GARFIELD-PALOUSE SCHOOLS

OUR MISSION:  Provide educational programs of the highest quality for all students in order to prepare them for their future.

Beverly Fox – Palouse Superintendent, High School and Elementary Principal

bfox@garpal.wednet.edu

Phone (509)878-1921   FAX (509)878-1948

 

NEWS FROM THE SUPERINTENDENT

March 6, 2008

 

PUBLIC PRESENTATION BY THE ENGINEERING TEAM

MARCH 11, 2008

7:00 P.M. IN THE PALOUSE GYM

Help celebrate their accomplishments!

2nd at Nationals

Outstanding Engineering Design

Most Innovative Use of Technology

 

CONGRATULATIONS GIRLS’ BB STATE CHAMPS!

Help celebrate their accomplishments!

Girls’ BB Dessert on March 18 at 7:00 in the Palouse gym

What an honor – Elisha Lopez – MVP of the State Tournament and 1st All-Tournament Team!

Bridget Bower – 1st  All-Tournament Team!

 

CONGRATULATIONS BOYS’ BB 4TH PLACE TEAM!

Help celebrate their accomplishments!

Boys’ BB Dessert on March 13 at 7:00 in the Palouse cafeteria

What an honor – Scott Smith – 2nd All-Tournament Team!

 

CONGRATULATIONS KNOWLEDGE BOWL TEAM

1st Overall for 1B schools

9th in the Region -- includes all 1B through 4A schools

ON TO STATE!

 

LIONEL HAMPTON JAZZ FESTIVAL

CONGRATULATIONS!

2nd Place  - Jazz Combo:  Chris Thurman, Alex Keeney, Ian Yoder, Heather McGehee

2nd Place – Individual sax solo – Alex Keeney

 

CONGRATULATIONS!

All FCCLA STAR EVENT COMPETITORS EARNED GOLD AND ARE ON TO STATE!

Chapter Showcase:  Kallie Baker, Megan Cooper, Rachell Dickson

Illustrated Talk:  Kori Adair, Emily Boone, Annie Leendertsen

Focus on Children:  Ashley Gearhart, Kelly reiber, Sierra Rockness

Community Service:  Kristin Nelson, Sarah Willmore

 

STEPHEN SELL – RANKED #1 IN THE NATION

Amazing job Stephen!

Stephen is currently ranked #1 in the Nation in the 15-16 year old Alpine Skiing Platinum Division,

 which is the highest ranking for this group.

 

THE RESPONSE TO OUR REQUEST FOR DONATIONS TO SUPPORT THE ENGINEERING TEAM FOR THEIR TRIP TO COMPETE AT NATIONALS WAS AMAZING.

THANK YOU!

Schweitzer Engineering:  $1900 plus a mentorship commitment for Robert Lopez along with other

engineering help from Craig Thompson and Justin Phillips. 

Schweitzer Engineering also arranged for Robert to join the team in Washington D. C.

$1000 DONATORS:  Bruce and Carol Nelson and Nelson Farms, State National Bank Northwest,

Northwest Farm Credit Services, Halpin Foundation

$500 DONATORS:  McGregor Company, Marjorie Bourne

$200+ DONATORS: Farm Commodities, Almota Elevator Company,CO-AG, Cocking Farms,

 Garfield-Palouse Education Association

DONATED EQUIPMENT FOR THE PROJECT: Remote Control Technologies, Overhead Door Company

Other Very Generous Contributors:  Bob and Brenda Brown, Dick Styer, Les and Jolynn Pfaff, Lorraine Arrasmith, Spokane Seed Co., Jim and Mary Anne Storms, Wm Woltering Concrete, Gary and Janis Behymer, Tim and Bev Fox, John and Shirley Leendertsen, Mark and Diane Main, John and Chris Bofenkamp, Steve and Frankie Swinney, Patty Rippee, Bev Spencer, Cameron and Amy Heusser, Kirkpatrick, Utgaard & Perry, P.S., Jayne Olesen, Mark and Nancy Hegg Diane Loock, Thurman’s Market, Marcia McCracken, Jim and Jody Akin.

A VERY SPECIAL THANK YOU MUST GO OUT TO WARREN NEAL FOR THE USE OF HIS SHOP.  This project was adapted from an original idea that Warren and Sean had designed.  Thank you also to Ed-Ka for the use of their shop.

 Clay Mallett spent many weekends helping with the project – thanks.

 

Jim Stewart – You’re the best!  It was your vision to create an Engineering Class.  Thanks is not enough for all of the hours and hours of work that you put in on this project.   The students at GPHS are so lucky to have you as their teacher!

Prom Bus Sign –up:  Earlier this year we said that we would provide a school bus for students to be able to have transportation to and from the Whitman County Prom.  Letters were mailed home on March 4th.  Parents, if you would like to sign your child up, please get me the form by March 11th.  We will need to have 10 students signed up to provide a bus.

Last Day of School:  The State has approved our request for a waiver for the two “snow” days.  We have had three “snow” days and two of them fell within the time frame of the State of Emergency.  We need to add one day to the calendar.  At the February board meeting, the Joint Boards approved the last day of school to be June 5.  Graduation remains on May 31st. at 1:00 p.m.

North/South League Concept:  At the February meeting, the board approved another change in sport leagues for us for next year.  You’ll remember that we appealed to WIAA to allow us to remain a 1B school.  That appeal was denied.  We were on track to join the Blue Mt. 2B League.  With the help of WIAA, District 9 approached us with a plan for fair access to post-season play.  After receiving that plan, we asked the board to re-consider what league we would be in for next year.  They approved our participation in a 1B/2B Whitman County League for next year.  We are working hard to keep Whitman Co. intact as best as we can.

Addition of .25 Assistant Principal:  For the past two years, we have had a Principal Intern.  That internship is finished this Spring.  Starting two years ago, we continued visiting about what we would do to address administrative needs starting with Fall of 2008.  We have decided to open a .25 Assistant Principal position to in-house candidates, and will absorb this position from within the current teaching staff.  Candidates will be interviewed after Spring Break.  There will be an Interview Committee with board, staff and community representatives on it.  There will also be opportunity for the staff and community to have a question and answer session with the candidates.  More information will follow as to the date and time for interviews.

Safeway eScrip:  Did you know that if you go to escrip.com, you can enroll and earn 4% of your qualifying purchases for the school or group of your choice every time you shop with your Safeway Club Card?

Elementary Math Night:  We had a great turn out for our Math Night on February 26th.  Many parents enjoyed an evening of math activities with their children.  Thanks to the Elementary teachers for planning such a great evening.

Music in the Schools:  Music in the Schools Program functions in conjunction with the Lionel Hampton Jazz Festival.  We were again fortunate enough to have a group share their jazz expertise with us again this year.  What a great performance!

Going Green Program: Do you have some old tennis shoes and want to re-cycle them?  The Going Green Program is for you!  This program is partnered with Nike shoes.  We are joining in this project with Colfax in order to help them earn a grant from Nike to resurface their track.   We use the Colfax track every Spring for our track meets, so this would benefit us too!  There is a collection box for clean shoes inside the main door of the school.  Let’s recycle!

Teacher In-service Day February 15th:  Teachers spent the afternoon learning about and exploring various technology resources.  From learning more about the options within Digital Learning Commons to learning more about creating their own web page, to learning more about the software they use for grade tracking, teachers were excited with what is available to them.

Upper Gym:   On March 5th, the Palouse Board met to review the plan for fixing the upper gym.  After carefully weighing the options, we will be going ahead with demolition of the floor and sandblasting of the walls.  We want to give the concrete as much drying time as possible.  Target date for the new floor to be installed is October.

 

 

Thanks for your support.  We are COMMITTED TO EXCELLENCE!

Give us a call if you have questions or concerns.

Your children are important to us!

 

Thanks for your support,

Bev