District Dialogue

These students are busy getting their talks ready for this Saturday's second annual TEDx Sioux Falls Youth program! They will be having their last dress rehearsal this week, and then it's on to the big show. Make sure to get your tickets this week!

Sara Hutchinson was recently surprised with the honor of being named the American Legion Educator of the Year! Sara was celebrated for her commitment to supporting students who need reading interventions and the staff members who serve them. Sara has been instrumental in the SIPPS implementation as well as the UFLI Pilot this year. Congratulations, Sara, on this well-deserved award!

Monday, March 18, 2024 is National Speech Pathologist Day! The Sioux Falls School District has speech pathologists in all our schools and they help students navigate a variety of issues throughout their time at school. SLPs (Speech Language Pathologists) help students with things like:

• Helping students learn to pronounce sounds correctly
• Helping students learn what words to use in what order, and when to say them
• Increasing students’ vocabulary knowledge and usage
• Helping students that stutter make their speech more fluent
• Helping students that have difficulty with comprehension or answering questions
• And so much more!

Thank you for everything you do for students!

Join us Saturday, March 30th 7:00 pm at Sanford Pentagon for the Skyforce season finale against the Stockton Kings.

Tickets are only $15.00 ($25 value) with $5.00 going back to support the TeamMates Mentoring program of Sioux Falls, when you use the following link to purchase your tickets: https://fevo-enterprise.com/event/Teammatesfamily

The Sioux Falls Public Schools Education Foundation has been busy, and will continue to stay busy, as they begin to deliver the good news of Public School Proud Grants to teachers throughout the District! Since 2008, the Education Foundation has been encouraging and funding innovative solutions to enrich education in all SFSD schools. This year they will see their total distribution of funds through Public School Proud Grants surpass the $1,000,000 mark! Congratulations to everybody involved!

This past week saw a handful of PSP Grants delivered to teachers at George McGovern Middle School and John Harris Elementary. Grants will go towards purchasing all sorts of amazing learning tools for students, including sport supplies for adaptive PE programs, "break bags" for students who need a reset break, dissection tools, and much more. Congratulations to all the teachers on your grants! Thank you for going above and beyond for your students!

Click the button below to see a list of all 2024 Public School Proud Grant recipients!

This week's SFSD All-Star is Becca Erikson! She was nominated by her colleague Amy Wheeler who had this to say, "Becca is a huge asset to our registration department and particularly a large support to our clerical staff in the buildings. She provides Infinite Campus training to any clerical who utilize IC - this includes attendance clerical, Community campus facilitators, elementary clerical, middle school counseling secretaries, high school activities clerical, the list goes on and on. She has to know the ins and outs of many staff roles in our district to provide them with the tools needed to be successful. Often times because she is one of the first trainings they may have she becomes a great resource for these clerical to reach out to for things even beyond Infinite Campus. Prior to her role as student accounting specialist she was a Middle School Counseling secretary at Patrick Henry and held the Central Registrar position as well. Holding these previous positions gave her a lot of background knowledge that is helpful to her assisting clerical. She has created a clerical website with numerous tools and resources for our building clerical to access as a one stop shop for directions and quick reference guides. This is a time consuming site to keep up to date and as we implemented Canvas she had to quickly transition all she had built to the new program and did so quickly so the resource was still available for our clerical to use. I have heard from numerous clerical how helpful Becca is when they need something. We often comment how important the clerical roles are in our building and they need support just as much as our teachers and other staff. Becca does an amazing job of supporting building clerical and her job goes far beyond just Infinite Campus training. She continues to develop and improve her current role with the district and I'm excited to see what new things she rolls out each year. She has organized and put on our back to school clerical inservices the last few years creating power points, hand outs and ensuring we have a venue and any other district members that need to address clerical have time as well. This has proven challenging over the last few years but Becca always rises to the challenge and rarely do you ever hear a frustration. She is a great asset to our district and her knowledge of Infinite Campus and the resource she is to our clerical is so awesome."

Thank you Becca for keeping things going behind the scenes!

The District is gauging interest in the number of individuals that DO HAVE a four-year degree, but DO NOT have a teaching certificate, but WANT to become a Special Education Teacher for the Sioux Falls School District. They can do this master’s degree program while maintaining their current support staff or substitute staff position with the District.

Interested support staff and substitute staff must complete the 2-minute questionnaire by March 22nd.

SHINE stands for Scholarship, Honors, Innovation, Networking and Exceptionalism. We’re looking for stories we can tell about high school seniors, any-age students, staff (yes, you can and should absolutely fill out this form for yourself!), projects and programs. Have a new partnership that is benefitting the classroom? Win a grant you think the world should know about? Get nominated for or receive a state-wide, regional or national honor? Know a senior stand-out on a team, in the fine arts arena, or in the classroom? How about younger students who are leading by example, making giving to charity a priority, or are making the most of a bad situation? Should a program or portion of your school be highlighted? What about some current projects: experiments, field trips, new collaborative lessons?

Send your suggestions today, and keep this in mind for the days, weeks and months ahead!

We are excited to announce that Friday, May 3rd will be the official Sioux Falls Storm game to support Operation Hope and Caring! The Sioux Falls Storm will be taking on the Green Bay Blizzard at 7:05 PM at the Denny Sanford Premiere Center, and a portion of tickets purchased at https://www.levo.org/operation-hope-and-caring will go to help our schools that don't benefit from a PTA/PTO. You can click the link below to purchase tickets directly and make the biggest impact for our students!

For the past several years, Levo and the Sioux Falls STORM have teamed up for Operation Hope & Caring – a fundraiser to level the playing field for all schools and students, especially those without PTAs/PTOs. As a new twist, we are adding a tshirt to the many options staff have to support this important partnership. Please see the link below to purchase your shirt (and more for your friends and family)! Consider how you can support these schools TODAY!

How cool is this!? 100% of the proceeds from LEVO's Perky Coffee will go to Operation Hope and Caring, which has a direct impact on our schools. Click the button below to get your bag today!

This week join us in celebrating Amy Cleveringa, Terri Hogarth, Carrie Johnson, Aaron Miedema, Ken Nemmers, and Mary Tilberg! Be sure to take a moment to greet them in their classrooms or send them an email with your best wishes as they reflect on their career journey with the Sioux Falls School District and make their transition to retirement.

Amy, Terri, Carrie, Aaron, Ken, and Mary – thank you for a lifetime of making a difference, and congratulations on your upcoming retirement!

Join us on Tuesday, April 9th at the 63rd annual recognition banquet as we celebrate our retirees and employees with 25 years of service!

Tickets are on sale NOW! Tickets can be purchased for $25 per ticket online through PayPal (www.bit.ly/ExpeditionExcellence) or with cash or check at the Instructional Planning Center. Please have all checks written out to the Sioux Falls School District. Also, please note, we are unable to provide change so cash payments must be for the exact amount.

Working and Living with Someone with Neurodiverse Challenges - April 10, 2024 from 12:30pm to 1:30pm

In celebration of the diversity in which we live and work, join us as we recognize our neurodiverse colleagues and family members. We will explore resources, tools and strategies for helping to maximize the talents, goals and passions of these exceptional individuals in both the workplace and at home.

Handling a Family Crisis- May 8, 2024 from 12:30pm to 1:30pm

This class was created for managers supporting employees experiencing a family crisis. For employees going through a family crisis, this class will cover how to manage expectations and emotional exchanges that may occur while having challenging conversations. Participants will learn healthy coping mechanisms during times of transition, as well as how to address and get support with potential financial challenges.

The South Dakota Retirement System (SDRS) has created Retire Ready, a new virtual format for group presentations. The SDRS Retire Ready series will consist of four short presentations, all designed to increase your financial awareness and help you prepare for retirement. All SDRS members, at any stage of their career, will benefit from the information provided. These 45-60 minute presentations are held via ZOOM every Wednesday on a rotating-basis.

Steps to Financial Success: Build on your budgeting and savings skills and take charge of your finances to be more prepared for retirement

• March 20, 2024 - 7:00 PM CT/6:00 PM MT – Register via ZOOM

Q&A Session: Ask your questions and get answers from SDRS staff. Every session will have unique questions from our members, so feel free to tune in often.

• March 27, 2024 - 7:00 PM CT/6:00 PM MT – Register via ZOOM

If you are a retiring teacher, clerical, or administrator this year and want to cash in any eligible personal leave before retiring, you will want to submit your electronic Personal Leave Cash-In Form on Records by March 15, 2024.

HR Records: https://sf.tedk12.com/Records

District staff have a wonderful opportunity to participate in a Medicare Seminar. Whether you are approaching Medicare eligibility, want to learn more to help your parents, or just want to be more knowledgeable all around, please join us! There will be a guest speaker here from Wellmark to talk about Medicare, all the moving pieces and he will also be available after if you have individual questions. Attached is a nice packet to review, but these will be available in person so no need to print.

WHEN:

Tuesday, March 19th - 4:30pm - 5:30pm

Location: Instructional Planning Center

Please RSVP on the below link:

https://medicareadvantageseminarsfsdc.splashthat.com

Questions? benefits.sfsd@k12.sd.us

Open Enrollment is coming in early April. Right now is the perfect time to review your benefits and decide if you need to make changes for the new plan year.

Please visit this link to be taken to the Benefit Enrollment page: https://boonchapman.benselect.com/Enroll/Login.aspx?Path=SFSchoolDistrict

• Your username is your employee number.
• Pin: last 4 of your social security number and last two in year you were born

Questions? Email benefits.sfsd@k12.sd.us

March is National Nutrition Month! Read on for some nutrition Fact or Fiction.

Only people with medical conditions, such as diabetes or high blood pressure, need to eat healthfully.

FICTION – A healthy eating style can be beneficial for everyone. Throughout life, proper nutrition is essential for growth and development, as well as managing chronic diseases and reducing risk.

A vegetarian diet can provide the recommended amount of protein for people of all ages.

FACT – If it is well planned, a vegetarian eating style can meet nutritional needs, including protein.

Foods that contain carbohydrates should be avoided.

FICTION – Carbohydrates are the body’s main source of energy. In addition to vitamins, minerals, and dietary fiber, many nutritious foods also are sources of carbohydrates such as fruits, vegetables, and whole grains.

Adapted from EatRight