The Wave Volume 13, Issue 9 October 31, 2014

Superintendent’s Corner� Happy Halloween everyone! We are just two weeks from our annual Veteran’s Day celebration. Please invite any and all veterans to our event on Fri-day, November 14th. We will be having brunch in the commons at 9:00am followed by a program in the big gym at 10:00. Please RSVP in the office so we make sure we have enough food and coffee. Thank you! Are you ready? The big vote happens next week Tuesday, November 4th, at the Town Hall. If there are any questions you have about our referen-dum, please call me or schedule a meeting to review our plans and goals. We have a good amount of information on our website if you care to review it before you vote. Please keep in mind that our 1995 referendum debt comes off the tax bill in April, and this referendum is just rolling over the same rate without raising taxes from what they have been the past twenty years. This week I met with a team of 7th and 8th grade students to talk to them about some negative behaviors that have been occurring recently. I refer-enced our CORE VALUES, “The 7 Cs”, and was disap-pointed when none of the students could share them with me. Here they are: Character, Critical Thinking, Communication, Collaboration, Creativity, Confidence, and Change. As I explained to the students, these seven core values transcend all content learning and relationships we develop in elementary school. These values are important in all aspects of life and motivate us to do good things and be good people throughout our lives. Somewhere along the way our society has changed its priorities and seem to navigate toward a different 7Cs: celebrity, carelessness, competition, conflict, chaos, confusion, and contentment. Don’t get me wrong, I love healthy competition and strive to be content, but as a core value, both can be destructive.

As I have stated the past few weeks, there is plenty of discord all around us. We can choose to join in, or break the cycle. Our school’s mission states that we will help our students and school com-munity to reach their potential and become their best. I reference back to something my father always told me, “God helps those who help themselves.” What that meant to me when I was younger was, I needed to work harder. What that means to me as a 46 year- old adult is, I need to work smarter. It’s funny how experiencing life changes one’s perspective. Now that I have a child in college (in Florida), one in high school and one in middle school, I can speak from experience rather than theory. Each stage in life is important. We are faced with opportunities and chal-lenges throughout, and there are consequences to how we handle them. Last year when my daughter was awarded a full ride scholarship, a couple of parents said I should hold a seminar for getting kids free college. Here it is: Hold your kids accountable: they need to set goals for themselves, work hard, work smart, maintain good character, and stay the course. There is no guarantee that will get them free college, but it will get them closer to achieving the goals they set for themselves and becoming the best that they can be. Stay tuned for next week’s message when I review the difference between self-esteem and self-respect, and why our focus on building self-esteem in our children is taking us in the wrong direction. Have a great weekend, and we will see you back at school on Monday. Sincerely, Pete Hirt

NOVEMBER DATES TO REMEMBER: 3 Girls Basketball 5th: Erin at North Lake 4:30 6th: Merton Blue at North Lake 5:30 7th: North Lake at North Shore 4:30 8th: Friess Lake at North Lake 6:30 4 Election Day 8th Grade WKCE Testing (Science & Social Studies) 5 4th Grade WKCE Testing (Science & Social Studies) Mad Science 2:40-3:40 p.m. Room 203 Girls Basketball 7th: Merton at North Lake 4:30 8th: Stone Bank at North Lake 5:30 6 Young Rembrandts 2:35-3:35 p.m. Room 203 Girls Basketball 5th: North Lake at North Shore 5:30 6th: North Lake at Richmond Purple 5:30 7 “A” Friday End of 1st Quarter 7-8 Dance at Richmond 7:00-9:00 p.m.

Marcus Fundraiser

Back by popular demand is the Marcus Fundraiser!

Sell discount tickets, gift certificates or gift cards and

help North Lake School while doing so. *15% of sales go back to our school.

Let’s see if we can beat last year’s total of $7,197!

Great stocking stuffers or gift ideas!

We will be sending order forms home with the youngest child in each family on Monday, November 3rd, so please check your child’s backpack then. Order forms and money are due to office by Friday, November 14th. Delivery will be before the

Thanksgiving break.

CALLING ALL PARENTS!!

We need YOU to help with our

annual lice check. On Friday,

November 7th, we will start

head checks at 8:00am. The

Health Room NEEDS 9 parent

volunteers to help! Please

e-mail or call Becky Dorow at 966-2033 ext. 118 or dorbec@northlakeschool.org.

THANK YOU Thank you to all of the volunteers, teachers, students and staff who made our fall book fair

a success! This year 95% of the students visited the book fair and selected a free book -

that’s 311 of the 328 students at North Lake who brought home a new book! We were also

able to purchase over 100 additional books for use in the classrooms and library. That’s a

lot of exciting opportunities to read! Thank you again and mark your calendars for May

20-24, 2015 for another opportunity to visit the book fair.

CHROMEBOOKS FAQs

This week’s article is co-written with guest author, Mr. Chad Edstrand, North Lake School’s IT Director. Mr. Edstrand manages our school network, works with staff to troubleshoot, and keeps North Lake School on the cutting edge of technology through his initia- tives and infrastructure.

What is the difference between Chromebooks and other computers (like PCs or Macs)? Chromebooks are a new type of computer designed to help you get things done faster and easier. They run Chrome Operating System which is tailored to work with Google Apps for Education. In what grades are Chromebooks currently being used by students? This past summer, 60 Chromebooks were purchased for 5th-8th grade and 24 Chromebooks for upper and lower CMC students. The Chromebooks are housed on either charging shelves or mobile carts. During second quarter, 30 additional Chromebooks will be deployed in grades 3 & 4. Why did North Lake School decide to purchase Chromebooks as its preferred device for students? Chromebooks are user friendly and lightweight. They also have a long battery life (8-10 hours) and are easy to manage from a network standpoint. Chromebooks integrate with Google Apps for Education and all online services that students currently use. The cost of a Chromebook is less than half of an iPad and has a keyboard which is preferred for student use.

(continued)

CURRICULUM CORNER (continued) Can NLS Chromebooks come home with my child? No. But, your child can access all of the resources and applications at home by signing into his/her school Google account through the Chrome browser. You may download the Chrome brows-er here: https://www.google.com/chrome/browser/ The Chrome web browser allows students to get most of the functionality of the Chromebook on a PC or a Mac, so that students can continue working on assignments started at school while at home, even without a Chromebook. Information on signing into the Chrome browser can be found here: https://support.google.com/chrome/answer/185277?hl=en I bought a Chromebook for my middle school child. Why can’t he/she use it during school? Our updated 2014-15 school policy allows personal device use before school and after school in super-vised settings. During school hours, students are restricted to school devices for the following rea-sons: online testing requirements, security update settings, and ease of application management/deployment. We revise our policy annually. Who is the best contact if I still have some questions about Chromebooks? You may contact Chad or Liesl via email or phone. We also encourage parents to read more about technology on our school website. There is a ton of information!

HALLOWEEN CANDY BUY BACK Monday, November 3rd, from 3:00-7:00 p.m.

Bailey Family Dental

557 Cottonwood Avenue, Hartland

262-369-8633

Here’s how it works: * Bring in your loot of candy * Receive $1 for every pound of candy turned in * All candy turned in will be donated to: Operation Gratitude (Sending Care Packages to U.S. Military)

ACTIVITIES CORNER

It’s time to start thinking about our 5th grade girls’ basketball tournament. The

tournament runs December 1st through December 6th. Running a tournament requires many volunteers. Help is needed for concessions, ticket table, scoring and several other duties. I have a schedule in the office. You can stop by to sign up or

call me with your availability. All parents who have students participating in athletics are encouraged to help since the money earned from this tourna- ment benefits our athletic program for all athletes. Boys who will be participating in basketball in January are also required to help.

If you have any ideas for raffle items or wish to donate any items, please contact

Ms. Sikora.

Veterans Day Celebration Friday, November 14th

Please help make Veterans Day special for our veterans. North Lake School is asking for some home-cooked brunch

items, along with volunteers to help serve that morning. We

are asking for the hot brunch items to be put in a 9 x 13” DISPOSABLE PAN and be ready to serve. If you need a 9 x 13” disposable pan, please come to the kitchen during

school hours. Please, NO CROCKPOTS. If you are able to volunteer your time for that day, we are asking for volunteers no later than 7:15am and brunch items to be dropped off at

7:30am (hot and ready).

Please sign up at http://www.signupgenius.com/go/20f0f4ba5ad2ba2fb6-veterans, or

you can go to the North Lake School Homepage and find the link in the top left corner.

If you have any questions, please contact Becky Dorow at dorbec@northlakeschool.org, 966-2033, or via text at 262-370-0216. Thank you.

BOX TOPS NEWS

Watch next week’s Wave for details on our upcoming box tops contest!

7th

Grade Ropes Course

6th

Grade Team Building

8

th Grade Career Expo

Leadership Camp