February 2019 USTANG EXPRESS Corporation Monthly Newsletter for the School Town of Munster

Rainy Days and Mondays, or Snow Days and E-Learning Days I was thinking about the song “Rainy Days and Mondays” and the line, “rainy days and Mondays always get me down” when it comes to dealing with snow days. One of the toughest decisions that a superintendent has to Dr. Jeff Hendrix make is whether or not to have school because of inclement weather. It is Superintendent not difficult in the sense that the decision is made to keep our students’ safe, but it is tough because I know that students are losing out on the quality educational learning opportunities due to missing school.

In this issue: Here is why. In the field of education, the educational researchers and experts on student  Coaches Hall learning and growth believe that some of the best ways for students to learn is by of Fame at interacting with the teacher and other students in meaningful ways in the classroom MHS setting. Students receive direct instruction, group activities, important and immediate  Kindness feedback in the learning process. When we have snow days, students for their own safety, Challenge at must stay home from school. This puts off opportunities for those meaningful and rigorous Eads School learning opportunities in the classroom. They have no access to a teacher to discuss  Kindergarten problems or ideas. For some students, school is also a constant support for them Registration mentally, emotionally and physically. Furthermore, when school is out, we must add days Information to the school year especially in the longest semester making it more difficult for students to stay focused because there are fewer planned breaks than the first semester. When we add make-up days at the end of the school year, students are looking toward graduation and having their summer off. What is the answer? One may think, the best answer to this problem is having an e-learning day!

What is the School Town of Munster doing about e-learning days? There are many school districts in the area near the STOM who are using e-learning days. In fact, our district is in the process of researching the effectiveness of e-learning and we have looked into what other districts are doing. We have learned that many districts use e-learning for make-up days due to inclement weather and also for professional development days for teachers and staff. Students stay home from school and must complete work using their computers or electronic devices. Some of these students who do not have internet access must find a local library or business that provides internet access to the public. This allows them to access their school’s network e-learning platform for assignments.

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We also researched the e-learning requirements set forth by the Indiana Department of Education. There are nine criteria areas that must be met by the school corporation for the IDOE to approve an e- learning program in the STOM. They are:

Internet Access Our school corporation can demonstrate access to digital learning for students and teachers away from our buildings.

Instructor Access Teachers will be directly reachable from students and parents to facilitate and support instruction.

Platform Experience All of our teachers and students have access to, and ex- perience using, online platforms and digital resources for learning.

Learning Targets All of our students will be informed of their learning targets for the day by 9:00 a.m.

Work Continuity Student work will cover content that would have been addressed if school were in session in a traditional setting.

Accommodation Support All students who have accommodations for instruction will be provided with or have access to those accommodations.

Offline Support For students with disabilities who do not use an online platform for learning or for whom an online platform is not appropriate, teachers will provide parents/caregivers with appropriate educational materials and learning activities for student use.

Individual Needs For limited English proficient students, teachers will provide parents/caregivers appropriate educational mate- rials and learning activities for student use per the Individ- ual Learning Plan.

Work Measurement Students will demonstrate time on task and/or equivalent learning growth for the time.

The key points that our district is currently reviewing are internet access for students and instructors, devices for every student to access instruction and assignments, high quality learning targets that are rigorous and relevant to student learning, and measuring student growth from the e-learning experience. Without students growing and learning from the e-learning activity, then there is no point to having an e-learning day. That is why the STOM is doing its due diligence to make sure that we can guarantee a robust learning program that truly challenges our students. That is what is most important because we do not want rainy days, Mondays and e-learning days getting our students down!

Dr. Jeff Hendrix

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Super Chat with Dr. Jeff Hendrix

Super Chat with Dr. Jeff Hendrix is a monthly podcast program for the School Town of Munster hosted on the corporation website at http://www.munster.us. The program is designed to provide corporation and school information on events, issues and information that is pertinent to the School Town of Munster community. Topics for this monthly program will range from finance/budgeting, academic programs, curriculum, assessment, and instructional practices to student organizations, extracurricular activities and sports. The program this month will feature Superintendent Dr. Jeff Hendrix, talking about how the decision to cancel school for weather related issues is made. Mr. Ray Palasz discussed the Indiana Thespian State Conference attended by MHS and WWMS students. Also featured was Mrs. Jo Cvitkovich discussing the progress of STOM’s separation plan from LC School Corporation. She also shared information about STOM’s Unified Games day to be held on May 14th. The show is hosted by Gary Puckett, a national talk show host and writer. To access the show from the STM website, the listener must click onto the FlyPod logo, where the listener will be redirected to the podcast page and player. There is also a comment section on the FlyPod page for community feedback. We look forward to our community’s responses and ideas for future shows.

MUNSTER POLICE DEPARTMENT NEWS

INTERNET SAFETY PRESENTATION FOR PARENTS & TEENS The Indiana State Police will be providing an Internet Safety Presentation for parents and teens on Tuesday, March 12th at 6:30pm at St. Paul's Lutheran School, located at 8601 Harrison Avenue. All Munster residents are encouraged to attend. The presentation will include warnings about various apps, websites, and games, along with general safety tips for parents and teens to be aware of in regards to use of the internet. Please note that some of the subject matter may not be suitable for small children. For more information, please contact St. Paul's Lutheran School at 219-836-6270.

MUNSTER POLICE SEEKING STUDENT GROUP ORGANIZATIONS AS BOOTH PARTICIPANTS FOR THE NATIONAL NIGHT OUT AGAINST CRIME Before the school year ends, the Munster Police Department is seeking any student clubs, teams, or organizations that would like to set up a FREE booth during Munster's 24th Annual National Night Out Against Crime Celebration on Tuesday, August 6th from 5:00pm to 9:00pm at the Munster Community Pool. The event will include many fun and educational activities for all ages, and last year almost 100 booth participants (businesses, faith-based groups, student groups) participated. We will also be holding a kick-off parade this year starting at 4:30pm which will lead to the event grounds, and any student groups wishing to participate (band, cheerleaders, etc.) are welcome to do so.

If your student organization or team would like to participate by either setting up a booth or by being in our parade this year, please contact Officer James Ghrist by May 1st at 219-836-6639 or [email protected]

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School Town of Munster 2019-2020 KINDERGARTEN REGISTRATION INFORMATION

Please visit www.munster.us beginning the week of March 4, 2019 to access kindergarten enrollment information.

You will be asked to complete the Kindergarten Enrollment form and after that to complete Registration Gateway.

After completing both forms, contact your child’s school to schedule an enrollment appointment:

Eads Elementary School 8000 Jackson Avenue 219.836.8635 Elliott Elementary School 8718 White Oak Avenue 219.838.5250 Frank Hammond Elementary School 1301 Fran-Lin Parkway 219.838.2060

In order to be eligible to register for Kindergarten a child must be five years old on or before August 1, 2019. To register for First grade a child must be six years old on or before August 1, 2019.

At the time of the scheduled enrollment appointment at the child’s school, parents must present:  Certified/original birth certificate of the child. (Baptismal and hospital records are not acceptable as proof of birth)  A valid driver’s license with current Munster address.  Residency verification documents (a complete list can be found on the Registration Gateway site)

Please note: Only a parent or legal guardian may enroll a student.

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Department of Exceptional Needs

The Department of Exceptional needs would like to announce the date of our first annual Unified Game Day, which will take place on Tuesday, May 14th, at the Munster High School Athletic Field. The rain date is May 15th. An informational letter and permission slip from the Unified Champion Schools will be coming home with students within the next week. If you would like to volunteer for the day, please contact Courtney Doughty at [email protected] or (219) 836-9111. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fyUZSt79U

The above photo is the “Best Buddies Bowl photo, taken at Munster High School. Over 300 parents and students were in attend- ance.

SAVE THE DATE

On Wednesday, March 6th, Mrs. Cvitkovich will be holding a meeting at WWMS at 6:00 pm to discuss the progress of our Exceptional Needs Department as we continue to move forward.

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Eads Elementary School

EADS EARNS KINDNESS AWARD

The Great Kindness Challenge is a positive and uplifting program that creates a culture of kindness in schools, communities, and the world. Using a 50-item checklist, schools and families were challenged to complete as many acts of kindness as possible. The Great Kindness Challenge has taken place in all 50 states and in over 20,000 schools with 10 million students.

The Eads Leads team of students took the Kindness Challenge to the next level. They created a week dedicated to being kind in many ways and with fun dress days to celebrate the theme.

The students made Valentine cards for our local nursing homes, an author and an illustrator visited on Community Reader Day to talk about writing and designing children’s books, and each student made a kindness heart for the lobby display. At lunch, we had a Mix-It-Up day--students chose a color and had to sit at the lunch table with new friends. We finished the week with a Kindness assembly where students were rewarded with a Kindness Stick if they completed the Kindness Challenge for the week.

Teaching students about empathy, kindness and compassion in school is essential to the development of social-emotional intelligence in young children and adolescents, and this social-emotional learning sets them free to achieve academic success.

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Eads Elementary School

Team Up for Kindness Peace, Love and Kindness

The PTO delivered 550 Valentines to Hartsfield Dream of Kindness Village and the Munster Med Inn

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Elliott Elementary School Elliott Happenings

The structured learning students at Elliott helped Mrs. Young write a class anthem that they sing each day before circle time. The anthem's rhythm was inspired by one of their favorite movement break songs, Koo Koo Kanga Roo - Dinosaur Stomp. One student is chosen to hold the microphone and lead the group in song and dance every morning. The students look forward to their opportunity to sing into the microphone!

Elliott Science Bowl placed 2nd in the state.

Back Row Anastazja Matyskiewicz, Jose Lemus, Maya North, Abigail Masterson, Juan Espiritu, Alexander Hansen, Michael Wesley Front Row Emilia Larson, Lauren Husum, Sophia Parker-Flinchum, Eva Pramuk, Noah Baker, Bosten Peters, Isabella Parker- Flinchum, John Kullerstrad, Nash Burke, Miguel Vasquez

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Elliott Elementary School

Students in Ms. Kemling’s class reviewed the skills of measuring, perimeter, and area in a fun hands-on project. Students were to create a perimeter to contain a wind-up toy. Students measured the distance the wind-up toy traveled to the nearest 1/2 inch five times. Students then compiled the data, and after a lesson on mean, median, mode, and range determined their data results. After, students used that data to create a perimeter for their wind-up toy out of popsicle sticks. The goal was to ensure the wind-up toys did not hit the walls of the perimeter or escape the perimeter. Finally, after testing out their perimeter, students then re-evaluated their work and made adjustments if necessary.

A great time was had by all at our annual elementary K-Kids dance. All proceeds go to the Kiwanis to fund student scholarships.

Nicole Guernsey, Principal

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Frank Hammond Elementary News

Our Science Club meets once a month and works on STEM related activities in a scientific experimental environment. Yesterday Torin Haesle, 6th grader at WWMS, came to talk to the club. Torin won first place at the FHH Science Fair last year. He brought his science fair board and talked about how he designed and presented his pro- ject. He also attended the science fair presentation at the Museum of Science & Industry last summer. (The Museum takes many of the science fair winners in the Chicagoland area and puts them on display.) Thank you, Torin, for sharing your talents!

Junior Achievement program is underway here at FHH. Outside business experts are welcomed in to teach economy lessons at each grade level for a day. Hands on activities about money, value, banking and investments happen! Thank you to People’s Bank, Candice Kouros-Logue and Michael Cronin for organizing the event!

PTO Sponsored a Talent Show and a Fun Fair Night in the past month. From singing to dancing to piano playing, we have the most talented students in Munster!

On February 13th, the Kiwanis K-Kids sponsored a Valentine Dance at Eads. Our FHH K-Kids worked the cookie decorating station!

Happy Valentine’s Day parties demonstrate how much we love each other at FHH from Kindergarten to 5th grade! The 5th grade celebration hosted a DJ, pizzas, dancing, and pure fun for the afternoon!

Kelly Boersma, Principal

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Wilbur Wright Middle School

ISSMA Contest Held at Wilbur Wright

On Saturday, January 26 Wilbur Wright hosted the ISSMA solo and ensemble contest for band and orchestra. Nearly 1,000 student musicians from around Northern Indiana came to Wilbur Wright to compete in the contest. Our students performed very well and earned many first place medals. In addition to the great student performances, we’d like to thank the dozens of Band Backers parents who volunteered to make that day a success. Also, we’d like to thank our music department for taking on this enormous task! Ultimately, we are proud to host these events at Wilbur Wright and grateful to the parents and community for your support of the Arts for middle school students.

Wilbur Wright Spring Play - The Beverly Hillbillies

The Wilbur Wright Theater Company hosted our school play on February 14, 15, and 16 at the Munster High School auditorium. The play this year was the David Rogers’ adaptation of Paul Henning’s comedy, The Beverly Hillbillies. The student performers and the high school student directors all did a great job put- ting on a humorous and entertaining show!

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Spring Sports Opportunities at Wilbur Wright

With the cold and snowy winter winding down, hopefully, it is time to look forward to the spring sports seasons. Wilbur Wright has several spring sports opportunities for students to consider. First, the 7th grade football program is a great way for 7th graders to get the chance to try football. Many of our students have not had the opportunity to play youth football and 7th grade is a skills-based introduction to the sport. Our coaches provide instruction on how to play the game as safely as possible and after a few weeks of skill development, there will be a few mini-games against some other local schools that also offer 7th grade football as a spring sport. Second, we have both a boys and a girls soccer team at Wilbur Wright. We have a lot of students try out for the soccer teams and the coaches work hard to keep as many students as possible, but sometimes they do have to make cuts to ensure reasonable numbers for the team and for playing time purposes. All soccer games are held at Merrillville High School. Third, Wilbur Wright offers tennis as a spring sport as well. The tennis team is also very skill based and focused on developing students who have an interest in learning tennis. There will be a number of skill development practices and then the players will compete against one other local school that offers spring tennis to their middle school students. Finally, there is both a boys and girls track and field team at Wilbur Wright. All practices for track and field are held at the Munster High School track and are after school. Any student that wishes to join the track team will have an opportunity to learn the different running events as well as try a field event if they desire. For all sports at Wilbur Wright, any student wishing to participate or even try out they must have a current physical on file with the school nurse. If you have any questions about the physical exam, please contact Mrs. Lindsay Butkus, R.N. at Wilbur Wright at 836-6260.

Dr. Andy Sargent Principal, WWMS

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Munster High School News

Members of the Munster High School Theater program, under the leadership of Auditorium Director Ray Palasz and theatre faculty Peggy Matanic, recently performed competitively at the Indiana Thespians State Conference at Franklin Central High School in Indianapolis this past weekend. This annual event brings together over 900 middle and high school students from active troupes of the International Thespian Society for a weekend of auditions, workshops, and competitions. It was the largest delegation from Munster, with 31 students participating. The Indiana Thespians is the state- level organization for the Educational Theatre Association, which also sponsors the International Thespian Society.

One of the hallmarks of the conference is the keynote address and workshops provided by a nationally-recognized person in the field of theatre or theatre education. This year's Keynote was Patrick John Moran, who is a professional musical theatre actor. He just finished a tour with the Tony-Award Winning musical, Something Rotten. Students also had the opportunity to learn from playwrights, technicians, and actors to further their training. This then strengthens individual theatre programs throughout the state. Munster High School is proud to say that at this year’s competition, over $70,000 in scholarships were offered to our students.

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Munster High School News cont.

The Munster High School Debate Team earned a 3rd place finish at the 2019 IHSFA State Debate Finals at Southport High School in Indianapolis, Indiana on January 25-26th. The debate team is coached by Mr. Michael Buck, Ms. Jessica Hilbrich, Mr. Steven Kennedy, and Mrs. Kathleen Kennedy. The speech and debate program is directed by Mr. Jordan Mayer. The following students advanced at the state tournament.

Advancing to the Semi-Final Round were: Carina Crisan and Surajpal Singh - Policy Debate Brink Wolak-Congressional Debate

Advancing to the Final Round were: Jaclyn Webber - Third Place Finalist in Congressional Debate Cynthia Chockalingham - Fifth Place Finalist in Congressional Debate Aidan Chism - Seventh Place Finalist in Congressional Debate Shreyas Iyer and Kathir Venkat - State Champions Public Forum Debate

Munster High School congratulates all of the members of the Debate Team for their achievements.

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Munster High School News cont.

Munster High School recently inducted 6 new members into the Coaches Hall of Fame. This year’s class included former coaches, an athletic director and a former athletic trainer. Leroy Marsh Head Football Coach - 38 seasons (1980-2017), assistant coach - 7 seasons (1973-79) 228-166 record 5 Sectional Championships (1985, 86, 87, 1993, 96), 1986 Regional Championship 7 Conference titles (1980, 83 Lake Suburban) (1993, 1995, 1996, 1997 Lake 10) (2009 NCC) Indiana Football Hall of Fame 2007 Head Wrestling Coach - 2 seasons (1978/79 and 1979/80), assistant coach - 5 seasons (1973-78) 1979 Sectional & Regional championships

John “Doc” Doherty Head Athletic Trainer - 30 years (1985-2016) First trainer in the state of Indiana to use the Impact Test for concussion screening for all MHS sports 2014 Indiana Athletic Training Association Hall of Fame, 2015 Indiana Football Hall of Fame 2004 & 2010 Football North All-Star Team Trainer

Mike Smith Athletic Director - 12 years (2000-2012) Orchestrated athletic facility upgrades - Football Field Turf & Baseball Field Press box 2010, Jon Jep- son Natatorium 2010, and major Weight Room renovation Helped establish the Northwest Crossroads Conference in 2007

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Munster High School News cont.

Steve Lopez Boys Head Tennis Coach - 15 seasons (2002-2016) 279-53 Record 15 consecutive Sectional Championships, 13 Regional Championships, 4 Semi State Titles (2006, 2008, 2009, 2010), 15 Conference championships (5 Lake Athletic Conference, 10 Northwest Cross- roads Conference) Boys Track Assistant Coach - 8 seasons (1997-2004) 3 Conference Championships - 2001, 2002, 2004 Girls Tennis Assistant Coach – 3 Seasons (2005-2007) 2x State Runner-Up (2006, 2007) 3 Conference, Sectional & Regional Championships

Dirk Sloan (award accepted by John Folta) Girls Track Head Coach -19 seasons (1989-2007) 113-48 record 2004 Regional Championship, 8 straight Lake Athletic Conference championships (2000-2007) Assistant Football Coach - 11 seasons (1988-1998) 2 Sectional Championships (1993, 1996)

Don Fortner Assistant Volleyball Coach - 19 seasons (1990-2008) 11 Conference Championships (1990, 92, 93, 95, 96, 97, 2001, 05, 06, 07, 08) 7 Sectional Championships (1992, 1995, 1996, 1999, 2003, 2006, 2008) 2 Regional Championships (1995, 1996)

Thank you for your continued support of Munster High School! Mike Wells, Principal

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Munster HS had an exciting week Feb 4th – 8th. We were able to launch the sampling for Student Choice. The students were able to taste foods from three different concepts Tuesday – Thursday and vote on Friday for their favorite. We had over 1100 voters on Friday.

The students voted for Made to Melt which features various panini sandwiches.

Class Act nomination for January

Deb Wojciechowski was our Class Act nominee for the month of January, for her outstanding willingness to step up at Elliott. Deb jumped in with no hesitation to fill in for a short period. She came in early, assisted with ordering, and maintained the kitchen with the support of the staff.

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before school lets out!

Munster Education Foundation can make your gift giving easier!

Give that special educator an apple!

Make a contribution to the Munster Education Foundation, and an individual of your choice, affiliated with the Munster schools, will be honored. He/she will receive a specially designed card, with your name, special greetings, and a gold apple pin.

Complete the form below and send your check payable to: Munster Education Foundation, P.O. Box 3046, Munster, IN 46321

All donors will receive an acknowledgement with receipt for a tax-deductible gift.

______Please submit one form per honoree

NAME of Person Being Honored ______

School/Building/Bus # ______

Donor Name ______Phone ______(Name, as you want it to appear on gift card)

Address ______

Email Address ______Donation Amount Enclosed ______

Include your special message on a separate piece of paper! It will be enclosed with the

gift card & apple pin.

Suggested donation: $20.00 or more Mission Statement:

Our Mission is to help students demonstrate academic growth and social responsibility in a supportive and intellectually challenging learning environment.

Vision:

School Town of Munster—A District of National Distinction

School Town of Munster has adopted the Indiana Coalition of Quality Schools Values:

Continuous Improvement: As a good as we are, we know that we can always achieve better results. We constantly try to find better ways of doing our work, and when we achieve our goals, we set higher targets.

High Expectations: Our learning organization requires that we maintain high expectations for one another and for self.

Alignment: We are most successful when everyone in our learning organization works to achieve common goals. We can enhance efficiency and effectiveness by achieving alignment across our system.

Shared Leadership: We work as a team. Each member provides essential leadership in support or our common goals.

Social Responsibility: We ensure that we are good partners within our community and that our students and employees support local individuals and organizations. We demonstrate wise stewardship of public resources and ensure that our graduates are ready to shoulder their civic responsibilities.

Evidence-Based Decision Making: We make decisions after careful consideration of the most compelling research and data analysis.

Accountability: Each person affiliated with the STM system, including students, employees, parents/family members, and community stakeholders share accountability for our performance results and for providing personal best effort in support of our goals.

Results Focus: We have processes in place to “ inspect what we expect” as we strive to continually improve.

School Contact Information

Administration Offices: 219.836.9111 8616 Columbia Avenue, Munster, IN 46321 Munster High School Office: 219.836.3200 8808 Columbia Ave, Munster, IN 46321 Wilbur Wright Middle School Office: 219.836.6260 8650 Columbia Ave, Munster, IN 46321 James B. Eads Elementary School Office: 219.836.8635 8000 Jackson St., Munster, IN 46321 Ernest R. Elliott Elementary School Office: 219.838.5250 8718 White Oak Ave, Munster, IN 46321 Frank H. Hammond Elementary School Office: 219.838.2060 1301 Fran Lin Pky, Munster, IN 46321