Local schools celebrate successful school year
As all the local schools wrapped up the 2016-17 school year last week, the school administrators were given the chance to give the public an idea of what they had accomplished in their respective schools over the past year as well as inform readers about any changes coming.
Wallace School District
Wallace Jr/Sr High School
WHS had an interesting year as they had some staff changes in the middle of the year, but according to new principal Chris Lund it isn’t about where you start.
“There is no better way to gauge the success of a school year than where you finished,” Lund said. “We graduated 35 seniors and of those 35, 23 combined to take home $140,000 in scholarships. That is a whopping $6,000 average per student. We expect the Wallace Jr/Sr High class of 2017 to achieve a near 70% Go On Rate. Our SAT scores for our juniors have improved.”
Lund saw a lot of civic pride and participation from his students as well.
“Our students organized and participated in three blood drives, leukemia and lymphoma penny drive, Big/Little Program, Nine Mile Cemetery cleanup, two community cleanups, and countless school sponsored activities,” Lund stated. “While we are proud of all these markers of success we continue to have a community of staff and students who contribute to a positive atmosphere which makes Wallace one of a kind.”
All of those things considered, it is amazing that WHS had such a strong year given the tumultuous situation that arose during the early part of 2017.
“The biggest challenge for Wallace Jr/Sr High this year was the unexpected illness of our (former) principal, Don Almquist,” Lund said. “In his absence, the students and staff, in true Miner fashion, dug deep to fill the void. We were relieved when Mr. Almquist was able to return to his post near the close of the year. In the 2017-18 school year expect continued academic success, athletic excellence, and community volunteerism.”
Silver Hills Elementary
In Osburn the Wallace School District’s elementary school wrapped up their year, and pardon the cliche, but according to principal Todd Howard it was all about weathering the storm(s).
“During the school year we have weathered many challenges,” Howard said. “Some of those challenges were the weather. Our district had the first snow days we have had in many years. In fact, most staff asked if it was some kind of sick joke when I called them the first day to let them know that we were not having school. By the time the year was over we had to call off 3 days of school (2 for weather and 1 for no water in Osburn). The students also had their fair share of inside recess this year as it was one of the wettest winters/springs on record.”
Howard is proud at the way his students responded to the adverse conditions, instead of regressing as the cabin fever set in, they instead became better students.
“Our teachers and staff couldn’t be more proud of the students at Silver Hills,” Howard said. “They made great grains in writing, reading, math, Idaho history, social studies, and science. Students got their first introduction to a new math curriculum ‘Ready Math’ with an electronic supplement called ‘I Ready’. Each week students would work for upwards of 45 minutes on specific skills they needed assistance on. Toward the end of the year the students were put to the test with state and local assessments in all above areas.”
With the school year changing, so will Howard’s staff.
“We will watch two long time Wallace School District employees, Maureen Benz and Debbie Cloos walk out the doors for their last times,” Howard said. “Both will be starting their next chapter in life as they have chosen to retire. They will truly be missed.”
Howard is excited for the next school year though as he looks forward to welcoming new staff and getting back to work.
“As I reflect back on this year and begin to look forward to next year I am excited to welcome new staff members to our building and new students into our classrooms,” Howard said, “I hope all our students and staff have a safe and relaxing summer. See you all in a few short months.”
Kellogg School District
Kellogg High School
Kellogg High School is coming off one of the best all around years in quite some time, both academically and athletically and principal Curt Bayer couldn’t be happier.
The school had been in the midst of an academic renaissance of sorts when they received an award that they didn’t expect.
“It was a great honor to be recognized by U.S. News and World Report as one of the top Idaho high schools for this past year,” Bayer said.
Athletically the school really showed out this year.
“Overall our sports teams had a successful year,” Bayer said. “At the state level we placed third in boy's basketball, second in girls golf and we capped off the year with a state championship in boys golf. We also had an individual wrestling champion in wrestling in Tanner Figueroa and a second place individual wrestler in Taylor Bush.”
Kellogg School District will probably be the school that sees the most change concerning their schools including a big change in the way KHS does their scheduling.
“We are converting to a block schedule next year for classes with a continued emphasis on student engagement,” Bayer said. “We're also adding a graduation requirement for the incoming freshmen, four years of math, as well as looking at a senior transition class for the class of 2020 and beyond. We continue to work to open the doors to the future for our students.”
Kellogg Middle School
By now most people are aware the Kellogg Middle School is relocating into the old Sunnyside Elementary building.
This will be the most significant change of any of the local schools, but the move is being looked at with optimism and as a chance to redefine themselves.
“We are ready for a change. We have a new beginning,” principal Jan Bayer said. “Our outlook as a staff is change can be difficult, but we are ready. We are ready for the transition and we are always ready to serve our kids. We are looking forward to educating our kids in a new environment.”
KMS athletics are also on the uptick and the high school should be excited about the crop of athletes that they will be receiving.
“Our athletic teams represented our school so well,” Bayer said. “Lacey Medina won the District Cross Country meet and our 7th grade girls basketball team took first place at the Mullan Tournament.”
Scholastically, KMS has embraced the idea of being looked at fine arts school while continuing to put an emphasis on core education.
“Our commitment and dedication to the fine arts will continue as our students continue to perform at high levels as observed at our choir, band, and drama performances,” Bayer said. “Our 6th Grade Band earned a Superior Rating (highest honor possible) and our 7th and 8th Grade Band earned an Excellent rating at the North Idaho College Large Group Festival.”
KMS has also implemented some other extracurricular activities that they found success in as well.
“Our Lego League won honors at competition and our History Day representatives won regionals and represented us proudly at State,” Bayer stated.
But above all Bayer continues to be thankful for the opportunities that have been afforded to her and her school from both the parents, staff, and school board.
“A shout out to all the staff members for believing and supporting our kids,” Bayer said. “Lastly, an enormous thank you to the Kellogg School Board for approving the remodel of our new school and funds to purchase equipment to make a smooth transition.”
Pinehurst Elementary School
Pinehurst Elementary School had another great year according to principal Mike Groves.
The school made some changes that required each teacher to take on some extra responsibility, but Groves think they handled the situation perfectly.
“The staff absorbed five new teachers on staff and never missed a beat,” Groves said. “Between the staff all pitching in and the efforts of the maintenance department we completed some modifications on the school making it more appropriate for our needs. This included adding a classroom on the stage, new roof on the gym and adding sound reduction materials to the music room and cafeteria.”
With the middle school moving to the Sunnyside building PES will be given first crack at deciding if they want any of the old playground equipment in hopes to upgrade their current recess situation.
“We are looking at what playground equipment to move from Sunnyside to PES for next year as well as looking into how much it would cost to remove some of the pavement on the playground and replace it with grass,” Groves said.
The painting of the outside of the school will be completed over the summer so PES will have a clean looking school when they start the school year next fall.
PES also implemented a computer programing class for students who wished to stay after school and attend. “The after school coding class was offered to 3rd through 5th graders this year and saw a group of kids attend regularly and amazing me with how fast they can learn the concepts behind computer languages and how to apply them,” Groves said. “They quickly learned how to program games and robots. We will build on this for next year.”
Academically the school had a good year and looks to be even better next year.
“One of the highlights was our 5th grade classes and their ISAT scores,” Groves stated. “As a whole they were only 3 points below the state average in ELA (English-Language Arts), but beat the state average in math by 12 points. In addition, the state average in science was 66 percent and our kids scored a whopping 80 percent. We look forward to next year and thank the parents, other family members and volunteers who made our school a good place to be at.”
Canyon Elementary School
“Life is good at Canyon Elementary Science Magnet School,” says principal Jennifer Ferreira. “As the new principal at Canyon Elementary, this year has been a year of learning for me. There are some things that are simply unique to Canyon Elementary that I have been able to experience this year. Much of Canyon’s uniqueness revolves around Canyon’s Science Magnet status, and the exceptional commitment to education provided by our parent organization.”
Understanding what science magnet status means is important to understanding why teachers, kids, and parents love their little school and Ferreira is always happy to explain it.
“As a science magnet school many of our events and enrichment activities at Canyon focuses on science content,” Ferreira said. “In addition to teaching the required grade level standards in English-Language Arts, Math and Social Studies, we incorporate science as much as possible. Once a month we have our Science Friday. Science Friday focuses on a specific theme for the month and involves students working in multi-age groups (K-5). Students participate at hands-on stations focused on the theme, or content of the month. Often times these stations are ran by local engineers, nutritionists, chemists, statisticians, foresters, and other volunteers with an interest in science.”
With such a broad range of angles to cover, Ferreira and her staff have worked tirelessly to make sure that there is an abundance of variety concerning the projects they get involved in.
“In addition to Science Fridays, students have also participated in science activities such as Lego League, raising Rainbow Trout, participating in a study regarding Invasive Species (knapweed) and collecting data on the bio-control agents that control the knapweed (different bugs that were collected), duck banding with Idaho Fish and Game, egg hatching and Family Engineering Night,” Ferreira said. “As you can imagine, it takes a lot of organization, planning and support to implement this many enrichment activities into the curriculum of a little school.”
Funding for so many different projects can be tough, but Canyon perseveres, they also have one of the Silver Valley’s best and most successful fund raising event in the Ham and Turkey Dinner.
“Every year in November, Canyon hosts the annual Ham and Turkey Dinner and Auction,” Ferreira said. “This event provides the funds necessary for us to offer such great enrichment and activities for our students.” With her first year as principal in the books Ferreira is already looking to her next year. “We are looking forward to the 2017-18 school year and what it will bring for us,” Ferreira said. “We are so fortunate at Canyon to have such strong support from our community and to have such an active parent group.”
Mullan School District
What a great year it was for students and staff at Mullan Jr./Sr. High School.
Principal Don Kotschevar was excited from the outset of the school year and it’s pretty easy to see why.
“We started our year off with a new program we are calling Adventures in Education,” Kotschevar said. “Each month students could choose between an Arts/Science or Outdoor Adventures. This year students saw Bodies Human, hiked the Pulaski Trail, Art in Coeur d’Alene, survival training with the U.S. Army, Lost Egypt Exhibit, Avalanche Training/Outdoor First Aid, Snowmobiling to FAA station to complete Avalanche certification, Artwork on canvas, Skiing/Snowboarding, Idaho Department of Lands Career Day, North Idaho STEM Fair at NIC, Training in Apps at the Apple Store, and Rock Climbing.”
But that wasn’t the only new program that the school began.
“We also began a program with the help of the Doceo Center for Innovation+Learning at the University of Idaho,” Kotschevar said. “The program allowed us to receive 80 Chromebooks that teachers can use in their classrooms. Using Google Classroom students could virtually access courses from their home or phone. It was pretty amazing technology that will make it possible for our entire school district to be able to check out a Chromebook to each student starting with the 2017/18 school year.” Making sure that they offered all the possible extracurricular activities, Mullan was able to resurrect their football program after not having it for the 2015-16 season.
“Football came back to Mullan, volleyball, basketball, track, golf, baseball, band concerts, and a drama production were all offered to Mullan students,” Kotschevar said with a smile. “Not one parent complained about the amount of playing time their child received.”
Kotschevar’s personal favorite part of the year was the Mullan High School awards assembly.
“I love when we honored all of our students’ academic achievements,” Kotschevar said. “This year five of our eight graduates applied for the many scholarships that Mullan offers. We were able to award over $51,000 to those five students.”
Despite being involved in just about every aspect of the culture that is Mullan, Kotschevar was happy with how his first year as principal went and in true Kotschevar fashion he took none of the credit. “Being my first year as Principal at Mullan I can’t thank the staff, community and students enough for the support I was given,” Kotschevar said. “I am excited for next year and the adventures we will encounter.”
Silver Valley Christian Academy — Kellogg
The 2016-17 school year was a season of growth for the students and staff at the Silver Valley Christian Academy.
As if being an educator isn’t enough, SVCA head teacher Shelby Brandi believes it is the ability to both educate and minister to her students that makes the difference.
“One of the greatest gifts of being in Christian Education is having the opportunity to speak to the students about Jesus Christ,” Brandi said. “This year the Silver Valley Christian Academy had the opportunity to reach many students and their families with the Word of God through our programs, classes, and meetings. For our families this year, Christian education at school didn't always mean biblical foundations at home. So to have the chance to reach children who may not have received the Good News anywhere else was a tremendous achievement.”
As mentioned the school saw tremendous growth over the year, but will be experiencing some change as well.
“This year the academy saw some growth in the student body, the staff, and the Board of Directors,” Brandi said. “The middle school class nearly doubled in size by the second semester. We have said goodbye to four amazing board members, Norma Seaton, Cindy Carlson, Larry Miller, and Robin Lake, as they move on to other ministries. We have also welcomed two new staff members, Cara Fender and Tomi Lyle, and two new board members, Gary Temby and Pastor Joe Clower. With our new Board of Directors, we are excited to announce that our new Board Chairman will be David Fender.”
Through the change and growth, Brandi and the staff at SVCA are looking forward to next school year and the adventure it will bring.
“No academic year passes without its difficulties but this year I believe through those difficulties, growth and wisdom have blossomed, especially concerning God’s will for his academy,” Brandi said. “The enrollment process for the 2017/18 academic year has begun and we are excited to serve the new and returning families. As we look ahead to the next school year, I am filled with hope that the Lord who provided for all our needs this year will continue to bless His academy.”