Speech and Drama Camp starts today

Twenty-eight elementary and junior high students started Speech and Drama Camp at B-R this morning. The camp is in the mornings all this week with a public performance set for Friday morning.

Twelve B-R high school students are helping with the camp.

New Crow's Nest

The school received the news that the Donald Nielsen Foundation has approved our grant application for a new Football Crow's Nest. The grant funds of $35,671 will pay for the concrete work and building materials to build a new three story structure to replace the existing two story building.

The new Crow's Nest will have separate rooms for each team to use for filming the game, a room for the radio station, a room for the clock and announcer,and a large room for a few fans to watch the game. The lower level will be for equipment storage. The upper levels will be accessed by stairs instead of the current system of climbing a ladder.

Work will be done over the summer so that it is ready for the upcoming football season.

Wicked!!!

Opening night of "Wicked" at the Orpheum in Omaha. It was a great show. I had not seen Wicked before, and I was pleasantly surprised at how funny it was. The actresses that played the two witches, Galinda and Elfy, were excellent. The dancing and singing was top notch. My only criticism is that I had difficulty hearing the ensemble when they were singing, and a few times the lighting was late coming up on the soloists. The best song is the "defying Gravity" at the end of Act One, not just the words but the way the scene is choreographed.

After seeing the witches side of the story, my feelings about "The Wizard of Oz" have changed completely.

Band uniform giveaway

B-R band director Jason Smith needs to clear out some space for the new band uniforms. He is giving away the old uniforms to anyone who wants them.

So if you are an alum who wants to relive the good old days of band, contact the school to make arrangements. First come, first serve, so if you want a particular uniform and remember the number, you had better hurry.

The school will not be responsible for any alterations that may be necessary to make your old uniform fit.

Last student day

Today B-R students will be dismissing at Noon. It was another successful school year for both staff and students. Most students showed positive growth in their learning.

Everyone have a safe and enjoyable summer. We will see most of you back here at the end of the summer.

Neihardt Board gets first look at sculpture design

Herb Mignery produced a clay maquette of a sculpture that the Neihardt Board of Directors is raising funds for. Once the design has been approved, Mignery will complete a bronze maquette to show potential donors and to auction off at the Laureate Feast in November.

Photos of preschool graduation

Here are B-R preschool classes for 2010-11. The red hats are the morning group and the blue hats are the afternoon group that is moving into kindergarten in the Fall.

Photos are courtesy of Marla Slaughter and Joy Nolting.

Schoolwide Title I meeting and Elementary Field Day Wednesday

Bancroft-Rosalie Elementary Field Day will be tomorrow at 1:00 pm. There will be a Schoolwide Title I Parents meeting at 12:30 pm Wednesday in the Bancroft-Rosalie School new gym prior to the elementary field day. The meeting will last 10-15 minutes. The purpose of the meeting is to review the Title I program.

Bancroft-Rosalie Elementary School is a Schoolwide Title program. All elementary students are considered Title I participants. All elementary parents are invited to attend the meeting.

The Title I parent compact is attached.

Graduation 2011

Graduation Last Friday went smoothly. I am glad to see the seniors have high aspirations for their future. Two students are pre-med, two are pre-dentistry, and two others are also pursuing some type of medical career. This helps me to justify to myself adding the Health Science Academy to the B-R curriculum. I always challenge the physics and chemistry classes to become the first student I have taught to become a medical doctor.

The Class of 2011 has been a pleasure to work with. I wish them all the best.

Graduation Tonight

Twenty-four will receive diplomas at tonights graduation ceremony. Twenty-one plan to attend college in the Fall, two are joining the military and one plans to work before entering college.

Alex Sjuts is the valedictorian and Mitchell Hawk the Salutatorian.

Most Valuable Athletes

Matt Stansberry and Jessica Tietz were recognized as Most Valuable Athletes for this school year. Athletes must be out for three sports to be eligible for the award. Selections are based on points awarded by the head coaches. Coaches list the top three athletes for their sport. Three points are awarded for the top athlete, 2 points for #2, and 1 point for #3. If the coach feels that they have athletes of equal ability, the points are split between the two. For example, an athlete that is rated #1 by coaches of two sports and not rated by any other coach would receive 6 points. If an athlete is rated #1 in a sport, is second in another sport, and is not rated by any other coach, that student would receive 5 points. The student with the most points wins the award.

In some years there are several students competing for the award, and in other years one student dominates. In any competition there are winners and losers. Someone is always going to be disappointed. The players do not make this decision, the Head Coaches do.

These winners deserve to be congratulated and applauded for the efforts and contributions to the TEAM's they played on and the SCHOOL they played for, just as all team members should be recognized for the contributions they make.

Bond election fails

The vote to give the school board authority to issue up to $1,000,000 in bonds for a four classroom addition failed. We had 23 Thurston Co. voters, 0 Burt Co voters and 83 Cuming Co. voters for a total of 106. 11 ballots were cast for Yes and 95 No.

Hopefully the economy will turn around, state aid will rebound, land valuations will stabilize, and the addition can be brought up again.

Thoughts on Senior Trip format

This year the Senior trip was changed from Friday-Saturday to Sunday-Monday. This was done to avoid conflicts with the State Powerdrive Championship and district baseball.

From my observations, the Sunday-Monday trip worked much better for the students. Going to Worlds of Fun on a Monday resulted in a smaller crowd and smaller lines. The students were able to ride on everything they wanted. The opportunity to attend a baseball game was nice, although the Royals will not always have a home game that weekend every year. Finding a nice restaurant that would stay open late on Mothers Day was not easy, but Mrs. H was able to locate one. The students still were able to race go-carts and play lasertag and had time for swimming at the lodge.

Assuming that nothing occurs within the next year to jeopardize sneak trip, I will be recommending we try the same trip format again next year.

11th grade NeSA testing disappointing

Last spring, this years seniors took the NeSA state reading test and 79% of them scored as proficient (68% or above).

This week our junior class took the NeSA state reading test and the results are extremely disappointing. If 68% is the cut-off point again this year, only 10 of the 31 juniors will be proficient.

We will get the official state results in July. Once we receive more information, we will be able to make decisions to remedy this problem.

One remedy may be more intense vocabulary instruction in all high school subjects. An example would be requiring each instructor to teach new vocabulary at the beginning of each class period. Students would then take vocabulary tests at the end of each semester to measure proficiency. Administrators would visit each classroom every week to provide teachers feedback on vocabulary instruction.

Local Food survey

Support of local businesses can have a very positive impact on the community's economy. The Center for Rural Affairs asks that you take a few minutes to complete a survey that will measure the potential of purchasing food from local growers. If you are a farmer and/or a consumer, an institution or retail outlet, please fill out the survey at

http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/loganvalley.

Information learned from these surveys will be analyzed and shared with all of you by the fall. Thank you

Graduation with Honors requirements

GRADUATE WITH RECOGNITION—NATIONAL HONOR SOCIETY
ACADEMIC REQUIREMENTS

Revised 2-7-96, updated 5-4-11, for students graduating after 1998.

Bancroft-Rosalie graduates who have taken the following college
Preparatory classes and maintained an 85%(B average) or higher
Cumulative grade point average for all classes taken will be eligible for National Honor Society and to “Graduate with Recognition”: Four years of Language Arts (40 credits), Social Studies (40 credits), Math (40 credits), and two years of Foreign Language (20 credits).

The Valedictorian and Salutatorian awards will go to the Seniors “Graduating with Recognition” who have the highest and second highest weighted grade point averages.

Bancroft-Rosalie College/University Preparatory Classes:


Language Arts (40 credits)

L.A. 9
L.A. 10
L.A. 11
L.A. 12 or
College Credit English

Science (40 credits)

Physical Science 9
Biology I
Chemistry
Physics
Anatomy and Physiology
CNA—College Credit
Med. Aide—College Credit

Math (40 credits)

Algebra I
Geometry
Algebra II
Trigonometry or
College Credit Math

Social Studies (40 credits)

Geography 9
Economics 10
American History 11
Government 12
College Credit World History

Foreign Language (20 credits)

Spanish I
Spanish II
(or other language approved by Principal)

Bancroft resident income surveys need to be completed

I found out yesterday that only 93 of the 207 income surveys sent to Bancroft Village residents have been returned. A second mailing went out to residents yesterday. It is extremely important that residents return the income page of the surveys. To receive any state or federal assistance in future housing projects, the Village of Bancroft must be able to document the income level of its residents. That requires a high percentage of surveys returned. We are hoping to get 100 more of the 114 income surveys sent yesterday to be completed and sent in.

Encourage your friends and neighbors to help us.

Internet safety tips for elementary students and parents

The United States attorney's office has asked that schools distribute Internet safety information to parents on how they can keep their child safe on the Internet. According to U.S. attorney Deborah Gilg, one in seven youths receives an unwanted sexual solicitation online, and one in three will be exposed to sexual material online. Of these, only 5% of those sexually solicited and 2% who encountered unwanted sexual material online told an adult.

I am attaching copies of Internet Safety Tips For Parents and Internet Safety Tips For Kids.

Betterment meeting agenda May 3, 2011

Attached is the Betterment agenda for Tuesdays meeting.

Fine Arts Banquet tonight

The Bancroft-Rosalie Fine Arts banquet will be held tonight at 6:30 pm. The menu is chicken breast, scalloped potatoes, fruit, roll, ice cream and drinks for $5.00. Refer to the program for more information.