Superintendent Message (December 8, 2010)

Team,

I've seen many emails come across my desk this week from our employees and patrons organizing events to help needy children in our community. I am humbled that so many of you continue to find ways to help our children outside of your "normal" job responsibilities. Thank you for all you do to ensure that the children in our community not only have a quality education, but also a happy holiday season. Thanks.

Jay Hummel's signature

Celebration of Our Superheros!

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If you have a celebration that you'd like to share, we encourage you visit our news web site and select the "Rumors, Questions and Feedback" tab. Congratulations to the following amazing members of the Kuna School District:

  • Congratulations to KHS senior Zoe Wiedenfeld who was selected as the recipient of the United Dairymen of Idaho Distinguished Student Award! Zoe's interview with KTVB will air on Dec. 30. Zoe is the daughter of Kuna School District teachers Mike and Linda Wiedenfeld.

 

  • The following celebration was submitted by Dawn Stephens, Transportation Office Manager:

"This week, I received a phone call from a parent that was looking for his first grade student at Crimson Point Elementary. His son was supposed to have waited to be picked up and the father could not find him. He asked if I could radio the son's bus to see if he had gotten on the bus. I radioed the bus driver and he called out for the student and received no response. I relayed to the father that no one had responded to the driver. As it turned out, the child was on the bus. But when you have 70 elementary students on a school bus for 15 minutes, it is very difficult to put names to little faces. I thought about how to help drivers with this situation. Schoolmaster has beautiful photographs of each student. So I called my friend and co-worker Ann Kollmann and asked if there was some way to sort the student photos in Schoolmaster by bus numbers to assist the drivers. Today, Ann appeared in my office with step-by-step instructions printed out for me and spent a portion her valuable time teaching me how to run a report she created especially for the bus drivers in Schoolmaster. This information will be invaluable to the bus drivers! To have such a wonderful person be willing to spend extra time going above and beyond her own "area" to assist employees in other departments is truly worth recognizing. Too many times extra effort goes unnoticed. I would like to help ensure this is not one of those times."

  • The following celebration was submitted by Dave Dineen, Indian Creek/Ross Music Specialist:

"In my 19 years of teaching music, I have never had a group so willing to help when needed. My „Salute to Veterans' program went without a hitch in a large part due to the help of the district maintenance crew, especially Ranger and Ben. These guys always have everything set up in a timely manner and ask if any more help is needed! Clean up/tear down is also a snap. Somehow all my equipment always ends up back where it belongs and in great condition! Also, I recently put in a request to have 11 guitars hung in my classroom. Shauna and Terry made sure it was done over the Thanksgiving break. Terry did a great job! He not only put up the hangars, but unpacked the new guitars, broke down boxes, and hung the guitars for me!

If I left anyone off, I apologize. The whole crew is awesome! I salute you all for all the unselfish help I receive from you!"

Updates

Newspagper with EXTRA as headline
  • Snow Day and Employee Expectations

The State Department of Education allows us approximately two days to accommodate for emergency closures such as snow days. If we ever went beyond the two days allotted for emergency closure, we would have to extend the school year to make-up for the time lost with students. This is just one of the many items we consider when cancelling school for emergencies such as the bad weather we had last week. So how do emergency closures impact employees? When we cancel school for an emergency such as extreme weather, we do not expect employees to come to work. Of course, we depend on some employees to help with the operations of the district. For example, our maintenance and custodial employees were hard at work last Wednesday clearing the parking lots and sidewalks of snow. For those employees who we depend on to work on days that school has been canceled, we've asked supervisors to work with their employees individually to acknowledge their help to make our schools safe. So what should you write on your timecard for Dec. 1? All employees who did not work on Dec. 1 should record the hours on your timecard that you normally would have worked on Dec. 1 had we not closed school. Next to the hours you record, list "snow day." We have recently reviewed our emergency closure process and will be sending all of our employees this document once it is finished.

  • Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs Auditions

Auditions for the Missoula Children's Theatre production of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs are coming January 24, 2011 at Crimson Point Elementary. Auditions are open to students in kindergarten – 12th grade. Get details by visiting the following website: http://www.crimsonpointpta.org/Programs/MissoulaChildrensTheatre.htm

  • Help KHS Make Rhea’s Wish Come True

Kuna High School has partnered with Make-A-Wish for the third year to sponsor a child's wish. This year's child is named Rhea, and her wish is to go to Disney World. Rhea is currently battling a liver disease and is on a transplant list, but the possibility of Rhea receiving a liver transplant is uncertain. Kuna High School has been working meet Rhea's wish to go to Disney World and is looking for help from the school district community. You can help KHS students make Rhea's wish come true by participating in one of the following:

  1. Attend December 9th Benefit Concert at KHS.
  2. Bring your family for an evening of fun and entertainment. The event will feature the local band Sixdown, local KHS student bands, the KHS Glee Club, and the winner of the 2010 KHS Talent Show.
    • Cost: $3 per person
    • Place: Kuna High School Auditorium
    • Date: 12/9/2010
    • Time: 7:30 - 9:00 PM
  3. Attend a KHS girls' home basketball game and make a donation at the door or participate in the 50/50 raffle.
  4. Make a Donation: Drop by Kuna High School and give a "Make-A-Wish" donation in the front office.

Rumor Mill

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Have You Heard a Rumor and Want to Know the Answer? Post your question at KSD News! It is easy for rumors to get started in light of all the questions and concerns employees and parents have regarding the future of the Kuna School District. If you've heard a rumor that you'd like to get an "official" response on, we encourage you to visit news web site. Select the "Rumors, Questions and Feedback" tab.

Rumor: ....I attended the boys basketball this past Saturday evening. It was so cold in the gym that all spectators were wearing coats and jackets. I had on a light jacket but had to leave half way through the varsity game to go home and warm up. Is this a cost saving measure? If so I'll break out my parka for the next game.
Fact: ....We have six heaters in the gym. We did discover last weekend that we were having trouble with one unit. However, one unit not working correctly should not have made the gym this cold. Thanks for this feedback, we have notified the Athletic Director to make sure that people maintenance personnel are notified when these things happen.

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