The Viking Newsletter - February 2024 is now available and can be accessed at this link: https://www.smore.com/wmn8j
SKOL! and congratulations to Vikings Libby Nielson (right) and Dakota Esget (left)! Dakota finished as the state All-Around champion and two-time Bars champion! She also finished 2nd on the Vault and 2nd on the Floor. Libby finished 7th on beam with a score of 9.15! Way to go!!!
Fourth grade students will be hosting its "Catch the Rhythm" concert this Thursday, Feb. 22, starting at 6:15 pm in the NBAHS auditorium! If you would like to watch the concerts via livestream, you can do so at this link: https://youtube.com/live/_kWIvSyVZ8I?feature=share
Join us tomorrow for dinner and a treat! 🍦A portion of the proceeds help fund our We Are All the Same Sock Hop.
Thank you to all of the families that joined us for our Hmong Open House on Tuesday, Feb. 13, from 6 - 7:30 pm. If you were unable to attend and have any questions for North Branch Area Public Schools please be encouraged to contact Director of Teaching and Learning David Treichel at 651-674-1055 or dtreichel@isd138.org .
Take the Alexis Challenge!
Miss Teen Minnesota Alexis Sway donated canned goods to the Viking Vittles program recently and now you can help too! Alexis and Supt. Paul are teaming up to ask you to take the "Alexis Challenge" and support Viking Vittles!
What is Viking Vittles? For students PreK-5, Viking Vittles organizes a weekend food backpack program that provides a bag of food to any student who signs up. Every week, hundreds of students go home for the weekend with food thanks to this program. Viking Vittles also supports middle school, high school and Norse Area Learning Center students by providing access to Care Closets at each location
There is more than one way for you to take the Alexis Challenge. You could attend the program’s upcoming Lenten Fish Fry fundraiser at Trinity Lutheran Church, happening every Friday, Feb. 16 through March 22, 5 - 7 p.m. Adults admission is $15, kids ages 5 - 10 are $5, and kids under 5 eat free! (See flier for details.) Or, stop by the Viking Vittles GoFundMe page and donate directly: https://gofund.me/defc8072.
To learn more about Viking Vittles and the Alexis Challenge, see Supt. Paul's most recent School News column: www.isd138.org/page/contact-the-superintendent
Each student in Sara Groen's class at Sunrise designed their own hat, and then former Principal Lori Zimmerman's mother helped to surprise the students by knitting their hats and bringing imagination into reality! They turned out beautifully!
NBAEF announces grant recipients!
On Monday, Feb. 12, representatives of the North Branch Area Education Foundation (NBAEF) made their annual trip through the hallways of North Branch Area Public Schools (NBAPS) to deliver good news to staff - grants have been approved!
This year the NBAEF, with a generous donation of $10,000 from ECMC Foundation (Educational Credit Management Corporation) Foundation, awarded nine grants to staff at the Sunrise River School, North Branch Area Middle School, the Norse Area Learning Center, and North Branch Area High School, totaling over $17,000.
The 2023-24 NBAEF grants will provide a wide variety of opportunities for students, including a “Zen Den” calming room and Outdoor Adventures field trip at North Branch Area High School, a classroom set of ukuleles, and a set of Sphero Robotics at the Sunrise River School, a mentoring and leadership program and behavior incentive items at North Branch Area Middle School, exercise equipment at the Norse Area Learning Center, classroom “clickers” for classrooms K-5, and recreation and field trip opportunities for the Chisago County Schools’ Life Work Center.
“We are so grateful, and so fortunate, to have the North Branch Area Education Foundation providing these incredible opportunities for our students and staff year in and year out,” said NBAPS Supt. Sara Paul. “Viking innovation is at the heart of how we become better every day, and the foundation provides the opportunity for creative ideas to be put into action!.”
Since 2010, the NBAEF has raised over $509,000 and awarded grants over $231,300.
How're we doing? Taher wants to know what families think of school lunch. You can take Taher's brief school lunch survey by scanning the QR on the poster, or by clicking this link: https://bit.ly/48YLyiI
Interested in FTC Robotics for next year? If so, come to our scrimmage on Tuesday, Feb. 6 from 6-7:30 in the Middle school south cafeteria. Come check out our state bound robots and get questions answered. Eligible students must be entering grade 7 or higher - Fall 2024.
We Are All The Same Sock Hop is back this year!
Check out the flier for the details of this great event, along with wonderful fundraising opportunities. T-shirt sales close February 13.
Scan the flier QR or visit this website to order!: https://sockhopdance2024.itemorder.com/
The Viking Newsletter - January 2024 is now available! You can read it here: https://www.smore.com/21kg4
Interested in attending NBAPS' Friday, Feb. 2 Patron Tour? Patron Tours start at 7:45 a.m. and end at 12:30 p.m. Guests enjoy refreshments in the morning, tour every site in the district, and finish the half day with a lunch prepared by high school ProStart students. In between guests visit classrooms and talk with staff, students, and leadership. It's a great way to learn more about NBAPS from early childhood all the way through high school! To attend, contact Pat Tepoorten at 651-674-1018 or ptepoorten@isd138.org.
The calendar for the 2024-25 school year has been approved! For future reference, school year calendars can always be found in the Parent/Student Resources pages at each school. You can go directly to the calendar here: https://5il.co/2cbt9
Mrs. McWilliams's and Mr. Voss's 5th grade classes are learning about Free Enterprise in preparation for their field trip to JA Biztown in February. Students learned about how businesses produce goods and services for citizens, who in turn supply their labor and other resources to support the businesses. Students created prototypes and had to decide how many "employees" they were going to need to work for them. At the end of the time the groups had to figure out if their product made a profit and how successful they were.
Join us at the Isanti arena for tonight's Mississippi8 matchup between the Northern Tier Stars and PC Dragons. The girls hockey co-op of North Branch/St. Francis/Cambridge-Isanti boasts an 11-4-1 record! More info on Sophie's Squad: www.stateofhockey.com/news_article/show/1198212
Jan. 15 - 19 is the NBAEF's Restaurant Week! Purchase specific items from Domino's, Merchants Cafe, County Market, Tailgaters, Kaffe Stuga, and The Full Moon, and a portion of the proceeds will go to the foundation and support educational at NBAPS! See flier for complete details.
In December, students in Mrs. John and Mrs. Peters' science classes learned about stored energy. They conducted experiments by building tracks to experiment with marbles and energy transfer. Those tracks are just begging for some Hot Wheels aren't they?
In December, Mrs. John and Mrs. Peters' 5th graders were challenged to build a platform that would get a stack of books off the table. They could only use 3 sheets of paper and tape. One group was successful even without the tape! Students devised some very creative ideas!
Fifth graders from Mrs. John's class visited Mrs. Funke's to read with her first graders during comfy cozy day just before break. Students read books from the first grader's book bin, taking turns reading to each other. All the kids had a great time!
