Creston St. Malachy 403 W. Clark 641-782-7125 www.crestonstmalachy.org
Catholic Schools Week
The National Catholic Educational Association and The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops
www.ncea.org/catholicschoolsweek ©2013 NCEA/USCCB • catholicschoolsweek.ncea. org
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From Father Halbur Here at St Malachy School, we have a long and rich tradition of educating children. We have Fr. Halbur been open for 143 years and have had thousands of children graduate and, in some cases, five generations of students. I hope and pray that with God’s grace we can be around in another 143 years. There are many challenges to running a good school, but the blessings far outweigh those challenges. All I have to do to remind me of those blessings is to walk into the playground, the classrooms, the lunchroom, or to celebrate Mass with the students and I can see those many blessings
looking back at me. The children have such a thirst for learning that gives me hope in our present and future generations. So many times you hear the bad things that happen or how students are doing things wrong, but there is a wonder and goodness in the children that I see. One of the wonderful things about the children attending a Catholic school is that they can pray openly and freely, asking God for what they need and desire. St Malachy is much more than just a school; it is a family of students, parents, administrators, teachers, alumni, and parishioners. The passion of all of those who attend and support this school makes it the place where students can grow in faith and excel in academics to be leaders in improving society.
From Principal Walsh On April 26, 2013, Pope Francis tweeted: “Dear young people, do not bury your talents, the gifts that God has given you! Do not be afraid to dream of great things.” St. Malachy School seeks to develop an environment in which our students are able to discover their gifts and dream of great things. At St. Malachy we seek to help each student grow and learn so that they are able to follow their dreams. While emphasis is placed on faith, academics and leadership we understand the importance of developing community and providing a positive learning environment. The school is involved in three programs aimed at developing community and providing a positive learning environment. The first of these programs is Knights of Honor,
a research based bully prevention program aimed at reducing bullying incidents among stu- Walsh dents, preventing the development of new incidents, and developing better peer relationships at school. Highlights of this program include faculty and staff training, classroom meetings, and parent education. The second program aimed at developing community and providing a positive environment is Capturing Kids Hearts, a program in which school and classroom environments are enhanced through the development of trusting, respectful and caring relationships. Highlights of this pro-
gram include teacher training, handling discipline issues in a productive manner, and daily acknowledgement of each child as a unique individual. The third program is Bucket Filling, a program in which students, teachers and staff participate in activities that promote a positive school climate through increased kindness, respect and courtesy. This program encourages seeing and acknowledging the good in each other. We fill each other’s buckets by kind words and encouragement. St. Malachy School provides students with a top quality Catholic school education in a loving and caring environment. We seek to enable students to dream great things and to provide them with the foundation that will allow them to successfully achieve those dreams.
Priest
St. Malachy School wishes to thank Mrs. Emily Priest for her work with the students as they wrote articles for this publication. This is the second edition of the insert in which Mrs. Priest has helped the students. Thank you Mrs. Priest for your work.
A Memorial in the Sky By Bailey Hopkins
St. Malachy eighth grader
S a d . P r e t t y. Emotional. A wonderful tribute. These are all ways p e o p l e Hopkins have described the balloon release for T.J and Nate Frey held at St. Malachy School on December 19th, 2013. On that day, two days before winter break, students and faculty took the last 30 minutes of the day to gather and honor their well-known friends who had been called upon by God. The release began with all members of the school gathering outside by the middle school building, along with the family of T.J and Nate and any other person wishing to
Fourth grade’s pink balloons filling the sky at the balloon release.
attend. Once everyone had gathered, the boys’ favorite song was played, “Last Dollar” sang by Tim McGraw. School principal, John Walsh, began by saying a few words about the boys and then left the rest to fourth and fifth grade teachers Melissa Sickles
and Amy Surma. “It gave Amy and I a chance to speak our feelings about the boys to the school and family,” said Sickles. “It also allowed the children and family to let their feelings out, if they hadn’t already done so, and know that it was okay to
recognize their emotions.” Both teachers shared stories and memories gathered from the classes, of the boy in their grade level. After sharing their classes’ memories, they released their balloons with the fourth grade all exclaiming, “We miss you, Nate!“ and the fifth grade shouting, “We love you, T.J!“ Things said about the boys included that they were always nice to people, told funny jokes, and had loveable smiles. The fourth grade released pink balloons, Nate’s favorite color, while the fifth grade released orange balloons, T.J’s favorite color. Everyone else in attendance released yellow balloons, a favorite color of both boys. Students and teachers also wore these colors to school that day to honor the boys. Many of the balloons had notes attached with personally written messages from the students and teachers to
the boys. “I miss your jokes. You will always be with us in our hearts and prayers,” is a little bit of what fifth grader Brodie Wallace’s note to T.J. said. Wallace also stated that the release was cool because many balloons went up and “decorated” the tree in school pastor, Father Ken Halbur’s, front yard. To conclude the release, Father Halbur said a prayer with everyone right before
they let their balloons fly. “What a Wonderful World,” then played from the speakers as classes stood and watched their balloons float away in a breathtaking flurry of pink, orange, and yellow. “I think it was a great way for the kids to say goodbye and remember them,” said Surma. “They had so many good stories and memories.” Rest in peace, Nate and T.J Frey.
Teachers Amy Surma(5th) and Melissa Sickles(4th) read class stories and memories about the boys.
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Catholic Schools Week: A Celebration of Students, Staff, and Community
By Alexis Baker
St. Malachy Eighth Grader
Catholic Schools Week is a week celebrated at St. Malachy where s t u d e n t s Baker can have some fun and celebrate their faith in a special way. No, I don’t mean that we don’t get homework, we still do, but we get to wear different things to school and have special activities.This year’s days are as follows: Monday students and faculty get to wear a hat to school, Tuesday is “come as you are” day and everyone gets to wear their pajamas, Wednesday each class can pick a theme and then dress-up in that theme, on Thursday the whole school gets to go on a field trip to go bowling and dress up in blue
By John Reasoner
St. Malachy Eighth Grader
S t u dents at St. Malachy are very talented. Some are able to play in- Reasoner struments, some are more on the athletic side, and some even do both. Unfortunately, St. Malachy does not have its own athletics department. Instead, students like fifth grader Jackson Kinsella, who is involved with wrestling, soccer, and baseball, are able to join the public schoolers in sports. St. Malachy does offer its own fourth through sixth grade band program.
The kindergarten class was ready for bed on Come As You Are Day during Catholic Schools Week 2013.
and gold to show St. Malachy spirit, and on Friday grandparents can come to school and go to Mass with their student. Catholic Schools Week is not just for St. Malachy, it is for all the Catholic schools in the United States. There are 7,094 Catholic schools in the United States. There are 2,001,740 students enrolled in Catholic schools.
“Catholic Schools Week became an annual event in 1974 with a different theme every year. The purpose of Catholic Schools Week is to build community awareness and involvement in Catholic schools,” Principal John Walsh said. Catholic Schools Week starts the last Sunday in January and lasts all week. This year it starts on Sunday, January 26, 2014 and
ends on Friday, January 31, 2014. The theme for 2014 is “Catholic Schools: Communities of Faith, Knowledge and Service”. Every other year the students and staff have a talent show and students can audition to show off their talents to the school. On the years that we don’t have the talent show we go on a field trip. Some of the things that we have done included ice skating and roller skating, and this year we are going to go bowling. Molly Sickles, a fifth grader, said, “My favorite day is come as you are day because you are comfortable in what you are wearing.” Rachel Wignall, a seventh grader, said, “My favorite day is when we go on field trips because we don’t have very many.” Middle school language arts teacher Mrs. Priest said, “I like the talent show because you get to see the stu-
dents share their talents, and you learn about talents you didn’t know they had.” Catholic Schools Week is a tradition at St. Malachy to support our students, staff, and the community. Many
The middle school dressed up for blue and gold day during Catholic Schools Week 2013.
Students Branch Out While Keeping Their Roots
St. Malachy’s band is actually quite a rare thing. “We are one of the only schools that allows fourth graders to start band,” said Bonnie Goodson, the school’s music teacher and band director. “It’s a really big advantage,” she adds. As kids get older though, some decide that they might want to stop doing band or sports. This makes it harder for the continually decreasing number of students who do these activities because there are fewer classmates participating. Fortunately for these students, the Creston Middle School allows St. Malachy students to participate in activities, such as sports and band. Alexis Baker, an eighth grader at St. Malachy, is one of the middle school wres-
Miss Goodson directs the fourth through sixth grade St. Malachy band.
tling managers. She says she’s glad to have the opportunity to be involved like this. “I think it’s fun! And you get to meet new people. I’ve met some of the managers before, but I didn’t know them very well. So now I’ve gotten to know them more.” Seventh and eighth grade
band members travel to the middle school to participate in band. Seventh grade band member Tessa Powers says, “I enjoy doing it because I’m in a larger group.” She also enjoys the opportunity to meet new people. Even though these kids are able to participate in ex-
people say this is one of their favorite things about the school year. This tradition has lasted many years and will continue for many years to come. Happy Catholic Schools Week!
tracurricular activities with other kids who don’t go to St. Malachy school, they are still very grounded at St. Malachy. For instance, seventh and eighth grade band members do large group band (along with smaller ensembles like jazz band and drumline) at the middle school, but they still take private lessons with Miss Goodson at St. Malachy. Some students are even able to participate in multiple activities, like eighth grader Angela Walsh. Angela is involved with band and Youth Answering the Call of the Community (YACC). “YACC is really good at working with me being at St. Malachy,” she tells me. “They pick me up for every meeting, and they are very flexible with my schedule.
And they do keep St. Malachy in mind when we talk about granting and where to help give some service. It also helps me to get in the frame of mind of the helpful, community-involved person that St. Malachy wants me to be.” “I think these activities are a good thing,” says Linda Root, the seventh grade homeroom and sixth through eighth grade science and religion teacher. “It gives kids more opportunities. They get to meet more people. I think kids learn diversity. They learn how to deal with people that are different than them, where when they’re in this small community, like we have at St. Malachy, opportunities to deal with different people aren’t always there.”
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Big Projects Get Creativity Flowing and Help Students Learn By Bailey Hopkins
St. Malachy Eighth Grader
a state treasure box, a state cake, or a state poster. Megan Pellman said she enjoyed having these choices because not everyone was doing the same thing and she liked watching people present their different creations. The fifth graders get to pick a city in Iowa for their project in which they must write a report about and create a model of something in the city. Fifth grader Samantha Dunphy did her project on the house and life of composer Glenn Miller, who lived in Clarinda, Iowa. Dunphy, along with fifth grader Sierra Myers, had fun making the visual project and learning more about Iowa. “It was fun to learn that a man who wrote and composed so much music could come from Iowa,” stated Dunphy. These city projects are then displayed in the gym and open to the public for people to observe and listen to students present or answer questions about their city. Some of the biggest school projects take place at the middle school level. In these
Let’s be honest, kids and teenagers don’t always like going to school. They would Hopkins m u c h rather be at home or playing around and having fun. However, St. Malachy’s teachers strive to make school and classes fun! Current 8th grade student, Ashton Carter, at last year’s Teachers make sure to assign science fair with her 3rd place project about which golf the students enjoyable, yet tee has the best stamina. educational, projects that help students learn while having a grades (sixth through eighth) The Greek projects for sixth good time. there are sixth grade Greek graders require students to do One of the first big projprojects, a seventh and eighth a report and create a visual. ects students complete at St. grade science fair, an eighth They pick their top three faMalachy is the habitat model grade Civil War wax museum, vorite categories out of food, project in second grade. For and a middle school story drama, architecture, gods and this project, students choose writing project. Each middle goddesses, and olympics. Mrs. between rainforest, desert, school teacher assigns at least Cline then pairs them with tundra, and ocean habitats. one of these projects. a partner or group based off They then build models of Kim Cline, sixth grade their top three picks. Sixth their chosen habitat in shoe homeroom and sixth through grade student, Hannah Walsh, boxes. Though they are proeighth social studies teacher, enjoyed doing the food projvided class time to work on assigns the Greek projects ect with her friend Mackenthese, it’s one of the first big, and Civil War wax museum. zie Bodell. Together, the two graded, independent projects made the Greek food Bakthe students do. lava. Hannah liked how they Cecelia Zachary, who did were able to present their a rainforest habitat, said she studies to the class and then enjoyed the project because eat the Baklava after their they didn’t have to use stenpresentation. cils which gave her more of The wax museum is a proja chance to be creative. She ect that is open to the public also stated, along with Zack presented by Mrs. Cline and Walter, that she enjoyed usthe eighth grade class. For this ing clay to build animals. Once project, eighth grade students finished, these projects are research an important person displayed in the hall of the in the Civil War and dress up school’s lower wing. as that person, with clothes As students move to higher provided by the local thrift grade levels, they are chalshop. People from the comlenged more. Both fourth and munity and other classes then fifth graders do big projects go around and ding the bell of for their social studies class, each of the eighth grade stutaught by Melissa Sickles. dents, who act as wax robots, Fourth graders create projtalking about their characters’ ects on different states in each lives. region of the country. For this, “This is our third year doing they write a report and create the wax museum,” says Mrs. a visual model. Some of their Isaac Wignall, St. Malachy graduate, acting as Abe Lincoln Cline. “I thought the project options for a visual include at last year’s Civil War Wax Museum would give the kids a more
personal, meaningful experience.” Cline was worried about the museum at first, but knew it was a success when she saw the excitement and amazement of the students. The museum has gotten much positive feedback from the public, the students, and many others, and Cline says she will continue to have students complete this project. Another project open to the public is the seventh and eighth grade science fair, organized by seventh grade homeroom and sixth through eighth science teacher Linda Root. The science fair will currently be starting its eighth year with Root’s setup. For the science fair, students must propose a question, perform an experiment, write a report, and create a poster board. The students with their boards, and any other visual they can supply, then set up in their classroom where the fair is open to the school and public on day one and then judges on day two. Winners are announced at the end of day two. Award winning students from last years fair (currently eighth graders), John Reasoner(second place) and Ashton Carter(third place) enjoyed the fair because they learned how to figure out actual life problems or questions, and they were able to do their project independently. These things the students enjoyed also fulfilled the learning intentions of Root. She wants the students to learn the scientific method and be able to use it, perfect writing skills by writing a report, and speak for an audience. “I love watching the students work through the scientific process to answer life questions,“ Root stated. “They’re putting themselves out there, displaying their work. It takes courage.”
Last, but not least, is the writing project for sixth through eighth grade. Introduced by second year language arts teacher, Emily Priest, students now take part in a program called NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month). The project takes place throughout the whole month of November, in which kids come up with and write their own novel. Numerous days are set aside in class to focus on certain parts of writing fiction, dialogue, setting, and sensory details among them, as well as days to type in class. Then, students take time in the spring to edit their stories and create a book cover. Priest then sends the stories and covers to a company that will put them into an actual book format. Seventh grade students Maura Kinsella and Laura Weis both enjoy how they are able to make a story of their own and feel it helped them work on setting and dialogue writing skills. Eighth grader, Angela Walsh, feels the same.“It gives me time to complete writing something that I could never finish otherwise,” says Walsh. “I love how I’m able to say I completed something. It’s almost a feeling of relief.” While these projects are some of the bigger assignments students are given, there are still many more projects and assignments to complete throughout the school year. Students are challenged by these projects and assignments to complete them to the best of their ability. Though projects can be time consuming and stressful, students are proud of what they accomplished. At the end of the day, both students and teachers have gained something from these projects. Maybe pride, encouragement, knowledge, or fun, but they always gain something.
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Meet the teachers and staff of St. Malachy St. Malachy school could not serve its students without the hardworking staff. From teachers to administration to cooks and janitors, every staff member is an important piece of the school, helping students to learn and grow in and out of the classroom. Principal and algebra teacher, John Walsh has worked at St. Malachy for 21 years. He has a high school degree from Gretna, Nebraska, from 1974. He went on to get a Bachelor Walsh Degree in 1980 from Peru State College and a Masters in math from the University of Nebraska in 1987. We are lucky to have found Kim Coen as our new business manager at St. Malachy. Kim enjoys being around all of the kids and working with the faculty and board, but her favorite part is Coen being able to see her two daughters everyday. Sarah Lane, the secretary at St. Malachy, has worked there for almost seven years. She says her favorite thing about St. Malachy is the “family atmosphere” and her favorite time of Lane year is around Christmas. Rose Wignall is the preschool teacher. She has been teaching at St. Malachy for 32 years. She enjoys the community atmosphere, and the small classes. She also loves the energy level of the kids Wignall and learning with the kids. Debbie Russell has been the preschool aide for eight years. Her favorite thing about St. Malachy is the great parents, staff, and faculty. The reason she chose the teaching career is that she Russell loves working with kids. Shawn Milligan, kindergarten teacher, has now taught at St. Malachy for 24 years. Milligan adores the
family feeling of St. Malachy, which helps her grow closer to her students. She loves seeing kindergarten students have a fresh start at school and Milligan learn things they hadn’t ever known before. Ann Levine, first grade homeroom and first through second grade social studies teacher, has taught at St.Malachy for 36 years. Levine loves teaching her first graders how to bet- Levine ter perfect their reading skills and takes pleasure in seeing the children’s “light bulb” come on in their head when they learn something. She enjoys the fact that St.Malachy students work hard to be kind and respectful toward one another. Janet Meisenheimer teaches second grade. She has been working at St. Malachy for twentythree years. Her favorite thing about teaching is that she gets to watch the students Meisenheimer become more independent readers and help them write creative stories. She also enjoys helping prepare the students for Reconciliation and First Eucharist. Lindsay Ide is the second grade teacher aide and has helped at St. Malachy for the past three years. Her favorite part of working at St. Malachy is watching the Ide kids learn. Nicole Burg has been the third grade homeroom and third through fifth grade science teacher for eight years. One of her favorite things about teaching her classes is that her students Burg learn how to become independent workers. Melissa Sickels is the fourth grade homeroom teacher and the social studies teacher for third through fifth grade. She has been working at St. Malachy for 16 years now. Her favorite things about being at St. Malachy are her coworkers and
the family feeling. The thing she loves most about teaching her fourth grade class is the United States projects. She enjoys the students Sickels teaching their classmates about different states. Amy Surma is the the fifth grade homeroom and third through fifth grade religion teacher at St. Malachy. She has been there for 18 years. One of her favorite things about teaching Surma is working with the kids. She also likes the sense of community here and that it’s a family that can pull together in hard times. Kim Cline has been with St. Malachy for the past eight years and is the middle school math and social studies teacher. “I love teaching middle school students, as they can be i n d e p e n d e n t Cline thinkers and carry on intelligent conversations.” Kim enjoys the family atmosphere and her favorite part of the year is
enjoying the festivities of Catholic Schools Week. Linda Root has been teaching at St. Malachy for eight years. She loves interacting with students and the moment when a student finally understands something. Linda has wanted Root to be a teacher since she was in elementary school. She’s thankful that she is able to teach where her kids go to school at. Emily Priest has been the eighth grade homeroom teacher for two years. She teaches language arts to the sixth, seventh and eighth Priest graders. Her favorite thing about teaching is getting to see the creativity of the students and watching their reactions when they understand a concept. D a w n a Mitchell is kindergarten through eighth grade support teacher. She has been teaching at St. Malachy for five years. Mitchell
She chose the teaching career because she wanted to do something that involved working with kids. Christine Weihs is the PE teacher. She has been working at St. Malachy for three years now. Her favorite thing about teaching is the Weihs kids. She enjoys having an impact on their future and playing games with the kids during PE. B o n n i e Goodson teaches music and band. She has been teaching at St. Malachy for six years. Her favorite thing about her job is that she Goodson gets to share her love of music with her students. Susan Weight has been a librarian for St. Malachy for six years. She has always loved to read and wanted to work in a library. She says she always Weight learns from the teachers she works with and the students give her hope and inspiration for the future
Adolfo Saturno works as the school custodian. He has been working at St. Malachy for three years. He says he likes that he gets to learn different things. One of his favorite things about the year is the A. Saturno changes in the weather. Jenno Saturno has been a janitor at St. Malachy for two years. He really likes the atmosphere of the school and feels like it’s a great place to be J. Saturno Mrs. Dodge has been working at St. Malachy for six years. She loves to cook and enjoys the students and staff members. She likes working in such a caring community. Dodge Karla Young, assistant cook, has worked at St. Malachy two years. She loves her job because cooking is “...one of my passions.” Her favorite thing at St. MalaYoung chy is the kids..
St. Malachy School Administration - Faculty - Staff 2013-2014 Name
Position Years at St.M
Years in Education
Fr. Ken Halbur Pastor 2 5 John Walsh Principal 21 33 Kim Coen Business Mgr 1 1 Rose Wignall Preschool 32 32 Shawn Milligan Kindergarten 24 24 Ann Levine 1st Grade 36 36 Janet Meisenheimer 2nd Grade 23 23 Nicole Burg 3rd Grade 8 15 Melissa Sickels 4th Grade 16 16 Amy Surma 5th Grade 18 18 Kim Cline 6-8th Math and Social Studies 8 17 Linda Root 6-8th Science and Religions 8 12
Name Emily Priest Susan Weight Christine Weihs Bonnie Goodson Dawna Mitchell
Position Years at St.M Years in Education 6-8th Language Arts 2 2 Library/Media 5 42 Physical Education 4 4 Band and Music 6 6 Support Teacher 5 5
Staff Name: Sarah Lane Marjie Skarda Debbie Russell Lindsay Ide Erin Dodge Karla Young Adolfo Saturno Jenno Saturno
Position Years at St.Malachy Secretary 7 Nurse 1 Preschool Aide 8 Teacher Aide 2nd Grade 3 Head Cook 6 Assistant Cook 2 Custodian 3 Custodian 2
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FAITH • ACADEMICS • LEADERSHIP
Civics Club Preparing Homecoming Float
Advent Angel Buddies, above and right
Preschool activities, above and right
Civis Club planning meeting
Reading buddies
Team building in physical education class 1-to-1 Laptop Activity
Homecoming pep rally Second grade class at Halloween First grade class
Third grade class at Halloween
“St. Malachy School provides an environment where students grow in faith and excel in academics so that they may be leaders in improving society.”
Procession before Mass
Page 8c— Creston News Advertiser — Monday, January 27, 2014
Learning and Growing with Technology By Angela Walsh
In tod a y ’ s world, there is a lot of technology around us. People are Walsh using cell phones for texting, Tweeting, surfing the web, and many other things. Today, if you don’t know how to use something or you need some information quickly, you pull up Google or BING and you have everything there. Our world is now based on technology and its uses. St. Malachy is taking great strides to teach students valuable skills in the technology field to prepare them for life. In the lower wing, kindergarten through second grade has projectors, ELMOS (a device that allows people to see what is happening on a desktop through a projector), and an iPad used for various activities. Students view worksheets and webpages using the ELMOS and projectors. They use an iPad to record videos to be shared in class and to create stories. Kids enjoy being able to see the websites and worksheets being displayed through the projector. Shawn Milligan, the kindergarten teacher, says that they have been
watching the Decorah eagles and can look up animals together using the projector. Milligan also states that she has gone through trial and error to get to where she is now. She is pleased with her technology and would like to have more iPads to go around and more apps on them. First grader Parker Varner says that the best thing about the ELMOS and iPad is that they allow him to be “learning new things.” In the third, fourth, and fifth grades, students enjoy the ELMOS, projectors, and Intelliboards (a type of electronic whiteboard) the teachers have. Melissa Sickles, fourth grade homeroom teacher and third through fifth social studies teacher, says she also uses her phone to compare state temperatures with her students who are learning about the states. She can display maps from online on her smartboard and interact with them. Sickles says she also keeps up with a previous employee from St. Malachy, Brea Steinkamp, who is in Moldova. She has shown pictures and videos Steinkamp has posted on Facebook to help students understand what some areas of the world are like. Sickles would enjoy a “floating lab” between grades third through fifth consisting of laptops. While there are those who want more technology and those
Fourth grade reflections about Nate Favorite things about Nate: His smile and how he told jokes (even if they made no sense they were still funny); he was funny and good to have around; his smile, his voice and his laughter; he was very kind hearted; his super funny jokes and his big
smile; he loved his family and he loved to care for his pets; he was very kind and caring; his Nate friendly smile; he was easy-going and
St. Malachy Eighth Grader
Eighth grade student Bailey Hopkins uses her laptop to watch videos about algebra problems.
that are satisfied with what they have, they all agree: “You’re learning more everyday” because of technology, which “...helps you identify things better.” Jacob Coke, a fourth grader, says that the best thing about the technology is that it’s “fun.” In the middle school, grades six through eight, students are pleased with the results of the efforts of the school as are the teachers. Cullen Bodell, an eighth grader, enjoys the technology and would like to have more. He likes the softwares they can use. However, he
misses technology classes because he “actually liked to learn about technology.” Students now enjoy their own personal laptops instead of sharing between grades. An iPad has been introduced into the middle school as well, and teachers use it for many activities, such as recording students presenting little skits that are fun and educational. Linda Root, seventh grade homeroom teacher and middle school teacher for religion and science, has several electronics such as a laptop and an ELMO, as well as an over-
head projector. She would like to include an Intelliboard, a digital microscope and a digital dissecting microscope for her classroom. She has learned much since last year from students and going to conventions with other teachers, as well as using trusty Google to answer many questions. Root also stated that she keeps growing with the technology. She is glad that the technology helps students get “immediate responses to our questions in life.” Recently, the middle school has used Google
Classmate Reflections on TJ and Nate Frey enjoyed life. I miss Nate’s: way of telling Big Nate jokes and speaking in a Big Nate voice; his sense of humor; his smile. Fifth grade reflections about TJ Favorite things about TJ: He always smiled and his corny jokes and his laugh; we used to read the same book
series and we raced to see who could get done first; he always said something to make you TJ feel better; he always had a smile
on his face; he always broke the silence; he told jokes that people usually didn’t understand but laughed anyway; his personality; he was very creative and funny; he could cheer someone up; his crazy cool drawings; he was funny; that bright face that walked in the hallway; weird jokes; always looking at the bright
Drive to create, share, and edit documents, spreadsheets, presentations, forms, and drawings to complete homework. Edmodo has also been introduced and is used as an online planner and sharing among students and teachers. Students can turn in documents from Google Drive through this website as well as take quizzes and have online discussions with one another. Students have made online portfolios to house their online work and participated in the Hour of Code, where they learned how to code simple games using JAVA and html. All of this they have done on their laptops with great success. Principal John Walsh has said he wants to provide more technology to grades third through fifth, have technology that helps increase physical security, and to use the technology he has to communicate with parents and the community. All of the teachers plan to include more technology, creating a blended learning atmosphere, combining books with computers. St. Malachy may be a smaller school, but they strive to prepare themselves for the roads ahead by using technology to its fullest. Teachers and students are using technology and learning from it every day and have exciting plans to come.
side of things; greeting him at the door in the morning with a handshake on pancake day. I miss TJ’s: sticky hands; pile of books; messy desk; jokes that didn’t make sense; his pens; him being a very good friend; his laugh; his smile; his crazy drawings; him being himself; his funny actions.
Creston News Advertiser — Monday, January 27, 2014 — Page 9c
Changes Made to St. Malachy Lunch Program By Alyssa Cook
St. Malachy Eighth Grader
At St. M a l a c h y, students are split into three groups to eat lunch, k i n d e r - Cook garten through second grade, third grade through fifth grade, and sixth grade through eighth grade. Students get a choice between an alternate and a main, with fruits and veggies as sides. The food on the menu has changed over the years because of the Healthy Schools Act. Many students love that we are getting new food now. One of their favorite changes: the new cinnamon rolls! Some of the kids’ other favorite foods are pizza, chicken nuggets, salad, super nachos, soft shell taco and the new fruit cocktail. They love having a choice, especially if any of these are the choices. Aside from the food they eat, each grade gets to have
Middle School at St. Malachy is eating their choices of food for lunch. Students Hannah Walsh, Beau Thompson, and Ellie Starlin getting served the new lunch from head cook Erin Dodge and assistant cook Karla Young.
one day where they get to pick out what the whole school eats. They work together with the cooks to choose a healthy and colorful mean. The eighth grade gets the opportunity to pick a whole week of lunches at the end of the year. Reece Glynn, a third grader, says, “I love it because we get to pick
out what we want to eat with the help of the cooks.” Many others agree with Reece on that. They get a chance to choose some of their favorite foods to put together a meal for the whole school. Recently, in sixth through eighth grade, the cooks have decided to try something new. Instead of choosing
between a main and an alternate, and everything else being automatically put on their trays, students get to have a choice of what foods go on their trays. They can have a main with fruit and milk, or fruit with veggies and milk. The idea is that while students do not have to take every food offered, they also can’t just take a cookie or a cinnamon roll and call it good. The head cook, Mrs. Dodge, gave more details.“It would be easier
for us to serve the students because it lets the students make healthy food choices on their own, and we get to know what they like when they tell us more than main or alternative.” She wants to get to know the students, and what they like. She says that not only does this new program help her do that, but it also helps there to be less food thrown away. The students must have three or more food groups on their plate with a fruit
and/or vegetable as one of them. A sixth grader, Mackenzie Bodell, says, “I like the new lunch idea. I think this is easier because now you don’t have to have everything on your tray, and food doesn’t get wasted.” Most people in the middle school love the new lunch plan. Mrs. Cline, one of the teachers on lunch duty said she likes the new lunch idea also because there is more independence and responsibility for the kids to make wise choices.
ST. MALACHY PRESCHOOL INFORMATION NIGHT Tuesday, March 4, 2014 Two Sessions: 5:00 to 5:45 PM 6:00 to 6:45 PM Bring your child. Visit the classroom. Meet the teachers. See for yourself how your child will have an enjoyable and productive preschool experience. For more information call 641-782-7125 or visit us at www.crestonstmalachy.org St. Malachy Preschool – Every moment is a teachable moment!
Page 10c— Creston News Advertiser — Monday, January 27, 2014
Preparing Students Through Faith and Academics By Cullen Bodell
St. Malachy Eighth Grader
St. Malachy is different from other schools in many ways. One thing that Bodell makes us different is that we have religion classes, whereas some schools do not teach religion at all. We show our belief in faith by having Mass every Wednesday. We also pray in the morning and say the Pledge of Allegiance. Before lunch, we say a quick prayer before we eat. And at the end of the day, before we go home, we pray again. At St. Malachy we also have a preschool. In preschool students learn literacy, math, gross motor skills, language development, and
By Ashton Carter
St. Malachy Eighth Grader
“I’ve n e v e r taught this before, but I am now because of Common C o r e , ” Carter Amy Surma says. The Iowa Core (I.C.) is something new to St. Malachy this year. It is a group of standards and benchmarks that cover the core subjects which includes language arts, math, social studies, and science and helps teachers to ensure that they’re covering all of the basics and at the right grade level. The Common Core has come into effect in over 45 states and counting. Why are states adopting the C.C.? Because
cognitive skills. Preschoolers have to be able to do certain things at the end of the year, like to be able to count to twenty and rhyme. Why is it important to have a preschool? Kids’ minds absorb a lot of information during the ages of three, four, and five.
Plus, it is a building block for other grades. At St. Malachy we take many of the same classes as other schools. We have language arts, social studies, math, science, PE, music, and library. In addition, we also have religion class.
Miss Russell plays a game with her preschool students.
While each teacher has a homeroom, most teachers also teach specific classes to other grades. In first and second grade Mrs. Levine teaches social studies for both grades while Mrs. Meisenheimer teaches religion to both grades. In third through eighth grade. All of the homeroom teachers teach language arts and math to their homeroom students. But social studies, science and religion are taught by different teachers. Mrs. Burg teaches science, Mrs. Sickles teaches social studies, and Miss Surma teaches religion. In middle school all of the teachers teach different subjects. Mrs. Priest teaches language arts, Mrs. Cline teaches math and social studies, and Mrs. Root teaches science and religion. And then there are the classes that we don’t have every day. Mrs. Weihs teaches PE, Miss Goodson teaches mu-
Seventh grade students pray before going to lunch.
sic, and Mrs. Weight teaches library. Each teacher not only strives to help students learn, but also tries to show their students how to lead a Christian life and helps their students grow in faith. Our school’s mission statement is “St. Malachy prepares us to be leaders in an improving society by creating an environment where
Common Core Affects St.Malachy!
the Obama administration had $4.35 billion of Race to the Top federal funds, and states had to adopt “collegeand-career ready standards” if they wanted to be eligible to compete for those funds. They also implemented the I.C. because some students were going into college without basic knowledge which they need to succeed. The I.C. came into effect at St. Malachy in 2013-14 for language arts. It has become the new standard for teaching in 45 states that have chosen to adopt it, including Iowa. This year St. Malachy is implementing the Iowa Core in language arts and next year it will be implemented in math as well with science and social studies to follow. Standards and benchmarks will see significant changes in the new policy. Some exam-
Miss Surma teaches an Iowa Core lesson in language arts.
ples are that kindergarteners have to be able to spell and read by the time they are age five, and first graders are NOT being asked to be able to count money at their grade level. In fifth grade students are being asked
more higher order thinking questions and not just focusing on the simple stuff such as the characters and setting, but instead they’re digging much deeper to see if they are comprehending what they’re reading. The students
have to really stop and focus on what is being asked in each question and focus on paying more attention to the story and their discussions to better understand it. Not only are they having to go back and really rethink the questions, but the whole class is having to work at the same pace as each other. This idea, along with these higher order thinking skills, carry on with the students through high school. At this time it is difficult to judge how students at St. Malachy are learning with the I.C. because they are just in the beginning phases of it. “I think in future years we will see a better picture of how our students are doing and how we are doing at fulfilling the Core,” Surma says. “It sure is pushing the students as well the teachers
students can grow in faith and excel in academics.” We do that by having religion class every day, going to Mass on Wednesday, and praying to help students, teachers, and staff grow in faith. And learning language arts, social studies, math, science, physical education, and technology help us excel in academics.
out of their comfort zones because we just haven’t covered most of these standards and benchmarks in the grade level we teach and it’s difficult.” As we move through the last half of the school year and into more implementation of the I.C. the faculty and staff of St.Malachy continue their work with these new standards. As teachers and students become more familiar with them and the work expected to fulfill them becomes the norm we hope to be improving the students learning. These standards are meant to better prepare students for college and to help them grow as individuals in our ever changing world and St. Malachy hopes to foster that in its students as well.
Creston News Advertiser — Monday, January 27, 2014 — Page 11c
Civics Club Offers Leadership Opportunities By Morgan Eblen
St. Malachy Eighth Grader
“ T h e C i v i c s Club is here to provide seventh and eighth g r a d e r s Eblen with the opportunities to be leaders, to be of service, to become involved in school and to reach out to the community beyond our school,” said Ashton Carter, Civics Club president at St. Malachy. Civics Club holds events for others to come to such as the pancake feed, delicious bake sales, and other fun events to help raise money for those in need and for our school. Civics Club also holds fun events like a carnival during October which has games like a duck pond, boat races, face painting, and much more for the kids at St. Malachy to enjoy. This allows students, families and community members to
A student making pancakes at the pancake feed.
A crowd enjoying a yummy pancake and sausage breakfast at the pancake feed.
come together at the school to socialize and have fun together. The haunted house that is a part of the carnival is a great way to make the month of October exciting and spooky! For field day on the last
day of school, Civics Club sets up challenging and energetic activities for students at St. Malachy to have fun and enjoy the day outside. Activities include things like getting soaked in the water balloon toss, running through
silly obstacle courses, and having some time to relax in the sun. Don’t forget about parades! The Civics Club loves to get a little artsy and creative too! The Civics Club helps sketch and create floats for the stu-
dents at St. Malachy to help celebrate for Homecoming and Christmas. Civics Club offers a way to make our school more exciting and enjoyable for the students at St. Malachy and to make every year memorable. The perseverance of students here are strong. If they set their minds to something, they know it can be done because of the support they offer one another, and the positive energy that is set within the student body.
The Civics club is a great way for seventh and eighth graders to bond and form a stronger friendship. Through the activities and meetings, it improves the way they interact with each other, it helps them to open up and allows everyone’s opinion to be heard and their ideas to be valued. Who knows what great ideas are held within the students? This is a great way for them to express who they are and let their personalities shine.
ST. MALACHY SCHOOL KINDERGARTEN INFORMATION NIGHT Tuesday, February 25, 2014 – 6:00 PM For parents seeking to provide their children wwith a top quality Catholic school education in a loving and caring environment and whose children will be entering kindergarten in the fall.
For more information call 641-782-7125 or visit us at www.crestonstmalachy.org St. Malachy School - Give Your Child the Best!
Page 12c— Creston News Advertiser — Monday, January 27, 2014
St. Malachy School — Community of Faith, Knowledge and Service Catholic Schools Week January 26 – February 1, 2014 Schedule of Events Sunday January 26
Opening of Catholic Schools Week Eucharistic Celebration 9:00 a.m. at Holy Spirit Church Brunch provided by PTO in Parish Hall following Mass
Monday January 27
Faculty/Staff Appreciation Day Lunch for faculty and staff provided by PTO Students bring sack lunch (milk provided) Advent angels eat together Hat Day
Tuesday January 28 School Appreciation Day Come As You Are Day
Wednesday January 29
Community Appreciation Day Chamber of Commerce Coffee 10:00 a.m. in gym Class Theme Day
Thursday January 30
Student Appreciation Day Student activity – Bowling at Air Lanes in Des Moines Sack lunch provided by school Blue and Gold Day
Friday January 31
Grandparents/Special Guest Day Mass begins at 1:30 p.m. at Holy Spirit Church Reception following Mass Dress Up Day The publication of this supplement in the Creston News Advertiser and the KSIB Radio promotions are made possible by the support and generosity of the following: Rick Carter and Michelle Mostek Greg Driskell and Merry Sieh-Driskell Arnold and Nellie Eblen Chris and Sarah Lane and Family Powers Farms John & Donna Walsh Sally Woods Jeff & Ann Marie Kinsella
Saturday, March 1, 2014 Dinner Tickets $30.00