Greetings To Our Empower Learner Supporters,
It is our hope that this newsletter finds all our Empower supporters well. Here at Empower, we are in a greenhouse and graduation mode, as you will read later. We have reached the point where this is the last week of progress reports. The next newsletter and report will be the year-end wrap-up. It is also time to start planning for the world-famous Empower End of Year Picnic. Mark your calendars for Thursday, May 26th, noon - 2ish, at the Hinckley Westside Park. Invitations are in the mail. Please plan on coming out and celebrating the accomplishments of your learners. It is always a good time. This year the learners have voted on Indian Tacos as the main dish. To do this, we need a volunteer or two to help us prepare the Fry Bread. If you are interested in helping with Fry Bread, let us know. All ingredients will be provided. The Empower learners continue to impress us this year with their work toward a high school diploma. Over the last two weeks, Savannah and Coleman completed all of their graduation requirements. We have a couple more learners we expect to finish up before graduation on May 29th. The greenhouse project is moving forward. We have passed the halfway point, and the learners and Brad continue to learn a lot about building construction. We hope to finish the project in the next week. The elderly couple we are doing this for is very impressed with our learners and the greenhouse. As the year is coming to a close, it is also time for the annual Empower supporter survey. You should get a text message with the link to the survey. Please take the time to give us your feedback on the Empower program. So many of the improvements at Empower have directly resulted from input provided by people like you. If you did not get the text link, here it is: https://forms.gle/RRafgTcEuUXuFwC49 Finally, some of you and our learners have been asking about learning opportunities over the summer. As always, we will have those opportunities for our learners; however, plans have not been finalized as of today. We will have that information available in our year-end newsletter on June 3rd.
0 Comments
Greetings To Our Empower Learner Supporters,
This is it, Empower family. As you read this newsletter, we are eight months down and one month to go in the 2021-2022 school year. With May left, we still have a lot of learning that can be done, and the staff here at Empower are energized to assist our learners to the finish line. But, then again, learning is never really finished, is it? We continue to celebrate learners who have met their high school requirements and are ready to move on to the next stage of their lives. Over the last two weeks, Cai Cai and Arri completed all credits and other requirements to earn their high school diplomas. Congratulations to both of you for a job well done. We also would like to give a huge Empower Shout Out to the Finlayson-Giese Lions Club for donating $3000 to the Empower program. Thanks to the continued generosity of the Finlayson-Giese Lions, we can have learners participate in growth activities like the student leadership program MAAP STARS, field trips, and other services we can offer our learners. Although the weather in April has not been ideal, we have been able to get a few days to start the greenhouse project in Bruno; yes, we can talk about Bruno. The foundation has been set, and in the next few weeks, we will start framing the walls, roof, and siding. We started with a small crew, and hopefully, as the weather warms up, we will increase our labor force on the project. The elderly couple we are doing this for is delighted with the work. As we enter May, it is time to reflect on the Empower and how we are doing as a learning community to meet our member’s needs. We will be sending out a survey allowing you to provide feedback on the program. We take your feedback very seriously, and it is your input and reflections that generated positive changes to our program. Your response is vital to us so take a few minutes to provide it. Things are happening here at Empower, feel free to stop by and check out what is happening here. Coming Events: Remember all events are updated on our website May 26 Empower End of Year Celebration and Picnic May 27 Graduation Rehearsal (*required for seniors participating in the 5/29 ceremony). May 29 Graduation Jun 3 Last day of school Greetings To Our Empower Learner Supporters,
As we type this newsletter, my initial thoughts are to talk about Spring and the last quarter of school. However, the cold wind and snow falling reminds me of the second-quarter start. Let’s keep a positive mindset and think about Spring; we are sure the positive vibes will help shift the weather patterns to more Spring-like days. As we enter the final stretch, keep encouraging your learners to attend and work hard toward their goals. The topsy turvy weather has not stopped our Empower learners. Most learners are powering through accomplishing a lot. We celebrated two more Empower learners completing all their graduation requirements this last two weeks. Congratulations to Kyle and Shantel for their hard work and perseverance. These will not be the last as we still have a few learners closing in on this achievement. We had the opportunity to take a trip to Duluth this week, and what a great learning experience. We started with a visit to the UMD Planetarium for two presentations. First was a tour of the known universe with stops at key planets in our solar system. Then we took a tour of the night sky and how constellations were created to help with navigation. There is nothing like visiting a planetarium to make you feel small. We then stopped by the Lake Superior Railroad Museum for lunch and a tour. Again a great time with much hands-on visual learning. We saw various types of train travel and the multitude of uses besides moving people, railroads, and their equipment. Looking at the mock-up of storefronts from the 1900s helped put much of it into perspective, & getting to step onto the various train cars really enhanced the experience. Learning outside the walls of the Empower building is always impactful. Greetings To Our Empower Learner Supporters,
The question is, "Has Spring sprung or is this just a tease with a little winter yet to come?" I think we have made it out of the worst winter has to offer this year, and even if there is a day or two of snow coming our way, it will not stick around. Besides, it's Spring Break time, so it must be Spring. A big thank you to the number of families that came in last Tuesday for conferences. It was a pleasure to meet with you and share about your learners. The winner of the first $25 Walmart Gift Card for attending meetings on Tuesday night was Vanessa Gibbs. You hear us say it all the time, and it is true; please feel free to stop by anytime to talk about your learner; we are always eager to do that. Michele from CMJTS spent a reasonable amount of time with our learners that signed up for Youth Build. She was able to get application packages finalized for many of the participants. She also lead those learners in reclaiming much of the basement space. Getting the Empower Hour Food Shelf up and running messed up many of the remaining basement spaces. Michele and her team were able to move, sort, and rearrange the items, so we have a functional study area and art room back in operation. The greenhouse project should get underway once we are back from break, weather permitting. For most of the last two weeks, our learners spent time working toward or exceeding their 3rd quarter goals. Like you, we are pleased with our learners' progress in the 3rd quarter, and we look forward to guiding them to a very productive fourth quarter. That is right, the 4th quarter is here, which means eight weeks of school once we get back from Spring Break. So, take some time to relax with your learner this next week and get ready to encourage them to finish the year strong. Things are happening here at Empower, feel free to stop by and check them out. Coming Events: Remember all events are updated on our website Mar 28-Apr 1 Spring Break No School Apr 12 UMD Planetarium and Duluth Railroad Museum trip Apr 15 No School Greetings To Our Empower Learner Supporters,
We have a winner! The winner of the first $25 Walmart Gift Card for attending conferences on Thursday night was Tonya S. We will be holding another drawing on Tuesday night for the second $25 Walmart Gift Card. Remember, all it takes to be eligible for the drawing is to attend conferences on Tuesday night, the 15th if you did not attend last Thursday. It is also important to remember that you never have to wait for conferences to visit Empower. We always look forward to visits by those who are supporting our learners. The following announcement could seem repetitive to some, but here at Empower, we can’t get enough of it. Over the last two weeks, three of our Empower learners succeeded in meeting all the requirements for graduation. A big shout out to Alexis S., Cody S., and Taylor N. for all the hard work you have put into reaching this goal. Graduating high school is just one step in your lifelong learning journey, but it is a huge step. Congratulations. This last Tuesday, we had the opportunity to take a number of our Empower learners out to the school forest for a day of snowshoeing. It is hard to remember a field trip where we had fun learning outside the building. The day before a few learners volunteered to shovel out the fire pit, picnic table, and outhouse in preparation for our visit. A big thank you goes out to SSG Ethan Damon, MNANG, for providing a culinary delight for lunch teaching our learners all about Meals Ready to Eat (MREs). There were easier and more challenging trails, hot chocolate, a fire to stay warm, and many laughs. Just a great day all around. Things are happening here at Empower, feel free to stop by and check them out. Coming Events: Remember all events are updated on our website Mar 15 Empower Conferences/Family Nights Mar 28-Apr 1 Spring Break No School Greetings To Our Empower Learner Supporters,
We are not sure if it was nature’s way of telling us that nature is still in control no matter what that little groundhog said at the beginning of the month. Or nature may have just thought we needed some winter exercise moving a good amount of snow around. Either way, it was a doozy of a storm this last week. However, it did give us a chance to also use our E-Learning plan for the first time this winter. Any feedback on how the e-learning day went and improvements to help your learners would be appreciated. Empower learners continue to forge ahead despite distractions like below zero temps and snowstorms. We are proud to congratulate Wyatt on completing all high school graduation requirements. We have a few more learners right behind him and will be finishing up very soon. There was an interesting learning event here at Empower last week. As many of you know, we run an Empower bank here that rewards learners for work accomplished and attendance with “Empower Dollars.” Learners can use these dollars to purchase snacks and other items. The highest-priced thing is a pizza party. Last week a few learners took a leadership role and presented a proposal to all the learners in attendance that day. They proposed that if everyone cooperated and pitched in just a little of the money each had earned, they could come up with the Empower funds for the said pizza party. As a staff, it was amazing to watch the learners demonstrate communication skills, cooperation, and math skills to accomplish this task. Of course, how could we not have a pizza party after that? What a great learning experience with a tasty reward at the end. Finally, many of our learners had the opportunity to participate in Construct Tomorrow. This is an annual event hosted by the trade unions throughout Minnesota. It gives the learners hands-on experience in many of the trades and discusses the opportunities to enter apprenticeship programs earning money while training for a job instead of paying tuition. Our learners had a chance to practice bricklaying, roofing, heavy equipment, and painting activities this year. It was a great learning experience in a fun environment. More importantly, it gave learners exposure to high-demand and high-paying jobs after graduation. Things are happening here at Empower, feel free to stop by and check them out. Coming Events: Remember all events are updated on our website Mar 8 - Snowshoeing at the school forest Mar 10&15 Empower Conferences/Family Nights Mar 19 - Supporting Finlayson Lions St Urho’s Day As we go into the Superbowl weekend, we imagine a few sports references may be acceptable. Here at Empower, we finished the first half strong seeing a number of our team members succeed in scoring their high school diplomas. We have since added a few new players to the team, and the prospects are looking good to finish the second half of the season just as strong.
With the 3rd Quarter now in full swing, you will see that most of our learners have set their quarterly goals. Many of them are well on track to reach them. We also would like to give a shout-out to Tierra, who wrapped up all her requirements for her diploma. Congratulations Tierra! The weather cooperated, and we were able to have some more sub-zero fun. We freeze-cooked an egg yoke, surprisingly edible with a bit of salt and pepper. We also watched what sub-zero air does to an inflated beach ball. Amazingly, the beachball started to look deflated, but it reinflated when we brought it back inside; science is weird! We hope to get out to the school forest in the next couple of weeks to do some snowshoeing on the new trails, and it looks like the weather may cooperate. Many of our learners had the opportunity to take a virtual tour of the Alnwick Castle in Northeast England, thanks to an invitation from Mrs. Masterson’s class. This castle has been used to film the Harry Potter movies and many more. This castle is over 700 years old and is still fully operational and home to a Duke and Dutchess. We should also clear up some potential confusion. Empower will hold our Parent/Guardian Conferences in March. You may notice the High School has conferences in February. Please refer to our Empower calendar. Of course, we are always happy to talk with any of our Empower supporters about the great things our learners are accomplishing and how we can all support them to be even better. Things are happening here at Empower, feel free to stop by and check them out. Coming Events: Remember all events are updated on our website Feb 16 - MAAP Legislative Day (Virtual/Tentative) Feb 21 - No School-Presidents Day Mar 10&15 Empower Conferences/Family Nights Mar 19 - Supporting Finlayson Lions St Urho’s Day It must be January in Minnesota. As you know by now, this stretch of sub-zero weather did our furnace in. As we compose this newsletter, the furnace is giving its last bit of heat, and we have space heaters all around the building to keep the pipes from freezing. We plan on welcoming a new heating system to our building on Monday and welcome our Learners back into the building on Tuesday.
We have reached the halfway point of the school year. That’s right, it is the end of the 1st semester, and next Tuesday, we begin the second half of the school year. So again, we want to thank all of you for your support of our Empower learners, and we look forward to finishing the year just as strong as we started. One of the cool (no pun intended) things about living in a sub-zero climate is the neat science you can do. Here at Empower, we did just that last week. How awesome is it when you can throw boiling water into the air and watch it instantly turn into frozen vapor or blow freezing soap bubbles? Now you just can’t do that in Texas! We have another big shout-out to our most recent graduate Siarra. We also have many learners working extra hard to wrap things up this winter. This means we are looking forward to welcoming new learners into our Empower family. You may have noticed a slight schedule change to the Empower calendar. The MAAP Conference has switched to a two-day conference, so Wednesday, February 2nd, will be a flex day for our learners (like our typical Fridays). We will be open that Wednesday for any learner who wants to come in. Things are happening here at Empower, feel free to stop by and check them out. Coming Events: Remember all events are updated on our website Jan 24 - No School-Teacher Professional Development Feb 2 - Flex Day Feb 3-4 - No School-Staff MAAP Conference Feb 16 - MAAP Legislative Day Feb 21 - No School-Presidents Day Welcome to 2022, a new year filled with opportunities for all of us. We all will have opportunities for success, change, failure, and learning from our failures and succeeding. It also means we are nearing the halfway point in the school year.
The Empower staff would like to thank all the family and friends who could attend the annual Empower Christmas Tea. So many of the learners worked so hard to prepare some delicious snacks and showcase our Empower building. What a fun time this was, getting to chat with you about the program and laugh during the Reindeer games. This was one of our best turnouts for this event, and I hope you enjoyed it as much as we enjoyed hosting you. The other highlight of this reporting period was our visit to the Museum of Failures. Our learners had a great time walking through the many exhibits of failures by very smart people. Yet many of these failures paved the way for even more significant inventions. Many hands-on exhibits brought huge laughs. Our learners also had a few minutes to walk around the Mall of America where the Museum was housed. Although this was a short reporting period due to the break, many of our learners worked hard given the time they had. You will see that in their progress report. Of note, a huge shout out to Montana, who completed all of her requirements for her high school diploma. Great Job, Montana. Things are happening here at Empower, feel free to stop by and check them out. Coming Events: Remember all events are updated on our website Jan 17 - No School-Teacher Training Jan 21 - End of 1st Semester Jan 24 - No School-Teacher Professional Development Feb 2-4 - No School-Staff MAAP Conf It is Christmas Tea time at Empower, Dec 22nd, from 12-2. Looking forward to seeing you here.
|
AuthorThis page brought to you by the Empower Staff. Categories
All
|