Author: andrewatwal

Breast Cancer Fundraiser

http://yankton.net/articles/2012/10/15/community/doc507b7b39430d2241501659.txt

 

YHS Set To ‘Dig Pink’ Tuesday

By Andrew Atwal
andrew.atwal@yankton.net
Published: Monday, October 15, 2012 1:07 AM CDT
Although many schools across the state don’t directly teach their students about breast cancer and ways to prevent it, they do bring up the topic in other ways.

One of the big reasons why Yankton High School (YHS) officials do not bring up the topic much in its classes is because health classes were cut out of the budget several years ago.

“We don’t do anything specific at YHS regarding the teaching of breast cancer in and by itself,” said YHS principal Wayne Kindle. “Breast cancer awareness and education has been a national focus for a number of years and high school students are very aware of this health concern.”

YHS students and faculty members still participate in fundraisers to help raise money and awareness about the disease.

“Over the past several years, we have done a number of fundraisers at high school for breast cancer awareness, prevention and education,” Kindle said. “We have also provided some families resources raised by our staff and student body.”

At the YHS home volleyball match on Oct. 16, there will be another example of how students and faculty come together to raise awareness and funds to fight the disease. The YHS volleyball team will participate in a ‘Dig Pink’ night. The match will begin with the freshmen and junior varsity matchups against Sioux Falls Roosevelt at 4:45 p.m., with varsity set for 7 p.m. at YHS.

“Every year for about the last four years, the high school volleyball team has held a ‘Dig Pink’ night,” said Amy Long, YHS freshman volleyball coach. “In volleyball there is a statistic called a ‘dig’; hence the ‘Dig Pink’ night name. We use the fundraiser as a way to promote breast cancer prevention.”

Long said that in previous years, speakers have come in to talk with members of the team about breast cancer awareness and prevention.

“The main focus of the night is raising funds for breast cancer,” she said. “In years past, we’ve donated to Susan G. Komen South Dakota affiliates, with about $1,000 a year donated. Girls on the team have also received pledges for a donation of a certain amount of money per statistic recorded.”

This year and last, however, the team has held a bake sale to raise money for breast cancer.

This year the fundraiser takes on a special new meaning.

All of the proceeds the team raises on Oct. 16 will be donated to the teachers at YHS that are currently battling breast cancer. The donations will be used to help the teachers’ medical costs and transportation to and from treatment.

“It’s a way to get girls in high school aware of breast cancer and help out others,” Long said.

Long said that one of the most emotional parts of the Dig Pink fundraisers has been when girls know family members or friends that have had breast cancer and share their stories with each other.

“It’s all a matter of awareness,” she said. “We show these girls that we can all do something to help others.”

This year’s event may be even more emotional because many of the girls on the team have either had these teachers in the past, or know them because they teach at YHS.

“We can show our support for the teachers by raising money,” Long said. “The girls will be wearing their pink uniforms, which were donated to us several years ago.”

She added that the girls get excited for the event and show a lot of enthusiasm for it each year.

“It’s important that we show them that every little bit helps,” Long said. “The event shows people they care and are working to help current and former teachers battling breast cancer.”

Players and coaches are asking people attending the game to wear pink, donate baked goods to the bake sale (items can be dropped off outside the YHS gym starting at 3:15 p.m. Tuesday) and buy something from the sale.

You can follow Andrew Atwal on Twitter at twitter.com/andrewatwal

Flu Vaccine

Officials Stress Getting Flu Vaccine

By Andrew Atwal
andrew.atwal@yankton.net
Published: Saturday, October 13, 2012 1:07 AM CDT
Officials in South Dakota are urging all residents to get the flu vaccine as soon as possible.

The state has already confirmed four cases of influenza as of Oct. 9, all of which were in children. Kids account for a significant number of flu cases and hospitalizations each year, and also help spread the flu in communities.

The state is providing free flu vaccines for all children from six months old through 18 years old.

Flu vaccines are recommended for everyone, though some groups are at more risk than others including young children, pregnant women, people over 50 years old and those with chronic medical conditions.

“The Department of Health (DOH) recommends annual flu vaccination for everyone over the age of six months,” said Barb Buhler, public information office for the DOH.

Symptoms of the flu include a sudden onset of illness, chills, headache, stuffy or runny nose, the feeling of fatigue or weakness, a cough (which may initially be dry, but become a painful, hacking cough), fever, sore throat, muscle or body aches, diarrhea, vomiting, abdominal pain and exhaustion and lack of an appetite for food or desire to drink fluids.

“Influenza cases have already been confirmed in South Dakota this season, so we know the virus is circulating,” Buhler said. “We encourage people to protect themselves and get vaccinated.”

According to the Center for Disease Control, influenza cases in South Dakota have been sporadic, which is similar to cases in other neighboring states including Minnesota and Iowa. There has been no reported activity of influenza in Nebraska or North Dakota thus far.

The Yankton School District (YSD) is offering a free seasonal flu clinic for all of its students. Parents do not need to be present during the flu shot clinic, but do need to fill out and sign a consent form for the shot.

The clinic will take place at Beadle School Oct. 24, Lincoln School Oct. 30, Stewart School Oct. 24 and Webster School Oct. 23. Yankton Middle School will have the flu shots offered the morning of Oct. 23. Yankton High School will offer its students a free flu shot during the morning of Oct. 31.

The Center also hosted a flu shot clinic this past week.

“We had 35 individuals who received the flu vaccination, which was administered by registered nurse Mary Pesek from the Avera Occupational Medicine Department,” said Christy Hauer, executive director of The Center. “Mary said she is advising everyone to get their flu shots. We are grateful to Avera for sending us a nurse to conduct our annual flu clinic, which is a great service to the community.”

Veterans can get free flu shots at the Sioux Falls VA medical center on Oct. 15 from 7 a.m. to 4 p.m., Oct. 22 also from 7-4 and Oct. 31 from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Flu shots will also be given at the Wagner VA Clinic Oct. 19 and Oct. 26 from 12:30 to 4:30 p.m.

Many other businesses and organizations in Yankton are also offering flu shots for the public including Rogers Pharmacy, Hy-Vee, Walgreens, Avera Hospital and the Yankton Medical Clinic, among others.

You can follow Andrew Atwal on Twitter at twitter.com/andrewatwal

High School Fall Play

http://yankton.net/articles/2012/10/12/river_city/doc50777a6764e75790732151.txt

 

‘Culture’ Hits The Skids In YHS Comedy

Yankton High School plays Shakespeare for laughs with the comedy “An Evening of Culture.” In the “play within a play,” Amber Livingston plays Mildred (who plays Juliet) and Paden Schmidt plays Bubba (who reluctantly plays Romeo). (Kelly Hertz/P&D)

‘An Evening Of Culture’ Envisions A Local Theater’s Hilarious Effort To Stage ‘Romeo And Juliet’

By Andrew Atwal
andrew.atwal@yankton.net
Published: Thursday, October 11, 2012 9:10 PM CDT

When the lights go up on this fall’s Yankton High School (YHS) production next week, it will be the first play that Pam Kallis has directed.

After spending years involved with the design and technical aspects of theater at YHS, she has decided to try her hand at directing this year.

“I have been doing the technical aspect of theater here since 1996. I’ve costumed every single show at YHS since the fall of that year,” Kallis said. “When Bob Beard decided to retire from directing, I thought I’d give it a try.”

Her first production will be a play within a play. “An Evening of Culture” by Mark Landon Smith, produced with special arrangement with Baker’s Plays, is a story that takes place in Mineola County, which is located “in the middle of nowhere” in the South.

“It’s supposed to be about a community theater group from somewhere in the south called the Mineola Society for Cultural Recognition,” Kallis said. “The group is putting on ‘Romeo and Juliet’ and are very enthusiastic and very positive about it, but just are not very good.”

The first act of the play occurs about 30 minutes before the curtain is set to go up on the ‘Romeo and Juliet’ production. However things are not going well. The set is not yet done, there is a dog barking backstage and with the play taking place in a middle school gymnasium, the scoreboard is going off.

“All kinds of things go wrong,” Kallis said. “Things continue to go wrong all throughout the production.”

She said she wanted to do a comedy this year for a number of reasons.

“It’s an election year, so I really wanted to put on a comedy,” Kallis said. “I didn’t want anything serious, I wanted something that would make people laugh.

Kallis added that this is a family show and there is nothing too offensive and nothing too deep, and that there are many jokes that little kids will laugh at during the play.

Students began rehearsing for the play during the first week of September, and have been practicing five or six days a week since then.

“We have had to work around band competitions and things like that, but the kids have been really great and really flexible with everything,” Kallis said.

Tickets for the play are $5 for adults, $4 for students and $3 with a student activities card. The play takes place Oct. 19, 20 and 22 at the Summit Center theater.

“One of the things that really drew me to this show was all the silly things that go on,” Kallis said. “There are really inappropriate costumes for the times. Lady Capulet comes dressed as a southern belle and a nurse is dressed in a really modern costume.”

Kallis said there have been some difficulties with her moving from the technical side of theater to directing.

“I still tend to tech the show in my head as I’m directing,” she said. “With this show I am still putting together my own costumes, though.”

Despite the difficulties she has had with the transition to directing, she said she is thoroughly enjoying her new role.

“It’s all my picture with directing,” Kallis said. “It’s really cool to have it be my vision and my direction. It’s fun to have kids get that ‘a-ha’ moment where they see where I want a scene to go and take it even further.”

Kallis learned that she would be directing the play last spring and she felt this production would be a good opportunity for new students to get into theater, and also had good roles for the students she knew would be involved.

“There were good parts in here that I knew kids would enjoy and had good roles for the kids that I knew I would have and had great opportunities to train new actors in theater,” she said. “I love working with kids and that’s what I love most about theater at the high school level.”

Kallis said there are a number of reasons why people should come out to see the production.

“People should come see this because everyone needs to laugh,” she said. “I really want people to come and laugh. Forget all your troubles and all things that should be done and have to be done and just come laugh. I promise, without a shadow of a doubt, something in this play will make you laugh.”

Kallis added that audience members should get there early because actors will “be doing crazy things” before the show starts.

Cast List:

Student Directors — Bre Schmidt and Abby Slattery

Clint “Buzz” Dean, Master Electrician — Alex Rehurek

Cassie Dean — Cassie Pospishil

Callie Dean — Callie Pospishil

Cammie Dean — Shaianne Shadle

Carrie Dean — Rachel Wood

Lil’ Clint Dean — Sam Carda

Violet Farkle — Kayla Sylvester

Mildred Carson — Amber Livingston

Delbert Fink — Shane Wright

Faye McFaye — Payton Terca

RuthAnn Barns — Gretta Hans

Naomi Carson — Alexa Berg

Luther Carson — Tom Kellen

Junior Carson — Chris Eldred

Bubba Bedford — Paden Schmidt

DD, the Dog — Mitchell Riibe

The girls from Skeeter’s Hay ‘n’ Feed. — Tara Richardson, Alanna Binder, Susie Kinsley, Cebrina Kruse, Jackie Pajl

Norma Dodson, Costumer — Eileen Mullican

Chester — Kevin White

Viola — McKayla Thieman

Capulet Servant — Alikeh Sasse

Technical Production Members — Devin Westerman, Selena Olvera, Kylie Grate, Jeffrey Koller, Iesley Stone

You can follow Andrew Atwal on Twitter at twitter.com/andrewatwal

School District Counselor

http://yankton.net/articles/2012/10/11/community/doc507634df38ea5361562473.txt

 

YSD Drug And Alcohol Counselor Makes A Difference

By Andrew Atwal
andrew.atwal@yankton.net
Published: Thursday, October 11, 2012 1:09 AM CDT
Just months after being hired, the new drug and alcohol counselor for the Yankton School District (YSD) has already made significant impacts.

Tiffany Kashas, who was hired as the counselor by Lewis and Clark Behavioral Health Service (LCBHS), came to Yankton from the University of South Dakota (USD) where she had served as coordinator of prevention services and a staff counselor for about four years.

Her job at USD focused on prevention-related activities, along with doing some chemical dependency assessments.

Officials at YSD hope Kashas will help curb drug and alcohol use in the school district which increased substantially last year.

“Kashas has been available from day one of school as a resource person for our students and parents,” said Yankton High School (YHS) principal Dr. Wayne Kindle. “I know our students and parents appreciate having a valuable resource like her at our school. She is available for us to use at any time if the need arises.”

Some components of the new drug and alcohol prevention program at YSD includes designing alcohol, drug and tobacco curriculum aimed at helping students resist pressures to use substances and correcting perceptions about them; a parent program that includes parental education and informational meetings; individual and group counseling; and school-wide activities and promotional materials to increase the perception of the harm of substance abuse.

Officials chose the program after finding out how much success it had in the Sioux Falls school district.

“Some of the goals of the program are to build a rapport with students, staff, parents and the community,” Kashas said. “We also hope to increase awareness about drugs and alcohol and how they affect us as humans.”

She added that students appear to be responding well to the prevention education series curriculum through great discussions and the learning they have done.

Funding for the counselor came from the Alcohol and Drug Abuse Prevention Block Grant, which runs year to year. However, officials are optimistic that the funding will be available for years to come.

“The counselor has been working at YHS and YMS with the current drug and alcohol policies in place at the schools,” said Dr. Tom Stanage, CEO of Lewis and Clark Behavioral Health. “This has been a very positive process for Lewis and Clark and YSD. We need to see more of these kinds of things in the community.”

Already this school year, there has been six drug and alcohol incidents at YHS, after 12 all of last year.

“We continue to be concerned when we even have one incident at school. Our goal is to eliminate any incidents at school and to also guide our students in making better choices outside of school,” Kindle said. “However, we can’t do this alone. We need the help of our community and parents. We all need to work together like we have in obtaining the counselor.”

There are many long-term goals of the program that officials hope to fulfill in the future.

Those goals include delaying adolescent’s initial use of alcohol, tobacco and other drugs; decreasing their use of those substances; increasing students’ perception of their harm; changing adolescents’ norms and expectations about substance use; building and enhancing social and resistance skills; and changing community norms and values regarding substance abuse.

“We hope to accomplish the goals we have through our curriculum, school-wide activities, individual meetings, phone calls and emails to students and parents,” Kashas said. “We will also be working with a team of key stakeholders within the community. As a team of key stakeholders, we have already built many partnerships to build a tight safety net to provide resources and support to students.”

She added that programs like this can help foster awareness, education and opportunities for discussion around unpopular topics of alcohol and drugs for students and parents.

“My hope is that people will consider thinking about their options, respond rather than react, before making a decision — whatever that decision might be,” she said.

Kindle said that one of the biggest impacts he has seen the program have is the positive reaction that students, parents and community members have shown to the district for recognizing the problem.

“Equally important for me is that we have not buried our head in the sand or tried to pretend we don’t have problem when we do,” he added. “Above all other things, we are doing something to help our students and parents.”

“This whole process has been nothing but positive,” Kashas added. “Positive responses from parents, students and staff as well as positive partnerships within the community.”

You can follow Andrew Atwal on Twitter at twitter.com/andrewatwal

Peace Corps Trip

Yankton Native Eyes Peace Corps Mission

Laura Johnson, who graduated from Yankton High School in 2008, is set to begin a two-year term of service with the Peace Corps in Lesotho, which is a tiny country in Africa. (Kelly Hertz/P&D)

By Andrew Atwal
andrew.atwal@yankton.net
Published: Wednesday, October 10, 2012 1:08 AM CDT
For many students, college graduation is a time for searching for a job.

However, for one Yankton native, graduating college meant a time for her to serve with the Peace Corps.

Laura Johnson graduated from Yankton High School in 2008 and attended the University of Oregon, where she majored in journalism with a minor in art. She graduated this past June.

Now she is set to begin a two-year volunteer service in Lesotho, a tiny nation located in southern Africa.

“I really thought that this would be the next thing in my life that would help shape me as a person and add to my bag of experiences,” Johnson said. “I had thought about doing this for a long time. I started going to recruitment events on campus and talked to volunteers who had done it in the past.”

She added that almost everyone she talked to said there will be days that she will hate her decision, but after her time in Lesotho is over, she would not regret the experience.

Johnson started applying for the Peace Corps in June 2011, when she filled out the initial application online.

After she turned in the initial application, she was contacted for an interview. During the interview, she was presented with several hypothetical scenarios on things that could happen while she’s serving.

Even though applicants are allowed to put a location preference on their application, Johnson did not do so.

“I have a background in Spanish language, so if they wanted to send me to a Spanish country, they’ll see that I have that skill,” she said. “I was willing to take the challenge and knowing that it would be a surprise no matter what, even if I did put a preference on geographic region.”

She finally found out that she had been accepted into the program in the winter.

However, the nomination said she would be teaching in Northern Africa or in the Middle East. Without hesitation, she accepted.

Months later she found out she would be actually serving in Lesotho, which is in southern Africa.

Lesotho is a country that is landlocked by South Africa and is very mountainous. The country has a population of about 2 million, and is roughly the size of the state of Maryland

Mary Milroy, Johnson’s mother, said she was concerned for her safety when she heard of the initial location.

“My heart about sank when I heard where she would be initially,” she said. “I was a bit fearful for her safety. I told her if she ever feels unsafe to not hesitate to come home immediately.”

Johnson said she has been focusing on packing over the last few weeks, and is calm about her trip.

“We are allowed to bring 100 pounds of luggage, and they gave us a packing list and had feedback from volunteers in the country on what to bring,” she said. “They suggested a good set of knives because the quality of knives in Lesotho isn’t very good. They also said to bring recipes from home but you might have to substitute some local ingredients.”

When she arrives in Lesotho, she will be staying with a host family doing training until December. At that point, she will be inducted as a volunteer through December 2014.

“Right now we don’t really have the details on where in the country I’ll be staying for the two years,” she said. “I won’t even know too much about the conditions of the country until I get there. I’ll find out everything when I get there.”

During training, volunteers go through rigorous language instruction along with safety training and integration into the community.

“They want you to have a support network and develop friends and connections within the community, which is a great way to be safe,” Johnson said.

She departed from Omaha Tuesday, and will meet the rest of the volunteers going to Lesotho today (Wednesday) in Philadelphia for a two day orientation.

Lesotho has a high demand for English teachers.

“English teachers are in very high demand there because a lot of young men go to work in South Africa to send money back to their families,” Johnson said. “It helps a lot in South Africa if you have a background in English.”

She said that although she might get homesick, she is not planning on visiting her family in Yankton during her two years of service. Instead, with the two days a month of vacation time volunteers accrue, she plans on traveling around Africa. However, her family is planning a visit to Lesotho late next year to visit her.

“I’m really excited to be somewhere completely different and new,” Johnson said. “They told us that most volunteers there have either electricity or running water. However, a few have both and a few have neither. I think I would rather have running water if I had to choose.”

Despite being fairly calm for her trip, there are still things that make her  nervous.

“I’m really nervous because the country is so isolated,” she said. “There would never be a time in my life where communication has been so inhibited. Also, the language barrier will be tough to begin with.”

The official languages of Lesotho are Sesotho and English. However, many of the rural communities do not have a strong English background.

Johnson said the Peace Corps sent volunteers a phrase book with some pronunciations in it. However, she thinks being in the country will help break down the language barrier.

“What seems like a simple phrase will end up being like 30 syllables,” she said. “I’m going to sink or swim with the language, but hopefully I’ll catch on quickly.”

Despite not knowing a lot about the conditions she will face, Johnson has learned a little bit about the country by talking to volunteers that served there and doing research.

“The country looks really beautiful,” she said. “They have a lot of youth that are shepherds that look over herds.”

She said that there is a big tourism industry in Lesotho that features a lot of backpacking and outdoors activities. Lesotho even has one of the only ski resorts in Africa.

“I’ve heard that the native people are very friendly,” Johnson added. “The government has had a very positive relationship with Americans and with Peace Corps members.”

She praised the mentors she has had throughout her education, including teachers from YSD.

“The mentors I’ve had are a big reason why I did so much volunteering in college,” she said. “I think this will be a very formative and eye-opening  experience.”

Johnson is really hoping the experience will be one that challenges her.

“When you do new things that aren’t easy at first, you have a lot of room for growth,” she said. “I’m looking forward to seeing a way of life that most people around the world live like, that is so different than the way we live here.”

Johnson plans on keeping a blog of her experiences during her years of service in Africa to let her friends, family and members of the community what she is up to.

“I think this experience will help shape the kind of direction I want to take in the future,” she said. “It will undoubtedly change the way I look at things.”

You can follow Andrew Atwal on Twitter at twitter.com/andrewatwal

School Board Meeting

http://www.yankton.net/articles/2012/10/09/community/doc50739afee8ef3489804262.txt

 

School Board Hears Report On YSD Counselor Impact

By Andrew Atwal
andrew.atwal@yankton.net
Published: Tuesday, October 9, 2012 1:07 AM CDT

The Yankton School District (YSD) school board heard a report Monday night on the Lewis and Clark and YSD drug and alcohol counselor and the effects that is having on students in YSD.

School board officials also approved a change to the open enrollment policy of YSD to comply with a new state law.

Tiffany Kashas, who is employed by Lewis and Clark Behavioral Health, has been working full-time at Yankton High School (YHS) and Yankton Middle School (YMS) as a drug and alcohol counselor.

When officials were discussing changing the curriculum and hiring a counselor for the district, they realized they needed to address three areas: having a partnership between community members and YSD, having the funding in place to hire a counselor and implementing evidence-based practices in the district.

“We have made substantial progress in each of those three areas,” said Dr. Tom Stanage, CEO of Lewis and Clark Behavioral Health.

Funding for the counselor was provided through a grant. As the program continues to evolve, officials from YSD and Lewis and Clark will hold weekly meetings.

“The counselor has been working at YHS and YMS with the current drug and alcohol policies in place at the schools,” Stanage said. “This has been a very positive process for Lewis and Clark and YSD. We need to see more of these kinds of things in the community.”

Stanage added that a majority of the funding from the grant is contingent on tracking students’ outcomes who go through the program.

“We’re focusing on prevention with the education series,” Kashas said.

The education series includes components on coping skills, being an adolescent, and drug and alcohol prevention, among others. Currently, the program is in place for sixth graders and freshmen at YHS.

The program includes a number of worksheets, activities and discussion items for students.

“So far we’ve gotten a very positive response from parents,” Kashas noted.

YHS principal Dr. Wayne Kindle added that Kashas has been beneficial to the district.

“Tiffany is not a teacher by nature, and it’s hard to just get up in front of kids and talk,” he said. “She’s been great to have for YSD.”

Kindle added that last year there were 12 drug or alcohol incidents on campus. So far this year that number is already at six, but he is hoping the rate will level off with the help from Kashas.

He also said that the drug and alcohol policy has changed at YHS.

Previously a student with an incident would have a suspension of up to a semester. Now there is an automatic 10-day out-of-school suspension. With that, there is a recommendation of a 35-day suspension. However, officials will give the student a memorandum, and if he/she agrees to the terms, the suspension will be curbed to 25 days. But with the 10 days served, the total suspension will be at an additional 15 days.

This new policy also allows students a rotation option that allows the suspension to be served every other week, allowing students to get caught up on work. Students would work with the counselor upon their return to school.

In other business the board heard from Warren Brenner, who works with technology at YSD, provided an update on the long-range technology plan of the district and talked about how much progress has been made with technology in the district.

Some of the goals of the technology plan at YSD going forward, Brenner said, include continuing to update the phone system in the district, preparing for the new generation of technology available to students and staff, and continuing to update infrastructure to keep up with current needs and demands.

• The school board also approved Kathy Greeneway as the official YSD delegate to the annual Associated School Boards of South Dakota (ASBSD) meeting in Pierre in November and vowed to support her effort to win the election to the ASBSD executive committee.

• Officials were also briefed on ballot issues for the election by Rep. Bernie Hunhoff that could have implications on education in the state.

• Also on the agenda officials approved moving the Nov. 12 board meeting to Nov. 19 because of the Veteran’s Day holiday.

You can follow Andrew Atwal on Twitter at twitter.com/andrewatwal

High School Freshman Picture Frames

http://yankton.net/articles/2012/10/06/community/doc506f72d164fb3984642243.txt

 

Framing The Future For YHS Freshman

Ellison Fedders uses the back of fellow YHS freshman Becky Frick to write notes on the back of a letter that will be framed by the students and used as a motivation toward reaching their goals for graduation in 2016. (Kelly Hertz/P&D)

Program Aims To Add Motivation For Graduation

By Andrew Atwal
andrew.atwal@yankton.net
Published: Saturday, October 6, 2012 12:15 AM CDT
The Yankton High School (YHS) freshman class gathered in their homerooms on Friday morning and were presented a unique gift.

Each freshman was given a picture frame with a note inside that displayed their graduation date in 2016. Students and teachers signed each other’s notes and placed them in the frames as a reminder to keep your eyes on the prize and graduate from high school and achieve future dreams.

“One of the most important moments in the life of a parent is to see their son or daughter graduate high school with their diploma,” said Dr. Wayne Kindle, principal at YHS. “This is a goal and an expectation we share here at Yankton High School.”

The note from Dr. Kindle reads:

“Please accept this gift as a small token of my appreciation for your attending Yankton High School. More importantly, I hope this picture frame will serve as a reminder about the importance of graduation. Your high school years will go by very quickly and graduation Sunday will be here soon.

“Graduation from Yankton High School is an expectation and is something your family has looked forward to since you entered Kindergarten. We share your goal of graduating with your class. Enjoy the next four years at YHS. Mark your calendar!”

It also lists the graduation date of May 22, 2016.

Amy Miner, one of the freshman homeroom teachers, said she thinks the note is a great idea.

“The picture frames should really help students encourage them for what they want,” she said. “It will help them accomplish their goals in high school and in the future.”

She added that the frames should help students focus, especially with their first grading term just about a week away.

“This is a really wonderful focusing tool,” Miner added. “The theory is that they’ll place them somewhere and periodically look at them for encouragement and to see the encouraging notes peers wrote for them. If they manage to get the frames home and safe, they will serve as a wonderful inspiration.”

Tanner Dykstra, a freshman at YHS, said he is excited about the picture frames.

“It makes me really excited to graduate,” he said. “It will keep motivating me throughout high school.”

He added that he will place the frame in his bedroom.

Heather Olson, another freshman homeroom teacher, said the frames should have a positive impact on students.

“Some students still can’t believe that graduation is coming up in a few years,” she said. “The students will write their goals on the frame and then look at them every so often. It helps when they can visually see a graduation date.”

Freshman Skylar Elle said he thinks the frame will really help him throughout high school.

“It’s a really good idea and will be a good motivation for students,” he said. “It should help kids in school and will encourage me to keep getting good grades.”

Kindle said he hopes the frames help students to keep their goals in mind and keep them on track to graduate in 2016.

“We know the four-year journey in high school begins in the student’s ninth grade year,” he said. “When I became principal here six years ago, we had a high number of freshman students failing more than one class and becoming in jeopardy of not graduating with their class in four years. Since that time, we have put our arms around this issue through our Freshman Focus program.”

The goal of the program is to help students stay on track to graduate.

“Along with other components, including the improvement of attendance, homework completion, student responsibility and keeping the goal of graduation as a focus, we have made great progress,” Kindle added. “We also credit our wonderful teachers for the great things they do for our students at YHS.”

He noted that the graduation rate has risen to 96 percent this past year, while the state average is at 81.5 percent.

“I wanted something to remind our students of their graduation goal,” Kindle said. “I thought a photo frame would serve as an ongoing reminder of this.”

Kindle thanked the Yankton Morning Optimist Club and the Yankton Wal-Mart for their contributions to assist in funding the picture frame project.

“Students can use their personal comments or goals as a time capsule of sorts, which they can look at when they get to their senior year and place their senior photo in the frame,” Kindle said.

Cody Dejong said the picture frames will help him over the next several years.

“The frame is going to help to accomplish bigger, better things in high school,” he said. “It will really help me a lot to get better grades.”

You can follow Andrew Atwal on Twitter at twitter.com/andrewatwal

School Lunch Guidelines

http://yankton.net/articles/2012/10/04/community/doc506d021d8e6b6484986662.txt

 

Students, Schools Have Beef With New Lunch Guidelines

Students at Yankton High School help themselves to fruit and vegetables during lunch on Wednesday. Among the new school lunch guidelines in place, students are required to have a fruit or vegetable each day at lunch. (Andrew Atwal/P&D)

School Districts Adjusting Meal Options To Meet New Guidelines

By Andrew Atwal
andrew.atwal@yankton.net
Published: Thursday, October 4, 2012 1:07 AM CDT

School districts around the country have been adjusting their meal options in order to comply with the new federal guidelines on school lunches that took effect this fall.

South Dakota schools haven’t been spared by the changes.

In a survey conducted last month of superintendents across the state, 90.7 percent said their schools had been affected by the new mandates. Ninety-nine responses were received of  the 152 distributed.

Among the high school requirements instituted by the U.S. Department of Agriculture are an 850-calorie limit, milk that is nonfat or low-fat, one cup each of fruit and vegetables, 2 ounces of protein and 2 ounces of grains per day.

Middle schools have a 700-calorie cap, while the elementary schools have a 650 calorie maximum.

In the coming decade there will also be a maximum amount of sodium students can be served for their lunches.

In the survey, 73.2 percent of the superintendents said they had heard student complaints about not getting enough to eat. Also, 48.5 percent said the number of sack lunches being brought to school had increased.

More than two thirds of the respondents — 72.2 percent — said they would support a freeze on the new rules until further study of the issue could be done.

Rep. Kristi Noem (R.-S.D.) met with Sandi Kramer, YSD’s food services director, on Wednesday to discuss the changes. Additionally, Sen. John Thune got an earful about the new rules from students during a visit to the Yankton High School last week.

“The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) increased the fruit and vegetable totals that we have to serve students across the board,” Kramer told the Press & Dakotan Wednesday. “They’re treating fruits and vegetables separately now. They used to be one food group; they’re now considered two separate groups.”

Kramer added one of the biggest changes with the new rules is there is now a maximum amount of protein allowed to be served to students, when it used to be a minimum amount.

“At the high school level, we used to give about one grain daily and up to 15 each week, and now it’s a maximum amount of 10-12 grains that we are allowed to serve,” she said.

Kramer said the biggest thing she has had to deal with so far is the calorie counts that she is required to serve students.

“The minimum amount of calories that we were allowed to serve high school students was 825, now the maximum we can serve is 850,” she said.

She noted that the when the old guidelines were in effect, high school lunches would average between 900-1,000 calories per lunch.

“When we were planning our kids’ meals at school, we would figure about one-third of the calories they would eat were at lunch,” Kramer said. “However, studies have shown that an active average teenager will burn about 3,000 calories per day, and if a kid does sports, this could be up to 6,000 calories each day.”

Another change officials have had to deal with is that kids now must have a fruit or vegetable on their plate at lunch. Schools must serve different vegetables every day, including serving one dark green vegetable each week, which could include broccoli. Schools must also serve a bean each week.

“I have been experimenting with different bean recipes for the kids’ lunches,” Kramer said.

Kramer noted that officials from the USDA have been telling schools there is not that big of a change from the old guidelines, except now students are getting the fruits and vegetables they need.

“If you just looked at the minimum amounts, there really is not a whole lot of difference, but if you look at the maximums and what we served before, there is a big difference,” she said. “The new guidelines were hard to plan for because there were so many different components that we needed to absorb. I think that if we could rewind this whole thing, I wish they would have given us a year or two to transition between the old and new guidelines to make it easier on the kids.”

Kramer said it takes her a lot more time to work out the menus now with the new guidelines. She is also required to send worksheets to the USDA with the weekly menus to be approved, a process that is very time consuming.

A concern that she has is whether lawmakers in Washington took the time to read the bill when it was on their desks.

“This was a bill that was passed by the House and Senate and was about 288 pages long. I doubt that very many representatives actually really read the bill and absorbed it all, so now we are feeling the repercussions of it,” Kramer said. “Somewhere, we need to find a medium here. Lunch is a lot of the kids’ main meals for the day, so when you start cutting back from their lunch, it is difficult to keep the kids from going hungry.”

She said that parents have called her office to complain about some of the changes. One parent asked why she was not serving the full amount of allotted calories in a given meal. Since the call, Kramer said she has concentrated on serving the maximum amount of calories each meal.

“I’m always trying to think of ways I can squeeze in 50 or 70 more calories to give kids the maximum amount of calories they are allowed to have,” Kramer said.

She added that, even with the changes, students are allowed to have an unlimited amount of fruits and vegetables during lunch.

“I really prefer that kids take what they can eat and not waste it, then come back and get more if they want,” Kramer said. “Middle school kids have always done that, but more high school kids are doing it now.”

Although it is unlikely the USDA will change the law, officials are still taking comments and concerns that students, parents and school officials have with it. Officials from the USDA will meet with concerned citizens in Brandon Valley on Oct. 10.

Despite the new guidelines, Kramer said there has not been as big of a change in the lunches at YSD as some other schools in the state have felt.

“Some small schools have offered their students unlimited bread or milk, but we didn’t do that here,” she said.

Kramer said the changes have all been a work in progress, and some schools around the state have been confused by the new guidelines and what qualifies as a fruit or vegetable. However, she hopes everything will be figured out within the next several months.

“The bottom line is the USDA wouldn’t be making these changes if they thought there was not a problem,” she said. “I just wish we could have a little bit more flexibility with how we feed our kids.”

Kramer added that parents and children must be patient because the schools will eventually find a balance with the new guidelines and the food being served. However, she thinks that the guidelines may be too strict on schools.

“School lunches didn’t necessarily make children obese; there are other factors there, including what happens after school. But we need to all set good examples for our kids,” she said. “This isn’t a one-size-fits-all thing, but there is nothing wrong with a kid putting a fruit or vegetable on their plate as part of their lunch.”

You can follow Andrew Atwal on Twitter at twitter.com/andrewatwal

South Dakota NCLB Waiver

YSD Leaves Behind NCLB Law

School District Looks Ahead, Prepares For New Education Standards

By Andrew Atwal
andrew.atwal@yankton.net
Published: Wednesday, October 3, 2012 1:08 AM CDT

Officials in the Yankton School District (YSD) are looking forward to moving away from No Child Left Behind (NCLB) and towards the new Common Core standards, already adopted by many other states.

The new standards allow schools to show themselves as being successful if they demonstrate growth and students’ test scores show improvement over time.

Kathy Wagner, director of student services at YSD, said that even with the new standards, teachers and officials in the district want to continue improving scores with students with disabilities and maintain the scores with other subgroups.

“This school year will be the first year with the new model,” Wagner said. “Last September, officials started to develop the new accountability model at the state level.”

She added that last year’s test scores were based on NCLB, while next spring’s test scores will be with the Common Core model.

The new model will also only count students one time. The NCLB model could have students counted more than once if they fell into multiple subgroups.

All of the changes will be in place in 2014-15.

With the new standards, the state will publish a list of schools assigned into one of three categories:

• A priority school will fall into the bottom 5 percent of schools in the state, and the state will try to help the school improve a great deal.

• A focus school will fall into the middle of the pack, with the state helping the school.

• A reward school will be where a majority of the schools are supposed to fall into, and is the highest rating a school can achieve.

The new guidelines will hold schools accountable based on achievement, academic growth, attendance, or college or career readiness, effective teachers and principals, and school climate.

“In order for the state to get their waiver approved by the feds, they needed to include all five of those categories,” Wagner said. “The state is still in a committee in order to determine how they will score some of the categories, including school climate.”

Districts across South Dakota will have two years to get the standards fully implemented, which are based on a 100-point scale, with each factor getting its own point rating.

“We are in a wait-and-see mode to see how all the indicators will be developed and assessed,” Wagner added.

She said that state officials are considering using the Charlotte Danielson model as a tool for evaluating teachers. However, the Danielson model was never intended to be an evaluation tool; it was to be used as a way to make teachers more effective, but in a non-threatening, non-evaluation way. So the South Dakota Education Association is fighting against using the Danielson model as the framework for teacher evaluations.

“Most districts across the state think they should be able to assess teachers the way they want, and not have it be a statewide standard,” Wagner said. “At YSD, we have some of the most rigorous standards for evaluating our teachers. They are very comprehensive standards that we have set out for our teacher     evaluations.”

YSD Superintendent Dr. Joe Gertsema dded: “We don’t believe we need help from the state or federal government when evaluating our teachers. We believe our evaluating system is working.”

Some of the ways that officials in YSD evaluate teachers include going through pages of criteria for teacher standards, along with doing observations of teachers throughout the year.

Next spring’s test scores will serve as the baseline level scores for YSD.

As part of the college and career readiness indicator, ACT scores will be used to assess how ready a student is for a job or for a college education. However, Wagner notes that not all students take the ACT, so another test will have to be offered to students free of charge to help determine if a student is college or career ready.

“You can’t force someone to pay for a test that they’re using at the state level,” Wagner said.

The new standards will also have a gap group that is an aggregate count of student groups in the state that have historically experienced achievement gaps — basically, students that need some extra help. This group will include African-American, Native American, Hispanic, economically disadvantaged, students with disabilities, migrant and limited English proficient students. The non-gap group will consist of the rest of the subgroups.

South Dakota Department of Education Secretary Dr. Melody Schopp said in a statement that the gap group concept serves the state well for several different reasons. First, by aggregating the count of students within the subgroups, more schools can focus on the students that are struggling or are in the gap group. In addition, by using the gap and non-gap group for accountability purposes, it ensures that each student counts only one time when considering student achievement.

Under NCLB, a student could fall into a number of subgroups (for example, economically disadvantaged, a student with disabilities and limited English proficient — this would have counted the student three times). Under this system, a student is only counted once.

Taking on a new system will demand some preparation, Gertsema said.

“Every time you undergo a mandatory change from the state or federal government, there will be an expense there for training,” he said. “There is a lot of new training           involved.”

“Holding schools accountable for their test results isn’t a bad thing,” Wagner said.

You can follow Andrew Atwal on Twitter at twitter.com/andrewatwal

 

http://yankton.net/articles/2012/10/03/community/doc506bb0613048f256518026.txt

Internet Connectivity & Development

By Andrew Atwal
andrew.atwal@yankton.net

As time has gone on, more businesses in Yankton and surrounding areas have moved into the wireless network age.

One of those businesses is Ben’s Brewing, a bar in Yankton.

Ben’s first opened in 2005 and has been a thriving bar ever since.

Ben Hanten, general manager at Ben’s, said he decided to have the wireless network in the bar from the day it opened seven years ago.

“I felt as if it was a necessary service for our customers,” he said. “When I’m out of town, I’d always be looking for a wireless network to connect to.

Hanten added that the network gets used every day, but he’s seeing much less laptop use now, and more phones and tablets connecting to the network.

One of the changes he has noticed in the area is more businesses offering free wireless for their customers. Hanten said that when the bar first opened in 2005, there were only a few businesses that offered wireless, and they would have big signs promoting the offering. Now most businesses in town are offering a network for customers, he said.

Another way that the bar connects with customers is through the Frontflip smartphone application.

Frontflip is an application that allows businesses to build relationships with customers and acts as an engagement platform. The application lets customers use their phone scanner and potentially win instant prizes at the business. Owners can then reach out to customers later on by sending targeted gifts directly to their phone.

“It’s a nice way to reach customers because it allows me to see who is using it and how often they are using it,” Hanten said.

Frontflip charges Ben’s a monthly fee for the service, which launched this spring. Hanten noted that it is currently being used about 400 times a month.

Other area businesses in Yankton that offer free wireless to their customers include Burger King, Hy-Vee, Kentucky Fried Chicken / Taco Bell, The Landing Bar, Magilly’s Broadway Eatery, Marketplace Cafe, McDonalds, Pizza Ranch, Minervas, Riverside Park, the Yankton Community Library and the Visitors Center.

In addition to businesses offering customers free wireless networks, many cellular phone providers have also expanded their 4G internet connectivity options to subscribers in the area.
Verizon Wireless recently brought 4G coverage to the area, and also recently activated a new cell site in Yankton, which further expanded its coverage in the area.

The cell site which was recently activated is located near the intersection of U.S. Highway 81 and West Eighth St. The site improves coverage area for Verizon subscribers on north to west 20th street, areas south of the Missouri River, east to Burleigh street and west to Summit street.

“South Dakotans are increasingly relying on smartphones and applications to manage their busy lives and to stay connected at home or on-the-go,” said Seamus Hyland, president of the Verizon

Wireless Great Plans region, in a statement. “This new cell site is part of our continual investment in our network so our customers can use their devices when, where and how they need them.”

In addition, SDN Communications, a business-to-business broadband service provider in South Dakota and surrounding states, has continued to expand fiber optic connectivity in Yankton.

Yankton was the fourth city in South Dakota to benefit from the company’s $25 million expansion, $20 million of which was provided through the federal stimulus-funded Broadband Technology Opportunities Program.

The construction, which is projected to be done by the end of this year, will add 359 miles of new fiber optic cable to the state and benefit 75 communities. That will mean increased broadband access to more than 300 hospitals, schools and government facilities.

Earlier this fall, Verizon Wireless continued its expansion of service in southeastern South Dakota by further enhancing its 4G Long Term Evolution (LTE) network.

The expanded coverage area includes Freeman, Canton, Parker, Viborg and Yankton, as well as U.S. Highway 81 north of Yankton to Freeman; east of U.S. Highway 81 on U.S. Highway 18 and State Highway 44 to Interstate 29 and east on I-29 from U.S. Highway 18 to the Iowa border.

“The expansion of our 4G high-speed network will enable customers to use their 4G LTE devices in more parts of South Dakota to stay in touch with family, friends and colleagues, all with speeds up to 10 times faster than before,” Seamus Hyland, president-Great Plains Region, Verizon Wireless, said in a statement.

You can follow Andrew Atwal on Twitter at twitter.com/andrewatwal