[News] April Waukee School Update

Sun Apr 6 15:28:49 EDT 2008

For those receiving this for the first time, welcome to my monthly update of
happenings in the Waukee School District.  Please feel free to share with
others who may be interested or let me know if you would like to be taken
off the mailing list.  Others can get on the list by sending me an e-mail.
Wayne Cooper

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April 1, 2008

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Thank You to all who voted to pass the bond referendum on March 4th!  

An 89% yes vote was amazing!  Special thanks to the entire citizen committee
who studied the future facility needs of the district and brought their
recommendations to the board last year, and to the referendum committee who
took those recommendations, gathered the needed signatures to request a bond
referendum and then worked for months to share the details of the plans and
ask for your help and your vote.  

With your decision, the district will be able to meet the facility needs of
our students for several more years and allow administration to spend more
of their time working on ways to help our students achieve even higher
results.

We are blessed to live in a district where our parents and the entire
communities understand the importance of a great education for our students
and who volunteer their time and their resources to ensure the students have
the opportunities to succeed in every way possible.

Please join me in thanking the Waukee Citizens for Excellence in Education
Members:

Kevin Vinchattle- Co-chair and Dennis Lauterbach- Co-chair

Susan Bunz, Chris Costa, Dave Duncan, Julie Harvey, Tracy Jagim, Karen
Kollmorgen, Dan Laird, Mel Schmitt, Shannan Shapiro and Brad Sporrer.

Academics:

Congratulations to high school teachers Matt Pries who received the Golden
Apple Award from WHO TV 13 and to Kris Dykstra who received the Channel 5 My
Favorite Teacher Award.  Both are excellent examples of the superior
teachers in our district! 

Our ProStart II team captured 2nd place in the State Culinary Competition
and

2nd place in the State Restaurant Management Competition.  Each of them also

received $1500 in scholarship monies to attend Johnson and Wales Culinary

School.  Please congratulate Jasper Chism, Dusy Green, and Tony Nizzi along
with Pro Start Supervisor Lisa Stange!

Waukee High School and PrairieView School recently received provisional
certification from Project Lead The Way (PLTW). PLTW is a national
organization dedicated to promoting and developing an engineering and
engineering technology program in our schools. The project and
problem-solving curriculum provides students with a rigorous and relevant
experience to better prepare them for engineering courses in college. This
year Introduction to Engineering Design is being offered with a second
course, Principles of Engineering, to be added next year. Other courses will
be added in the future to complete the engineering sequence. Upon successful
completion a course, students will have the opportunity to apply for college
credits from Iowa State, Iowa, or a number of other institutions. After
first semester we had 6 students qualify.

Congratulations again to all of our elementary winners of the Dallas County
writing and poetry competition.  Jeanne and I attended the celebration
/recognition evening where each student read their entry.  The kids amazed
me with the quality of their writing and the poise their showed as they read
in front of a packed room at Walnut Hills.  Special thanks to all of our
teachers who helped coach and encourage our students to submit their entries
and who took the time that evening to celebrate with their winners.  

Congratulations to the following students chosen to represent Waukee High
School as part of the National Council on Youth Leadership for 2008. Kyle
Burns, Jillian Carlberg, Collette Gnade, Claire Johannesen, Emily Johansen,
Madeline Judge, Alec Kersey, Gabe Knutson, Cody Lauterbach, Marissa Olson,
Lindsey Schaefer, Kyle Smith, Murphy Stanley, Angie Wagner, Whitney Westrum,

Congratulations to the Waukee Speech Team on SEVEN All-State Appointments!
This is a record for the Waukee. and very few schools achieve this number of
appointments! The students performed at the IHSSA All-State Individual
Events Speech Festival at UNI on March 31: Hannah Wolff - Storytelling -
Frost, Russian Folk Tale Aaron Calvin - Improvisation - State winning Draw:
Bar of Soap, Dog, CIA Training School. Taryn Giese - Review - Shawshank
Redemption Alanna Meyer - Prose - Speak; Laurie H. Anderson and Luke
Cunningham Ð Poetry - Seven Deadly Sins, Yusef Komunyakaa Brianna Nelson -
Acting - The Swim Team, Miranda July and Jordan Meyer - Spontaneous Speaking
- State-Winning Draw: What can be done to get rid of Terrorism?

High school students are invited to attend Business Horizons this summer at
Simpson College. This is a week-long, live-in summer program for students
who want to learn about what the future holds for them in the business
world. The program is sponsored by the Iowa Association of Business and
Industry and a great opportunity for students to get a heads up on their
career paths.

For high school students considering a career in the field of nursing, Briar
Cliff Nursing Camp may be a great way to get started. Students receive
clinical experiences and CPR training with personal instruction by skilled
Briar University faculty and graduates. You also will be awarded one hour of
college credit. 

Service to our communities:

Did you know that high school students pick up bread from Panera Bread in
WDM between 9:15 and 9:20 on Friday nights and deliver it to the Central
Iowa Shelter at 205 15th Street on Saturday mornings?

Did you know that high school students are sponsoring a “garage sale” this
month to raise funds for Dollars for Scholars?

Did you know that Walnut Hills Elementary raised over $20,000 in Jump Rope
for Heart?

Thanks to everyone in our district who participated in “The Big Read”.  I
was able to make several of the many activities and found them to be an
amazing opportunity for our district and our communities. Special thanks to
Devon Murphy-Peterson and  Becky Johnson of the Waukee Library, Ann Hanigan
from the HS, Jane Olson from the Waukee Area Arts Council, Chris McLinden,
president of the Chamber of Commerce and everyone who helped sponsor or
participate in this “first” for Waukee!

Fine arts:

Courtney Bavender, a seventh grader at Waukee Middle School, recently
participated in the ASPIRE Dance Competition and Scholarship Convention.
After completing the convention workshop, Courtney competed against other
attendees for advanced dance training scholarships -- winning the top prize
of a scholarship to the famed STEPS on Broadway dance training center,
including roundtrip air transportation to New York City for two.  Wow!

Waukee Jazz I will represent our school by competing in the Iowa Jazz
Championships Tuesday, April.15 at the Civic Center.  We would appreciate
all of the support possible. The Band plays at 8:30 a.m. in the Des Moines
Civic Center. 

        Drummin’ with the Monkey 6

“Random Acts Of Drumness”     

Waukee Percussion is proud to present Drummin’with the Monkey 6 “Random Acts
of Drumness”.  

Two shows at 5 and 7:30 PM Saturday April 19th in the Waukee High School
Auditorium.  Admission is $7 adults $3 students – available at the door.

Waukee Percussion is a group of Waukee High School percussionists led by
instructor Marty McDonald.  Drummin’ with the Monkey 6 is a show that
features these students performing a wide array of music using classic and
modern percussion instruments. Utilizing theatrical lighting, and video it’s
random, it’s fun, it’s amazing!  If you have never taken your kids to a
prior show, this will be a highlight for them!

Congratulations to the  7th GRADE JAZZERS! Each band played their best at
Hoover and represented WAUKEE to the highest degree!  We, by far, had the
most participating number of 7th Grade Students than any other school!  Your
kids are just so much fun to teach!----What fun was it to have your students
play their very best at their last competitive performance of the year!  My
hope is that ALL of your students come out of the jazz band season
appreciating, enjoying, and understanding jazz music better,  as well as to
continuing their Waukee Jazz Experience next year as 8th graders!  Your 7th
grade students have such a bright future playing jazz!  Awesome!  I am
pleased with their continued efforts and proud to say that I am their
teacher!  As I have told the kids in rehearsals, if you are not having fun,
an important element is missing!  From what I heard and saw today, they were
having FUN!  That makes things so worthwhile!

Results from Hoover:

4th: Indian Hills

3rd: Waukee Gold

2nd: Stillwell

1st: Waukee Purple

Outstanding Soloists: GOLD JAZZ:

Carter Thayer

Allie Oder

Taylor Brown

Komuri Lejukole

Courtney Olmschied

Lindsay Ollenburg

Outstanding Soloists: PURPLE JAZZ:

Ben Brimeyer

Tim Scheve

Kyle Stratton

Zoe Scheve

Madison Nevenhoven

Thank you, parents, for your continued help and support of music, here in
Waukee!  We had such an awesome representation of Waukee supporters at
Hoover today!  That helps to make the day even better!  THANK YOU!

Mary Garrels

Waukee Middle School

7th Concert and Jazz Bands

 <mailto:mgarrels at waukee.k12.ia.us> mgarrels at waukee.k12.ia.us

Saturday, March. 1 Waukee's Jazz Bands participated in the largest one day
festival in the United States at Hoover High School. Congratulations to the
Waukee Jazz II for their first place finish at the Hoover jazz Festival.
Soloists receiving recognition were Nick Woofter, Mackie Saylor, Cale
Bierman and Reed Strauss. Congratulations to Waukee Jazz I for receiving 2nd
place Honors at the Hoover Jazz Festival. Soloists receiving recognition
were Brendan Cunningham, Jill Maltby, Nate McDonald, Eliazabeth Tomlinson,
Bryce Bernard, and Erin Maltby. Elizabeth Tomlinson was also chosen as the
outstanding trumpet player in the 4A Class.

Waukee Show Choir invitational was held Feb 29 and March 1 with 9 Jazz
Choirs and 32 Show Choirs from 4 states along with thousands of parents and
fans taking over the high school.

Thanks to all of our directors and volunteer parents who showcased Waukee as
a great place to perform!

Thanks to Ryan Beeken, Amy Hall and the A Cappella choir for an outstanding
concert at First Baptist Church in Johnston on March 3.  Soloists included:
Ali McDonald, Evan Wheeler, Bekah Noack, Nick Flynn Mackie Saylor, Laura
Dowell, Lacey Snyder, Andy Petersen and Austin Foster.

Also congratulations to Joel Pinkerton who created the program design and to
Mr. Dailey’s graphic design class for the professional programs.

Middle School Plays

On March 6th our middle school presented an evening of theater as the sixth
graders perform two plays: The Hunchback of Notre Dame Goes West  and Don’t
Rock the Boat.  It was a great evening and another example of the growth of
talent being developed by Sarah Schaefer and Shelly Schaeufele.

The Waukee Dance Team performed at the University of Iowa Cheerleading/Dance
Team Championships on Sunday, February 10. They received a 3rd Place finish
for Pom and a 1st Place for Jazz. They also received Grand Champion for jazz
for earning the most points overall. The JV dance team finished 1st place in
their division.

Congratulations the Waukee Show Choirs!  On Saturday, February 16, at the
Waconia HS Show Choir Competition in the Minneapolis area, Waukee choirs
placed at the top of a regional field of outstanding choirs.  Many of the
best show choirs in Iowa, Nebraska, Minnesota, Wisconsin and Illinois were
represented.  Spirit was awarded first place in the PREP division and was
invited to participate in the evening finals.  Millennium, also performing
in the finals, was awarded Best Visuals and overall Grand Champion.  

 Our Jazz Choirs performed at the Kirkwood College Jazz Festival.  Special
recognition was awarded to Avenue Jazz for outstanding soloists and Sound
Check was awarded best ballad.  Both ensembles were exemplary. They also
performed at the Kingsley Pearson Jazz Festival.  Sound Check placed 3rd and
Avenue Jazz placed 1st. 

Starting April in grand fashion was the WHS Presentation of GREASE with
three performances this weekend. Thanks to all the cast, crew, pit band, Mr.
Kischer, Mr. Beeken, Mr. Patterson, and Ms. Long, along with all the student
and adult volunteers who made it am amazing weekend of theater.   Trivia
question of the month:  What parent played the same part as their student
when the parent was in college?  (Answer at the end of the e-mail.)

Did you know that Maple Grove students are creating a mural that will become
a focus of that building?  Thanks to resident artist Barb Vaske and member
of the Iowa Arts Council for bringing the concept to the building and
leading the effort.

Take time to stop by the building and view the art work later this year!

Athletics:

Brookview 3rd grader Zach Linder competed in the Two Rivers Conference
Championship Swim Meet on March 1st  swimming for the Riptide Swim Team.
This is a conference consisting of 10 teams from the Greater Des Moines
area.  He placed 1st in his age group (8 and under) in the 25 yd breastroke,
and 2nd in his age group in both the 25 yd backstroke and 25 yd freestyle.
Congratulations to Zach!  

The Waukee Hockey Team lit up the nets as they scored a 6-0 win against
Johnston. This was John Alexander’s third shutout of the year. Martin
Wiesley had a hat trick (3 goals scored), Will Hall had two goals and two
assists, Brad Burrell had a goal, David Rolek had an assist and Matt Wykoff
had an assist. The whole team played great hockey. Sometimes we lose track
of the great effort our students put forth in the less publicized
activities!

The hockey team had a terrific season with a record of 11-3-3!  We were
seeded #2 going into the tournament last week - we won the first game, a
shutout over Johnston 6-0 but lost to Dowling. We played for 3rd place the
next night and defeated Lincoln-Roosevelt 5-3.  3rd place in the Des Moines
High School league is a terrific finish for a dedicated group of kids!
Congratulations to our graduating seniors Will Hall, Josh Carlberg, Brian
Bird, Emma Carter (ADM), David Rolek, Tyler Hochstetler (Winterset), Cody
Poehlein and Matt Wykoff.

Congratulations to the  Dance Team for another great Spring Show. And, I
have to say that the girls were much more impressive than the dad’s who
again thought they could match the girl’s talent!

Congratulations to Ben Duea who broke the school record for 3 pointers in a
game - he made eight! and to Staci Gillum who broke the school record for
the number of assists in a season and has also scored over 1000 points in
her high school career!

Congratulations to Cheyanne Becker, Brookview 5th grader who competed at the
Iowa State Baton Meet in February.  Cheyanne placed first in best appearing,
first in Miss Hawkeye State twirler, first in novice baton solo and third in
novice state solo.  What an achievement after only two years of twirling!

There are 4 boys on the Des Moines Oak Leafs hockey team that attend Waukee
Schools - Charlie Clough, Bryce Miller, Cam Bostwick and Jacob Johnson. For
the 3rd year in a row the Oak Leafs won the Midwest High School Hockey
League Regular Season and the Tournament Championships. This league consists
of 13 teams from USA Hockey's Central District. In addition Charlie Clough
was selected as a first team All-Star and as one of six players named to the
MHSHL All-League team.  Way to go guys!

Congratulations to the boys basketball team for a great season and a great
first round game at the State Tournament! 

Congratulations to our girls track team for winning the Valley Invitational
this weekend!  I understand it was the first time that Valley hasn’t won
their own meet.  Also congratulations to Colette Gnade, Ar’tiana
Black-Scott, Claire Johannesen and Whitney Westrum for setting a new State
Indoor record in the 4x400 meter relay!

Also congratulations to the boys soccer team for a great 9-0 win over
Lincoln in the season opener!

Special congratulations to coach Ross Douma and coach Chris Guess for
Coach’s of the Year Honors from the Iowa Basketball Coaches Association!
Thanks for the positive leadership you both provide to our athletes and our
student body!

News from the Board Room:

The 2008-2009 school calendar was approved at the March 11 meeting.  School
will begin on 

Aug. 20, Christmas break will be from Dec. 22 through Jan, 2,  Spring Break
from March 16 through March 20 and the last day of school planned for June
2. Thanks to Susan Sandhom-Peterson and her committee for hours of work to
develop a calendar that best meets the needs of all buildings.

We also heard a report by Maple Grove teachers on the FOSS  (Full Option
Science System) that is being used in our elementary buildings.  The “kits”
provide classes all the materials needed to conduct a wide variety of
science demonstrations.  Initial feedback is they are making science much
more interesting for students and easier for them to learn concepts and
practical applications.

Thanks to your approval of the bond referendum, the board wasted no time in
authorizing the sale of bonds and bid letting for the Prairview expansion in
March.  Approval of winning bids is slated for next week, with the hope that
expansion will be completed in time for classes this fall.  Planning is also
underway to finalize plans for the 2nd middle school and for the next
elementary building.

The board also held a public hearing and approved plans and specifications
for the football field track and turf project, the next phase of
improvements to Waukee Stadium.

Most of the March 25 board time was spend in sharing ideas for longer range
planning.  The board offered many concepts for the 10-20 year academic plan
including: planning for voc-tech facility with DMACC and other areas
schools, an adult education/ community education program, formalizing a
“best in class” professional development plan for student services, concepts
to close the “ achievement gap” for our students, looking at alternative
energy options for our buildings, and ensuring our students have equal
opportunity to participate in a wide range of “outside of classroom”
activities.  The board asked administration to review the ideas and include
them into long range planning.

 At the March 11 meeting we also received a second report from our
consultants who are doing detailed planning for our district growth.  This
step in their process provided initial data for the next 20 years with
low-medium-high growth projections with 3-8-13 new building needed in that
time frame.  Our current bond referendum and the districts prior projections
were almost identical to what the consultant provided.  (That is good news!)

The administration and the board will be spending considerable time taking
this long range growth report and tie it into our long range building,
academic and extra curricular plans.  Given the current funding stream
available for Iowa schools, there will never be enough money to do
everything we would like to do in the district, but we can be proud that our
administration takes the effort to develop long range plans to help make the
best use of every dollar available.

A few of the events coming in April:

The PTO is still looking for BOARD/COMMITTEE LEADERS for the 2008-2009
school year.

There are many opportunities to become involved in your student’s school
through the PTO. You are invited to give of your time and talent to help
make our great school district even better by volunteering for these PTO
leadership positions. 

There will be a public vote on the slate of PTO positions for the 2008-2009
school year.  The vote will take place at 7 p.m., Tuesday, April 22, 2008,
at the Waukee Public Library, 950 Warrior Lane. The deadline for applying
for a position is 7 p.m. Monday, April 21. 

INTERESTED?  Please call DeeDee Lounsbury at 987-1022.

Looking for a preschool?  

The Waukee United Methodist Church will be opening “Joyful Noise Preschool
and Child Care”.  This will be a Christian-based preschool as a mission of
the United Methodist Church.  It will be located in the basement of the
church (650 Ashworth Drive).  The hours are 7:00 am to 5:30 pm with flexible
scheduling available.  We are also having part time preschool with 3 year
olds on Tuesday and Thursday mornings 9:00-11:30 am and 4 and 5 year olds on
Monday, Wednesday, and Friday mornings 9:00-11:30.  We are now enrolling!
Call 987-4531 for more information.

Thank you,

Shari Butler J

Vote today!

You can still vote until April 10 for the Dallas County’s Greatest Sports
Figures of all time!

Pick up the Waukee Today sports section and mail back the selection form to
help all of our Waukee nominees get selected!

Trivia answer: 

Mike Housholder and son Jon both played radio personality Vince Fontaine!  I
understand that some of Jon’s moves this weekend were not part of the
college production! Jon’s grandpa attended the Chicago high school that was
the inspiration for the musical and has the inside story of many of the
students who became the characters on stage.

Have some news I can share?  Just send me a note and I’ll be glad to share
it next month.

Wayne Cooper

Waukee School Board

 <mailto:WayneC941 at mchsi.com> WayneC941 at mchsi.com 

Check out the District Web site at www.waukee.k12.ia.us
<http://www.waukee.k12.ia.us/>  for calendars, school lists, power school
(your children’s grades), contact info, newsletters, board minutes, add
money to lunch tickets and much more.

Our mission is to deliver appropriate educational programs for our students,
recognizing that all involved – students, teachers and family – share in the
responsibility for learning.

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