Ordean East Middle School News

The last week of school has brought a good bit of holiday fun. Advisory classes celebrated with games and holiday cheer, the staff has been playing this year's edition of "Elf in your Pocket" (ask your child for more information), and we served loaded hot cocoa at the BARK store. Check out the photos below!

Many thanks to the PTA for the lovely spread of cocoa, tea, and spa treats for our staff this holiday. We are so grateful for your help and support throughout the school year! Also, THANK YOU to all the parents who donated items for upcoming BARK auctions. It's a great way to keep kids motivated to always show their Husky BARK.

The Jazz Band recently spread holiday cheer to residents at Mount Royal Pines Retirement Center. They created a wonderful show with music, trivia, Santa hats and kindness. Way to go jazzers!

On Friday, December 6th, the 6th graders had the privilege of having guest teacher Dr. Ninham teach us a variety of Indigenous games. Students enjoyed learning stick ball, double ball, ring toss, fox tail, and the laughing game, just to name a few. Dr. Ninham not only taught us a variety of games but also through those games language, culture, community, and the importance of humility.

6th grade combined their Math learning with MN Studies this past week. Mr. Thorson created a "Choose Your Own Adventure" digital game where students took on the role of an Ojibwe Fur trader trying to transport pelts from Fort Charlotte to Grand Portage. Along the way, they had many perilous choices to make and Fraction/Decimal/Percent problems to solve to escape tricky situations. It was a fun lesson and most made a successful voyage.

With the help of phenomenal paraprofessional Sharon Dawson, Ms. Schuller's students made a beautiful holiday display to help keep our hallways cheery and to emphasize the many ways our students celebrate this time of year. Thanks Ms. Sharon and students!

We're on a mission to keep our students' creativity flowing, but we're running low on pencils! If you could donate a pack or two, we would greatly appreciate it. Donations will be accepted from now through the end of the school year and can be dropped off in the main office.

Thank you for your support! Every pencil helps our students shine.

OEMS Staff

In January, the Environmental Science class is partnering with Ordean's garden club and The Sand County Foundation to rehabilitate our pollinator garden. We have already received seeds from the SCF, and now we are looking for any empty milk jugs, ice cream buckets, or gallon-ish sized plastic containers for propagation. Every little bit helps! Rinsed, empty milk jug donations can be dropped off at Room 2402 for Kayla Christensen.

Three times a year, OEMS participates in a universal screening assessment to get a gauge on how our students are doing in regard to meeting grade level benchmarks in reading and math. Our district has chosen FASTbridge as our tool for these assessments. Our Winter FAST testing is coming up soon! On Tuesday, Jan. 7 students will take the reading FAST test during social studies class. The math test will be on Tuesday, Jan. 14, also in social studies. It is helpful to remind your student to do their best on these tests. Teachers look at these scores to determine how to best help their students. Scores on these tests help place students in interventions or enrichment classes for AREA. An accurate picture of what your child knows is important for proper placement. Thanks for your support!

Do you like to travel? Are you interested in seeing history up close? Mrs. Vang is organizing an educational tour to Washington DC during the October MEA break. Travel offers a wealth of opportunities for learning outside the classroom, and this will be a fun, easy way for students to see the world with their friends. This opportunity is available to current 6th-8th graders. The parent information meeting will be on January 22nd, at 5:30pm in the Media Center.

Dear Ordean East Middle School Families, Guardians, and Caregivers:

All students and members of our school communities deserve to feel safe, welcomed, and

included. It is on all of us to work together to prevent firearm violence and to avoid the harm and

tragedy that shootings of any kind can cause in the spaces in which we live, learn, work, and

play.

Safe firearm storage is one of many preventative actions that you can take in keeping our

school community and school buildings and grounds safe. When firearms are stored safely, it

can help prevent them from getting into the hands of children and teens, who may use them to,

intentionally or unintentionally, harm themselves or others. Safe storage can go a long way in

preventing lives from being lost or permanently altered. If you have firearms in your home or if

your child spends time in a space where firearms are present, there are important steps that can

be taken to keep firearms secured and out of reach of unintended users.

Firearm-Related Injuries and Deaths: A Problem We Must Solve Together

Firearm-related injuries and deaths are a public health crisis that communities across the nation

face every day:

• Since 2018, there have been more than 100 school shooting incidents per year in our

country and those numbers have steadily increased.

• Approximately three-quarters of perpetrators in school-based active shooter situations

acquired their firearm from the home of a parent or close relative. This illustrates the close connection between your role as families, caregivers, and guardians and the role of Ordean East Middle School in keeping students safe while on school grounds.

• However, this issue goes beyond school-based active shooter situations and includes a

variety of firearm injury types, including interpersonal violence, suicide, and unintentional

fatal and nonfatal firearm injuries.

• More than 4 million children live in a household with at least one unlocked and loaded

firearm. Studies have found that households with both locked firearms and locked

ammunition have significantly lower risks of self-inflicted firearm injuries and even lower

risks of unintentional firearm injuries among children and teens compared to households

that did not safely store firearms.

Safe Firearm Storage: Actions to Take to Keep Our Communities Safe

Safe firearm storage can help prevent and minimize the risk of firearm-related deaths and

injuries. Everyone, both firearm owners and non-owners, has a role to play in building

awareness of safe, responsible firearm storage. Below are simple, highly effective practices that

can help to reduce firearm-related incidents in our community and help protect our kids. In

addition to these practices, it is important to also engage children and adolescents in conversations about the dangers associated with using firearms and what to do and not do in the event they access a firearm, to prevent fatal or non-fatal injuries.

• Safely Store Firearms: Store firearms—always unloaded—in a tamper proof locked

cabinet, box, safe, firearm vault, or storage case that children or other unauthorized

adults cannot access.

• Safely Store Ammunition: Store ammunition in a separate, tamper-proof locked

cabinet, safe, firearm vault, or storage case that children or other unauthorized adults

cannot access.

• Secure Firearms: Use trigger locks or cable locks to prevent a firearm from firing. (More

information can be found on the Safe Firearm Storage Fact Sheet, developed by the

U.S. Department of Justice.)

• Trigger locks use a mechanism that clamps down around the trigger or trigger

housing to prevent it from being pressed (Note: trigger locks should not be

installed on loaded firearms).

• In a cable lock, a cable is threaded through the barrel or action of a firearm to

prevent it from firing.

Ordean East remains committed to helping ensure the safety of our students and school community. We can all work together to promote awareness about how we can protect our children and our whole school communities by safely storing firearms and prevent tragedies from ever occurring. Thank you for being a partner in these efforts, and for helping reduce firearm-related injury and deaths in our community.

Please see attached document for references.

Sincerely,

Mrs. Sue Lehna

Building Principal

Dec. 23-Jan 1 - NO SCHOOL

Holiday Break

January 7th & 14th

Winter FAST Testing

Jan. 17th - NO SCHOOL

Teacher Work Day

Jan. 20th - NO SCHOOL

Martin Luther King Jr. Day

Snow Club registration is now open for all middle school students! Snow Club is an after school ski and snowboard program open to skiers and snowboarders of all skill levels at Spirit Mountain.

Snow Club will run TWO sessions this winter. Each session is 3 weeks long and will take place on Thursday afternoon/evening. Please note: There is no Snow Club the week of winter break.

Session 1: January 16th, 23rd, and 30th

Session 2: February 13th, 27th, and March 6th

Time: Leave Ordean at 3:30 and return to Ordean at 7:30

Cost: $95

Helmets are required and can be rented for $10 each session.

Space is limited to the first 50 students. A waitlist will be created if needed.

If your student wants to participate in Snow Club, please fill out this form.

If you have questions about the program or registration, please contact Leah Gagne - leahgagne@gmail.com. Leah will be unavailable until December 26th, so please be patient when waiting for a response!

OEMS Swim Team is Starting Soon!

• The Ordean East Swim Team is open to all 6th, 7th, and 8th graders.
• Practice starts in January and is on Mondays and Thursdays after school. The season ends in early March.
• This year, due to special circumstances, there is no participation fee for anyone.
• There is lots of information about the upcoming season, which starts in January, on the Swim Team Website.
• Here is a link to the Sign Up Form.

Email: ordeaneast@isd709.org
Website: https://ordeaneast.isd709.org/
Phone: 218-336-8940