DuneNews

Chesterton High School staff members gathered this past Monday at the front of the school to pick up Class of 2020 yard signs for Seniors graduating this school year. Staff members and other helpers, donned with face masks and practicing social distancing, delivered the signs into students' yards throughout the school district.

Staff members encouraged students to ‘stay strong and stay positive’ as we finish the school year with distance learning due to COVID-19. It was also expressed that school officials are hoping to have many of the senior/student events at a later date, e.g. prom, graduation, award ceremonies; although there are no guarantees.

PHOTOS: A few of the CHS students took a moment to pose with their new sign. Top photo, Alex Schmidt. Row 2, left to right, Ashely Heemstra, Caroline Ausema with her mom Kayla Kirschner. Row 3, Jasroop Basra with her father, Peter Gizardas and Violet Joseph.

Duneland Schools K-12 Student and Parent FAQs

Have questions about your child's education and learning process during the COVID-19 distance learning? Duneland Schools has prepared and updated this Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) document on the website for your convenience. Visit K-12 Student and Parent FAQs

Thank you for participating in the K-8 Summer School 2020 Survey. This information has been invaluable in helping our school district to fine tune a direction for our summer school programming. Follow this link to the results

Chesterton High School is now accepting applications online for Summer School 2020.

Due to COVID-19, all summer school courses will be online for this year only.

CHS Summer School 2020 is FREE for all students. Parents can enroll their student(s) in both sessions of summer school at one time.

For more information and to register online visit https://www.duneland.k12.in.us/domain/46

Questions about CHS Summer School can be directed to Assistant Principal Kristen Peterson at kpeterson@duneland.k12.in.us

Click on a link below to view each school's honor roll list:

Liberty Intermediate School

Westchester Intermediate School

Chesterton Middle School

Chesterton High School

This week is National Volunteer Week, and the National Speech & Debate Association would like to recognize Chesterton High School teacher Chris Lowery for exemplary volunteerism to promote speech and debate. The NSDA is celebrating the commitment that Mr. Lowery has made to help students in our school district access speech and debate.

Lowery serves on the Northwest Indiana District Committee, which manages the school's local community of speech and debate activities. According to the NSDA, Chris Lowery goes above and beyond in service to the speech and debate community at large by:

• Expanding access to speech and debate by recruiting new programs.
  
• Providing ongoing mentorship for first time coaches as they learn the ropes.
  
• Organizing and hosting local tournaments.
• Communicating with local coaches about upcoming events and rules.
• Coordinating recognition opportunities for students and coaches across the district.
  
  

Congratulations to Mr. Chris Lowery!

Based on the number of school waiver days granted to Indiana schools by Governor Holcomb, Duneland Schools has announced that the last student day for the 2019-2020 school year will be on Friday, May 22, 2020. Link to the updated calendar

Scholarship information can always be found on the CHS College and Career Center site: https://www.duneland.k12.in.us/site/Default.aspx?PageID=786

Club Connect: The Duneland Boys and Girls Club has available resources for Club members and parents during the COVID-19 pandemic. For more information visit https://www.bgcgreaternwi.org/club-connect/

Geminus Community Partners program, part of Regional Health Systems, has limited funds available to assist families who have been affected by the COVID-19 Pandemic. This funding can assist with rent, utilities, baby needs, food, etc. for our families in Porter County.

Those in need may call the 24hr hotline at 888-357-4264. Someone will return the call during regular working hours.

Parents as Teachers of Porter County (PAT) in collaboration with the Duneland School Corporation is offering Ready, Set, Kindergarten (RSK) at Duneland Schools in September 2020. The program is for children ages 4-5 who will enter kindergarten in August 2021 (age 4 by Ausgust 1, 2020).

• RSK is designed to teach children the skills needed to do well in the classroom. Experienced PAT Educators work with the children in areas of academics, motor skills, social skills and listening skills to ensure they are ready to enter school and to succeed.

• The children meet with the Educators one time per week for two hours in a classroom at their future home school. Activities each week include writing, cutting, listening, turn taking, and early reading. It starts with basic skills and progresses through the year to meet all kindergarten entry standards. The children are also screened with reading and developmental tools to determine if there are areas that are of any concern.

• Parents will also have the opportunity to be in the classroom at times to help out and to observe your child.

• This is a GREAT opportunity for your child and your entire family. Supplies and weekly take home practice will also be provided. THE PROGRAM is FREE due to the commitment from the Duneland School Corporation and United Way Porter County.

Registrations are being accepted now. Don't delay - spots will fill

Questions? Text or call 219-617-8861

or email dunelandrsk@gmail.com to learn more.

Families without internet due to financial hardship have access to programs from two local providers.

Comcast Internet Essentials:

• Families that qualify for public assistance programs such as the National School Lunch Program, Housing Assistance, Medicaid, SNAP, SSI and other programs may also qualify for the Internet Essentials program from Comcast.

• This program offers internet for as low as $9.95 per month.

• Additional options and services are also available

• More information is available at: https://www.internetessentials.com/

Frontier Lifeline Program:

• Families that qualify for public assistance programs such as the National School Lunch Program, Housing Assistance, Medicaid, SNAP, SSI and other programs may also qualify for the Lifeline Program from Frontier.

• More information is available at: https://frontier.com/resources/discountprograms/lifeline-program

The Duneland School Corporation IT department is committed to making this extended eLearning period as successful as possible. To get your problems solved as fast as possible:

1. Open a Freshservice ticket here: https://duneland.freshservice.com/support/tickets/new
   1. AV number is typically located on a sticker on the back/bottom of the device
      1. Serial number is also acceptable
2. Open a Freshservice ticket by sending an email to: helpdesk@duneland.k12.in.us
   1. Please be sure to include email address, student or staff name, and a description of the problem
3. Due to the closure, the IT Support hotline is not operational. Please use the above methods to contact the DSC IT Department.
   
   

It is understandable that there may be issues that cannot be resolved remotely. If you have a device that has sustained physical damage (i.e. cracked screen, broken keyboard), please fill out the form below. A drive-up IT service station will be opening up soon. After submitting the form, a member of the IT department will contact you to schedule your service appointment.

DSC - Device Repair Form

Duneland School Corporation teachers, administrators and staff members are trying to keep connected with their students while they learn at home. Here are just a few creative ways these teachers are staying connected and sharing their message with students while confined at home.

Please note: Not all of the videos are in a format that can be loaded into the online DuneNews, but a link to each of the videos is available with a brief explanation provided.

Chesterton Middle School staff members hare a special video message to their students.

Seen and Heard: A parent reported that Mr. Arizzi's band class has been having some awesome eLearning lessons. He has even gathering his entire band into a Google Meet at one point. In addition, he includes "Fun Friday" videos that are a huge hit with his students and their families. Enjoy!

The Chesterton High School Football team is excited to help elementary students by joining in google meets. The team has been reading, answering student questions, joining in class discussions, and helping with Leader in Me. Our Duneland Elementary teachers are working to coordinate activities with the CHS Football players.

CHS Football player and sophomore, Josh Lemon, reading Flat Stanley.

CHS Football quarterback and sophomore, Chris Mullen, reading Dr. Seuss's Green Eggs and Ham.

Have something to share in this section? Please send to Bridget Martinson at bmartinson@duneland.k12.in.us

Here is the link to the 2020 Census: https://my2020census.gov/

The 2020-2021 Duneland School Corporation Calendar is available on our website. Click on the link above to open or visit our website at www.duneland.k12.in.us

To check out our school lunch menus click here

Not familiar with our Child Nutrition Services account payments and charging policy? Click here to view it now.

Have you read this month's publication of Nutrition Nuggets? This publication, a parent's guide to food and fitness for a healthy child, is available free on our Child Nutrition Services webpage.

(Photo above) Child Nutrition and Wellness kitchen helpers found this lovely 'thank you for our meals' message drawn in chalk outside their work area this week. "It was a pleasant surprise to find this when we opened the door," said Tammy Watkins, DSC Child Nutrition and Wellness manager. Bottom left: Krista Wellensiek, Jamie Garza, Jill Ridge, Amber Wise, Jenni Ondras. Top left: Vicki Hickle, Denise Mohamed, Tammy Watkins, Kelly Ridge, Lisa Ozimek, Tricia Marin.

Duneland Schools Child Nutrition and Wellness 'Grab and Go' meal distribution to school-age children during the school closures continues to go smoothly, according to Tammy Watkins, Child Nutrition and Wellness manager for the Duneland Schools.

Meals are distributed at Chesterton High School from 11:00 a.m.-12:30 p.m., Monday through Thursday for the remainder of the school year (May. Meals consist of a lunch for the current day and breakfast for the following day; except on Thursdays when families can pick up meals for both Thursday and Friday. Vehicles will enter the CHS parking area through the entrance by the CHS Football Stadium. Follow signs to the distribution area and pull up to the curb for meal pick-up. Exit onto 1050 North.