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Art makes deer
Art makes deer
By Brody, 7th grade
The middle school students, who are in art class decorated new taxidermy deer. Last year they based the deer on scenes in Montana, but this year they created Deer in Disguise.
The art students started making them in the last couple of weeks in March. They finished in the first week of April, after the students' spring break.
When I asked one of the art students, Millie, who is in eighth grade, why they made the deer, she answered with this, “It is a fun way to express art."
The next art students I talked to were Halldi and Katie. I asked them how they made the deer and when they started. They said this, “We ordered the taxidermy deer and we painted them. We also glued feathers on ours." They decorated theirs as a parrot.
The art teacher, Mrs. Emslie, when asked if they had a budget, she answered, “The budget is through a fine arts grant. It is the John & Ann Taylor Fine Art Scholarship, through D.A. Davidson”.
The Art students finished the deer, and they will be featured in the art show on May 10th.
Student Council provides new microwaves for Swan River students!
Student Council provides new microwaves for Swan River students!
By Bella, 8th Grade
Swan River School’s Student Council has bought microwaves for all grades. Braxton in eighth grade explained why we got microwaves, and he states, “We got the microwaves so then kids can have warm lunch instead of cold, because it’s tasty!”
Braxton is a part of the student council and was a big help getting the microwaves. While another student, Logan helped with the money and found out how much they would cost. Swan River’s cafeteria now has two new microwaves for the students to use.
The eighth grade students had asked about getting new microwaves last year, but only some thinking was done. Our school’s principal, Mr. Lamb had been asked about it, but it was too late in the school year to do anything about it. Mr. Lamb knew he wanted to have microwaves for student use, but the microwaves and where they would put them needed more thinking and planning.
This year, the Student Council worked on getting those microwaves and finding out where and how to get power for them. A normal outlet can only have one microwave, but we need two. So, Mr. Lamb had worked with Power Man Electric and had the power rerouted. They took power from a little box near the ceiling in the back right hand corner of the cafeteria, and powered all that energy to an outlet. Mr. Lamb states, “There can only be one microwave per outlet, so we needed to change the power into the outlet to avoid a fire hazard.”
The electricity issue was resolved, but how was the Student Council going to store these microwaves? Well, they found a good spot for them and built a door to lock them after lunch.
Students need to keep the microwaves clean and organized because they are now a part of the kitchen cleanliness grading. Swan River likes to keep their kitchen clean to the A+ standard. After getting these microwaves, the school’s staff wasn't messing around when it came to how clean they need to be. Middle school students clean them daily after lunch along with the rest of the cafeteria.
New middle school teachers
By Kaylee, 7th Grade
Two new teachers started their journey this year at Swan River School. They joined at the beginning of the school year, September 6, 2022. Mrs. Norris and Ms. Henderson joined our middle school.
There are many interesting facts about Mrs. Norris. One of her hidden talents is salsa dancing! Mrs. Norris uses her strengths as a teacher here at SRS; she is our science teacher and 8th grade homeroom teacher. Outside and inside of school, she is very organized. Before Mrs. Norris worked here, she subbed at SRS a lot. She says a good estimate is nineteen or twenty times. Mrs. Norris previously worked at the hospital as an office manager and registered medical assistant. However, she went back to college to get her master's in teacher.
For Mrs. Norris, an important professional accomplishment was, “Landing my dream job!” Mrs. Norris described her new job as “A roller coaster experience!” In five years, Mrs. Norris sees herself as a teacher still working at SRS or living in Alaska teaching at a rural school.
Ms. Henderson is our new math and sixth grade homeroom teacher. One of her hidden talents is crocheting. She is very good and enjoys it greatly. Her favorite subject is math, which would be not surprising. Ms. Henderson subbed at least once or twice last year, so she met some students before starting this fall.
Before working at SRS she was an account assistant and high school math teacher. Ms. Henderson achieved an impressive professional accomplishment; it was a math paper about the history of probability published in May of 2015.
Ms. Henderson thinks “All the teachers at SRS are very helpful when needed. The students are very inspiring and unique!”
Our school is very thankful to have these amazing teachers.
New elementary teacher at Swan River!
By Bella and Gwen, 7th Grade
This year, Swan River School has hired three new elementary teachers for grades one, two, and three. These new teachers were welcomed into the Swan River family with open arms.
Miss Siloti, a former preschool teacher and the new first-grade teacher, says she has always wanted to work with kids. Miss Siloti is having a great time fitting into a smaller rural school. When questioned about why she wanted to teach at Swan, she stated “There is more room for fun” and she loves the community-based school. First grade is one of her ideal grades to teach, and she plans to do so for many years to come.
“I didn’t want to become a teacher until I was forty, but it was the best decision I’ve ever made!” declared Josh Vierzba, the new second grade teacher. “Mr. V,” as his students call him, is excited for all the new opportunities that Swan River holds. He looks forward to being a DJ at the dances and is currently enjoying coaching basketball for the fifth and sixth grade boys' team, but he is ecstatic when it comes to teaching. Mr. V is excited for all the adventures to come at Swan River School.
Mrs. Lau, the third grade teacher, is a new teacher, a former student, and a parent to students here at Swan. When asked about her inspiration for working at Swan River, Mrs. Lau says she gets it from her third grade teacher. Mrs. Lau enjoys teaching her daughter Hadlee in third grade, but the young teacher would also enjoy teaching first grade or middle school.
Students, parents, and teachers are excited to have new faces and opportunities with these new teachers.
New music teacher started school year off right
By Emma, 7th Grade
The 2022-2023 school year at Swan River started out with some new teachers. This includes our new music teacher.
Mrs. Knutson, the music teacher started on the first day of school, September 6th. When asked why she took the job she said, “ I love giving kids the chance to do something wonderful, and I think music is something wonderful!” She found the job on the Internet, when she was looking it was listed.
Mrs. Knutson taught private music classes for twelve years and in schools for ten years. She has worked at many different places, including in Northern California. She also worked in Hamilton City, and at a school in North Dakota.
Her favorite class to teach is any class that truly wants to do their very best. She plays mainly the flute, but she also plays the guitar, ukulele, piano, clarinet, saxophone, and she can sing.
Swan River is also currently looking for a new librarian and a new counselor.
New paving rolling around
By Madison, 8th Grade
Over the summer of 2022, our principal, Mr. Lamb implemented new paving for the basketball court, the parking lot, and the new walk-a-jog path.
This took a few months, but it made the parking lot easier to drive through and the new basketball court better to play ball on. When the new walk-and-jog paths were added, the tradition came back that we were all missing.
The paving was done by Treasure State Paving and Concrete Auto, and it cost $150,000. It took two weeks to finish all the pavement.
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