Around 656

FHS Senior Awards night was AMAZING! We honored our gold and black cord recipients, NHS students, Athletes of the Year and our local businesses, organizations and community members gave $249,000 in scholarships to this year's graduating class. We are unbelievably lucky to have such generosity in our community. Congratulations Class of 2024!

5th Grade Field Day was a blast! Our students showed great sportsmanship. Thanks to our FHS student council, honor society, and FMS student council for their help leading the events and cheering on the 5th graders.

Congratulations to our Area Learning Center students who graduated this month. We are proud of you all. 💚

We have compiled a list of summer resources that could be beneficial to your family. Please check out the list of resources and contacts. Thanks to our behavioral health team for putting this together.

Jefferson's first-grade classes spent time planting at the front of the Jefferson Elementary building. They started their project for Earth Day by planting seeds into a cup. After the flowers had grown enough, students planted them into the barrels in the front of the school. Students also planted Hostas and a few Daylilies, which were donated by Mr. Knutson and Mrs. Schrot, along the front landscape of the building.

Check out these awesome Falcons who rode their bikes to school in honor of National Bike to School Day! They started at Faribault Golf and Country Club and biked all the way to Lincoln. Thanks to our staff, volunteers and school patrols for making sure they made it safely.

Our 4th-graders did a phenomenal job on their Wax Museum projects! The students began by choosing someone who has made a positive impact on the world and they researched and learned all they could about that person. They filled out a biography question page and then typed all of their information into slides. They had supporting evidence for all of their information, designed their poster board, and then used that information they learned to write a speech. Then, they memorized the speech so they could recite it when someone "presses their button" at the Wax Museum. This one informational writing unit covers multiple reading, writing, and technology standards in 4th grade. It was so much fun! Many 4th graders told their teachers that it was their favorite part of 4th grade!

Congratulations to our Faribault Adult Education graduates on receiving their diplomas! Your hard work and dedication paid off. 💚

The Area Learning Center hosted an "Egg Drop" contest! Students combined skills from their Art and Math classes to create a mechanism that could protect an egg and prevent it from cracking when dropped off the Fairground Grandstand!

Our Spring Celebration was a success! Thanks to all our students, families, and staff for partaking in this fun night.

“We are so appreciative of everything that the FEEP grant committee has done to provide an awesome opportunity for our students to have soccer goals to use during recess. The positive impact on our students is evident as you will see students smiling ear to ear while they play,” wrote Taylor Ries, Dean of Students at Roosevelt Elementary. Playing soccer provides an outlet for physical energy, is great exercise, can be an opportunity to learn how to handle differences during play, and is a way to be part of a team.

High School EL staff, Starla Lee and Kelly Frankenfield, were able to purchase books to help exercise the brains of their students in both their English and Speech courses. Reading is more accessible and interesting for students when the books and magazines are available at a variety of reading levels and are printed in multiple languages. These books have characters with backgrounds like the students and reflect current themes and experiences that are similar to the lives of students today. Tools like these books help students as they become bilingual and biliterate which are valuable workplace skills in their future.

The Falcon Educational Enrichment Program, FEEP, is a non-profit organization that works under the auspices of FAPSETA. Their goal is to promote excellence in education by providing funds for innovative projects and educational opportunities that would not otherwise be available via district resources. The next round of grants will be awarded in the Fall. To learn more about FEEP or to make a donation so that more projects can be funded go to fapseta.org/donate.

Education 101 students were recognized for choosing to enter an education-related field of study in their post-secondary education. They will be honored with special cords to wear at graduation.

Pictured: Sadie Paquette, Mariana Salt, Roman Garcia, Meredith Umbreit, Alexandra Estrada, Naima Hussein

Roosevelt students loved their Discovery Day festivities!

It's that time of year again! Our third grade students are working on their persuasive writing skills by attempting to convince Superintendent Jamie Bente to do something to enhance their school. We are pretty impressed by how persuasive these students can be!

Did you know that Superintendent Bente not only reads every single essay but he responds to each one as well? That's pretty awesome!

Jake Dickison has been hired as the new Head Hockey coach at Faribault High School. Jake has playing experience in High School, Juniors, and College. He was an assistant coach for the Falcons last year and the Interim Head Coach at the end of last season.

May has been a busy month filled with learning and field trips! Check out some of the pictures:

We got to celebrate our seniors' future endeavors with College Decision Day! It was exciting to see the colleges our students will be attending in the fall. We want to congratulate all of our seniors, whether they will be attending college, joining the military, or heading out into the workforce, on their amazing accomplishments!

The 2024 FHS All School Awards: honoring our students and saying goodbye to our seniors. Best of luck class of 2024. Once a Falcon always a Falcon!

Two of our staff members Zach Pruitt, Community Education & Engagement Director and Cassie Riopelle, Adult Education, Project ABLE, and Facilities Coordinator received the Faribault Area Chamber of Commerce & Tourism 2024 Excellence in Education Award. Both recipients are very deserving of the award and we are honored to have them on our Faribault Public Schools team! Thank you, Zach and Cassie, for all that you do for our students, families and community every single day.

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.