It’s a two-for-one as this month, the spotlight shines on our FFA students who have returned from the National FFA Convention. Among them is McKashyn Salsbury who represented MVHS for the second time on the National FFA Choir. We also take this opportunity to recognize the recently-crowned 3A Boys State Champion Cross Country Team and the State Cross Country Boys Coach of the Year: Isaac Kiefer!

UCSD #4 Special Education Appreciation Shout Outs!

• A few weeks ago Lee Wentz had four MDAT/ IEPs in one week.  She conquered them all, getting all of the paperwork done on time, while also being sick.  That was some hard work!  Great job Lee!  Thanks!

• Last month Lori Jensen, Linda Newton and Colette Bugas presented to our WDE Peer Review Accreditation Panel.  Lori talked about our district's mentoring process and the work she's been doing to help new teachers.  Linda and Colette presented about our district's  work experience program (which they helped to create) for SPED students.  I think the program is really an exemplary extension/ enrichment program for our students.  Great work Linda, Colette and Lori!  Thanks!

• Our SPED counselor, Sandra Morrigan, went the extra mile last week when offering some family counseling for a student, especially when parents can only meet after school hours.  I'm optimistic this will have a positive impact on the student.  Thanks for going above and beyond for our students, Sandra!

I've had the opportunity to run chains at football games now with Chary Porter and Matt Clark.  I've enjoyed visiting with them while doing this work.  I think it means alot to our parents and students when they see their teachers on the sidelines taking an interest in what they do.  Chary also goes above and beyond with photography!  Thanks!

The October Spotlight shines on Aimee Hamblin and the entire Uinta 4 Food Service Staff. It doesn’t matter if we are going through a state food audit, establishing a high school breakfast program, serving breakfast to K-8 students, or serving lunch to an entire district of students our staff always serve with a smile. They have great attitudes and pull together to be sure our students eat. I want to recognize this entire group in the K8 kitchen – and Aimee as the leader of that group – for making sure the important work of this district gets done at a high level. Thank you! 

October is National Principal's Month and the entire district would like to thank our administrative team for their leadership and hard work. We benefit as a community, district, and at the school and classroom level from the work that you do every day. We are deeply grateful for your leadership, dedication, and tireless(?) hard work. The relationships you build with staff, families, and students create a foundation of trust and that makes our schools stronger. Most importantly, an administrator's unwavering focus on students ensures that every decision is centered on their safety, growth, and success. Your commitment to positive relationships helps build a foundation for lifelong learning for our students and staff. Thank you for the difference you make every day.

The high school would like to recognize Chelsea Brunski and Colette Bugas for the October Spotlight on Success. These two ladies worked long days and longer nights to ensure our students had a fantastic homecoming experience. Every day of the week there were dress up days that were highly participated in by students and staff. There were also some super creative and fun events that took place during the week, all of which were well attended by students, staff and community members. These two ladies deserve so much credit for lining out their officers and student council to coordinate these events, decorate, take down and clean up. All of this while continuing to fulfill their duties as teachers in the classroom. We are so grateful to them for their efforts during homecoming but also throughout the school year. They do so much behind the scenes as Student Council Advisors and teachers, and we are lucky to have them!

UCSD #4 Special Education Appreciation Shout Outs!

• The work that Alle Brown and Bonnie Rudy are doing with our new low vision student is commendable. They both have taken initiative to quickly contact resources from across the state WDE, Vision Docs, WATR, etc., etc. and get the resources coming that the student needs. I am completely confident in both of their abilities to learn and lead staff in how best to provide instruction for this student.  The slideshow and training Alle provided for teachers and paras earlier this month was well done. Bonnie's willingness to connect with local vision resources and help staff learn how to use the equipment involved has been awesome. I think their combined, cooperative, positive, full throttle, collaborative leadership sets a terrific example for our case managers and teachers.

• Braeden Walk with the support of his mentor Lori Jensen did a great job running his first IEP meeting.  What I was more impressed with was his commitment and participation his K-5 CLT group.  Braeden stayed after school to meet with them (I know what a commitment that was, given it's football season).  He also made some impressive contributions to the CLT.  The team has been researching and looking for different methods and systems to progress monitor math.  Braeden showed them a Google Form he created and is using for his students and the data, graphs, etc. that it generates, and they were super impressed.  As a first year teacher, I think he earned the respect of some veterans and helped to broaden their perspectives a bit.  It was GREAT work!!  Braeden Walk is on a pathway to becoming an excellent teacher!

MVE would like to shine the spotlight on Audra Behling and Trina Thomas.  Both work as paras in our building in different capacities (Trina in our library, and Audra as a SPED para) and have been asked to take on additional roles/responsibilities this school year.  Both were asked to assist our classroom teachers in providing some computer science and STEM type experiences and activities for our K-5 Students.  I know this was out of their comfort zone, but they have put the time in to get some training and find various resources to help them in this process.  Their efforts in this area is much appreciated!  

September's spotlight shines on district Maintenance Supervisor Bob Alvis. In his 12 years in our district, Bob has provided real leadership in helping the district navigate some difficult and unique situations. He not only has a broad knowledge of building and maintenance, but a specific knowledge of electrical systems that has provided professional growth for our entire maintenance crew. He has done an excellent job of working to transition Monte Bernard into both his current role and his upcoming role of maintenance supervisor. Bob has also been a go to for us in our contracts and bidding process. Early in his career with us, Bob was vital in getting our new K8 building on line for our students and staff. Our thanks to Bob for his service to the district and we wish him well in his coming retirement.

UCSD #4 Special Education Appreciation Shout Outs! Case managers task paras Sommer Tysver and Kara Olson with contacting parents to schedule meetings. The design in this duty/responsibility allows the case managers to focus more of their time on providing services to their students. This arrangement is somewhat unique and really a testament to the quality of work that they both do. For case managers to entrust paras with this responsibility says a lot. I know how hard it is to coordinate with admin, teachers and parents to find times that work for meetings. I realize the stress involved in this duty and the patience they have to have, to do it well. I am continually impressed with the quality of our paras and Sommer and Kara are two are a perfect examples of this. Thank you, Sommer and Kara, for handling all of our demands with a warm, friendly smile and a calm, can-do attitude. We really appreciate the work you do!

MVHS would like to shine the spotlight on our school counselor, Stormy Hauf. Stormy has truly been a lifesaver for our school, and to her brand-new principal. Her ability to coordinate schedules, facilitate testing, plan and prepare for graduation, provide scholarship opportunities, dual and college course planning, provide whole school and community mental health training, and counsel students in difficult situations are just a few of her daily duties. Stormy knows every student in the building and provides a wealth of knowledge in aspects that make our building great. Stormy is thoughtful, smart, and dedicated to our students, staff and community; we are lucky to have her!

MVMS would like to shine the spotlight on Mr. Lym and Mrs. Moretti, our PE teachers, for coordinating our annual 8th grade hike to Alligator Lake. We're blessed as a school to be able to conduct a field trip using our close proximity to National Forests. It's a great opportunity for our students to enjoy our public lands and realize that physical activity can be accomplished outside of the gym.  Students also used this trip to practice monitoring their heart rates throughout the hike. Thanks again to Dustin and Jess for keeping the tradition going.

MVE would like to show it's appreciation to Monique Hysell, a paraproffessional in our K-5, for coordinating our progress monitoring efforts in the elementary.  Monique does a great job communicating with our grade level teachers and organizing the data to ensure we are able to monitor the growth of our students in academic areas of need.  Our teachers and admin team benefit greatly from the work she does in this area.  Most importantly, our students, and their academic growth is greatly influenced by the work she does, and the support she is able to give them.  The work you do is greatly appreciated!

No surprise to anyone, we have some pretty capable bus drivers in our district! This month's Spotlight falls, once again,  on the Uinta 4 Bus Rodeo Champions. This summer, our Transportation department leaders, Brian Deru and Carmen Erickson, took several drivers up to Casper for the Wyoming Pupil Transportation Association's mountain driver training and the annual bus rodeo. Carmen Erickson and Angie Pitts represented our district well with their driving skills by taking first place in the bus rodeo portion of the training. This is the first time that our district has actually won this event, and you should see the traveling trophy we now have, thanks to the WPTA and the amazing efforts of our school bus drivers.

MVHS would like to shine the spotlight on Jolene Schnackenburg and Clay Hysell. These two individuals do so much behind the scenes and without their help these last few weeks, high school registration would not have happened. Clay is our resident "techie" and he is there at a moment's notice whenever we're having issues. His knowledge is abundant and we are very lucky to have his expertise. Jolene is sifting through mountains of PowerSchool info to make sure we are on track with student and parent registration. Her skillset is made evident, especially when coordinating attendance, compliance requirements from the state and sticky situations sometimes we are put in with school activities. Their professionalism and skill sets aside, both of these folks are such wonderful humans and their kindness shines through with every interaction, we are so grateful to work alongside them.

This month's Spotlight is a thank you to Mountain View High School Media Paraeducator Kim Tait and Josh Camp, representing Fort Bridger Historical Society, for their work with high school teachers and students to help coordinate a cross-curricular project this past spring that was very well done by students and staff and allowed the high school students to interact with younger students from both of the other buildings.