By Lorraine Duitsman
Sunday, February 18, 2024

2/18/24 Principal Newsletter

By Lorraine Duitsman
Sunday, February 18, 2024

Dear Parent and Student and Educator,

There is no school on Monday for students and staff in observance of President’s Day. 

This week is National FFA Week. Please join our FFA students in the following dress up days: 

Monday: No school; Tuesday: Flannel Day; Wednesday: Red, White and Blue Day; Thursday: Camo Day; Friday: Blue + Gold.  Student dress must still follow dress code expectations, for example: appropriate coverage and content.  Hats will be allowed this week in common areas if they meet the theme days / requirements, but should be taken off in the classroom.

FFA Week

See the following link for additional high school announcements.

Congratulations to our Students of the Week!  We had a lot of students to celebrate this week for positive behaviors of “Respect, Achieve and Improve, Make an Effort, and Serve Others”!

Students of the Week

New Learning Opportunity: Certificate programs 

We are excited to announce that IWCC certificate programs will start at SWITCH (located near Malvern on HWY 34) in August 2024. Glenwood High School is partnering with SWITCH and IWCC to offer the following two certification programs: Electromechanical and Certified Nursing Assistant (CNA). Prerequisites: Electromechanical students:  will benefit from three years of math, but these are not required. CNA students: must be 16 years of age or older to take the State of Iowa CNA exam and work in a care facility. Priority will be given to students who have completed coursework relating to these pathways: for example, career and technical education coursework and health and science coursework at GHS. Students are required to be in good standing for attendance and behavior and be highly motivated to participate.

We have a couple of videos for CNA  and Electromechanical for school partners to share with students so they know what the IWCC CTE programs at SWITCH will entail, especially the Electromechanical class. The videos are from a different college with slightly different coursework and equipment than IWCC will provide. 

We are asking for preliminary student numbers regarding how many students from your school district plan to attend SWITCH for the IWCC Electromechanical or CNA certificate programs this fall. Additionally, the SWITCH Director/Career Coach, Kattie Lewis, is available to visit with administrators, counselors, parents, students, or classes to further assist our school district. 

If you are interested in either of these programs, contact Mrs. Rodenburg, 11th/12th counselor.

Please see below for some reminders this month: (Many of these are repeats from the last newsletter, but timely and important, so I am including them again.)

Please help us to nominate our Teachers of the Year:The Glenwood Community School Foundation is excited to present the 2024 John A. Gregory Teacher of the Year. Nominations are open!   Nominate a teacher who inspires students to reach their highest academic potential. The finalist will receive $500 from John B. Gregory, Farm Bureau Financial Services Agent, with an additional $500 from the Glenwood Community School Foundation for use in their classroom or content area. Nominations are open until March 1. https://shorturl.at/hAHJK

News: Please see Mr. Bissen’s Weekly AD Email for updates to activities schedules/events.

Winter Formal “Snowball” will be on Saturday, February 24th.  Cost is $3, tickets will be on sale beginning February 16th–23rd before school and during lunch. Tickets must be purchased prior to the dance. The student council is organizing a fun night for Glenwood High School students, which will include some activities, such as pickle ball and corn hole, ping pong, etc… Students may not leave the dance / activities after entry and return. Activities that follow the dance are low intensity, so we encourage you to just kick off your shoes (no dress shoes worn on gym floors) and stay dressed in your outfit and enjoy the fun. That is probably the easiest thing to do! If you plan to bring a change of comfy clothes, items/bags will need to be checked in to the library upon arrival. 

Snowball

Boys and Girls State: Juniors this opportunity is for you!

The American Legion would like to send some of our juniors to Boys and Girls State this summer.  This is a program to teach about our Government, how to run for an office, and team work. We also offer a Lawyers program; State Troopers program; and the Army Guard will run them through the obstacle course. The American Legion Post 141 has 4 open slots this year and if we get more then 4 we can find a Post to sponsor. Contact Mrs. Duitsman for more information and complete this questionnaire by 29 February 2024. Make a copy and share the Google Document with Mrs. Duitsman or print off and complete to turn into the office. Girls State is June 16-21st in Des Moines, IA.  Boys State is June 23-28th in Johnston, IA.

Senior Information & Scholarship Update: Reminder to keep checking the Senior Document.

Caps and Gowns: Jostens was at the school on February 9th delivering orders to students of pre-ordered caps and gowns. Students who missed this at lunch, and who pre-ordered these, stop by in the main office to pick up your order. If you have not yet ordered your cap and gown or graduation products, see below for information about how to order: In order to ensure on time delivery of cap and gown regalia, we ask that all remaining cap and gown orders be placed before March 1st .   Orders can continue to be placed at Jostens.com.

Scholarships: Opportunities for scholarships are sent through email to students as well as placed on the Senior Document.  Dollars for Scholars and Local Scholarships: This information has been previously communicated to students in email and shared with them in a Dollars for Scholars presentation. 2024 Local Scholarship Request Form

Local Scholarship timeline:

Feb 12 - Request form due (students select scholarships of interest for their packet.) Deadline passed. 

Feb 22 - Hand out packets to students of applications

March 18 - Applications due back

April 28th - Senior Awards Night @ 6pm

Attached is the powerpoint from the Dollars for Scholars presentation for reference. 

Dollars for Scholars Student Presentation 2024

Dollars for Scholars Link (55 scholarships):glenwood.dollarsforscholars.org

 

Requesting a Transcript request from school official:

Paulina Rodenburg; rodenburgpau@glenwoodschools.org; 712-527-4897

 

Have a great week RAMS! 

Mrs. Lorraine Duitsman

duitsmanlor@glenwoodschools.org