NFV Update

December is a busy time around schools with winter sports teams starting their seasons, the fall play, and music concerts. These are all exciting events that community members are invited to attend and support our students. This year, things will look a little different.

To help prevent the spread of COVID-19, NFV will be offering different options for the community to view these many wonderful events. Our winter sporting events will be live streamed from the main gym. The link to join the fun is posted prominently on our district webpage. The fall play, "Robin Hood", has been recorded and is currently being edited by our students. We look forward to the premiere in the next few weeks. Additionally, to provide the community access to our music programs, these will be recorded and shared with families. As we really would prefer to have everyone join us for these exciting events, in person, these are great options to stay involved with our student activities.

As we think about fall and winter activities, this seems like a good time to talk about snow! More specifically, days where snow or weather may effect school attendance. NFV will primarily use a message system called GovDelivery. If you have not signed up for this service please see the link below. The district Facebook page, website and local media outlets will also be utilized. Mother Nature has a way of sneaking up on us, here in the midwest, and we want everyone prepared!

Habit 3 puts an emphasis on personal management; focus, integrity, discipline and prioritization. It is about spending time on what is most important and eliminating the unimportant. Students are encouraged to plan every week and avoid finding themself in situations trying to meet last-minute deadlines. Habit 3 helps students categorize how they spend their time using the following quadrants.

Preschool-8th grade students, and staff at the Valley, WUE, and Fayette Elementary schools have all painted a rock to add to their building's rock garden. In art class, Ms. Fantz and Ms. Adams used the children's book, "Only One You" written by Linda Kranz that featured painted rocks in the illustrations. In the book, there are a lot of words of wisdom that we discussed in our classes. A few are: "make the world a better place", "appreciate art", "look for beauty wherever you are", "find your own way" and "know when to speak and when to listen". This activity provided kids with great discussions and experiences to help develop social and emotional learning. The kids loved it!

Some of the students involved in the Spark Team have been working on a financial literacy project to assist high school students in making sound financial decisions. After sending a survey to the student body, some topics which the Spark Team members hope to educate fellow students on include investing, insurance policies, and banking basics. The date of this workshop is yet to be determined. The students are in the process of deciding whether or not to have an in-person option for the Financial Literacy Workshop. The recent influx of COVID-19 cases has made this decision rather difficult.

Spark students also have been making final decisions for purchasing items to furnish their new space above Bank 1st. This includes supporting some local establishments such as Neighborhood Home for individual work tables. The students have also been working with several other businesses to source a couch, booth, conference table, and TVs for displaying information. The STEM BEST grant, which they received earlier this year, will cover 100% of the costs for these expenditures.

Submitted by Kyella Frieden, Spark Team Member

Email: jgriffith@nfv.k12.ia.us
Website: www.nfvschools.com
Location: 600 North Pine Street, West Union, IA, USA
Phone: 563-422-3851
Twitter: @NFVtigerhawks