Board of Education
Board President..................Matthew Steinke

Board Vice President...............Chad McKain

Board Member................................Ryan Hull

Board Member................Mary McCammant

Board Member....................Travis Molyneux

Board Member...................Heather Schmidt

Administration

Superintendent...................Chad Straight

Principal...............................Jennifer Berg

Activities Director..........Scott Edmundson

Business Manager................Stacey Kolars

Board Secretary......................Shelly Koehn

Email: june.williams@tri-countyschools.com
Website: www.tri-countyschools.com
Location: 3003 State Hwy 22, Thornburg, IA, USA
Phone: 641-634-2636
Facebook: www.facebook.com/TCTrojans2018/

Dear Elementary Parents,

Happy Thanksgiving! I am thankful for my chance to teach Music at Tri-County. I really enjoy the enthusiasm your children show me in Music class.

Our Winter Program will be Thursday, December 5th, at 6 pm the same week we return from Thanksgiving break. It’s so close and we are excited!

Please bring your students to the high school hallway just off the lunchroom/gym that Thursday night at 5:45 pm. Signs for each grade will be on rooms there so that you don’t have to walk all the way over to the elementary wing.

Please plan on picking up your child(ren) from these same rooms after the concert. As in, once the concert is over, the children will be dismissed from the gym first, then the audience will be dismissed to pick them up from those rooms. This is for safety purposes. Thank you very much for your cooperation and patience.

Sincerely,

Mrs. Andrews

Elementary Music

• What is your role at TC? I teach high school science and am the K-12 Interventionist.

• When did you decide you wanted to become a teacher? I was interested in college but really decided when I was about 26.

• What do you like to do outside of school (hobbies)? Hang out with family and friends, read.

• Favorite movie? Sixteen Candles and Ferris Bueller's Day Off

• Hawkeye or Cyclone or UNI? You included UNI because you knew I was a life long Panther, didn't you? I have been a UNI Panther since I was three, when my parents were in college there. However, we do root for the other two when they aren't playing us (and because we are helping pay tuition to Iowa State for two children.)
  

• If you could have 3 wishes what would they be? Health, happiness, and financial security for all of my family.

• Favorite TV show? It was Game of Thrones and Masterpiece Theater - Poldark, but both had their finale so now... The Masked Singer?

• What is your favorite color? Purple

• Favorite food? Italian - spaghetti, lasagna, any kind really.

• One thing you can't live without? My glasses or contact lenses! I'm blind without them!

• Where did you go to High School? I am a Tri-County graduate and proud of it!

Do you coach a sport which one and why did they choose that sport?
I coach JHGBB at TC. I have coached it for a long time and enjoy working with the younger kids. I also am the head softball coach at Vinton-Shellsburg HS. I have always loved baseball and softball.

What is your role at TC?

I teach 5th Grade reading and language arts as well as 4th - 6th grade social studies.

When did you decide you wanted to become a teacher

I started leaning towards being a teacher my senior year of high school. I liked working with kids and also was interested in coaching.

What do you like to do outside of school (hobbies)

I spend most of my time attending sporting events and activities of my children. My family likes to take vacations and do some traveling.

Favorite movie?

"The Choice"

Hawkeye or Cyclone or UNI

Hawkeyes

If you could have 3 wishes what would they be?
Financial security, Healthy lives for my family, Own the Dodgers or Lions

Favorite TV show

"Diners, Drive-ins and Dives"

What is your favorite color

Blue

Favorite food?

Taco's

One thing you can't live without?

My wife

Where did you go to High School?

Clarke Community (Osceola)

What’s your favorite book?

"Where the Red Fern Grows"

What is your favorite sport to play or watch?

Baseball/Softball

What is your favorite movie?

The Time Traveler’s Wife

What are some of your hobbies that you do outside of school?

Lounging in my pool, dancing, fishing, reading, being outside in the summertime!

What is one thing that you can’t live without?

Josh and my close family and friends!

Who is your favorite singer, or band?

I have so many favorites it would be impossible to narrow it down to one, so I will say as a teenager my favorites were probably Prince and Madonna.

When did you decide that you wanted to be a teacher?

In college, I decided to stitch from being a Social Worker to a school teacher. I knew I wanted to work with kids and I felt I could work with a larger population of children as a teacher.

What’s your favorite food?

Lobster, crab legs, chocolate

Do you have a favorite book? If so what is it?

Little Women and My Sister’s Keeper

Are you an early bird or a night owl?

Neither really, but more of a night owl, I hate mornings! It’s best for their own safety if family and friends don’t talk to me in the mornings until I have had at least 1 cup of coffee.

What is your favorite holiday?

Christmas, I love the lights and the cheerfulness of the season. People tend to be more caring and loving at this time of year and I love to give hugs, so it lends well to that!

How long have you been a teacher?

21 years

*What is your role at TC?
Head Custodian

*What do you like to do outside of school (hobbies)?

Carpentry work, fishing

*Favorite movie?

Tombstone

*Hawkeye or Cyclone or UNI?

Hawkeye

*If you could have 3 wishes what would they be?

Be rich, Have my dream home and

more free wishes.

*Favorite TV show.

M.A.S.H.

*What is your favorite color.

Green

*Favorite food?

All of It.

*One thing you can't live without?

Coffee

*High School

English Valleys

*Favorite book
Sniper

*Favorite sport

Baseball

Submitted By: Barb Seaton

The Kindergarten class has done a great job learning the rules, routines and expectations of their class. Way to be True Trojans.

They are learning many new skills in reading. They are learning all 26 basic letter sounds and are putting the sounds together to make words. They are learning what makes a good sentence. In Kindergarten that means we need an upper case letter at the beginning of the sentence, punctuation at the end, and it must make sense. They are quickly becoming readers and writers.
The children have been exploring many tools in math. They are using the calendar, a weather graph, ten frames, number lines, counting blocks, dice, and dominoes. They have been learning about more, less, and equal to. They have also been learning about 2 dimensional and 3 dimensional shapes. They have started learning about time to the hour and counting pennies.
The Kindergarten class is full of hard workers and great friends. What a great beginning of the year!

Ms. Portilla-Bedia hosted an escape room for the 7th grade Spanish Class. The students needed to use the Spanish that they had learned in the classroom to get Wally (A plastic whale) out safe and sound. The 7th graders had to unlock a bag with a lock and inside would be a physical description of a person. They took the "Guess who" game and looked for a character that matched with the description with the letters of the character's name they can unlock other locks. The 7th graders were successful, with finding Willy and was put it in a container with water.

Submitted by: Penny Krumm

Tri-County elementary students are very familiar with the W.I.N. period and interventions done to improve reading and math skills. Teachers have been doing interventions on a regular basis for several years and continue to work to improve our students’ abilities.

The secondary students, however, have worked on reading skills within content areas but this year, have begun a program designed to bridge the competency gap in mathematics. Students take a math screener online test three times a year to identify students who are not proficient. Once identified, those students spend the W.I.N. period every Tuesday and Thursday in math interventions to improve their skills. Their data is collected and tracked for improvement by Penny Krumm, the PK-12 Interventionist at Tri-County. The goal is to provide supplemental math instruction to students that need it in addition to receiving grade-level instruction throughout the day.

“We have separated students into one of five different groups and they work with a teacher to improve in various areas of mathematics,” stated Penny Krumm. “Our initial focus area has been fractions, as it affects many other content areas and students tend to struggle with them.” The math team, a teacher group comprised of Penny Krumm, Andy Thomas, Megan Snakenberg, Greg Sowers, and Sabrina Ryan, are actively learning math instructional strategies from Gary Jarmes, the math consultant, from Great Prairie Area Education Association.

What do you plan to do after high school? What college plans do you have?

I plan to go to the University of Iowa, and double major in Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies and Secondary Education

What is your favorite book to read?

Harry Potter series

What school activities have you participated in? # of years too.

3 years of cheer, 4 years of speech and drama, 2 years of National Honor Society, 1 year of Volleyball, 4 years of Band, and 4 years of Student Council

Do you have any siblings? If so how many, their names, grades and if they go to Tri-County.

I have 4 siblings, Seth-12th grade, Tatum-8th grade, Boston-6th grade, and Willow whos is 3

Who do you look up to most in life? Why?

My mom, she is very caring and will help anyone who needs the help

What do you like to do in your free time?

Draw, read, and hang out with friends

What is your favorite school lunch?

Popcorn chicken

What is your favorite flavor of ice cream?

Anything with chocolate

What is your favorite subject in school?

History

What is your favorite song?

Have it All by Jason Mraz

*What is your full name?

Grant David Rauhauser

*What was your “best school moment”?

I have one “Best school moment” and honestly that has to be my freshman year. A lot of things that hadn’t made sense to me before came together pretty quickly in my freshman year, such as band, work ethic, and my ideas for teachers

*What do you plan to do after high school? (College Plans?)

after high school, I hope to go to college for, no surprise for people who know me, a music major and go for a teaching degree in tandem with that, just to follow in the footsteps of my two best role models and pass my knowledge from them to other students like they have done for me

*What do you see yourself doing in the future (career)-

I see myself being a band director for a high school or college

*Favorite School Lunch-

My favorite school lunch had to be the pork chopettes from freshman year for the simple fact of Connie Zimmerman being the head cook at that point, and her cooking always reminded me of my dad’s style of cooking

*What school activities do you participate in? # of years also-

speech 4 years, football 2 years, track 2 years

*Where is your favorite restaurant to eat?

My favorite restaurant I have gone to has to be A&W for the simple fact of that was always our favorite hang spot in Sigourney

*Where is the furthest you have traveled from home?

By myself, I have gone to vermilion south Dakota but with family, Iowa is the furthest from home I’ve gone, considering I’m from Pennsylvania originally

*What was your favorite costume from past Halloweens-

my favorite costume had to be my spiderman costumes over the years because he was always someone I adored as a kid, and I was so happy and so proud to be able to go as spiderman for Halloween

Mrs. Seaton's Kindergarten class took a trip to Mrs. Prell's 2nd period Art class on Friday, November 15th. The High School students helped the Kindergarten class make turkey crafts. They painted, cut, glued, and most importantly had fun!

TC Youth Sports held a Shot Challenge over the summer. Attempting 10,000 quality shots during the course of the summer is all it takes to become a better shooter. That's less then 100 shots per day. Each participant of 5,000 and 10,000 received a prize, for all the hard work and effort they put into this challenge over the summer. Congratulations to the kids who participated. Hard work pays off. Pictured below are, Griffin Hall, Emery Hall, Carter Thomas, Aubrey Zittergruen, Haley Thomas, Ava Gehrking, and Ayla Hall.

Happy Holidays to all students and families!!

This year has gone by at a fast pace and I look forward to the upcoming new year. Several exciting accomplishments have occured this year thus far:

• Interventions for all students K-11th

• Junior Achievement Biz Town for 5th and 6th Graders in January

• PBIS Movie Day for the elementary

• PBIS Bowling Day for the secondary

• Lounge area (Juniors and Seniors eat lunch there)

• Iowa Straw Poll for 5th Graders and JHHS students

• FAST Fall screening results for grades K-11th in literacy, mathematics, and SEL (socio emotional learning)

Upcoming events to look forward to are:

• December 4th 2:00 p.m. out

• December 5th Elementary Winter Concert at 6:00 p.m.

• December 5th JH Girls Basketball Home at 4:15 p.m.
  

• December 9th JH Girls Basketball Home 4:15 p.m.

• December 11th 2:00 p.m. out

• December 12th Secondary Winter Concert at 6:00 p.m.
  

• December 17th JV/Varsity Basketball Home at 6:00 p.m.

• December 20th End of Q2 Grades in

• December 20th 1:00 p.m. out

• December 23rd-January 2nd Winter Break

• January 2nd Professional Development for Teachers (NO School)

• January 3rd Classes resume

I wish for you each to enjoy your holiday and enjoy time spent with family. I encourage you to have your child do an academic activity each day of break. I would suggest daily reading for ten minutes a day. For the younger students, reading aloud or shared reading is a wonderful way to emphasize the importance of reading. For the older students, reading the newspaper, magazines, online books, or even completing puzzles is a great way to keep engagement.

Upon returning to school, the FAST assessment for the Winter screening period will be occurring. Our school goal is to show growth from the Fall to the Winter assessments in all areas: literacy, mathematics, and SEL. We will delve into the scores to make sure we are matching the skill deficit with the appropriate intervention for our students. We will continue to progress monitor our students. We will encourage our proficient students to grow through the use of STEM and enrichment activities. My goal for our school is to achieve 65% proficiency for all students in all grades upon completion of the Spring assessments. I am confident in our students, staff, and our families to help us achieve this measurable goal.

A gentle reminder during our upcoming winter months, if you need food assistance or health products, we have both on campus. I can drop off in What Cheer as I travel through there daily. Please personally message me or have your child let me know. I do not wish for anyone to be hungry.

Lastly, for inclement weather, the following places will have our school status posted:

1. School Messenger (all call and email)

2. TC Facebook Page

3. KCRG

4. KWWL

5. KCCI

6. KBOE Radio

7. KGAN

8. WHO-TV

Please reach out if you need any additional supports. I am here to help to the best of my abilities.

Yours truly in education,

~Ms. Berg

jennifer.berg@tri-countyschools.com