Goshen Community Schools

ELKHART COUNTY – Twenty-one students and their families will benefit from scholarships awarded Saturday, March 2, by the Community Foundation of Elkhart County and Lilly Endowment, Inc.

The 2019 Lilly Endowment Scholarship, Guy David Gundlach Memorial Scholarship and INSPIRE Scholarship will all help students from public and private schools pursue goals and dreams at the college level.

Lilly Endowment Community Scholarship (LECS)

The LECS is the result of a statewide Lilly Endowment initiative to help Hoosier students reach higher levels of education. Indiana ranks among the lowest states in the percentage of residents over the age of 25 with a bachelor’s degree. The program, now in its 21st year, has awarded 85 LECS to students in Elkhart County, totaling more than $6.5 million dollars in scholarships. Statewide over 4,626 have been awarded, providing nearly $392 million dollars in scholarships across Indiana since the program began in 1998.

Working with the community foundation, Independent Colleges of Indiana, the statewide administrator of the LECS program, selects three Elkhart County, first-generation, college bound students each year.  Scholarship recipients will receive a four-year, full-tuition scholarship toward a baccalaureate degree at any accredited college or university in Indiana. Recipients this year are Lisa Hochstetler (Northridge), Claire Mumaw (Fairfield), Alexa Porter (Concord).

Guy David Gundlach Memorial Scholarship

As a complement to the LECS program, the Community Foundation is honored to carry on the legacy of Guy David Gundlach by awarding six Elkhart County, first-generation, college bound students a four-year, $5,000/year scholarship toward a bachelor’s degree. This memorial scholarship is only one of the many positive initiatives established due to Mr. Gundlach’s gift in 2011. Since the inception of the scholarship, 37 Elkhart County students have received this $20,000 award. Over the first decade, more than 60 students in our community will be presented the Guy David Gundlach Memorial Scholarship.

Recipients include:  Danyelle Adams (Jimtown), Margot Cruz-Portillo (Elkhart Memorial), Melissa Daniels (Goshen), Claire Hershberger (Clinton Christian), Jaycee Rossi (Elkhart Central), Otto Schlatter (NorthWood).

INSPIRE Scholarship

The INSPIRE Scholarship is the Community Foundation’s newest scholarship, beginning in 2017, and awards hard-working, community-minded students the opportunity to receive $3,000 per year. Multiple 2- or 4-year scholarships are being awarded each year. To be eligible to renew their scholarship, each of the recipients must complete a minimum of 30 hours of volunteer time per year in Elkhart County. This year’s 2-year recipients are Shenais Colton Flores (Concord), Cory Green (Jimtown), Kristin Miller (Fairfield), Artemio Orozco (Goshen), David Varela (Goshen), Alana Walls (Elkhart Central).  This year’s 4-year recipients are Caaden Beck (Jimtown), Michael Cox (Elkhart Christian), Christina Hickman (Northridge), Victoria Gamez (Elkhart Central), Kassandra Miller (Bethany Christian), Spencer Shuff (Concord).

For the third year, the Community Foundation of Elkhart County awarded challenge coins to scholarship recipients. The coins, engraved with the name of the scholar and the year of presentation, are intended to be a lifelong reminder to the recipients of their award. “

At Saturday’s brunch at Essenhaus Inn & Conference Center, Rob Cripe, a member of the Community Foundation’s board of directors and the career pathways committee, thanked the adults who helped the students reach toward their goals and urged the students to look ahead. The scholarships are a gift from the community to students who have worked hard and excelled. “We challenge each of you to live up to our collective expectations for continued academic excellence,” he said, adding that he hopes the students will “pay it forward” when their studies are complete.

Keynote speaker Dakota Foster, a 2014 Lilly Endowment Community Scholarship recipient as a NorthWood High School senior, told how the love and compassion surrounding her in Elkhart County helped her navigate a broken home and troubled youth. “No matter what stage of life you find yourself in, there is no way you got to where you are today without the compassion and help of others,” said Foster, who is now an English teacher in South Bend Community Schools. “I am blessed to have walked through some serious darkness and into some serious kindness– those experiences have equipped me to become the daughter and the teacher I am today.” She urged students, as well as their parents, counselors and administrators, to share in each others’ joys and sadnesses. “May we be those people who can take the inevitable sadnesses of life and draw out the blessings. May we take these blessings and share them with those around us,” she said.

About Community Foundation of Elkhart County

Community Foundation of Elkhart County improves the quality of life in Elkhart County by inspiring generosity.  Since inception in 1989, over 100 scholarship funds have been established at the Community Foundation. Approximately $17.5 million in scholarships have been awarded, including $2.3 million in 2018.  The Community Foundation strives to be a local entity known for inspiring good and impacting success, specifically in educational attainment. For more information regarding the Community Foundation, visit www.InspiringGood.org or call (574) 295-8761.

The Community Foundation annually honors high school students in Elkhart County who have received either the Lilly Endowment Community Scholarship, Guy David Gundlach Memorial Scholarship and INSPIRE Scholarship. In all, 21 outstanding students were recognized at a scholarship brunch on Saturday, March 2, at the Essenhaus Inn & Conference Center, Middlebury.

Pictured from front to back:

Row 1; Alexa Porter, Michael Cox, David Varela, Otto Schlatter Row 2; Cory Green, Caaden Beck Row 3; Kristin Miller, Spencer Shuff, Shenais Colton-Flores Row 4; Lisa Hochstetler, Christina Hickman, Danyelle Adams Row 5; Melissa Daniels, Victoria Gamez, Margot Cruz-Portillo Row 6; Alana Walls, Claire Mumaw, Claire Hershberger

UNITED FOR SUCCESS

5^TH PARENT CONFERENCE

ACTIVE BODY ACTIVE MIND

Discover how game, play and movement support your child’s learning. Brain research provides a definitive connection between effective learning and play. Learn how parents can help their children with practical and simple games for all ages.

MARCH 18th, 2019  from 6:00PM-8:00PM at GOSHEN HIGH SCHOOL in the CAFETERIA. For more information call the EL Parent Liaison of your school.

Free event. Snacks. A prize for each family. Games, crafts, and community resources information. Join us!!

5^ta conferencia para padres

Unidos para Triunfar

MENTE ACTIVA, CUERPO ACTIVO

Descubra como el juego y el movimiento ayudan a su hijo a aprender mejor. Investigaciones del cerebro proveen una conexión definitiva entre el aprendizaje efectivo y el juego. Aprendan como pueden ayudar a sus hijos con juegos prácticos y sencillos para todas las edades.

18 DE MARZO DE 2019,  6:00PM-8:00PM, CAFETERÍA DE GOSHEN HIGH SCHOOL. Llame a la asesora familiar de su escuela para más información.

Es un evento gratuito. Premios para todas las familias. Alimentos ligeros. Mesas informativas. No se lo pierda!

Mrs. Kitchen joined the Goshen Community Schools staff in August of 2017, and brought to the job many years of experience as a school business official and a wealth of knowledge about how school financing works. In addition, because of her school finance background, Mrs. Kitchen is often a presenter at Indiana Association of School Business Officials (IASBO) conferences. 

The IASBO Awards program was created by the IASBO Board of Directors to honor members who have been exemplary in the field of school business management with the Treasurer of the Year, School Business Official of the Year, and School Support Professional of the Year Awards. The program honors thirty IASBO members each year on a regional basis, with ten honorees from each category. The IASBO Awards Committee designates the overall Treasurer, School Business Official and School Support Professional of the Year recipients.

2019 School Business Official of the Year:

Region 1  Rob James, Director of Business Services, Lake Central

Region 2  Kelley Kitchen, Executive Director of Finance, Goshen

Region 3  Barbara Fought, Treasurer, East Noble

Region 4  Carol Deardorff, CFO, Kankakee Valley

Region 5  Michelle Cronk, Director of Business, Kokomo

Region 6  Karen Scalf, CFO, Richmond

Region 7  Greg Linton, Superintendent, Cloverdale

Congratulations to Kelley Kitchen, the IASBO 2019 School Business Official of the Year for Region 2!

Mrs. Tamra Ummel, GCS Assistant Superintendent-Human Resources & Professional Development, was recently named the Indiana Council for Exceptional Children (CEC) Administrator of the Year. According to the CEC website: “The recipient of this award is an administrator who (1) has demonstrated his/her knowledge, skill and sensitivity in advancing the opportunities, life potential, and achievement of children and/or adults with disabilities, (2) often goes above and beyond what is normally expected in his/her profession, and (3) serves as a role model and inspiration to his/her students, teachers, and community.”

There are over 300 members in the Indiana CEC, a professional organization for Special Education educators, and Mrs. Ummel was nominated by a CEC peer/member from a school district in southern Indiana. All nominations from across the state go to the members of the CEC executive board, who then make a decision regarding who should be named the Administrator of the Year from among all the nominations.

Mrs. Ummel was the Director of Special Education Services at Warsaw Community Schools before coming to GCS in 2009. Mrs. Ummel has served the GCS district as Assistant Superintendent for Elementary Education, and most recently as the Assistant Superintendent for Human Resources and Professional Development; though she has continued to be an advocate for good services for students with special needs throughout her career.

According to Anthony England, Assistant Superintendent for Student Services at Elkhart Community Schools and President of the Indiana CEC, “Mrs. Ummel has been a leader in the field of Special Education for many years, and has been very active in the North Central Education Cooperative. We are honored to give her this award, as she is very highly regarded around the state. Additionally, Mrs. Ummel is someone who is always seen as a friend to students with special needs.”

Congratulations, Mrs. Ummel! Thank you for advocating for all GCS students!!

The following post was submitted by Natalie Potter, whose daughter was in the GMS class who did this project, but according to Mrs. Potter,  “Kelly Shoup-Hill deserves a huge shout out for having her kids look at real ways to help others.”

Several weeks ago, a 12-year-old girl presented a proposal to her 7th grade class in Goshen, Indiana. They were studying about refugees and looking for something they could do to make an impact. They decided to raise funds for beach balls to give to Rohingya refugee children.

Goshen Middle School’s 7th grade class ended up raising funds for 276 beach balls, along with hundreds of additional dollars for dry food.

The students wanted to reach out personally, so they also took the time to draw a picture for each refugee child. Their kindness and empathy crossed cultural barriers and time zones, bringing joy to the other side of the planet. Thank you, Goshen Middle School, for looking outside yourselves and spreading your light!

Goshen Community Schools will host a Teacher Recruitment Event on Tuesday, March 26th from 4:30-7:30 p.m. The event will be held at Goshen High School, 401 Lincolnway East Goshen, IN 46526

New or soon-to-be graduates and experienced teachers are welcome to attend! Join us for part or all of the evening. Learn more about opportunities within GCS and interview with Goshen Community Schools administrators for available positions in 2019-20.

Applications for Goshen Community Schools will only be accepted online. Please visit our website at www.goshenschools.org, click on JOBS, and follow the directions.

Contact Sarah Deegan at sdeegan@goshenschools.org or at 574-533-8631 to register and to receive additional details.

This week’s Superintendent Step-In found Dr. Woodworth in an 8^th grade IB Individuals and Societies (Social Studies/History) class. The class, taught by Ms. Kaylee Shepherd, begins each day with an update of what’s in the news. Following the update, the class divided up to work on scenes from a play about the War of 1812. You will note that some of the students played up their parts pretty well, including the student who played Napoleon! (Dr. Woodworth was given a fairly safe role as narrator #3.) We think you will enjoy this Step-In, as students responded to Ms. Shepherd’s encouragement and sense of humor, while giving students a way to remember important details about a particular period in history.

Goshen Community Schools is implementing an electronic application (App) for use on parents’ smartphones. The App, SafeStop, will let parents and students monitor where their assigned bus is as it performs its’ route. We have links to the user guide on our website under the transportation tab. For all elementary students, we will be sending home a paper copy of the user guide. We have been beta testing the app since December.

This app only works for students that are assigned to ride a GCS bus and works using the one bus stop assigned to them. This means that only the parent/student has access to the app. No one else will be able to access it without a student id number. If you have moved or your student is at a babysitter, you would have had to inform the transportation office of this change so that the information could be updated.

As you know GCS is currently experiencing a bus driver shortage and at times we have had to double up routes using existing buses or split students among different buses. In these cases, the app will be unable to be used to track the bus that is not in service for the day. The app has the capability for the transportation department to push out notifications to specific bus routes, so our communication about changes should be improved.

As with any new program, we ask for your patience as we implement this program district-wide. The number for the transportation department is (574) 533-7176, please call us with concerns.

Safe Stop Parent guide, click here: https://www.goshenschools.org/files/2019/02/SafeStop-Parent-Guide-Goshen-English.pdf

La Corporación Escolar de Goshen está implementando una aplicación electrónica que los padres de familia pueden usar en sus teléfonos inteligentes. La aplicación, SafeStop les permitirá a los padres de familia y a los estudiantes monitorear en dónde se encuentra su autobús asignado mientras realiza su ruta. En la pestaña de transporte de nuestro sitio Web, encontrará enlaces que lo llevarán a la guía del usuario de esta aplicación. Asimismo, enviaremos una copia impresa de la guía del usuario a la casa de los estudiantes de primaria. Hemos estado haciendo pruebas beta de la aplicación desde diciembre.

Esta aplicación sólo funciona para los estudiantes que están asignados a tomar un autobús de la Corporación Escolar de Goshen, utilizando sólo la parada de autobús asignada para ellos. Esto significa que sólo el padre de familia o el estudiante tiene acceso a la aplicación. Nadie más podrá tener acceso a ésta, sin el número de identificación de estudiante. Si se mudó o su hijo está en casa de la niñera, usted habrá tenido que informarle a la oficina de transporte sobre este cambio para que la información pudiera actualizarse.

Esta aplicación sólo funciona para los estudiantes que están asignados a tomar un autobús de la Corporación Escolar de Goshen, utilizando sólo la parada de autobús asignada para ellos. Esto significa que sólo el padre de familia o el estudiante tiene acceso a la aplicación. Nadie más podrá tener acceso a ésta, sin el número de identificación de estudiante. Si se mudó o su hijo está en casa de la niñera, usted habrá tenido que informarle a la oficina de transporte sobre este cambio para que la información pudiera actualizarse.

Al igual que con cualquier programa nuevo, les pedimos paciencia mientras implementamos este programa en todo el distrito. El número del departamento de transporte es el (574) 533-7176. Llámenos si tiene alguna inquietud.

Safe Stop Parent guide, click here: https://www.goshenschools.org/files/2019/02/SafeStop-Parent-Guide-Spanish.pdf

The Model Elementary Parent/Teacher Organization (PTO) is planning an exciting fundraiser for Saturday, March 9th at Model, an ESCAPE CLASSROOM!

The event will start in the Model gym, and will be held from 3:00-5:00 p.m. However, the last group allowed to start the adventure will take off at 4:30 p.m. So if you want to participate you need to be at Model prior to 4:30 p.m.

The entry cost is $10 per family (up to six family members), additional family members may join your group for an additional $2.

Escape Model School!  All are welcome!  For an enhanced experience, please install a QR reader on your phone.  All clues are in video BUT also in the classrooms in written form in both English and Spanish.

Shirley’s Popcorn will be available for purchase during the event.

For more information, you may contact the Model PTO at modelpto@gmail.com

CAN YOUR FAMILY ESCAPE?!!

We have a “guest star” in this week’s episode of the Superintendent Step-In, Dr. Alan Metcalfe, Assistant Superintendent for Elementary Education. The episode was filmed at Waterford Elementary in Mr. Kyle Green’s 5^th grade PE class. The students were nearing the end of their Jump Rope for Heart unit, and prior to the class Dr. Metcalfe wasn’t exactly sure how much he would participate. But, he was swept up in the excitement and activity of the students and he ended up jumping rope and having a great time