We have a new face

in our hallways this semester

as we had a new teacher join our staff. I

would like to extend a warm welcome to

our new 9-12 science teacher Mr. Nathan Knutson. We would also like to welcome

three co-teachers this month in our ele-

mentary: Miss Emily Steemken, Mr. Mason

Madsen, and Mr Kevin Danielson. Wel-

come to our community and school dis-

trict. We hope that you will enjoy it here.

Parent -Teacher Conferences

are scheduled for Thursday, February 8th

from 2:00-8:00 PM in Viborg. Elementary

conference slips have gone home to par-

ents so please check your child’s backpack

for this sheet. If you are unable to come

during your scheduled time please call the

office and we will try to reschedule you.

Middle and High School teachers will again

be in the gym at tables throughout the

scheduled times so that you can stop in

and visit with each of your child’s teachers.

Students will be dismissed at 1:15 at the

middle school and at 1:30 at the elementary and

high school buildings that day.

We have two no school days scheduled

this month. The first will be Friday, November

9th. There will be no Friday school that day for

students or staff. The second no school day will

be Monday February 19th because of the Presi-

dent’s Day holiday. We will also have one full

Friday (February 23rd) for students and staff be-

cause of the President’s day holiday.

Superintendent’s

Message:

VIBORG-HURLEY SCHOOL DISTRICT

February, 2018

Cougar Tracks

Special Points of Interest: 2/2—State One Act @

Brandon 8:45

2/7—Region Solo & Ensem-

ble Festival 2:15

2/8—P-T Conferences 2-8

PM

2/8—Early Dismissal 1:30

2/9—No School

2/10—Cheer Camp @ Vi-

borg 1-6 PM

2/15—School Board Meet-

ing @ Hurley 7:00

2/16—Blood Drive 8-1 Vi-

borg-Hurley High School

2/16—FFA Meeting 7;00

with lock in to follow

2/16-17—Luke Hansen

Tourney @ Hurley and

Viborg

2/17 SD Science Bowl @

Huron

2/19—No School

2/19-23—National FFA

Week

2/21—Regional Career Fair

@ Parker AM

2/23—Full Day of School

3/1—End of 3rd Quarter

3/1—JH Oral Interp @

Hansen

3/5—FFA Howard CDE’s

@ Howard

3/12—JH/HS Quiz Bowl @

Canistota 3:00

National FFA

Week

(February 19-23)

Watch for signs post-

ing the dress up days

for National FFA

Week. We hope you

will show your spirit

by participating in

the fun.

Happy Valentines Day.

Snowball 2018 was a huge success. Everyone

seemed to be having a lot of fun chilling with

friends and dancing the night away to some favorite tunes.

Thank you to the student council for sponsoring the event

and to the chaperones and the DJ for volunteering their

time. You each made the evening a

memorable one.

Snow Days– Late Starts, Early Outs and

Cancellations In the event of any of the above I will relay the information

through the following sources: Keloland Closeline, WNAX,

Hot Country 93.1, KSFY, KDLT, our school messenger system,

our facebook page, and our website. If a 10:00 late start is called, shuttle buses will run from both

locations at 9:45. We are running a 10:00 start time on these

days as that coincides the best with our high school and middle

school schedules. The times for the shuttles will also be post-

ed on the school website. On late start days there will be no

AM Preschool. Breakfast will not be served on these days. Our district is large and the weather may be different depend-

ing on where you are located in the district. Parents, if you feel

that the weather is too bad to travel out in please know that I

trust your judgement. In this event please keep your children

home. We just ask that call in and let us know that is what you

are doing so that we know where your children are and do not

worry about their safety.

He has a younger brother and sister. He grew up working in and loving the outdoors. His hobbies include: hunting, fishing, and working on the family farm. He graduated from Centerville High School in 2014 and contin-ued his education at South Dako-ta State University in Brookings. He graduated with his bachelors degree in Agriculture Education this past December after complet-ing his student teaching at Ber-esford High School. Please help me in wel-

coming Mr. Knutson to our com-

munities by stopping in to visit with him if you have a chance.

We would like to extend a warm welcome to our new Ag

teacher, Mr. Nathan Knutson. Mr.

Knutson is working with Mr. Rist

in the area of Agriculture Educa-tion. He will begin his day at the

middle school providing our mid-

dle school students with a sample of what ag ed. is all about. He will

then travel back to the high school

where he will be teaching two Ag

Metal Fabrication Technology courses, an Ag Structures course,

and helping with a Greenhouse

Management course. The addition of a second ag teacher has allowed

us to offer additional ag courses to

our students at both the middle and

high school.

Mr. Knutson is originally from Centerville, South Dakota.

Viborg-Hurley High School Welcomes a New Ag Teacher

Sixth Grade Social Studies

The 6th grade class did a

group project on the Mes-

opotamian groups Assyri-

ans, Babylons, and Sumeri-

ans. Each Group was re-

quired to come up with a 2

minute play, two pictures

that related to the group.

The final thing they had to

do was a hand made repre-

sentation of an important

thing they made during that

time frame. Each group did

an excellent job.

Page 2 Cougar Tracks

Ozbot

5th and 6th Grade Students working collaboratively on

their latest Ozbot programming adventure.

Viborg-Hurley Ag Department Receives $29,000 Grant

Circuit Board Challenge 2017 Game Show Mania has hit the

6th Grade Science class in the Science

Lab on Hurley 2nd Floor. The students

have been learning about electricity;

simple and parallel circuitry. The stu-

dents were tasked with creating a game

board, complete with working circuits

and a light bulb that lights up with every

right answer! There have been quite a

few clever game shows created. For

example: The Price is Bright

Wires of Fortune

Joker’s Wild The games will be played tomorrow, November

30th, in Science class as a review over the Elec-

tricity chapter.

Thanks to Mr. Nathan Knutson and his grant writing skills, the Viborg-Hurley School’s agriculture education department will receive a Federal Perkins Grant for $29,000. These funds will be used to purchase 2 indus-try grade welders, a hand held plasma cutter, a sawstop table saw, and welding helmets, as well as, additional instructional materials for our ag shop.

The new equipment will be used in Mr. Knut-son’s Ag Metal Fabrication classes and his Ag Struc-tures class. The first three projects that the students will be using the new equipment on will be the creation and assembly of several round bale feeders, several cattle grates and

the construction of a calf shed. The goal is that students will learn how to use the equip-ment correctly and safely as well how to work as a team on these projects.

Both the construction and metal fabrication/welding fields are high needs areas in our workforce and students will be able to use the skills that they learn in these classes for years to come. Students that take the Ag

Metal Fabrication classes will be able to cut, bend, weld and assemble metal pro-jects when they com-plete the class. By having students work on these projects students will be add-ing to the skills that they have already

learned in the classroom such as safety proce-dures d, and how to do MIG and SMAW weld-

ing. In the Ag Structures class, students will be constructing a calf shed. They will learn how to plan, measure accurately, cut wood, assem-ble the frame, and finish the walls and roof with tin, which are all valuable skills used in the construction trade. In both classes stu-dents will be learning valuable team skills as they work together to assemble their projects. They will also learn about the costs and budg-eting of materials and supplies needed for the projects.

Pottery Project 2017

Mr. Hauger and Mrs. Campbell have just finished

teaching an inter-disciplinary (Science & Social Stud-

ies) 3 week cross-curricular unit. The students stud-

ied atoms, elements, compounds, and mixtures in

Science and specific time periods and people groups

in Social Studies. In their Social Studies class, the 5th

grade studied the Indian tribes of North America;

and the 6th grade studied Sumerians, Mesopotamians,

and Assyrians. The culminating end of unit activity

was creating a clay compound (toilet-paper mache’

clay) in Science class and researching a certain people/

tribe in Social Studies. The students used the clay

compound to create a pottery piece indicative to the

people group/time period studied. Their final portfo-

lio included a Title page, two research papers, and an

original illustration of their pottery piece. This was a

wonderful way to bring the Science, History and Art

“worlds” together; and to increase student engage-

ment.

February Reading Incentive

The only way to get better at anything, including reading is to

practice. For the month of February, each individual student

has a goal to read for 17 days. If this goal is met each student

will get Milk Chocolate kisses. Please help your child(ren)

read at home. Pre-K -t3rd grade students are encouraged to

read for 15 minutes daily. The 4th grade students are encour-

aged to read 20 minutes daily.

FCA “Super Bowl” Food

Drive

This past week the Fellowship of Christian

Athletes Group held their “Super Bowl”

Food Drive to benefit the local food pantry.

They collected items ranging from canned

fruits and vegetables and Hamburger Helper

to hygiene products such as toilet paper and

toothpaste. Each class in the

elementary and high school

participated. Final totals for

the FCA “Super Bowl” food

drive in the elementary wing

were:

Kindergarten- 83

1st (Rice) 75

1st (Goergen) 210

2nd 125

3rd 233

4th 70 We want to thank all of you for all of the

donations! They will certainly go a long way

in helping the local food pantry.

Thank you to Brian Weier and Security State Bank for providing pizza and bottled water to the middle stu-dents for the “January Character Reward” for our Middle School students.

Congratulations to our One Act Play actors and actress-es for advancing to state .

Congratulations to the actors and actresses that received superior individual awards at Region One Act: Cole Vanballegooyen, Pat-rick Simonsen, Victoria Hansen.

Congratulations to Mrs. Wanda Kost for receiving the Southeast Area School Business Manager of the Year Award.

Congratulations and thank you to Mr. Na-than Knutson on re-ceiving a $29,000 Federal Perkins grant for the Viborg-Hurley Ag Department. We appreciate your efforts on behalf of our students.

Congratulations to our Viborg-Hurley School Board on being awarded a Bronze Level award for participa-tion in ASBSD’s board recognition program.

Thank you to our Viborg-Hurley PTO for paying for the Christmas movie for the elementary students and for paying for the mid-dle school students to go to

“Wonder”. We appreciate your help and support very much.

Thank you to all of our children and their music teachers for providing us with four wonderful Christ-mas Concerts during De-cember. All four were different and wonderful in their own way. We have some very talented youth.

Wisdome is knowing the right path

to take……. Integrity is taking it.

Live so that when your children

think of fairness, caring, and integri-

ty, they think of you.

No matter how educated, talented,

rich, or cool you believe you are,

how you treat people tells all. In-

tegrity is everything.

Congratulations & Thank You’s

If you tell the truth you don’t have to

remember anything.

~Mark Twain

Viborg-Hurley Cougars Basketball

2/1 GBB Scotland @ Viborg 6:15 ( C game 5:00)

2/2 GBB/BBB Freeman Acad @ Marion 4:00

2/6 GBB/BBB Avon @ Avon 4:00

2/9 GBB/BBB Parker @ Viborg 4:00 (C BBB game 3:00)

2/10 BBB Ethan @ Viborg 6:30 (C game 5:00)

2/12 GBB/BBB EPJ @ Elk Point 4:00 (both gyms)

2/13 GBB/BBB @ Menno 4:00

2/17 BBB Bridgewater/Emery @ Emery 6:15 (C game 5:00)

2/19 GBB Region Tourney TBA

2/20 GBB Region Tourney TBA

2/22 GBB Region Tourney TBA

2/26 BBB Region Tourney TBA

2/27 BBB Region Tourney TBA

3/1 GBB Sweet 16 TBA

3/2 BBB Region Tourney TBA

Practicing Good Character at

Viborg-Hurley

The Character Trait for February is Trusti-

worthiness. Please take time to talk to

your children this month about this im-

portant Character Trait.

Dinner Table Talking Points:

Think “true blue”

Be honest

Don’t deceive, cheat, or steal

Be reliable—do what you say you’ll do

Have the courage to do th right thing

Build a good reputation Be loyal—stand by your family, friends,

and country

Return things that you borrow.

Keep your promises

The Viborg-Hurley Drama Department presented the one-act play “Bad Audi-tions by Bad “ at the Region One Act Competition in Brandon on Wednesday, January 24th. The play was a great success! The students learned a lot and had a good time while doing so. They received a superior award and will advance to the state competition at the Brandon Performing Arts Cen-ter in Brandon on February 2nd. They will perform at 8:45 AM that morning. The competition is open to the public, and we invite you all to attend and sup-port us. The following students re-ceived superior individual awards: Pat-rick Simonsen, Victoria Hansen, and Cole Vanballegooyen for their out-standing performances!

One Act Play— “Bad Auditions by Bad Actors” - An Amazing Performance

Page 5 Cougar Tracks

Parent –Teacher Conferences: A Tip Sheet for Parents

Harvard Family Research Project

ceed. You will probably hear pos-itive feedback about your child’s progress and areas for improve-ment. Be prepared by thinking about your child’s strengths and challenges beforehand. Be ready to ask questions about ways you and the teacher can help your child with some of his or her challenges.

What should you talk to the teacher about?

Progress. Find out how your child is doing by asking ques-tions like: Is my child perform-ing at grade level? How is he or she doing compared to the rest of the class? What do you see as his or her strengths? How could he or she improve?

Assignments and assessments. Ask to see examples of your child’s work. Ask how the teach-er gives grades.

Your thoughts about your child. Be sure to share your thoughts and feelings about your child. Tell the teacher what you think your child is good at. Explain what he or she needs more help with.

Support learning at home. Ask what you can do at home to help your child learn. Ask if the teach-er knows of other programs or services in the community that could also help your child.

Support learning at school. Find out what services are available at the school to help your child. Ask how the teacher will both chal-lenge your child and support your child when he or she needs it.

How should you follow up?

Make a plan. Write down the things that you and the teacher will each do to support your child. You can do this during the conference or after. Write down

what you will do, when, and how often. Make plans to check in with the teacher in the coming months.

Schedule another time to talk. Com-munication should go both ways. Ask

how you can contact the teacher. And don’t forget to ask how the teacher will contact you too. There are many ways to communicate—in person, by phone, notes, email. Make a plan that works for both of you. Be sure to schedule at least one more time to talk in the next few months.

Talk to your child. The parent–teacher conference is all about your child, so don’t forget to include him or her. Share with your child what you learned. Show him or her how you will help with learning at home. Ask for his or her suggestions.

Source: Harvard Family Research Project Harvard Graduate School of Education 3 Garden Street Cambridge, MA 02138 Website: www.hfrp.org Email: hfrp@gse.harvard.edu Tel: 617-495-9108 Fax: 617-495-8594

As a parent, you are your child’s first and most important teacher. You and your child’s school have something in common: You both want your child to learn and do well. When parents and teachers talk to each other, each person can share im-portant information about your child’s tal-ents and needs. Each person can also learn something new about how to help your child. Parent–teacher conferences are a great way to start talking to your child’s teachers. This tip sheet suggests ways that you can make the most of parent-teacher conferences so that everyone wins, especial-ly your child.

What should you expect?

A two-way conversation. Like all good conversations, parent–teacher confer-ences are best when both people talk and listen. The conference is a time for you to learn about your child’s progress in school: Ask to see data about your child’s attendance, grades, and test scores. Find out whether your child is meeting school expectations and aca-demic standards. This is also a time for the teacher to learn about what your child is like at home. When you tell the teacher about your child’s skills, inter-ests, needs, and dreams, the teacher can help your child more.

Emphasis on learning. Good parent–teacher conferences focus on how well the child is doing in school. They also talk about how the child can do even better. To get ready for the conversa-tion, look at your child’s homework, tests, and notices before the confer-ence. Be sure to bring a list of questions that you would like to ask the teacher.

Opportunities and challenges. Just like you, teachers want your child to suc-

Page 6 Cougar Tracks

Shania Knutson—Miss South Dakota Teen USA 2018

Born and raised in South Eastern South Dakota, Shania and her three sisters grew up on a farm where they continue the family tradi-tion of raising cattle, sheep, swine, and, Shania adding her own personal touch, fifty laying hens! This was able to teach her the value of hard work and a love for the agricultural indus-try. Shania puts a strong emphasis on extracurricular activities, so while in school, she is active in volleyball, basketball, track and field, softball, Student Council, Region Student Council, oral interpretation, youth group, 4H, FFA, showing sheep, and working in elementary classrooms every day!

As a Junior at Viborg-Hurley High School, Shania says she has a few years to figure out exactly what her dream job is but, she knows she wants to touch the lives of others and may do so by becoming a social worker, special education teacher, or a motivational speaker.

In addition to Shania’s busy life in her school, church, and com-munity, she is dedicated to a number of Charitable organizations. She is a dedicated volunteer for Children’s Mir-acle Network, Make-A-Wish Founda-tion, community volunteer work through her activities, and she volun-

teers as the leader of her community youth group! She loves working with the Lifescape community and making a difference. She is always empowering

young women to be confidently beauti-ful, through social media, workshops, and even in the hallways at school!

Knutson says “I am so excited and blessed to have this opportunity to promote and empower the role that women have in our society. I have worked so hard to attain the position that I have in my life. The Miss Uni-verse organization has always been a huge part of my heart, and I am so ex-cited for the upcoming year!” She is looking forward to continuing to work toward her goals and dreams as the 2018 Miss South Dakota Teen USA, and cannot wait to represent her great state of South Dakota at Miss Teen USA!

Congratulations to our own 2018 Miss South

Dakota Teen USA, Shania Knutson

Exercising Character—Trustworthiness

Good people are people you can trust. They are honest; they tell the truth. They are brave enough to do good things, even when people want them to do bad things. They keep prom-ises; if they say they’ll do something, they do it. They say and do good things for their fami-lies and friends; they are loyal. Good people do the right thing, even when doing or saying the right thing gets them into trouble or causes them to lose friends, opportunities or money. Honesty Do’s

Tell only the truth. Tell all the truth. Say what you mean. If you find something, return it to its

owner. Do the good things you say you’ll do.

Honesty Don’ts Don’t say you’ll do something without

really doing it. Don’t tell a lie. Don’t let anyone think something that

isn’t true. Don’t trick anyone. Don’t steal. Don’t cheat.

Integrity Do’s

Be brave and always do and say the right things.

Do the right thing, even when people want you to do bad things.

Be good, all the time.

Integrity Don’ts Don’t do bad things, even when people

try to force you. Don’t do or say bad things, even if it

means you’ll lose friends or fun or money.

Promise-keeping Do’s

Do what you say you are going to do. Return the things you borrow. Be careful of what you say you’ll do.

Only say you will do the things you think you really can do.

Promise-keeping Don’ts

Don’t trick people to get out of a prom-ise.

Don’t break a promise. Don’t make promises you can’t keep.

Loyalty Do’s

Help and protect your family, friends, teachers, school and community.

Keep confidential information to your-self.

Loyalty Don’ts

Don’t gossip, or say things that hurt people.

Don’t lie, cheat or steal to get what you want.

Don’t ask anyone to do anything bad.

Page 8

February 2018

Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat

1GBB Scotland

@ Viborg 6:15 C

5:00

FFA Scholarship

Apps Due

FCA Food Drive

2 Friday School 8-

11 Teacher Mtg

11-12 GBB/BBB Free-

man Acad. @

Marion 4:00 State One Act

8:45 @ Brandon

3

4 5 6 GBB/BBB Avon

@ Avon 4:00

7 Region Solo’s &

Ensembles 2:15

8 P-T Conferences

2-8 PM

Early Dismissal 1:30

9 No School stu-

dents or staff

GBB/BBB Parker @

Viborg (BBB C

game @ 3:00)

10 BBB Ethan @

Viborg 6:30 C @

5:00 Cheer Camp 1-6

@ Viborg FFA JH Comp @

McCook Central

11 12 GBB/BBB EPJ @ Elk Point 4:00 (both

gyms)

13 GBB/BBB @

Menno 4:00

14 Valentines

Day

15 School Brd.

Mtg 7:00 @ Hur-

ley Pre-K Tour of

Viborg Dental 10

& 2

16 Friday School 8-11

Teacher Mtg 11-12 Blood Drive 8:00-1:00

@ VHHS FFA Mtg 7:00 with lock

in to follow Luke Hansen Tourney

@ Viborg & Hurley (Friday 5:00 PM/

Saturday 8:00 AM)

17 BBB Bridge-

water/Emery @

Emery 6:30 (C

game 5:00)

18

National FFA

Week

19 No School GBB Region

Tourney TBA

20 21 Regional Ca-

reer Fair @ Par-

ker AM

22 GBB Regions

TBA

23 School Full

Day

24

25 26 BBB Region

Tourney TBA

27 28

This calendar is subject to change for the most up-to-

date information please check the scrolling calendar on

the home page or our website Viborg-Hurleyk12.com .