks to all involved!

The Maize Board of Education's next monthly meeting will be at 7 p.m. Monday, Oct. 9 in the classrooms at the Maize Performing Arts and Aquatics Center, 1155 W. Academy in Maize. That evening, there also will be a public hearing for nonresident student enrollment at 6:45 p.m. Meetings are open to the public. Find a link to meeting agendas and minutes, school board member information, and policies at www.usd266.com/schoolboard. Regular monthly meetings are broadcast live at bit.ly/Maize266YouTube.

Congratulations to our Maize South High School 2024 National Merit Semifinalists Micah Albert and Allison Kovach! They were celebrated at school recently with the announcement of the great news. They are among more than 16,000 high school seniors nationwide who earned the honor. Nationwide, the Semifinalists represent less than 1 percent of U.S. high school seniors and are the highest-scoring entrants in their respective state, according to the National Merit Scholarship Corporation. More than 1.3 million juniors in about 21,000 high schools compete.

Congratulations to Maize South Elementary School teacher Haley Miller and Maize South Middle School teacher Ivy Daugherty, surprised recently with the announcement that they had been selected as this year's Maize USD 266 nominees for the Kansas Horizon Award! The annual Kansas State Department of Education award recognizes and celebrates exemplary beginning teachers. Miller teaches kindergarten, and Daugherty teaches computers and careers, engineering, and robotics.

Congratulations to Maize Food Service for receiving the 2023 Specialty Crop Block Grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the Kansas Department of Agriculture! The grant totals $51,426.50, and Maize USD 266 schools will receive 35 hydro gardens. Each school will be able to grow produce that Food Service will incorporate into school meals. Twenty educators district-wide will support this project. Many different types of classroom educators will host a garden in STEAM rooms, libraries, Parents as Teachers spaces, science classrooms, elementary school classrooms, special education classrooms, and even ag classrooms at the Maize Career Academy, Maize Middle School, and Maize South Middle School!

Director of Food Service Megan Barnard and Food Service Support Manager Amy Limes were honored by Maize Board of Education President Kerry Fellows and school board members during the Sept. 11 school board meeting.

Thanks to Maize South High School graduate Evan Cantu and Maize High School graduate Avery Johnson for promoting a healthy school breakfast as our #MaizeFamily celebrates the Rumble on the River game Friday between the Mavericks and the Eagles on Friday! Maize Food Service partnered with Wildcat NIL for this special promotion.

Maize USD 266 serves breakfast at school daily for $1.90 for grades kindergarten through 8 and $1.95 for high school grades 9 through 12. Items include breakfast pizza, pancake and sausage sticks, smoothies, breakfast burritos, biscuit sandwiches, fresh fruit, milk, juice, and more. School breakfast can help make mornings simpler for families and ensure that students can concentrate on learning instead of their growling stomachs in the morning.

Thanks to KSN, Credit Union of America, and Project Teacher for recognizing Maize South High School culinary arts teacher Kacie Dix as this month's winner of the Treat the Teach award. Check out KSN's surprise video of the announcement below.

On Sept. 11, Maize High School students and employees volunteered across the Maize and Wichita community during their day of service. Their volunteer work included cleaning at Tanganyika Wildlife Park, sorting donated coats and clothing at The Salvation Army South Central Kansas, sorting food at the Kansas Food Bank, and helping students at Maize Elementary School. A group also helped the organization The AbilityPoint check holiday lights in preparation for its annual Lights at AbilityPoint fundraising event, which features more than 1.5 million bulbs and displays along a 3/4-mile drive-through route.

Students in Maize South High School's Community Action Club of Wichita (CACOW) recently decorated windows, bulletin boards, and halls for the group's September focus on mental health and suicide prevention.

The students also serve the community in a variety of other capacities to support blood donations, voter registration, road safety initiatives, and mental health initiatives.

Maize High School celebrated Homecoming 2023 Sept. 8 with a parade featuring the school's sports, clubs, and students! Students from other Maize USD 266 schools enjoyed the event as spectators and cheered for the Eagles.