Points of Pride

April

  • The SHS Choirs participated in the Region 8AA North Large Group Festival in Sauk Rapids. Bel Canto (9th grade women), Coro Basso (9-11 grade men), and Donne Voce (10-12 women) participated and all received Superior ratings, which is the highest rating possible
     
  • Llama Llama Read and Run hosted 92 individuals for an evening of Llama Llama stories, snack, gym time and the opportunity to use the Family Library
     
  • With the renovations of the District Service Center, the district received notice through Excel Energy that for the District Service Center, the district will be saving $45,000 on energy through the custom energy rebate and has been able to reduce gas costs by 50% due to building renovations
     
  • Sartell High School had three winners in the annual high school art competition. Taylor Daniels won 1st place in the Acrylic Painting category.  Sienna Schneider won the Ellingson Award for her Photograph.  Katelyn Evenson won BEST OF SHOW with her sculpture.  
     
  • Dave Olson, 5th Grade teacher at SMS, was honored as the Coach of the Year by the Minnesota State High School League Coaches’ Association
     
  • Dave Angell, Math teacher at SHS, was honored as the Boys’ Basketball Class AAA Coach of the Year
     
  • The Sartell High School Knowledge Bowl Team took 5th place at the State Tournament this past weekend.  The team consisted of Bailey Evenson, Laura Somppi, Quinn Skoog, Curt Koopmeiners and Gopi Ramanathan.  Last year’s state-qualifying tem placed 9th at the State Tournament
     
  • The National Honor Society hosted their annual induction banquet on Monday, April 8th, and inducted 45 new members
     
  • The SHS Student Council won the Minnesota Association of Student Councils (MASC) Outstanding Student Council award.   Brady Anderson won MASC Officer of the Year and Hayley Johnson won the Ardis Kyker Leadership Scholarship.  They were recognized for trying new things and being willing to try something new in the effort to try to include more people in our school to be a part of our school community

  • Janagan Ramanthan placed 5th at the State Geography Bee which was held on April 5th at St. Cloud State University

  • Sartell Middle School had 107 7th and 8th graders participated in the SCSU Math Contest.  There were four students from SMS in the top 10% and eight students in the top 5% in 8th Grade.  Bryn Rogers was the First Place Winner overall for 8th grade at the contest.   The team of Bryn Rogers, Josh Maricle-Roberts and Morgan Grugger earned first place out of the 36 schools for the contest.  There were three 7th graders in the top 10% and seven in the top 5% .  The team of David Anderson, Cindy Zhang (a 6th grader who also placed in the top 5%) and Nick Juntunen earned first place overall
     
  • Eight  7th and 8th graders presented projects at the MN State Science Fair in Bloomington April 8th and 9th.   Maddie Thieschafer and Becca Kucala won special awards for their projects: the Broadcom masters award, the Wolfram Research Award, Silver Grand Award and best use of the scientific method.

March

  • Sartell Middle School 6th Grade Math Masters Team placed first at the regional Math Masters Competition.  In the Individual Competion, Cindy Zhang placed 1st, Elizabeth Ruder placed 2nd and Tina Chen, Patrick Stalboerger and Jacob Miller tied for 3rd place

  • Janagan Ramanthan has qualified for the State Geography Bee which will be held on April 5th at St. Cloud State University

  • The Sartell High School Student Council won the National Gold Council of Excellence.  Only 163 schools earned this title this year

  • Girls Hockey, Boys Swimming and Diving, and Wrestling were Champions in the CLC Conference

  • Daniel Vitale participated in the State Wrestling Competition

  • Several Artist In Residence are happening throughout the District including the Borromeo Quartet project at PME and both Dan Mondloch and Willicey Tynes at Sartell High School creating murals in collaboration with student artists

  • Boys Swimming and Diving represented us well at the State competition with several medals brought home

February 2013

  • About 40 Sartell Middle Students participated this past Saturday in the Central Minnesota Regional Science Fair at SCSU.  Sartell Middle School received the Top School Award for highest percent of students with Top Awards.  The following is a list of the students who won those awards: 

    6th Grade:

    Anna Lehto: “Dimple Drop”

    Elizabeth Millhouse “Salty Surroundings”

    Cindy Zhang “Spy”

    Jacob Miller “How Far Will It Fly?”

    Elizabeth Ruder “Does Color Make A Difference?”

    Brinn Alervok and Rachel Ditmarson “Fizzy Fireworks”

    Logan Jesperson and Jack Hackenmueller “Rapid Reverse”

    7th Grade (Advancing to the State Competition):

    Kali Killmer and Monte Belmont “Fertilizer: Friend or Foe”

    Maddie Thieschafer and Becca Kucala “Pathogens, Bacteria, And Germs Oh My!”

    8th Grade (Advancing to the State Competition):

    Rory Spanier:  “Video Gaming for the Blind”

    Eric Schatz:  “Propeller Efficiency”

    Rameen Dogar:  “Eyewitness Testimony”

    Sydney Thieschafer:  “Shaping Up to Disappear”

    Josh Maricle-Roberts:  “Deforestation and Effects on the Iberian Lynx” (Library Research Paper)

    Special Awards:

    American Psychological Association:  Rory Spanier

    Naval Science Award:  Rory Spanier

    Broadcom Masters Award: Anna Lehto, Maddie Thieschafer, Becca Kucala, Sydney Theischafer, Rameen Dogar and Eric Schatz

  • Adam Johnson, 8th grader, won the Regional Spelling Bee.  Maia Kurvers and Monty Belmont also qualified and participated in the Bee.
     
  • Jenisa Cash and Anna Neeser participated at the State Gymnastics competition.
     
  • The Paramount Theatre and Visual Arts Center, through its Education-Outreach Department, was awarded a Minnesota State Arts Board Arts Learning Grant to deliver Math SmARTS to all Sartell-St. Stephen 2nd grade classrooms for 2013-14.
     
  • Bailey Evenson was named a National Merit Scholar Finalist.
     
  • The Sartell-St. Stephen Dance Team placed 2nd at the State Competition in the High Kick competition and 4th in the Jazz competition.
     
  • Sartell 8th graders surpassed state and national averages on the EXPLORE test which is a predictor for success on the ACTs.  Nationally, the average score is 15.5 and our students had an average of 17.5.
     
  • Rory Spanier, Cindy Zhang, Brandon Carlson and Nick Juntunen placed in the top 16 of the MathCOUNTS Individual Competition.  Brandon Carlson also placed 4th in the Individual Countdown Round.
     
  • The Family Library opened and is available to all community members of all ages.  The library is open at the District Service Center Monday-Friday from 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. based on the school calendar.
     
  • The Art In Motion grant, supported by SSEF, has been able to bring in Willicey Tynes, an award-winning artist, to speak with students and create a mural in the SHS stairwell.
     
  • SMS and PME students had the opportunity to explore a National Geographic giant map of Africa and learn about the continent in partnership with SCSU's Social Studeis Education Department
     
  • SMS Global Studies teacher, Jennifer Richason, was named the Minnesota Middle School Teacher of the Year by the Minnesota Council for Social Studies.

January 2013

  • AJ Flemming and Hayley Johnson were awarded the Triple A Award.  The purpose of the program is to recognize and honor seniors who have excelled in the classroom, on the athletic field and in the fine arts.
     
  • BLT and LEAP hosted almost 200 children and parents to promote positive parenting strategies that support early literacy and language skills.
     
  • Seth Westrup, ORE, placed 1st in the K-2 division and David Zhang, PME, placed 1st in the 3-4 grade division of the regional Resource Training and Solutions Chess Tournament.
     
  • Sartell Middle School hosted their Geography Bee with Janagan Ramanathan placing 1st, Josh Maricle-Roberts placed 2nd, and Dean Amundson placed 3rd.
     
  • Sartell 10th graders surpassed state and national averages on the PLAN test which is a predicotr for success on the ACTs.  Nationally, the average score is 17.2 and our students had an average of 19.4.
     
  • The St. Cloud Symphony Quartet performed for 4th graders at PME and ORE.
     
  • Project Lead the Way Intro to Engineering Design presented their prototypes, demonstrated technical skills and had a presentation from SKills USA National Championship Team from Tech High School to staff and the community.
     
  • Over 20 students from Sartell Middle School participated in Science Rocks - a hands-on Science extravaganza hosted by Resource Training and Solutions.

December 2012

  • Geography Bees were held at both elementary buildings.  At PME, Julianna Moore placed 1st, Dylan Cummings in 2nd, and Grant Winter placed 3rd.  At ORE, Connor Hacker placed 1st, Anna Pille placed 2nd, and Megan Stark placed 3rd.
     
  • 3rd and 4th grade students at both elementary buildings hosted Yellow House Dancers, a Native American Dance Troupe.  Lane Jensen, one of the troupe members is a champion hoop dancer.  The troupe sang and performed several dances for the students.
     
  • We had several amazing concerts in December including the SHS Band Concert, The SMS Winter Choir Concert, and the SHS Choir Concert.

November 2012 

  • ISD 748 was recognized on the Advanced Placement Honor Roll, one of eleven districts in the state, for continued program development by providing more classes and improving the percentage of students scoring successfully on the final assessment

  • Sartell High School participated in College Application Week where regional college and university representatives supported almost 100 applications being submitted by students with application fees waived

  • Over 250 10th-12th grade students who earned a 3.5 or better GPA were recognized at the Sartell High School Academic Breakfast
     
  • Girls Swimming and Diving ended the season with a 2nd place victory at the State competition with the following additional achievements: ssss
    • 200 Medley Relay: Anna Ellis, Lindsey Martens, Ellen Bloom, Lauren Martens 1:49.00; 3rd , School Record!  
    • 200 Freestyle: Kendra Raths 2:01.01; 20th
    • 200 IM: Gaby Hagen 2:14.58 11th; Ellen Bloom 2:04.65, State Champion, All-American Consideration Time!
    • 50 Free: Jennifer Thompson :24.99 16th
    • Diving: Brianna Steffes 21st, Madi Molitor 15th 274.80 
    • 100 Butterfly: Lindsey Martens 1:03.16 22nd; Paige Pawlenty 1:02.74 21st; Gaby Hagen 1:00.99 12th 
    • 100 Freestyle: Jennifer Thompson :54.89 14th 
    • 500 Freestyle: Kendra Raths 5:24.42 14th
    • 200 Freestyle Relay: Jennifer Thompson, Lindsey Martens, Lauren Martens, Gaby Hagen 1:38.72 3rd 
    • 100 Backstroke: Anna Ellis :59.16 6th; Ellen Bloom :56.36, State Champion, All-American Consideration time
    • 100 Breastroke: Lindsey Martens 1:10.30 13th
    • 400 Freestyle Relay: Paige Pawlenty (day one), Jennifer Thompson, Anna Ellis, Gaby Hagen, Ellen Bloom 3:33.32, State Runner-up, All-American Consideration time
  • Veterans were honored at the annual Veteran's Day program held at SMS on November 9
  • Willow Sweeney, a national speaker from Top 20 Training, trained all district instructional staff and over 175 parents about emotional health,  potential and keeping attitudes in the ‘Top 20s’

  • The United Way campaign brought in $13,612 for area programs
     
  • 4th graders at PME and ORE presented a ‘Wax Museum’ of famous inventors  to students, staff and families
     
  • Blake Anderson was a participant at the State Cross Country Meet

October 2012

  • The 6th Grade play, “The Princess King”, was shared with audiences and got rave reviews
  • The Sartell-St. Stephen Education Foundation had another record-breaking year raising over $68,000 to support leading-edge ideas and programming in ISD 748 
     
  • The Special Education Advisory Council (SEAC) has been formed holds monthly meetings
  • Resource Training and Solutions honored several Central Minnesota teachers with the Leaders in Educational Excellence Award including Joe Schulte, SHS; Cari Ritter, SMS; Amy Moe, PME and Tracy Steinhoff; ORE
     
  • The Sartell High School Fall Play, "You Can't Take It With You", played will to audiences for three shows
     
  • Art installations at SHS through a community-school partnership continue to enhance the SHS environment
     
  • Kelly Haws, PME staff member, was inducted into the Cathedral High School Hall of Fame in October
  • An Early Childhood PTO has been created to provide support for programming
  • PTO Walk-a-thons that raised over $48,000 for our two elementary schools
     
  • ISD 748 received recognition from MDE for outstanding performance in special education due process compliance for 2011

September 2012

  • District ACT scores continue to be well-above state and national averages with district students scoring an average of 23.9

  • Bailey Evenson is a National Merit Scholar semi-finalist

  • Student MCA scores continue to be above state average in all categories with all district-wide scores continuing to increase with the following levels of district students being proficient:

    • Reading: 86.3%

    • Math: 81.6%

    • Science: 69.3%

  • With the release of Multiple Measurement Ratings (MMRs) in August, both Pine Meadow and Oak Ridge were identified as Reward Schools for being in the top 15% of districts in the state based on MCA scores which measure proficiency, growth and closing the achievement gap

  • Sartell Middle School received an MMR score of 97.37%, which is in the top 3% of schools in the state
  • Jackie Wruck, SHS Staff, was selected to receive the Achievement in Education Award by the Optimist Club

  • GRAD Writing proficiency was at an all-time high at 97.4%

August 2012

  • The district graduation rate continues to stay strong at 96.6%

  • District updates and construction projects continue to be on schedule.

 

2011-2012 Points of Pride