Last week we mentioned time would start flying by, and sure enough, at the writing of this newsletter, we are down to seven weeks of school left in this school year. This time of year, we are working hard to assist many of our learners to finish the year on a positive note. We are also looking forward to how our program will look next year. We are hopeful much of this pandemic will be behind us, and we will be in a “new normal” state. In this light, we will be asking all of our learners and supporters for feedback. Expect to see surveys from us shortly, and please take the time to provide feedback. Our program is only as good as the input we receive for meeting our learner’s unique needs.
We are proud of our learners as they have stepped out of their comfort zones and started applying for jobs this Spring. We were happy to advise some and watch others take the journey of their first job applications and follow through on the hiring process. These are great life lessons that will stay with our learners for the rest of their lives. Some of our learners also had the opportunity to travel to Alexandria Technical College recently. While at Alex, the learners were introduced to many of the programs offered there, including welding, diesel mechanics, power sport, and carpentry, to name a few. It was exciting to see what huge job opportunities exist in these trades and the great pay and benefits offered to those with training like that provided at Alex. Finally, We would like to give a shout-out to one of Empower’s Early Middle College learners at Pine Tech Community College. Jezzalyn was elected Vice President of the Pine Tech Student Senate. Last year’s Empower graduate Tyler was elected Student Senate Treasurer. Another quick reminder here at Empower, we remain in hybrid the rest of the school year. That means Jensen’s advisory will be meeting every Monday and Tuesday. Prater’s advisory will be meeting every Thursday and Friday. Important Dates May 4th & 6th - ASVAB Testing May 7th - No School May 18th - Big Ideas Careers in the Trades
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This is no April Fools joke; yes, it has been two weeks since our last newsletter, and from our perspective, the time is starting to fly by this year. We hope you all have an opportunity to enjoy some Spring activities over our mini-Spring Break. When we get back to business on April 6th, we will be starting the 4th quarter. That’s right, nine more weeks of left in the school year. That is also plenty of time for our learners to earn credits and finish the year strong.
We want to give a shout-out to our Para-Educator, Christeva Perrotti. Steva has been an outstanding addition to our Empower Staff. She has kept all of our administrative work up to date. In many cases, she is far ahead of any deadline. Steva has also been instrumental in tutoring and mentoring many of the Empower learners and has been a vital part of a number of our learner’s success. This chaotic year has been manageable in large part to the contributions Steva has made to our program. THANK YOU, STEVA, FOR ALL YOU DO! Over the last two weeks, we have had many learners completing several lessons and increasing their credits earned. As such, we have not had many extra activities, and this newsletter will be brief. As the weather turns nicer, we would like to get out to the school forest and possibly some community service over at Westside Park. Although Conference month is over, please remember that we are always interested in your feedback on our program and possible improvements. Please do not hesitate to communicate with us in any manner you are comfortable with. We enjoy talking about the learners we have and are proud of their achievements. In that light, the Walmart Gift Cards winners for conferencing with us is Tonia Miller and the learner is Tierra. Congratulations to both of you. Another quick reminder here at Empower, we remain in hybrid the rest of the school year. That means Jensen’s advisory will be meeting every Monday and Tuesday. Prater’s advisory will be meeting every Thursday and Friday. Important Dates: Apr 2 & 6 - No school There are some benefits to reading the Empower Newsletter. We are only advertising the Conference Gift card drawing two ways. We are telling our learners to pass on the information and we are printing it here. So if you have not set up a Spring Conference time in March, please let us know what will work for you. Meeting with our extended Empower family is one of our favorite times of the year. This month every parent/guardian that sets up a conference call, email, Google Meet, Zoom, or in-person will have their name put in a drawing for a $25 gift card. Every learner whose parent/guardian conferences with their advisor will also be entered in a drawing for a $15 gift card. Your input is a crucial factor in how we keep improving our program. Please plan on setting some time aside in March to meet with us. Remember, we will be available virtually or in person, whichever works best for you.
We are so proud of all our learners and the stages of learning they are currently working through, and we especially like to give proud shout-outs to those who finish all of their high school requirements. This week the shoutout goes to Taylor Netzel. CONGRATULATIONS TAYLOR on your graduation and best wishes in where life’s journey takes you. These last two weeks were highlighted with a few science experiments dealing with balloons. We looked at how yeast likes to eat and captured the gas they produce. We also had fun levitating plastic rings with a statically charged balloon. Both included a lot of laughs and learning. The best kind of learning. We also had the opportunity to go on a virtual tour of Fond Du Lac Tribal Community College. Although technology proved a challenge that day, Josh did an excellent job showing off this beautiful campus and explaining some of the exciting career training programs they offer. Another quick reminder here at Empower, we remain in hybrid the rest of the school year. That means Jensen’s advisory will be meeting every Monday and Tuesday. Prater’s advisory will be meeting every Thursday and Friday. Important Dates Mar 1st - 31st - Spring Conferences by appointment Apr 2 & 6 - No school Fingers Crossed, Spring has sprung! If you have not set up a Spring Conference time in March, please let us know what will work for you. Meeting with our extended Empower family is one of our favorite times of the year. This month every parent/guardian that sets up a conference call, email, Google Meet, Zoom, or in-person will have their name put in a drawing for a $25 gift card. Every learner whose parent/guardian conferences with their advisor will also be entered in a drawing for a $15 gift card. Your input is a crucial factor in how we keep improving our program. Please plan on setting some time aside in March to meet with us. Remember, we will be available virtually or in person, whichever works best for you.
A big Empower shout-out to Amilia Ramos. Amilia has met all the requirements to receive her HIGH SCHOOL DIPLOMA. We are so proud of Amilia and her dedication to learning. We wish her the best of luck, and like all of our learners, we remain available for any support needed throughout life’s journey. These last two weeks, most of our learners have been busy. Doing what, you may ask? Well, learning, of course, and having some fun doing it. Between wacky science experiments, quizzes on life as an adult, and a lot of math in the kitchen. We are looking forward to our virtual field trip to Fond Du Lac Tribal & Community College. The FDLTCC has many exciting degrees and certificate programs and is always adding new career opportunities. Another quick reminder here at Empower, we remain in hybrid the rest of the school year. That means Jensen’s advisory will be meeting every Monday and Tuesday. Prater’s advisory will be meeting every Thursday and Friday. Important Dates Mar 1st - 31st - Spring Conferences by appointment Tuesday, Mar 9th - FDLTCC Virtual Tour Thursday, Mar 11th - FDLTCC Virtual Tour Friday, Mar 12th - No School Greetings To Our Empower Learner Supporters,
We did it! After being spoiled with excellent winter weather in January, winter came back with a vengeance in the first half of February. Now it looks like things will return to normal. At Empower, we are not sure we want the warmer weather. The learners here really stepped up their game, and overall we have seen a considerable increase in learning getting done. This increase in learning has been a great way to start the second half of the school year. One result is that an Empower Learner, Jeff Rush, has met all of his graduation requirements. Congratulations Jeff! He may be sticking around a little longer to prepare for his trades apprenticeship entrance exam. We will be contacting many of our Empower learners’ supporters to set up Spring Conferences throughout March. Meeting with our extended Empower family is one of our favorite times of the year. Your input is a crucial factor in how we keep improving our program. Please plan on setting some time aside in March to meet with us. We will be available virtually or in person, whichever works best for you. It may not just be the cold weather that has helped many of our learners kick it into gear. The students have been taking part in providing their fellow learners hot breakfasts. Waffles, omelets, bacon, eggs have been a huge hit. We have also had some fun with this cold weather doing some fun science experiments with the cold. For many of us, the last month may have seemed like there were many out-of-school learning days. We are now settling into a more consistent schedule for the rest of the year. Here at Empower, we will be in hybrid the rest of the school year. That means Jensen’s advisory will be meeting every Monday and Tuesday. Prater’s advisory will be meeting every Thursday and Friday. Important Dates Mar 1st - 31st - Spring Conferences by appointment Tuesday, Mar 9th - FDLTCC Virtual Tour Thursday, Mar 11th - FDLTCC Virtual Tour Friday, Mar 12th - No School Greetings To Our Empower Learner Supporters,
We want to start this newsletter with a big thank you to learners and families that took advantage of our Christmas Cookie baking the week before the break. Having families in the learning center is always a highlight for us, and we would like to see it more often. It has been relatively quiet around Empower these last two weeks, but we have had a few learners come in to catch up on assignments or start new work. As the pictures will show, chemistry experiments were the main learning experiences lately. It is always fun to make things change colors, bubble up, or start smoking and then try and learn why. You have probably already heard that we are back to our in-person hybrid schedule starting Tuesday the 19th of January. Jensen’s advisory will be in-person every Monday and Tuesday. Prater’s advisory will meet in-person on Thursday and Friday. There are some no-school days coming up due to advisor training, holidays, and conferences, so please take the time to look at the important date information below. We are hopeful that we will get to work with all of our Empower learners more directly during this second half of the school year. We look forward to providing more learning experiences that will help our learners grow both academically and personally. As an Empower supporter, you are always welcome to contribute directly or simply by passing on learning events that provide learning outside the Empower walls. Do not be strangers; stop by, say hi, and let us know how things are going. It is feedback from our supporters that keeps your program relevant to our learners. Important Dates Monday, Jan 18th - No School - Advisor training Thursday, Jan 28th - End of 1st Semester/End of 2nd Quarter Friday, Jan 29th - No School - Advisor Training Monday, Feb 1st - No School - Advisor Planning Day Thurs-Fri Feb 4-5th - No School - MAAP Conference Friday, Feb 12th - No School Monday, Feb 15th - No School Presidents day Wednesday, Feb 17th - MAAP STARS Capital Visit (Tentative) Our wish is for you and our learner(s) to find time to relax, reflect, and find joy over this holiday break. Please take time for yourself and your families to recharge and prepare for the adventures to come in 2021.
Let’s first talk about the plan for 4 January as we know it. We will continue to be open Mondays through Fridays for learners to come in and have a place to learn. Busses will run on Tuesdays and Thursdays at regular times to pick up any learner on a route. For those learners wanting to come in on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday and need transportation, please contact us, and we will work something out. This plan will remain in place until at least 18 January. As you know by now, we were not able to host our World Famous Empower Christmas Tea. We missed seeing all the families and other Empower supporters coming in and enjoying some holiday cheer and reindeer games with our learners and staff. However, this year we did have some holiday fun with many of our learners and some parents, who could come in and bake cookies. Nothing puts a smile on a face like time in the kitchen, making holiday treats for others. Thank you to the parents who found the time to come in and share in the fun. We hope you enjoyed the treats with your family and friends. Important Dates: Monday, Dec 21st - Jan 3rd, No School, Holiday Break Monday, Jan 4th - Empower opens for 2021 Monday, Jan 18th - No School - Advisor training Tuesday, Jan 19th - Hybrid Schedule Restart Thursday, Jan 28th - End of 1st Semester/End of 2nd Quarter Friday, Jan 29th - No School - Advisor Training Stay Safe, Stay Strong, and Stay in touch….. Greetings To Our Empower Learner Supporters, 3 Dec 2020
We are now fully engaged in another round of distance learning with a twist. Thankfully for our learners, we have been given some leeway in allowing learners into the building. Although we can not have a formal hybrid program until January 4th, we are permitted to have learners in our building to assist them in their pursuit of learning. The Empower building is open Monday through Friday from 8 am to 3 pm for any learner who may want assistance in education or just a quiet place to study. Busses are running at their regular times on Tuesday and Thursday and are available to learners. If our learners choose to remain distant in their learning, we require each learner to contact us daily Monday through Friday. This contact can be through any means possible/available to the learner (phone, text, messenger, Remind, postcard, really any form of communication). Attendance is based on the learner's daily contact with any staff member at Empower. The information we are requiring is to provide us with three tidbits. 1. What's their learning goal is for the day? 2. What they completed the day before? 3. If they need any assignments sent to them? Before this last transition, Empower maintained our tradition, albeit modified, of our Thanksgiving/Miigwich Feast. This year it entailed creating two feasts, one for each advisory. Given this change, the fun and learning were equal to previous years. Learners had a great time in the kitchen, preparing various dishes for everyone's enjoyment. For many of our learners, it was the first time to cook a dish from scratch, and the learning and fun were evident. Of course, as always, we gathered around a communal table filled with more food than could possibly be eaten at one time. We laughed, told stories, and just enjoyed each other's company before the break. Given the distance learning mandate for the rest of the month, we are looking for a creative way to continue the infamous Empower Christmas Tea. The idea we are kicking around is a virtual Tea. We have not worked out the details, but we imagine our traditional reindeer games in a virtual format and certainly for those fabulous Empower prizes. Important Dates Thursday, Dec 17th, Empower Virtual Christmas Tea? Monday, Dec 21st - Jan 3rd, No School, Holiday Break Stay Safe, Stay Strong, and Stay in touch….. Thank you Greetings To Our Empower Learner Supporters, 11 Nov 2020
As we write this newsletter, we see this school year as similar to the weather pattern in the area, ever-changing! With one week near summer-like weather, then a few short days later, we have six inches of snow on the ground, and now a warmer forecast (not like last week) weather coming in again. So it is with the school year with multiple phases going back and forth. Here at Empower, we will try our best to maintain some degree of stability. With the availability of transportation, we will continue in our hybrid model as long as we can. Past Empower patrons may remember all of the activities outside of the building we were able to expose our learners too. This year being what it is, we are doing our best to keep that tradition going but find ourselves using most of the time dedicated to assisting our learners in academics in the little time we have them in the building. We have had some success with out-of-classroom learning. We have a few students assisting with the HF backpack program by moving food from the food shelf in Sandstone to our Transition learners who put the food bags together for families throughout the district. Some of our students are learning and helping at Ed St. John’s Ojibwe Cultural retreat, expanding their heritage knowledge. They are assisting in area programs like Changing Gaits, using horses to help people control their lives. At the same time, many others have taken this opportunity to find employment and work on their job skills. Empower has always encouraged these activities and realize these opportunities create lasting memories and instill a work ethic that gives back to the local community. The attached progress report reflects the credits earned at the end of the first quarter. Please take a moment to discuss the progress your learner has made and how it compares with the learner’s goals for this year. You could also include in that discussion things that are working for the learner and things that could be changed to improve their outcomes next quarter. Remember Alyssa and Brad always enjoy talking with you about your learner and their needs. Please do not hesitate to communicate with us. Important Dates Friday, November 12th, First Quarter Learner Goals Reflection Friday, November 13th - No School, Teacher In-service Day Wed-Fri, November 25-27 - No School, Thanksgiving Break Stay Safe, Stay Strong, and Stay in touch….. Empower Hybrid learners will continue to attend school in the hybrid model at the Empower Learning Center through Thanksgiving.
Those riding the bus will still have bus service to and from their pick-up points at the regular times. Jensen’s advisory will meet Nov 9, 10, 16, 17, and 23rd. Prater’s advisory will meet Nov 6, 12, 19, 20, and 24th. You may have heard the Hinckley High School is going to distance learning on the 16th of November, but that WILL NOT affect the Empower program. Empower will continue in a Hybrid mode as long as Hinckley Elementary is in hybrid and as long as it remains safe to stay open. Please contact us at Empower if you have any questions. 320-384-6132 ext 5001 or 5005 |
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