1. Secondary Principal ’ s Report January 13 th, 2014

2. Mission Statement The mission of the Pender Public School District is to provide quality educational opportunities in a safe, positive learning environment that motivates and challenges all students to become productive and responsible citizens.

3. Workshops/Meetings Attended Past Meetings/Trainings Jan. 3C4L Training Jan. 8Pender Booster Club Meeting Future Meetings/Trainings Jan. 28Principals Meeting @ ESU #1 Feb. 11Student Assistance Team Training @ ESU #1 Feb. 13 Math Training @ ESU #1 Feb. 17 Para Conference in Kearney Feb. 20SPED Teaching Meeting @ ESU #1

4. Student Assemblies None

5. Foreign Exchange Students Nora Wilhelm – 16 year old female from Switzerland, living with Doug and Chris Morgan Abdulkadir (AK) Ibrahim -16 year old male from Denmark, living with Mark Graf/Linda Pasewalk from Emerson Leoni Koerber – 16 year old female from Germany, living with Clay and Haley Haymart Johann Feistner – 17 year old male from Germany, living with Brad and Kathy Morgan. Barbora Exrova – 17 year old female from the Czech Republic, living with Kevin and Shelly Kirkland.

6. Winter Activity Review Dragon Flames – Participated in a dance competition a E-H High School – 2 nd in Pom & 2 nd in Hip-Hop Wrestling – Good performance at Wisner Invite this last weekend. – Mark Dunn and Jacob Sebade placed 1 st. – Josh Davis and Benny Oliver placed 2 nd. – Leland Bowder and Chris Kai placed 3 rd. – Team placed 3 rd. Boys Basketball – Boys are working hard – Setting personal/team performance goals – Current record stands at 1-11 Girls Basketball – Won Bob Clough Tournament – Finishing a tough stretch of games tomorrow night in Homer – Current record is 11-1

7. Winter Benchmark Tests Winter MAPs testing was completed prior to Christmas. Results and interpretation guides were mailed home Teachers all received a copy of results as well. Used to guide instruction in the classroom. Next MAP benchmark is in March 17-28

8. NeSA Testing Nebraska State Accountability testing is right around the corner. Testing windows are as follows: NeSA – Writing Jan. 20-Feb. 7 NeSA – ELDA Feb. 10- March 21 NeSA – Reading, Math, Science March 24-May 2 Teachers are preparing students now for success during the testing window.

9. G.O.O.S.E. G.O.O.S.E. stands for Get Out of School Early I cover 1 st or 8 th period for the receiving teacher/paraprofessional Can cover the period after lunch for coaches/sponsors who cannot come late or leave early Given as recognition for a job well done GOOSE recipient this month is Tiffany Beckman Tiffany does an exceptional job with our special education students Working with Lisa Maise Giving so much of her time and effort Congratulations Tiffany!!

10. Mentoring Need for mentoring program has come up on multiple occasions. Looked at Teammates in the past, revisited this program. Asked Andrea Hansen to help Jenny and I gather information/lead this charge. Several other local school districts participate in the Teammates program (Wisner-Pilger, West Point-Beemer, Wayne, Oakland-Craig, Stanton) and feel that it benefits not only the students but the community as a whole. Guidelines for starting a Teammates chapter direct districts to first establish need. In speaking with elementary and high school staff we have identified approximately 30 students who could potentially benefit from the program. Our next steps are to identify businesses/local community members that are willing to participate, should a local Teammate chapter be formed. We will then present this information to the board and ask for your formal approval.

11. Backpack Program Have students in our district that our in need of nutritious and easy-to-prepare food for the weekends/vacations. Have been working with the local ministerium to meet our most obvious needs. Staff member donated/packed bags of food for Christmas break. Jenny and I believe it is time to move forward with a formalized program. South Sioux School, Oakland-Craig, Cross-County are examples of districts who already participate. Looking into guidelines for starting a program. Will bring you make more information next month.