Around 656

We had an awesome time celebrating Unity Day 2024! The goal of Unity Day is to unite students, parents, educators, businesses, and community members to convey that bullying is unacceptable and that every student deserves a safe environment at school, online, and in the community. Our Lincoln Elementary School students and staff walked all the way to Central Park, where Miss St. Croix Valley shared a powerful message about embracing our differences. They created a unity chain and we ended the celebration united in song. A big thank you to Ms. Kaune and Ms. Wolf for leading the celebration—it was truly a great day!

Building literacy skills at a young age is very important, and can be extremely FUN! Families of the Roosevelt Elementary School Kindergarten Spanish Immersion class got to see how their child learns to read and write at school and learned ways to support them as readers at home through games and hands-on activities.

Check out these adorable photos from our Early Childhood Family Education (ECFE) Fall 1 Session!

ECFE supports Minnesota families with children from birth until kindergarten, providing resources and education to help parents nurture their child's development. Faribault ECFE offers various classes tailored for new parents and families, available morning, afternoon, and evening to fit your busy schedule.

There is still time to join us for the Fall 2 Session, running now through December 19 or check out our other class offerings.

The Faribault Police Department and Faribault Rotary Club joined forces to support our students. They provided winter clothing for 243 Faribault kids! It’s uplifting to witness our community come together to create such a positive impact. Thank you for all that you do for our students, families, and community!

Photos courtesy of the Faribault Police Department.

Jefferson Elementary School students and staff "Rocked The Walk" at their annual Walk-A-Thon! They raised a whopping $7,725.12 thanks to businesses, community members, and students! The money raised will help pay for field trips, bussing, and other events throughout the year.

The top fundraisers of each grade level were: Frida McGrogan (PreK), Elsie Quam (K), Millie Witt (1st), Sevin DeLeo (2nd), Grace Bock (3rd), Olivia Harman (4th), and Grace Anderson (5th); way to go everyone! Our Top Classroom winner was Mrs. Linse's 5th grade class! Then, our 5th graders led the way out of the gym, through the Falcon Tunnel to have a police escort around for the first lap where they sang our Jefferson Falcon song loud and proud! From there, people of all ages enjoyed getting dusted with chalking, jumping rope, hula-hooping, doing some hopscotch, and working their way through an obstacle course!

Thank you to all those who donated to our Walk-A-Thon fundraiser; your support for our students and school is greatly appreciated.

It was so much fun joining Mrs. LeMieux at Roosevelt Elementary and listening to her 3rd graders perform a little reading theater production about Harriet Tubman. What a fun and awesome way for our students to continue to practice their reading skills. Keep up the great work!

Our Exploring Ag class has been learning about livestock and the dairy industry over the past two months. Earlier this month, the students were able to see how robots are improving the Dairy industry. Thank you to Mettoga Lake Dairy for the tour!

The September SOAR winners at Lincoln Elementary School faced off in an epic kickball showdown against the Faribault Police Department—and they won! The students played their hearts out with their classmates cheering them on, and the excitement didn’t stop there. After the game, the FPD Officers made it even more special by signing their shirts! We want to thank everyone who made this unforgettable experience possible for our students.

The Roosevelt Elementary School kindergarten classes had a fantastic time exploring River Bend Nature Center! They learned about the characteristics of plants and animals while using four of their five senses to engage with nature, making meaningful connections between their classroom lessons and the real world.

Students in Mrs. Peterson's Fish and Wildlife class had an exciting hands-on learning experience! Jessica from Great River Greening led our students in planting native seeds in our prairie area. They discovered that native plants play a vital role in promoting biodiversity, preventing erosion, and conserving water. After planting the seeds, the students covered them with hay to provide protection and support their growth. This not only helps shield the seeds from the elements but also fosters a healthy growing environment. As spring arrives and the seeds begin to sprout, the students will have the opportunity to see the impact of their efforts!

Ms. Wels' kindergarten read "We’re Going on a Leaf Hunt" in class. In honor of the book and Unity Day, they went on a real leaf hunt with their 5th-grade buddies from Mrs. Isaacson’s class. They did a greeting and getting-to-know-you activity together and then went on a fall walk/leaf hunt! They had a great time and found so many colorful leaves together.

In honor of Unity Day, Roosevelt K-1 met their new 4th Grade Buddies from Mrs. Luettel's class. They made a pledge chain to never be a bully then went on a hike to look for signs of fall.

Our Early Childhood Development class visited Little Scholars Academy to observe and interact with the infants. We are learning about observing children and the difference between objective and subjective observations. Both the high schoolers and our infant friends enjoyed their time together! What a great way to start the school day!

Mrs. Keilen's K-1 class at Roosevelt Elementary School had a fun week learning about the pumpkin life cycle and Halloween traditions. They had a pumpkin patch dramatic play center, learned pumpkin poems, and carved a pumpkin with Mrs. Benhart and Mr. Ries after reading Pumpkin Jack.

Faribault's Grow Your Own Program took its first field trip to Winona State University! Students explored the College of Education, toured the campus, and enjoyed a meal at the student dining commons. A big thank you to all the students and chaperones who made this trip possible!

After learning about Johnny Appleseed and the life cycle of an apple in their Scholastic News magazine, Roosevelt first graders in Ms. Cook’s and Mrs. Kinniry’s class walked to Trumps Apple Orchard to see apples growing on trees. They also saw pumpkins, gourds, sunflowers, and squash!

We recently found out that our Faribault Multicultural Adult Driver's Education Program was selected as the Minnesota Community Education Association's "2024 Statewide Project Award." Joe Pienka, Yessica Velasquez, Cassie Riopelle, and Zach Pruitt have done a remarkable job of launching this new program over the past year. They set out to serve 25 adults and ended up providing adult driver's education in English, Spanish, and Somali to 346 adults last year.

Mrs. Wien’s Faribault High School students in the Human Growth and Development class had a fun visit with Mrs. Elvestad’s and Mr. Joe’s second-grade classes at Jefferson Elementary School. They enjoyed reading books and playing games together, creating memorable moments of fun and learning!

Earlier this month, our adult education students in Ms. Ann's Book Club Class read A Long Walk To Water and learned about the Dinka Tribe from Southern Sudan. In class, they engaged in an interactive photo gallery walk, matching captions to the corresponding paragraphs. This activity helped them expand their English vocabulary and deepened their understanding of the main character's experiences and the challenges faced by the Dinka people. It was a meaningful way to connect literature with real-life cultural insights!

Have you wondered what teachers do on Falcon Days? Here are just a few snapshots of some of the learning sessions that our teachers participated in on October 16.

We’re excited to share that our Faribault High School 2023-2024 yearbook is on the Pictavo Honor Roll. Out of 6,000 yearbooks Pictavo produced last year, we made it into the top 100! Our student staff embraced the new yearbook concept making it visually and conceptually relevant, and filled with authentic student voices. Congratulations to our 2023-2024 Yearbook Staff led by Yearbook Advisor, Ms. Chelsea Fedora!

New this year we are offering Homework Help both inside and outside of school. We have homework help at Evergreen Estates in the main office on Mondays from 3:45 - 4:45 PM and at the Faribault High School Media Center on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays from 3:30 - 4:45 PM. This is FREE homework help open to ALL Faribault Public Schools students. We’re excited to provide this resource for our students. Come join us for some extra support with homework! Feel free to reach out if you have any questions at (507) 990-3644. We look forward to seeing you there!

Congratulations to Albaro in Mrs. Isaacson's 5th grade class. He won the first GOLDEN TICKET of the year. Albaro is a student council representative that is not only SOARing at Roosevelt being a leader, he is also SOARing outside of school. Shoutout to Mr. Garrett from Faribault Transportation and Mr. Ries for delivering this outstanding news today. Way to be a FALCON and make this community proud, Albaro!

Jefferson kindergarten got to go on a field trip to Como Zoo! This experience allowed the students to work on the kindergarten standard learning about plant and animal parts. We are so thankful for all of our parent volunteers that came along to help make our trip a success. The students got to see lions, tigers, polar bears and many other animals.

We had the best time getting our minds and bodies active and ready to learn! We love Walk to School Days—especially when we're escorted by the Faribault Police Department and the Faribault Fire Department!

Photos courtesy of the Faribault Police Department.

Faribault Public Schools is looking for additional Promise Fellows for the current school year. These positions work with middle school and high school students, keeping them engaged and connected. Part-time and full-time positions are available.

There are many benefits of service with AmeriCorps, including an educational award upon completion of up to $5,176. This money can be applied to existing loans or future tuition, room and board. During service, Promise Fellows earn a stipend of up to $1,067 every two weeks. Promise Fellows working 35 hours per week are also eligible for health insurance, child care assistance and student loan forbearance.

Candidates must be 18 years or older, be a U.S. citizen and have a H.S. diploma or GED. Must have an interest in connecting with young people and helping them thrive. For more information, go to healthycommunityinitiative.org/americorps or email americorps@healthyinitiative.org.

Our kindergarten classes got a visit from Faribault Firefighters! They taught our students about fire safety and showed us their trucks and tools. It was a great learning experience!

Jefferson kindergarten students had a Minnesota Arboretum field trip come to us! We learned all about apples! We learned about parts of an apple plant, the different types of apples, how bees are important to healthy apples, and even got to try a new apple that hasn’t been named! Big thank you to the Minnesota Arboretum. Our students loved this experience!

Join us every Tuesday evening from 6:00 PM to 7:00 PM for Open Gym! This is a great opportunity for children aged five years and under to meet, play, and have fun with their peers. Please stay and supervise your child during the event. We look forward to seeing you there!

We had our October SOAR assembly where we were introduced to our 4th and 5th grade Student Council members: Raylynn, Ismahan, Olivia, Ali, Nicholas, Ethan, Audrey, Boden, Jolene, Noah, Thea, and Grace. We look forward to their SOARing leadership and all the great things they will doing throughout the year at Jefferson. The assembly continued with the 4th grade teachers and students talking about the difference between a Fixed Mindset and a Growth Mindset. Our September students of the month were recognized from each of the classes. Great job SOARing with Pride; keep up the hard work! We also recognized our first SOARing staff member, Mrs. Cox for all the work she is doing at school. Mr. Jim took staff and one lucky student "fishing" to remind students how to earn the Green Machine SOAR ticket.

These students have been SOARing all day long at Lincoln! These students are Safe, On-task, Accountable, and Respectful. Congratulations to all these wonderful students, keep up the great work!

Congratulations to our first ever Golden Tray Award winning classes at Roosevelt! The Golden Tray is awarded weekly to the class who is doing an excellent job SOARing in the lunchroom. Our winner for K-2 is Ms. Cooks class and the 3-5 winner is Mrs. Helgerson's class! Keep SOARing Roosevelt!

The Falcon Education Enrichment Program (FEEP) Board and friends got the school year off

to a great start by walking in the Homecoming Parade. The FEEP program committee is accepting applications from teachers for grants for classroom materials. FEEP is a non-profit organization whose sole purpose is to support specific classroom needs and learning opportunities that are beyond regular classroom financial district support.

During the 2023-2024 school year FEEP awarded almost $24,000 to teachers across the Faribault Public Schools for grants. Grants were used to purchase items like a welding rod oven, physical education stacking cups, moveable white boards, outdoor soccer goals, molecular model kits and bilingual books. Grants for the 2024-2025 school year will be awarded in November.

If you are interested in supporting FEEP’s mission you can do that in several ways. You can stop by Basilleo’s 2.0 on Tuesday, October 29 between 4pm and 8pm and a portion of your order total will be donated. Thank you to local businesses like Basilleo’s for their generosity. You can also support FEEP through individual donations.

My name is Ella Bettner and I’m an 8th grader at Medford. I started my charity No Tummies Left Behind back in 2021 to help combat negative lunch balances at schools. Since then I’ve been able to pay off 3 school district’s negative lunch balances, including Faribault! I’m now working to gain non-profit status and create an endowment fund that will help everyone in our communities who are food insecure!

I’m hosting a fundraiser on October 29th at the Owatonna Applebee’s. Best thing: all you have to do is eat! And, Applebee’s will donate a portion of the bill to us! Bummer thing: people must bring in the attached flyer for the money to go to my charity. Thanks for your consideration!

Don't miss a beat! Check out the Faribault Public Schools activities calendar to stay informed on all activities and events.

Do you have a story to share? Email communications@faribault.k12.mn.us for a chance to be featured in the next Around 656 Newsletter.