Alive and Running Presents at JCSD (Copy)

Janesville CSD recently hosted a presentation from Ryan Nesbit, co-founder of Alive and Running. The nonprofit organization is completely volunteer led and uses all the funds to raise awareness of suicide prevention. Ryan spoke to the middle school and high school students on the Question, Persuade, & Refer (QPR) method of intervention. 

Because of her personal experiences, staff member Lindsey Eibey spearheaded the training. Here is her story:

“My nephew, Kye, killed himself on October 10th, 2014. It was a Friday night and he was supposed to be at the WSR football game. When his friends noticed he wasn't there they called him and got no answer. They called his sister and she hadn't seen him either. When no one could find him, his sister called their mom. His car was in the driveway but he was not in the house. His dad found him later that night in the woods.

He was a smart, handsome, athletic and well liked kid so his death caught a lot of people off guard. After his death many of his classmates came forward telling stories of how Kye helped them laugh and get through hard times and they never knew he himself was having a hard time until it was too late.

A few years ago, one of my friends also lost a loved one to suicide so we, unfortunately, have this in common and there are a lot of aspects of losing someone to suicide no one can understand unless they've been there. I don't wish this on anyone, it's a club no one wants to be a part of. My friend, Kobey, was having a very hard time and eventually got involved with Alive and Running suicide prevention organization, which helped her cope with her loss while helping others. I went to a meeting she had in New Hartford (not with Alive and Running) and really felt understood hearing others’ stories and learning how others cope with and work through their trauma. Fast forward a couple years, Kobey is now on the board for Alive and Running and trying to get QPR, Question, Persuade, Refer training into as many schools as she can. This is when I decided to ask our administration and guidance counselor if we could bring the training into JCSD for the middle and high school students. Luckily, everyone was on board from the beginning and Ryan Nesbit came in on 2 different Wednesdays to present. The presentations cover the same information but Ryan is a little more sensitive with the younger kids and until Janesville, he had never presented to 6th graders.”

Parent permission was required and the following information was sent to them:

QPR - just like CPR is an emergency response to someone in crisis and can save lives. QPR is the most widely taught gatekeeper training in the world. 

Ryan Nesbit has taught this course around 200 times.  He lives in Jesup with his wife and 17, 15, and 12 year-old children.  He has been a high school youth group leader for 14 years between Ankeny and Jesup. Ryan is Co-Director of Alive & Running Iowa for Suicide Awareness & Prevention.  This non-profit works to stop suicide and support those who have lost someone to suicide. Ryan lost his best friend to suicide at age 15.  Ryan openly talks in presentations about his own suicide loss and his own struggles with suicidal ideations during high school. 

Question, Persuade, and Refer is a 2 hour suicide intervention training.  Attendees learn how to ask the suicide Question, how to Persuade people to seek help, and how to Refer them for help.  Each attendee took home the QPR booklet for future reference on how to assist anyone that is struggling.

QPR Objectives

KEY COMPONENTS COVERED IN TRAINING:

• How to Question, Persuade and Refer someone who may be suicidal

• How to get help for yourself or learn more about preventing suicide

• The common causes of suicidal behavior

• The warning signs of suicide

• How to get help for someone in crisis

OTHER COMPONENTS COVERED IN TRAINING:

• Statistics

• Suicide Loss and Grief

• Suicidal Ideations

• Resources for Suicide Prevention

Ms. Eibey had these final thoughts, “You never know what someone is going through. Your kind works could be just the nudge someone needs to keep going.”

For additional information:  https://www.aliveandrunningiowa.com/

Alive and Running Presents at JCSD

Janesville CSD recently hosted a presentation from Ryan Nesbit, co-founder of Alive and Running. The nonprofit organization is completely volunteer led and uses all the funds to raise awareness of suicide prevention. Ryan spoke to the middle school and high school students on the Question, Persuade, & Refer (QPR) method of intervention. 

Because of her personal experiences, staff member Lindsey Eibey spearheaded the training. Here is her story:

“My nephew, Kye, killed himself on October 10th, 2014. It was a Friday night and he was supposed to be at the WSR football game. When his friends noticed he wasn't there they called him and got no answer. They called his sister and she hadn't seen him either. When no one could find him, his sister called their mom. His car was in the driveway but he was not in the house. His dad found him later that night in the woods.

He was a smart, handsome, athletic and well liked kid so his death caught a lot of people off guard. After his death many of his classmates came forward telling stories of how Kye helped them laugh and get through hard times and they never knew he himself was having a hard time until it was too late.

A few years ago, one of my friends also lost a loved one to suicide so we, unfortunately, have this in common and there are a lot of aspects of losing someone to suicide no one can understand unless they've been there. I don't wish this on anyone, it's a club no one wants to be a part of. My friend, Kobey, was having a very hard time and eventually got involved with Alive and Running suicide prevention organization, which helped her cope with her loss while helping others. I went to a meeting she had in New Hartford (not with Alive and Running) and really felt understood hearing others’ stories and learning how others cope with and work through their trauma. Fast forward a couple years, Kobey is now on the board for Alive and Running and trying to get QPR, Question, Persuade, Refer training into as many schools as she can. This is when I decided to ask our administration and guidance counselor if we could bring the training into JCSD for the middle and high school students. Luckily, everyone was on board from the beginning and Ryan Nesbit came in on 2 different Wednesdays to present. The presentations cover the same information but Ryan is a little more sensitive with the younger kids and until Janesville, he had never presented to 6th graders.”

Parent permission was required and the following information was sent to them:

QPR - just like CPR is an emergency response to someone in crisis and can save lives. QPR is the most widely taught gatekeeper training in the world. 

Ryan Nesbit has taught this course around 200 times.  He lives in Jesup with his wife and 17, 15, and 12 year-old children.  He has been a high school youth group leader for 14 years between Ankeny and Jesup. Ryan is Co-Director of Alive & Running Iowa for Suicide Awareness & Prevention.  This non-profit works to stop suicide and support those who have lost someone to suicide. Ryan lost his best friend to suicide at age 15.  Ryan openly talks in presentations about his own suicide loss and his own struggles with suicidal ideations during high school. 

Question, Persuade, and Refer is a 2 hour suicide intervention training.  Attendees learn how to ask the suicide Question, how to Persuade people to seek help, and how to Refer them for help.  Each attendee took home the QPR booklet for future reference on how to assist anyone that is struggling.

QPR Objectives

KEY COMPONENTS COVERED IN TRAINING:

• How to Question, Persuade and Refer someone who may be suicidal

• How to get help for yourself or learn more about preventing suicide

• The common causes of suicidal behavior

• The warning signs of suicide

• How to get help for someone in crisis

OTHER COMPONENTS COVERED IN TRAINING:

• Statistics

• Suicide Loss and Grief

• Suicidal Ideations

• Resources for Suicide Prevention

Ms. Eibey had these final thoughts, “You never know what someone is going through. Your kind works could be just the nudge someone needs to keep going.”

For additional information:  https://www.aliveandrunningiowa.com/

JCSD Teachers Dive into LETRS Training

A group JCSD teachers are taking LETRS training. It is one of the best trainings in phonics, and is being offered to many educators now. Janesville teachers jumped on board with it before it was being offered, and are learning so much from it.

LETRS - Language Essentials for Teachers of Reading and Spelling 

It is an empowering professional development course of study for instructors of reading, spelling, and related language skills. LETRS is not a literacy curriculum. Instead, it provides knowledge and tools that teachers can use with any good reading program. It provides educators with:

-in-depth knowledge based on the most current research regarding what, when, and how language skills need to be taught.

-ways to assess student language development for prevention and intervention. 

-guidance on how to plan and balance word recognition and comprehension instruction.

-information on how to differentiate instruction to meet the needs of all students. 

This year the K-1 teams, Amy Anderson (Title), and Heather Howland (instructional) will take part in 4 full day training through the AEA, and at least 12 hours of online course work in between the full days training. They also have the benefit of having a LETRS coach work with them once a month at PLC. This is a two year training that the team asked to take. These teachers were all on board after learning about the training. Although they knew it was going to be a lot of work, but they also knew it is one of the best training out there. The team decided to dive right in, and Mrs. Pugh was more than happy to support this work. It is now being offered to many other school districts.

“I wish I could have had this training 20 years ago when I began teaching. Understanding the way children learn to read, and the way their brains work has been so valuable. I have learned the correct way and order to teach these skills. I have also found assessment pieces that actually help me understand how my students are reading and writing, and what I need to do next to support them. It has been important to implement the things we are learning right into our daily teaching! We have had lots of rich conversations within our team. I feel very lucky to work with a group of educators that wanted to put so much time and effort into helping our students grow as readers! Learning to read can be so fun when the right teaching is offered to students! I am so excited about teaching these skills to students! It has been amazing to see the growth students are making. The work we are doing in this training is showing in our classrooms and our assessments!” - Megan Cheeseman

“LETRS has provided me with valuable knowledge on effectively identifying and addressing the individual needs of students in their learning journey through the use of explicit instruction to facilitate growth and progress.” - Heather Howland

“I think with my move from upper elementary to kindergarten, LETRS training came at such a perfect time for me. I knew coming into teaching some of our youngest students, these foundational skills would be so crucial to their learning, but I had never really been taught how to teach these things until now. LETRS takes the science and research behind how to read, and teaches it to us so that we have all the knowledge to go and help our students. I find myself recognizing different spelling patterns, common mistakes, etc., and I have such a great grasp of how to help my students move from one skill to the next because LETRS has shown me the typical progression in a child's brain. I wish every elementary education major was required to take this training, and every current elementary teacher!” - Molly Ludwig

JCSD Kindergartener Shows Kindness

Kindergartener, Laila Fitzpatrick, used her leadership skills to raise money to donate food to the Cedar Bend Humane Society. The humane society shared that they were almost completely out of food and she took it upon herself to raise money to donate food and other supplies to the pets in need. In addition to giving $100 out of her own piggy bank, Laila also asked friends and family for donations as well. She ended up being able to donate $900 worth of food and supplies to the humane society! Thanks for being a great leader both inside and outside of school, Laila! 

JANESVILLE VOLLEYBALL CLUB CONTINUED SUCCESS

The Janesville Volleyball Club ended its 2024 season on March 23rd when our 3rd, 4th, and 5th grade teams competed in the AAU State Tournaments. Our 6th and 8th grade teams also played in their respective State Tournaments on March 16th. These teams represented our Janesville Volleyball Club well at the statewide tournament sites and competed well against some very strong teams in all five classes.

The 6th grade team advanced to the Gold Bracket (top 24 of 60 teams competing) after going undefeated and getting first place in pool play. They won their first two matches in bracket play but then fell short to a very good Wolfpack team, finishing in a tie for 5th place.

The 8th grade team advanced to the Silver Bracket, after finishing 3rd in their pool, but lost a hard fought battle in the first match of bracket play.

Our 5th grade Black team finished 4th in pool play, advancing them to the Bronze Bracket, but they fell short to a LeMars team in their first match. Our 5th grade Gold team finished first in pool play advancing them to the Gold Bracket, putting them in the top 20 out of the 50 teams competing. However, they fell short in a very close match in the first round of bracket play.

Our 3rd and 4th grade teams faced some tough competition throughout the day, and ended up not advancing to bracket play, but they played hard and had fun!

Our 7th grade team did not participate in the State tournament due to scheduling conflicts, but they competed well in their tournaments this season where so much progress was made, as they improved throughout the entire AAU season and gained valuable experience.

Congratulations to all players and teams for all their success during the 2024 season. This wraps up the 33rd season of tournament play for the Janesville Volleyball Club. Coaches volunteer a lot of their time in order for these players to gain experience by playing in the AAU tournament season. High school coaches Shelly Sorensen, Dana Sorensen, and Katy Sweeney, along with Alexis Olson, Mike Zwanziger, Al Sweeney, Brittany Wegner, Destiny Christopher, Kamryn Umthum, and Allison Fisher coached our AAU teams this season. And a special thank you to Jayden Umthum for stepping in to help with a 5th grade team at State!

Much experience was gained and so much improvement and progress was seen during these tournaments where teams played up to six matches a day. These young ladies should be proud of themselves for all that they have accomplished. It was great to see the growth and improvement made by all players and all teams throughout the club season. Thanks to the parents and family members who must sacrifice a lot of their time in order to allow these young ladies to participate. Thanks to all of you who helped by transporting teams and coaches to tournaments, providing good lunches and snacks, line judging, scorekeeping, officiating and a huge thank you to all who helped clean up following our home tournaments. We cannot do this without you!. Thanks especially to all of the parents for your support of this program. Coaches truly appreciate all that you do and for being so supportive of all that we do. A very HUGE THANK YOU to all of the coaches who volunteered your time and efforts to help me in giving these girls the opportunity to participate in the Janesville volleyball club program. Thanks to all of you our program continues to be a success.

article written by Shelly Sorensen

"Chick" Out What's Happening in the JCSD Preschool (Copy)

Ms. Michels’ preschool class has been learning about the life cycle of a chicken, parts of an egg and a chicken. According to Adventures in the Schoolhouse, “The lifecycle of a chick is approximately 21 days. The mother hen usually sits on her eggs for 21 days straight, while turning her eggs approximately 50 times per day. She will talk to her baby chicks inside the eggs as they are growing, and the internal temperature for the egg must be 99.5°F.” The Skinner family graciously donated eggs for the preschool class to try and hatch along with an incubator.

According to Ms. Michels, “We have 13-15 days left to see if we will have any luck. We did have to talk about that we aren’t eating the chicks once we hatch them lol! The kiddos are super excited to count down the days as we talk all about a chicken life cycle, the parts of an egg and a chicken.”

The class is anxiously awaiting the arrival baby chicks.

"Chick" Out What's Happening in the JCSD Preschool

Ms. Michels’ preschool class has been learning about the life cycle of a chicken, parts of an egg and a chicken. According to Adventures in the Schoolhouse, “The lifecycle of a chick is approximately 21 days. The mother hen usually sits on her eggs for 21 days straight, while turning her eggs approximately 50 times per day. She will talk to her baby chicks inside the eggs as they are growing, and the internal temperature for the egg must be 99.5°F.” The Skinner family graciously donated eggs for the preschool class to try and hatch along with an incubator.

According to Ms. Michels, “We have 13-15 days left to see if we will have any luck. We did have to talk about that we aren’t eating the chicks once we hatch them lol! The kiddos are super excited to count down the days as we talk all about a chicken life cycle, the parts of an egg and a chicken.”

The class is anxiously awaiting the arrival baby chicks.

Holocaust Survivor Zooms with JCSD Students

Earlier in the year, the secondary literacy team agreed upon texts that will be studied in grades 6-8, and Marion Blumenthal's memoir Four Perfect Pebbles was chosen as a nonfiction pick for the 8th graders. Ms. Cavalier read the book when she was in middle school and enjoyed it. When asked about her reading experience, Cavalier shared, “It especially stuck out in my mind because Marion came to my middle school to deliver a talk about her experience surviving the Holocaust. Her story really stuck with me.”

As Ms. Cavalier was helping plan lessons for the Four Perfect Pebbles unit, she reached out to Marion to see if she was still hosting speaking events with students. Marion reported that she was no longer traveling out of her home state of New York, but that she would be happy to host a Zoom. Interestingly, she shared that many of the speaking events she has been invited to have been, like Cavalier, former students who read her work while they were in school. She has truly had an impact on many generations now.

She is especially passionate about ensuring that as many students attend her talks as possible, since there are very few Holocaust survivors left. As she has pointed out, this is the last generation of students that will be able to hear Holocaust survivors share their stories directly.

During the Zoom, Marion told her story to the audience, relaying the details of what she experienced during the Holocaust. She painted a vivid picture of what it was like living in the concentration camp Bergen-Belsen, noting the lack of food and filthy conditions. She also discussed the inspiration for her memoir, Four Perfect Pebbles, which was based on a game she developed in Bergen-Belsen at the age of nine. Every day, she would search the camp for four pebbles to represent her, her brother, her father, and her mother. In Marion's young mind, she believed that if she could find four pebbles every day, that every family member would make it out of the camp alive. At the conclusion of World War II, in 1945, all four members of her family did, in fact, make it out of the camp alive.

Marion then relayed to the audience her experience with coming to America, learning a new language, and assimilating to a new culture. Her message to students was one of hope and perseverance. Marion repeatedly advised students to be compassionate and kind to one another, and how her story sheds light on this important message. Marion also made time for several student questions. Students asked various questions, ranging from how she felt upon returning to Bergen-Belsen nearly 50 years later, and whether or not it was difficult to relive her experiences while writing the book.

Marion's book will be available for purchase, and she will be personally signing each book that is sent to Janesville. A sign-up link will be made available soon to purchase a copy.

(Blog information provided by Ms. Cavalier)

Children of All Ages Learn CPR

According to the American Heart Association, “kids as young as nine can learn basic steps of CPR. It can double the survival rate from out-of-hospital cardiac arrest.” By teaching students how to perform CPR, we are creating the next generation of responsible citizens who can provide life-saving measures in an emergency. This can help to make our communities safer and more prepared for emergencies.

This week, K-12 students at JCSD learned Hands-Only CPR during their physical education and health classes. Hands-Only CPR is CPR without mouth-to-mouth breaths. It is faster and easier to learn than traditional CPR. It's also less exhausting and less intimidating for people who may be hesitant to provide mouth-to-mouth resuscitation.

CPR instructor, Chris Charley, taught each class how to administer compressions. K-2 students practiced with beanie babies first so the dummies weren’t so scary. Other safety protocols were covered as well. Topics include how to call 911, how to use the teacher’s key fob in order to enter the building, where the AEDs are located, and what an EpiPen is and how to use it.

Combining CPR training with an understanding of emergency situations equips students with the ability to critically evaluate emergencies and act decisively, potentially saving lives.

Math Art II

Math or art? How about both! JCSD Middle School math students used their creative talents as they studied composite area. According to Cuemath.com, “The area of composite shapes is defined as the area covered by any composite shape. A composite shape is made up of basic shapes put together. Thus, the area of the composite shape is found by individually adding all the basic shapes.”

The students in Ms. Sandlin’s 6th grade math class were tasked with the idea of using different colored Post-It notes in order to create a picture. Then, they had to find the area for each color used and the total composite area. These Post-It Note Picassos set the bar high. The images they created include a city, Spiderman, and a Siberian Tiger.

Not only did this activity tie into the curriculum, but it also allowed students to tap into their creative sides and take ownership of their work. This is the type of lesson that students will remember when they’re 90!

The Student Teaching Experience

Student teaching is a crucial component of the education process for aspiring teachers. It serves as a hands-on learning experience that takes place during the final year of college or as part of a teaching certification program. While student teaching, individuals intern in a classroom or educational setting, applying their knowledge and skills under the guidance of experienced educators. These engaging experiences provide key opportunities to gain practical teaching experience and prepare for a career in education.

JCSD currently has four student teachers in the building in various grades and curricular areas. 

Riley Kammeyer attends Wartburg College and is student teaching with Mrs. Miller in 2nd grade. She is originally from Tripoli, IA. Ideally, Riley would love to stay around the area as she lives in Waverly. Riley states, “I love spending my time in K-2 classrooms! I'm so thankful for the opportunity to be at Janesville and I'm loving every minute of it!”

Keli Potter is currently working alongside Mrs. Giraud as a high school science teacher. She is a senior at Wartburg College studying to become a secondary science teacher. Keli will graduate this coming May with a double major in biology and secondary education and will also receive an all-science endorsement. Keli grew up in Iowa City with one older sister. Throughout high school, she was involved in many different sports, orchestra, and extracurriculars. Keli loves watching movies, reading, being outdoors, and spending time with friends and family. Fun fact about Keli: she was stung by a Portuguese man o' war during a trip to Florida. Keli states, “I have always been fascinated with how the world works, and I am excited to incorporate my fascination into my future career as an educator. I am grateful for the opportunity to student teach here at Janesville, and I hope we all finish the year strong!”

Kaylee Kueker is student teaching in Mrs. Bishop’s first grade class. She grew up in Denver, IA and still lives there now. She loves being close to her family and is glad to be placed at Janesville so she is close to them too. Kaylee attends Wartburg College and will graduate in May. Her favorite things to do are mow the lawn, play board games, and hang out with family and friends. Kaylee’s Ideal teaching job would be to teach kindergarten or first grade in a small school in northeast Iowa. Kaylee states, “I love how Janesville is very collaborative and is so welcoming. The community and the environment of the school have been amazing and I am so happy I could have this experience!”

Michael Goodenbour is a third-year mathematics education student at Wartburg College. He is originally from Cedar Falls. Michael runs cross country and track for the Knights. He is also the manager of the math tutoring lab on campus and enjoys going golfing and disc golfing with friends. Michael is  currently placed with Mrs. Sandlin, working with students preparing them for their Math Counts competition, as well as working with sixth grade and precalculus classes. Michael’s ideal teaching job would be somewhere in the Cedar Valley, teaching 5th-8th grades, but he also believes he would enjoy teaching higher level high school courses, such as precalculus and calculus. 

Please welcome these student teachers to JCSD.

1,000th Day

When students are in 5th grade, they hit the big 1,000th day of school. On average, students spend 180 days per year in school. By the time they complete kindergarten through 4th grade, they have attended 900 days of school. This means, on the hundredth day of the school year, 5th graders get to celebrate quadruple digits, the big 1-0-0-0!

Just like the 100th day of school is a milestone for elementary grades, upper grades love to celebrate, too. With the help of our creative 5th grade teachers, the Janesville 5th graders spent last Thursday celebrating their 1,000th day of grade school. Throughout the day, students participated in the following activities to celebrate:

Game of Spoons to 1,000: Similar to the regular game of spoons, place in a small group to try to collect a sum from all 4 cards that equals 1,000 while racing to not being eliminated when someone else collects theirs and a spoon.

 Race to 1,000: With a partner, move around a gameboard following specific skip counting directions to reach the 1,000th square first.

1,000th Day Escape Room: Complete 6 separate tasks in a small group that include puzzles, math problems, and research to collect a code that will allow you to escape.

Place Value Treats: Create the number 1,000 by placing specific cookies into each place value.

1,000 Second Break: Celebrated their hard work over the past 1,000 days with a friendship snack mix and 1,000 seconds (16 2/3 minutes) of free choice.

Janesville JCSD  teachers helped make this day an occasion to remember!

Out of the Box Thinking

Shout out to JCSD middle school math teacher, Meridith Sandlin, for her out of the box thinking. Knowing the interests of her students, she created curriculum based on the results of the Detroit Lions vs Tampa Bay Buccaneers playoff football game. Mrs. Sandlin used the statistics from the game to appeal to her students. The students completed math problems and equations based on the game’s stats.

Sixth grade parent, Brenda Schmidtke states, “Mrs. Sandlin deserves to be recognized for her out of the box thinking. My son is in her 6th grace accelerated math class and has been thoroughly enjoying her class and the content available to him. My son’s favorite NFL team is the Lions and he is used to not seeing their apparel in stores and not being featured on prime time TV. We were blown away with the out of the box activity along with providing activities that would stimulate our son’t interest and possibly help him understand a whole new aspect of the game. It was definitely a special treat for him to have someone acknowledge what’s important to him in this moment as a 6th grader.”

As the growing shortages of teachers sweep across the nation, many teachers had to accept additional daily teaching responsibilities. Many of the teachers and support staffs took on both remote and classroom preparation/combination teaching during the recent years of the pandemic. This is a most important time for schools across the world to reach out and find ways to honor and ‘recognize’ their teachers. 

Thank you Mrs. Sandlin! Your efforts are greatly appreciated and making a difference in the lives of your students.

Let's Do Better

According to Dr. Karissa Niehoff of the National Federation of State High School Associations, “From time to time, everyone needs a wake-up call to get back on course, to regain focus and to get with the program. That time is at hand in high school sports as it relates to unsportsmanlike conduct.” When appropriate behavior occurs, competitive play is more enjoyable for everyone. And for some individuals recently, the games have not been enjoyable. Around the country, the following unfortunate incidents have occurred at the high school level: a mayor of a city was ejected for threatening a referee, a volleyball official was followed off the court by a coach who was shouting obscenities, a referee was assaulted and knocked unconscious, and youth basketball leagues were forced to end the season early due to poor parent behavior. The list could go on and on. 

It is painfully obvious why there is an officials’ shortage…unacceptable behavior on the part of the parents, coaches, and other spectators. Verbal and physical attacks against officials are incomprehensible and must be stopped. NFHS director of officiating services states, “Do you really think that these individuals who are volunteers are going to take a half-day off of work, get paid less than they’re probably making at their real job to go and be unfair in a game? It doesn’t make sense. They are there to give back. They are there to be community servants.” 

Official shortage is real. The pandemic led to accelerated retirement and many new officials quit within the first three years due to fan hostility. Following each contest, officials in the Iowa Star Conference are asked to fill out a ballot to evaluate sportsmanship. They rate the team, players and fans on a scale of 1 to 3. Here is a description of the rating scale: 1 being Expected (no noticeable disrespect), 2 being Fair (some unsportsmanslike conduct), and 3 being Poor (discourtesy/disrespect were evident in several occasions). Unfortunately, the spectators of Janesville Boys Basketball currently have the worst rating in our conference (1.55) and the girls have the best rating (1.0). 

Stop being an “armchair” official. If you are interested in becoming an official, instructions can be found at the link at the bottom of the article. Janesville CSD will be happy to pay for our fans to become officials.

Our behavior embarrasses our players and school. We are asking you to do better.

https://www.iahsaa.org/officials/become-one/

On To State

Large group District Speech contests were held Saturday, January 20. Janesville CSD speech team is coached by Ms. Katie Johnson and Ms. Kimberly Cavalier. This year, we had five events go. Each event performs in front of a IHSSAA certified judge. The judges critique the performance with a I, II, or III rating. Groups who receive a I rating advance to State Speech competition.

Talan Pletz, Charlize Lindaman, Addy Oldenburger, Blayne Porter, and Cael Coffman competed in Short Film with a film titled “Coach.” Jillian Anderson, Hailey Limkemann, Ashleigh Panning, Tarynn Shepherd, and Hayleigh Heiser competed in Readers Theatre with a play titled “The Committee.” Ashleigh Panning and Hailey Limkemann competed in Group Improvisation. Jayden Butler, Parker Opperman, Daniel Britt, and Marshall Davison competed in Group Improvisation and will advance to State Contest. Kole Haan, Carlie Rupe, Gabe Meaney, Hayden Pugh, Abi Foelske, Jayden Butler, Zoey Barnes, Daniel Britt, and Carson Foelske competed in Short Film with a film titled “The Nerderer” and will advance to State Contest.

Overall, the kids had a great time competing and Janesville will bring two events to the State Contest in Dubuque on February 3rd. Congratulations to students and coaches!

Elementary Winter Dance

Before winter break, Janesville CSD 4th grade elementary lighthouse members Morgan Domeyer, Ezra Muehling and Mozzie Reed planned a winter dance for elementary students.  Students in grades K-5 attended the dance where they enjoyed snacks, played limbo and danced with their friends.  The lighthouse members asked Mr. Monroe to be the DJ and Darla Litterer to make cupcakes.  Darla made 150 cupcakes for to reward the students whose class earned their LEADER letters in November. (Each month, classes earn each of the letters of LEADER by being recognized as a leader in the hallway, lunchroom, etc. by someone other than their classroom teacher.) The students had planned to pay Darla for the supplies to make the cupcakes, however Darla surprised them by donating the money back to the student lighthouse team. 

Wrestling Returns to the Ville

After not offering our own wrestling team for over 20 years, the Janesville School Board approved the return of the program at their monthly meeting on Monday, January 8, 2024. The program revival is set for the 2024-2025 school year.

Janesville has been in a shared program with Waverly- Shell Rock High school since the program ended in 2002. After a successful start to a youth wrestling program at JCSD, many dreamed of a bigger vision….the revival of a Janesville wrestling team.

In an interview with the Waverly Newspaper, Janesville Athletic Director, Micah Monroe states, “There’s been a lot of community support from the parents. We started the Cats Wrestling Club to secure a mat for the school and they’ve done their training here at the school and that’s really picked up the excitement about wrestling and getting it back. There’s been quite a few people coming to practices and participating in tournaments and they’ve had about 60 kids that have been coming to practice. We’ve been talking for a while trying to figure out if it was the right time to get wrestling back in Janesville and with the amount of support from the community members and in the school, we felt that it was the right time. Our school board is all with it and they decided that it was time to get that process going.”

With the popularity of girls wrestling in Iowa, the Wildcats will follow suit and they will offer a girls team as well.

“The talks started a couple of years ago,” Monroe said. “Last year we had seven junior varsity girls wrestle for Waverly and we’ve had a number of students express interest that if we had our own program, they play basketball and other sports for Janesville and they would like that as an option too. With girls programs starting, there are a lot of girls that are interested in wrestling.”

Although there is a possibility that offering a wrestling team might pull players from the basketball teams, the main focus for Janesville administration is being able to offer as many opportunities for students to succeed.

“That’s always a concern,” Monroe said. “I think the main thing though is that we want to provide our students with everything possible. With the popularity of wrestling in the area and the girls being sanctioned now, we just felt that it was a good time and the amount of support from the community, we thought it was a good time to get it started and provide another great program for our students to be a part of.”

Mrs. Pugh Receives High Award

Janesville CSD Elementary Principal, Krista Pugh, has been named the 2024 Leader in Me Educator of the Year!

Individuals nominated for the Leader in Me Educator Award may serve in any capacity in any of the Leader in Me Schools. The nominees are considered champions of Leader in Me, role models for living the 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, and consistently demonstrate the following Leader Valley values:

Servant Leadership: We believe leadership is for everyone. Through modeling leadership, focusing on strengths, and creating opportunities for others, we empower people who will empower others.

Human Connection: We believe in the power of diverse relationships. Through fostering trust and being a resource for others, we develop sustainable partnerships. 

Integrity: We believe authenticity is best and character matters. Through responsible use of community investments and leading by example, we build a reputation of positive impact. 

Lifelong Learning: We believe education is an ongoing journey. Through investing in individual and community development, we equip people to change their own lives.

Facilitate Change: We believe challenges are opportunities to improve. Through a flexible response to change, we create better results that ripple into the community. 

Mrs. Pugh will be honored at the Leader Valley Gala on January 19th in Cedar Falls.

Congratulations Mrs. Pugh, on this well-deserving award!!

The Art of Mathematics

Many of us might have had some problems with mathematics when we were in school. However, it is surprising to see how closely art and math are linked. There is a fascinating relationship. In fact, there are many famous artworks from artists such as Leonardo da Vinci and Wassily Kandinsky, that incorporated mathematical concepts in their artwork. 

Precalculus students in Mrs. Sandlin’s class at JCSD have combined the two academics. After a recent unit of study, students demonstrated their knowledge of Conics and Function Graph Transformations through an art project using the Desmos web site tools. Students from the class explained the project, how it relates to math, and what they liked best about it.

“I created a park scene using Desmos graphing calculator. I had to plot many different equations and inequalities in order to get my desired shapes and shading. I had to figure out how to move graphs based on equations and how to manipulate equations in order to create different shapes. I liked that it was creative and something other than taking a paper test. I've never used Desmos like that before.” - Hayden Pugh

“Basically what we did is we took different functions of math (for example, sin, cosine, rational function, parabolas, ellipses, etc) and changed x and y values to make a design of something of our choice. We also had to change the domain and range for some of them to fit into what we needed. It relates to math because we had to use what we knew from values of x and put them in to get the shape we wanted. Something I liked about it is that you could be creative and sort of make anything you want. It was a pretty open project that yes, had requirements, but we weren't told exactly what we had to make.” - Carlie Rupe

“I just wrote some equations until it looked like something. I sorta had an idea of what I wanted, but didn't really know how to get there, so I just experimented until I got it.”  Kole Haan

“I didn't really have anything particular in mind, but when we started messing around with the equations it just kind of came together.” Daniele Hughes

When asked “What did you like about it? What were your favorite parts?” Carson Foelske replied, “Being able to see how the equations we used changed in real time to create the pictures.”

These students have demonstrated the potential to be proficient in both math and art!

Parents and Pajamas

On Tuesday, December 19, the Janesville CSD Preschool held a Parents and Pajamas Party to celebrate the start of Winter Break. Each preschool class decorated Christmas cookies, ice skated using paper plates, made reindeer food, and sang a few Christmas songs for the parents. A fun time was had by all!!