Liam HalawithMaroon Echoes Editor At Tuesday’s special school board session, High School Principal Todd Lichety announced the tentative plans for the class of 2020 graduation ceremony.
The ceremony will be held on June 27th. There are currently two plans in place for commencement. The first viable option will be used if social distancing guidelines are no longer in effect. Graduation exercises will be held at the Mapleleaf Athletic Complex. A stage will be set up on the field with seniors seated in order. In anticipation of the midsummer weather, the ceremony will be held later in the day to take advantage of the cooler temperatures. The second viable option will be used if social distancing guidelines are still required. Graduates will be divided into shifts of 30 students. Each group will enter the high school commons, spaced out, they will enter the library one at a time and cross the stage with only their parents and photographers in the room. The seniors would stop and shake hands with administrators as normal and receive their diploma. This process would start early in the morning so that the ceremony can be completed by dinner time! Plans for Senior Awards Night are currently in the works and are most likely to be a large virtual meeting online!
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Liam HalawithMaroon Echoes Editor On Tuesday, April 30th the Mount Pleasant Community School District Board of Directors met in a special session to discuss and approve several changes to the district’s graduation requirements and grading policies under the current statewide Convid-19 lockdown. Graduation Requirements The board approved a measure that adapted the graduation requirements for MPCHS class of 2020 seniors and those students eligible to graduate this year. This measure follows the Iowa Department of Education’s guidance and Governor Kim Reynolds emergency declaration. The governor has declared that state graduation requirements are being waived for the class of 2020, and has left the decision up to local districts if seniors have met their requirements to receive a diploma. In recent weeks the Iowa Department of Education has stated that school districts should help seniors as much as they can. The measure reads in part that “All students in the Class of 2020 Four-Year Graduation Cohort, and previous Graduation Cohorts, who have successfully completed, or are enrolled in courses needed for graduation, will be deemed to have met the requirements for graduation.” The measure that was passed unanimously by the board. The measure goes on to explain that if students were on track for graduation as of the March 13th cancellation, then they will graduate this year. This includes students who are 5th-year seniors or more and includes current students enrolled at Wisdom Quest. For example, if a student has earned all 48 credits and has completed or was enrolled in all required classes during their second-semester schedule, then they will most likely graduate this year. The district is expected to release the names of graduates soon. “We want to let families and students know who is graduating and who isn’t so that if they want to appeal they can,” said Superintendent John Henriksen. If a student is labeled as not eligible for graduation this year, they can appeal to a special graduation board. To appeal they must respond, in writing, and mail their appeal to the superintendent (John Henriksen) within 5 days of the release of the names. The superintendent will then assemble a special committee consisting of a high school administrator, a guidance counselor, and one teacher to see if there is any merit before making a final decision. Changes in the District’s Grading Policy The district also announced changes in it’s grading policy for all grades. These changes reflect a school year shortened by the coronavirus outbreak. All grades for every student in the district will be based on work completed, submitted, or due before March 13th, 2020. The guidelines listed below apply to second-semester grades of the 2019-2020 school year. All options can be made as a whole or applied to individual courses for students 6-12. For seniors, there are two grading options to choose from:
Grades 9th-11th have three choices for their grading scale:
Grades 6th-8th they will follow similar measures to grades 9-11. Although like the seniors they do not have a withdrawal option. Grades PreK through 5th grade; teachers will assign a 0-3 with 0 meaning little accomplished and 3 being fully accomplished. This will be used in the normal standards-based report cards. For standards that teachers cover in the fourth quarter which students will not be taught, they will receive a NA or Not Assessed. All standards that receive a NA will have to be covered in the following years according to Iowa Common Core standards. Other News The MPCSD School Board also approved to continue their pandemic pay resolution, continuing the payment of contracted and hourly employees through May 29th. According to Mr. Henriksen, this mimics what other area districts are doing.
The school board will hold their regular meeting May 11th, where they will discuss more the effects on the district and come up with more plans on what they need to accomplish before the end of the school year. To read more about tentative graduation plans visit our social media or visit us at maroonechoesnew.weebly.com for more! Liam HalawithMaroon Echoes News On Friday, Mount Pleasant High School senior Lexie Magnani made her mark on history for the second time. Last year’s Iowa 3A State shot put champion signed her letter of intent to the University of Northern Iowa via Zoom meeting session - a first for any high school student.
Next year the future Criminal Justice major will throw for the University of Northern Iowa’s Division I Track and Field program. “It’s the highest level you can perform in athletics at and I really felt that I had the opportunity to be a Division I [athlete]. I wanted to give myself a chance to do that,” said Magnani about her choice to attend UNI, a school with a reputation for Track and Field much like Mount Pleasant. “You could tell that she was special early on,” said Coach Shawn Stregiel about Lexie's abilities. “UNI’s pretty lucky. She has some innate things that a lot of us don’t have. Her belief in herself and her competitiveness is top-notch, it’s really unbelievable. She adapts herself very well,” added Coach Stregiel. Lexie’s abilities include determination and confidence, which she says come from her family’s support, “Throughout my whole life, my dad has always been my coach. They’re always there for me and always pushing me to do better and to do my best and to not settle for what I have accomplished and to shoot for more.” 3A State Champion in her junior year, throwing the shot put a total of 42 feet and 5.35 inches. It was an explosive end to her high school career. Lexie was excited for her final year in her track and field, sadly her season was cut short by the Coronavirus lockdown. Lexie Magnani’s future looks bright at UNI. Her plans include a minoring in psychology with a career as a probation officer. With her family beside her, Lexie is ready to step up to the next level. Liam HalawithMaroon Echoes Editor In the recently empty parking lot of Mount Pleasant Family Video, local business owners Mark and Gina Burns set up their mobile ice cream shop ‘Pineapple Whip Paradise’. On this steamy April day they gave away free ice cream as a little appreciation for the class of 2020.
Sponsored by the Mount Pleasant Farm Bureau Agents Tony Starr, Matt McWhirter, and Michael Welcher. This is the last of three events that Farm Bureau has sponsored during the statewide shutdown; free ice cream for each senior from the surrounding area “We felt like the senior class was missing out on a lot of their fun activities that would normally be happening right now. So we kind of put our brains together and this is what we came up with,” said Gina Burns. “We wanted to give back to the community and the local businesses with some of the difficult times they are going through right now,” said Tony Starr, one of the Farm Bureau agents that sponsored the events. The two previous events before this were also aimed at supporting local businesses and the people of Mount Pleasant. The first was held at Dairy Queen, where healthcare workers and first responders could get free ice cream courtesy of the Farm Bureau agents. Their next event was at Coffee Depot where they sponsored free coffee for all customers, for the entire day! Today's event was aimed at students. Agent Tony Starr really felt for the seniors, having the entire rest of their senior year canceled due to the coronavirus lockdown. “We decided that with school being closed...for the remainder of the school year, that we should do something for the seniors. Let’s give them a pick-me-up since some of their academic and sports careers have just ended,” said Mr. Starr. Even with the sweet treats, many seniors are still trying to figure out how they feel about the situation. The sudden end to their high school experience and being pushed into a world that looked totally different just a few months ago. Senior Kayla Welcher has mixed feelings about school being canceled, “It’s bittersweet. I don’t really like school but senior year was supposed to be good.” Senior Jaden Davis who worked in the truck with his mom and stepdad has a more positive outlook on the end of his senior year. “It’s disappointing but there’s nothing I can do about it except look forward to the future,” said Jaden. Overall, seniors are learning to cope with the loss of their year and a little pineapple or strawberry ice cream sure helps! If you know a senior or any other high schooler who is struggling emotionally due to the coronavirus, please contact high school counselor Ashlei Venghaus. Marshall FluhartyMaroon Echoes Reporter After the recent shutdowns and school closures, many workers and students have been using Zoom to stay connected and try to remain productive. But there is a new trend going around this video-meeting service, Zoom Bombing.
Zoom Bombing is when someone joins the meeting uninvited or walks into someone else’s video feed to wreak havoc. It can also be in good fun, many celebrities have Zoom Bombed on school and business calls to bring some joy to others. An example, Hemish Blake, a radio star spent days interrupting staff calls and bringing joy and confusion to the bosses and staff alike. More recently, country music singer Brad Paisley joined a group of teachers on a video. Helping to lift the spirits of educators cut off from their students. Unfortunately, Zoom Bombing isn’t always fun and games. Some individuals have been hacking these meetings to do evil and disgusting things. People have been hijacking calls and using offensive and hateful language, showing explicit and offensive images, or generally harassing others for their own entertainment. This has become a recent trend, and whether it's fun and games or a horrible person just getting a kick out of bothering others, it happens. There are ways to stop unwanted visitors, however, by using Zoom security features. Set a meeting password, turn off the “Join Before Host” setting, turn off screen share for participants and set it to “Host-only”. It isn’t a 100% fix, but it sets up roadblocks for those intruding. By taking the right precautions, hopefully, a bad Zoom Bomb doesn’t happen to you or your students. Don’t let Zoom Bombing get you down! You just might meet Justin Timberlake or even Oprah in a meeting! Liam HalawithMaroon Echoes Editor-in-Chief Editor’s Note: The governor’s order does not mean that school is out for the summer! Voluntary learning opportunities are still available until May 29th! Governor Reynolds Cancels Schools; Gives Guidance On Friday, April 14th, Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds announced that all schools in Iowa would close for the remainder of the 2019-2020 school year. “While I would like nothing more than to open up our schools and classrooms in May, we have to prioritize the health and safety of Iowans,” said Gov. Reynolds. “With our students at home, we must rely on continuous learning plans that are in place and prepare school districts for ‘Return to Learn’ in the fall." The state has waived all educational time requirements for schools that provide continuous learning opportunities. This includes voluntary, required and a mixture of both options. The state also said that schools need to file a “Return to Learn Plan” with the Department of Education by July 1st. This directive requires that districts show how they plan to bridge the gap in learning due to the extended closure. The measures also forgave mandatory starting dates that required schools to start no earlier than August 23rd. This means school districts have fewer limitations on how they structure their 2020-2021 school year. The governor explained that this will allow some schools to start early and begin making up for the lost learning time. The Iowa Department of Education also canceled the spring sports season for the 2019-2020 school year and announced they will release more information about summer sports by June 1st. Local Response/ Impact to the Closure Notice Iowa Department of Education Director, Dr. Ann Lebo now recommends that schools begin looking to develop a distance learning plan for the future. This comes as many scientists and medical professionals believe that the Convid-19 virus could reoccur next year and continue to emerge or mutate much like the flu. MPCSD has already begun looking at their distance learning readiness, and as of now, feel that they’re less than ready to undertake required online learning. As pointed out by Superintendent John Hinrkisn at a recent school board meeting, the district has many obstacles to overcome before they are able to require distance learning. The biggest one seems to be student access to reliable broadband internet.Survey results sent out by the district show that anywhere between 20-30% of students do not have access to high-speed internet at home. Another obstacle is that to make required online learning possible you would have to be able to take attendance and have 6 and a half hours of work for students per day. MPCSD board members suggested 1:1 devices for all grades K-12 instead of the current 3-12. As a corollary, that number of devices may overwhelm the district’s current IT staff. In addition, the district’s infrastructure, training, and curriculum still needs to be adapted to fully support required online learning. There are also questions of equity and special education services when it comes to requiring learning from the students at a distance. In fact, after submitting their plans to the state, 87% of school districts in Iowa aren’t prepared for required online learning. With only 6 school districts in the state that are able to require online learning for grades K-12. Ultimately, MPCSD is on the side of the majority with voluntary online learning. What about Prom, Graduation, Sports? With the governor's announcement on Friday, the 2019-2020 spring sports season is officially closed. This means that activities such as track, soccer, rennis, and golf are no longer taking place this school year. The Iowa Department of Education is set to release more information by June 1st on how summer sports will be handled. The season was set to begin on May 4th and now will be moved back to June 1st depending on what guidance is released. High school principal Todd Lichety previously announced that the 2020 prom dance will take place on Saturday, July 11th in the Airport Winery because it is an air-conditioned area. The festivities will take place as normal if the social distancing guidelines are relaxed by then. Mr. Lichety has discussed with the school board possible ideas for a graduation ceremony for the class of 2020. There have been many ideas brought to the attention of the administration, although Mr. Lichety says that he will narrow down the possibilities into 3 solid plans and send the options through a survey to all seniors and give them one vote for the options. Stay tuned for more from us on how the school district is preparing to go online!
Liam HalawithMaroon Echoes Editor Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds announced that all school and school-related activities would be canceled March 15th through April 10th. Meaning that spring sports players would have to miss the first two weeks of the spring season, but now with the closure extending to April 30th, sports players are missing a bigger chunk of their season. Even now sports players are still unsure about returning on May 1st. The closure came the week before practices were to begin, meaning that players have had almost no training before throwing them into their late-season lineup.
“It’s going to be a challenge. We were already rebuilding the [girls’ soccer] program, so it will be even harder with COVID-19 pushing back the starting date, but I think we will manage. We have an amazing team,” said Junior Emma Rugg who plays on the Girls Varsity Soccer team. MPCSD Sports Activity Director, Scott Lamm has a plan to ensure the spring sports season isn’t lost. According to Mr. Lamm, all sports except for soccer should be able to start competition on May 4th. “It will be ready, set, go!” “It gives the kids a chance to reconnect with their teams and more than anything probably gets some good social time in with their teammates and coaches,” said Mr. Lamm His condensed schedule for the remaining season would be 5-8 weeks with most competitions being held locally and little travel times. This also aims to reduce the loss of academic time for athletes. The spring season should close out at the end of June. This short calendar also pushes the softball and baseball season back 2-3 weeks. “For the most part kids will be in school 90% of the school day when we have a competition. We recognize the fact that we can’t expect students to come back, take on a full course load, and playing sports while trying to make up a month and a half of school work in a month of school,” added Mr. Lamm. The planned spring schedule makes it so that the Summer and Spring seasons don’t conflict. “We really want to avoid people having to decide between a spring activity and a summer activity. We want them to be able to experience both of those. It’s important to have those opportunities,” said Mr. Lamm To keep in shape all coaches have to keep in contact with their athletes, giving them workout routines to follow along. “Letting them know that we’re still here, we still care. Telling them to get out and take those opportunities to make yourself a better athlete and a better person. Get out of your house a little bit and do something that is helping you.” Mr. Lamm, he thinks that student-athletes will better weather these trying times, “Because of the fact that the more times you are faced with adversity and overcome it. Then you are more prepared for the next time. This isn’t anything you can control but everybody makes the most of it.” Many students feel that the cancellation has left them without experiences they have been looking forward to. “This cancellation sucks! We go through high school waiting for our last year, and it’s been ripped away from the seniors,” retorts Emma Rugg. All of the changes in the schedule are subject to change again as the governor is expected to make an announcement relating to school closure’s later this week. Liam HalawithMaroon Echoes Editor-In-Cheif On Monday, April 13th, the MPCSD School Board of Directors approved a new Pandemic Pay resolution extending the payment of all district staff into the recommended closure date of April 30th. The initial resolution was effective until April 10th, the initial closure recommendation date.
“The legislature continues to pay their hourly workers and expects that schools do the same,” quoted Superintendent John Henriksen from a letter by the School Administrators of Iowa. Mr. Henriksen also discussed MPCHS prom plans with the board, which has officially been moved to Saturday, July 11th. The move was announced early this month after Mt. Pleasant High School Principal Todd Lichety contacted parents. This gives the students more time to fundraise, decorate, and plan the festivities. The students would have originally had only 1 day to prepare as the school would not be open until Friday, May 1st. Currently, the official date for Graduation 2020 is May 17th. This is the date if school resumes on May 1st. If the recommended school closure is extended past May 17th, then Mr. Lichety would seek the advice of the Seniors for a new plan. “We have options. We’ll keep taking responses and then we’ll try to narrow it down to a few and then give one vote per senior,” said Mr. Lichety. Mr. Henriksen also touched on second-semester grades. As of now, there is no set-in-stone plan but he is discussing what that could look like with the Great Prairie AEA, Superintendent’s in the surrounding area, and building administrators. “We’ve had a lot of discussion about that on our principal team. What does that look like for underclassmen? We want to give credit for all of the work that has been completed up to the closure. What does that look like for seniors? The guidance from the Department of Education for seniors is that you do everything you can to get them across the line,” said Mr. Henriksen. Governor Reynolds promised in a news conference last week that she would give schools a two-week notice in advance of any closure changes. That means this by the end of this week we should find out if the closure date will be advanced any farther. Director of Curriculum and Instruction Katie Gavin presented data from the first week of voluntary online learning opportunities. The current learning track was filed with state approval so that while schools are technically closed they may continue to offer educational opportunities. While the program is still in the early stages the district has had substantial student participation in the program. To show some of what other schools in Iowa are doing here is some data: 87.2% or 285 school districts have moved to voluntary learning opportunities, with only 6 districts in the state requiring online learning at this time. Then there are 11% (36 districts) that are attempting a combination of both, with some grades voluntary and some required. For more about the meeting please see the our video on YouTube at MPTV-CloseUp. Liam HalawithMaroon Echoes Editor Sitting at home huddled over a luminescent screen fighting in his mind over whether he should use a semicolon or not. His name is Bob and he’s an average student. Not special in any way except for his wicked flute skills, he has a pretty normal life with two younger siblings and a dog. He doesn’t stress too much. Taking a more laid-back approach at life but that all changed the day his school was canceled due to the current COVID-19 outbreak. His school has moved online and now he has to balance a social life - online, homework, chores, and the care of two siblings because both of his parents are essential workers. He now has so much stress that he has forgotten to shower the last few days and his little siblings haven’t had breakfast yet.
This is the reality for many older students in today’s world, stressed, tired, lacking motivation, and having to navigate never before seen online learning systems for their curriculum. They face the uncertainty of today’s world with an additional burden on their shoulders, online schooling for the first time. Fortunately for the students in Mount Pleasant Community School District, this won’t be happening any time soon. The school board passed a motion last Tuesday stating that the district would provide voluntary continuous learning opportunities to all grades K-12. This came after the governor extended the shutdown of all schools in Iowa from April 10th to April 30th. The Iowa Department of Education then released guidance for voluntary and required continuous learning opportunities for school districts to follow. The governor also stated that schools that don’t do a state-approved required or optional continuous learning program are required to make up all time missed after the shutdown notice. All teachers in the district are required to provide at least three learning opportunities a week for their students involving review, master, enrichment, or practice. The teachers can not cover any new material because they can not require a grade for any of those assignments or projects since it is not required. However, they can provide feedback that can be taken for a grade once school resumes. The district has decided not to move in the direction of required learning due to severe equity issues. The district’s data reflects that 20-30% of students don’t have access to high-speed internet at home, according to MPCSD Director of Instruction Katie Gavin. Another equity concern was voiced by Superintendent of Schools John Henriksen at the Special Session where the directors were debating the choice of instruction, “Do I think that it is fair to families that given the circumstances and given what they might be dealing with on the home side of this; do I think it is fair to say to them that you are now required to participate in this online learning? No, I don’t think that’s fair." In addition, the district’s data, policy, and curriculum infrastructure is not prepared for the rigor and resources required online learning would require. “It’s a very difficult lift. There’s a lot of pieces that we’re not ready for,” said Mr. Henriksen. In the district's endeavor to provide continuous education and support of students they have two main goals: to provide learning opportunities and to maintain a personal connection with students. “We are looking at an extended period of time that would be almost equivalent to a full summer break, we got to keep those brain cells working and moving,” said Mrs. Gavin. Although preventing mental fatigue is only one small part because many times the connection between a student and teacher is an invaluable one. Mr. Henriksen points out, “That’s our biggest hope, that teachers will work hard to connect with students because the most important piece of this is staying connected socially with your students. If we can keep that connection, we can bring some normalcy to a not normal situation." Liam HalawithMaroon Echoes Editor Adorned in her Panther Spirit wear and with a heart of gold, Mt. Pleasant Preschool teacher Brooke Patton stood in the driveway of Salem Elementary today. With a brave face, she greeted her youngest students from a distance, asking them if they’ve been reading, and on the verge of tears telling them how much they mean to her, “I miss them dearly.”
Mount Pleasant Community Elementary Schools organized a parade of sorts, where students were welcomed to come and wave at staff from their family vehicles. Their teachers lined the sidewalks around the building, greeting their students and shouting “We miss you!” as they passed by in turn. “We really miss them. We know that everybody thinks it’s a vacation for us, but it’s not. We miss our kids and we’d rather be with them than be going through this, but we want everyone to be safe and healthy,” said Chris Snyder, a Kindergarten teacher at Van Allen Elementary. The cancellation of school for a total of 4 weeks has caused teachers to scramble to fit the essentials into the remaining time. This will cause a big crunch in the last month and a half of school, with the school board affirming that the last day of school is May 29th. “It’s going to be a lot more rigorous on what we are trying to do because we are going to be trying to pack in a lot in what little time we have left with them. So that they are ready to go on to the next grade or as ready as we can possibly get them,” said Amanda Clark, an English Language Learning teacher at Van Allen. The COVID-19 outbreak has caused anxiety in many adults, and that stress is obviously reflected on their children. Kids are even more confused when their parents are bewildered, frustrated, or afraid. Parents might need some help in how to explain current events to their kids. “I think the main thing we want to do is normalize and stabilize,” said School Guidance Counselor Sara LeBlanc. “Keep a structure and be open, answer their questions. Also let them know that as long as we keep a healthy social distance and take precautions, that we’re going to be just fine.” continued Mrs. LeBlanc. As of this publication, students are still expected to return to school Monday, April 13th. While on lockdown, experts recommend that kids do not have play dates, go to playgrounds, or for anyone to frequent crowded public areas. Social distancing is recommended, and if you believe you have coronavirus call your healthcare provider and quarantine from others if recommended. |
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