We are all keenly aware of the tragic events that occurred on Thursday at Perry High School in Perry, Iowa. As a district, we stand with and grieve with the students, staff, and community of Perry. Parents and students should never have to feel unsafe at school or worry if their kids will come home safe at the end of the day. As we continue to process this situation, we want to share some of the proactive measures we have taken over the last several years and continue to use to prevent and respond to such a situation. I've attached a letter outlining some of the steps and programs we have implemented to ensure the safety of our students and staff.
Please read the attached letter for more information. You can access a clickable version of the letter at the link below. That version will allow you to follow the links for more information.
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1AcpSZtPvDQ0FEj6JGJLYhjhj2jlqVxT2/view?usp=sharing
Okoboji Community School District stands with the students, staff, families, and community of Perry as they walk through this terrible tragedy. Educators in Perry and across Iowa work hard every day to make school a safe place for kids to grow and flourish. We will continue to offer our support in any way we can.
Hug your kids tonight and every night.
Two of our very own have been nominated to be University of Okoboji Winter Games Cheerleaders! Congratulations to Katie Luinstra and TJ Simington for being recognized for this awesome community honor! It is well deserved! Voting opens today and closes by 5 PM tomorrow!
https://www.uofowintergames.com/cheerleaders/
Before break, our 1st graders learned about comparing and measuring and they were able to choose things around the classroom to measure. Some things were bigger than the cubes we had so we problem solved and worked with a partner to measure them! The kids had a great time measuring around the room.
Thank you to all who donated to our food drive last week. We brought in a total of 1,314 items for our local food bank! What a great way to help our community around the Holidays!
We had a great time at our annual Sing-A-Long this morning! Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays from all of us at OES! See you in 2024!
Our 4th graders have been learning about energy. To wrap up our unit, we collaborated with Mrs. Guthrie's Physics class to assemble Rube Goldberg machines. Last Tuesday, high school students and 4th graders brainstormed simple tasks that the machines could accomplish, as well as some materials that can be used. Last Thursday, we built and tested out our Rube Goldberg machines. Some completed the tasks, while others didn't, but all the students had a great time exploring energy!
Thank you to Pas and Toale Dentistry for their donation of more gloves and mittens to OES students! We appreciate it very much!
Our Lost and Found is piling up again! Do you see anything that is yours? If so, please contact your teacher or call the office at (712)338-2458 to let us know and we will get it to your child!
THANK YOU to Remax Lakes Realty for running a glove drive to support students in need here at Okoboji Elementary School! This was a big need for us and we appreciate your support for our school and kids!
Check out the image below for an opportunity to help our community! Shout out to our TK classroom for putting this on for us all!
Aria Vonk and Kai Galbavy were recognized this morning at our Character Strong assembly for doing an exceptional job showing gratitude throughout the month of November. We are proud of Aria and Kai but we are also proud of our entire student body! The students at OES have been doing amazing all year! Thank you, parents and families, for sharing your kids with us! Read below for quotes about Aria and Kai!
Aria's teacher said, "Aria has done an outstanding job showing appreciation this month! In her personal time at home, she wrote notes of gratitude to her teachers and hand delivered them. Aria chooses to see the good in all situations. She doesn't let negative self-talk in and often can be heard pep talking her friends and offering positive words of encouragement!"
Kai's teacher said, "Kai continuously does his best to put forth wonderful school work, all while encouraging others to follow the rules and show good character. He is a fantastic leader who leads not only by his words, but also by his actions. When we have class parties or birthdays he always says please and thank you. He is trustworthy and kind, and actively shows gratitude for everything around him."
Our ACTive KINDness Assembly this morning was amazing! We had a ton of fun signing some awesome songs that were led by Hannah Nicolaisen (2023 Top 20 finalist on American Idol) and we also learned some simple things we can do to make someone's day better and maybe even change the world! Talk to your kids to see what their superpowers might be!
Thank you to Pioneer Parents for supporting this assembly and THANK YOU to everyone that enables Pioneer Parents to fund special programs like this!
The Okoboji School Board recognizes that it takes a community to Pioneer our youth. Through two programs, Board Salute and Pioneer Student Recognition, we want to hear from you about those exceptional individuals who stand out. For November, please take a moment to honor those that go above and beyond! Below is the link to access the programs.
https://www.okobojischools.org/o/ocs/page/board-recoginition-programs
Thank you for your ongoing support for our school district!
We will have a send-off at ALL THREE buildings on Thursday afternoon to send our State-Bound Esports Team off in style and wish them luck! They will walk through the halls of OES at 2:40, OMS at 2:55, and OHS at 3:10 before heading for Des Moines! They will compete on Friday for a state championship! If any parents or community members want to join the send-off, please come to OHS via the main entrance before 3:10 on Friday!
We held our Veterans Day Assembly a little early this year and boy was it awesome! Shoutout to Mr. Abrahamson for sharing a bit about his experience serving our country. We also appreciate everything Aphton Rocha and everything the Milford American Legion has done to make the program so special! We even have memorabilia on display today for students to touch and feel! This is such an important experience for our children!
We encourage all eligible voters in the Okoboji Community School District to cast their vote in today's election! Polls are open from 7 AM - 8 PM.
Mrs. Luinstra and Dowhower's classes were enjoying storytime at the Milford Public Library this week! In the spirit of gratitude, we are very grateful for the experiences Ms. Becca provides for our students.
The kids got to dress the staff today. I must say they did an amazing job!! 😂
The AP Chem students from OHS came to OES today to conduct some fun science demos for a few of our kiddos! Our students got to see some "Witches Brew" with elephant toothpaste! It was so fun!
