Statement from Goshen Community Schools and Goshen Police Department, 5/17/2018

On May 16, school and police department officials became aware of statements of concern communicated via texts from a sixth grade GMS student. However, the investigation has shown that there were no credible threats to anyone. In keeping with our tradition of transparency, we wanted to make the community aware of this situation.

While this threat was deemed not to be credible, the school district and law enforcement officials always work together to ensure the safety of all students and staff, and will continue to be diligent in our efforts to do so.

Thank you to the entire community for partnering with us for the safety and well-being of every Goshen resident.

The board of school trustees recognized the 2018 Turn Around Award winners at the May 14th board meeting. Turn Around winners are typically students who have shown outstanding academic growth during one school year, have improved their school attendance, or have shown improvement in attitude, class participation, or behavior. The 2018 winners were:

Chamberlain Elementary, Gustavo Camacho

Chandler Elementary, Tyler BeMiller

Model Elementary, Navaeh Carr

Parkside Elementary, Alayna Snyder

Prairie View Elementary, Hailee Bowen

Waterford Elementary, Jaylee Osborne

West Goshen Elementary, Eli Williams

Goshen International Middle School, Trevor Schaaf

Goshen Middle School New Tech, Cassandra Romo

Goshen High School, Aillen Zepeda-Vazquez

Merit Learning Center, Gisele Esparza

Congratulations to our 2018 Turn Around Award winners!

Come see these energetic Goshen High School students perform for one last weekend of the 2017-18 school year!

The performance schedule and how to get tickets is listed below:

June 8th at 7:30 p.m. at the Goshen Theater in downtown Goshen. This show is general admission; student and adult tickets are both $5.00.

June 9th at 7:30 p.m. in the Goshen High School Auditorium. Tickets are $7.00 for adults and $5.00 for students, and are reserved seating.

June 10th at 2:30 p.m. in the Goshen High School Auditorium. Tickets are $7.00 for adults and $5.00 for students/seniors, and are reserved seating.

To make ticket reservations for Saturday night or Sunday afternoon, you may call (574) 533-8651, ext. 2518 between 8:00 a.m.-4:00 p.m. Monday-Friday, or you may email your ticket order to musictickets@goshenschools.org  When you email your ticket order, please be sure to include your concert date and the number of adult, student, or senior tickets you need. Tickets will also be available at the door.

Prairie View student Dionisia nominated her teacher, Mrs. Ruth Roth, for the Boys and Girls Club Teacher of the Month. In her nomination, she wrote:

She makes teaching fun, and lets us have 5 recesses. She also lets us play games sometimes. We also have a bonus on Friday. We can have a surprise special in art, music, or gym. We will have library on Tuesday.

Below, Dionisia and Natalie Yoder from the Boys and Girls Club surprise Mrs. Roth and her class.

Dionisia read her nomination to Mrs. Roth and the class.

And then Mrs. Roth was awarded a plaque from the Boys and Girls Club, and also given a gift certificate to the Electric Brew.

In a letter from the Indiana State School Music Association (ISSMA), Goshen Community Schools was informed that the Goshen High School Band and Orchestra are both recipients of the ISSMA All-Music Award for the 2017-18 school year. The ensembles and their directors were congratulated by ISSMA for their “outstanding musical accomplishments this past year”.

Congratulations to the band and orchestra students and staff!

What a great morning to visit Chamberlain!

Led by the 5th grade students, all of the Chamberlain students had a chance to honor the Chamberlain teachers and staff on this National Teacher Appreciation Day.

First, the students introduced the Crew greeting for the day, the Hand Hug (putting the palms of their hands together, and tapping the back of their partner’s hand with his/her thumb).

The students greeted each other with the hand hug, and then the 5th grade students greeted the teachers by saying altogether “Thank you, teachers. We love you!”

This greeting was followed with a video that included numerous Thank Yous from students to teachers. The students asked everyone to sit down, and then they called individual teacher and staff member names to have them stand. When each teacher stood, a student who had chosen to thank that teacher or staff member went to give him or her a note and a hug.

Some of the things students said about their teachers included:

“You are a beautiful blessing in my life.”

“I love when you give me books you haven’t even put on the shelf yet.”

“I will never forget you.”

“Thank you for helping me.”

“Thank you for understanding my feelings.”

“Thank you for helping me through hard things.”

“Thank you for not getting mad when I didn’t understand something right away.”

Then all of the students gave the teachers and staff a standing ovation. And lastly, principal Kim Branham acknowledged and thanked her staff as surely one of the BEST!

GHS musicians provided music for the city’s celebratory Bridge Walk on Wednesday afternoon:

From the city’s press release:

To allow Goshen drivers that have patiently endured the two-year building process of the bridge connecting the area in front of Goshen High School to the east end of Pike Street, the City has arranged for a time for everyone to see the huge project for up close and personal—for themselves!

You are invited to be a part of a bridge walk of the new US 33 North Connector before it opens to traffic.

Join us Wednesday, May 9 from 5 to 6 p.m. at the southeast end of the North Connector to catch a first glimpse of the work done before the overpass is opened to traffic. Participants are welcome to come and go any time during that hour.

At 5 p.m., sharp, Mayor Jeremy Stutsman and Brent Rheinheimer, the community member who proposed a walk, will give an opening statement. After that, the community will be free to walk up and over the three bridges (over the Marion Line, the Big Four and Lincoln Avenue).

This event is open to everyone in the community. Please park in the Goshen High School parking lot. An officer from the Goshen Police

Department will be stationed north of the lot to help pedestrians cross Lincolnway East during this busy time of day.

The walk will go on, rain or shine, but not if it is storming. If any doubt, check the City’s website after 4:30 p.m. at goshenindiana.org.

The Indiana Department of Transportation will host an official ribbon-cutting Wednesday, May 9 at 1 p.m., at the same location. The public is invited to attend that event, too.

Please come be a part of our bridge walk!

Thank you,

Sharon Hernandez
Communications Coordinator

The GHS and Wawasee softball teams helped raise more than $3,100 for Cancer Resources for Elkhart County on Friday, April 27th.

Everence^® was a sponsor for the Strike Out Cancer night at Shanklin Park. Together, the Goshen and Wawasee teams and fans raised $3,174.00 to benefit Cancer Resources for Elkhart County. They sold T-shirts and pink sugar cookies the night of the game, and passed a helmet to collect for this worthy cause.

Each team had a cancer survivor throw out the first pitch. GHS Assistant Coach Jeryl Miller’s wife Kim was honored to throw out a first pitch, although she said “I didn’t do it very well”. There also a balloon launch before the game, and each team wore pink uniforms, pink ribbons and pink “eye black.” Goshen won the JV game, with Wawasee winning the varsity game in extra innings. It was a fun evening for all!

Pictured below from left, GHS Head Coach Brent Kulp, Kim Miller, the father of a Wawasee player, and Wawasee’s Head Coach.

Thank you, Everence, for helping sponsor this event, and thank you to all in attendance for making the evening a success!

Artists getting busy this spring with flower sculptures, vases, fiber art and murals

There’s going to be so much art that you might not know where to look first.

The latest round of Little BIG Idea Grant winners features art in all sorts of mediums, and in at least a couple of cases, will require you to go out and find them.

In Nappanee, sculptors will be creating large flower-themed pieces to be displayed within garden planters in the city. While Flower Gardens Art in Bloom will be on display starting in May 2018, organizer Jeff Stillson said the pieces will eventually become part of a permanent exhibition in the Nappanee park system called the Art Path.

Meanwhile, in Goshen, Justin Rothshank will be using his grant to hide 40 handmade ceramic vases. People who find the vases may keep them to do as they wish, Rothshank said in his grant application. The Vase Giveaway will serve as a promotion for the Michiana Pottery Tour that Rothshank co-founded.

Public art is a great way to bring people together, and it’s wonderful that the Little BIG Idea Grant inspired so much creativity, inspiration and community spirit. Launched in August 2017 under the Vibrant Communities initiative, the Little BIG Idea Grant has to date awarded 30 projects ranging from student art exhibitions in Elkhart and Goshen, the Middlebury Pumpkin Races, and a countywide event centered around the children’s toy “slime.”

Here are the other winners of Little BIG Idea Grants and recipients of up to $1,000:

Sally Bawtinheimer — Little Library

A resident of Elkhart’s west side, Bawtinheimer says many school children pass by her home on their way to Daly Elementary School and West Side Middle School, so her idea is to create a free little lending library so that students (and adults too!) could “find a good book and dive in!”

Gregory Korte — Windmill in Goshen

A lifelong resident of Goshen, Korte proposes to celebrate the early Dutch settlers of the east Goshen area with a recreation of a Dutch windmill in Dykstra Park. Korte has worked with the East Goshen Neighborhood Association on the project and has also gotten the OK from the Goshen Parks Department.

***Elisha Rauch — Sports Podcast

Elisha is a big sports fan, and the pre-teen from Goshen is starting a podcast to discuss sports with other fans. Elisha said he hoped to inspire other students to start their own podcasts, as there aren’t many in the area, he said in his application.

Carrie Beachey — Fiber Art in Art Alley

A Middlebury resident, Beachey and her husband will create a unique public art piece comprised of reclaimed wood and other natural materials from around Elkhart County. The work will be displayed in the Goshen Art Alley off the 100 block of South Main Street. Beachey said they will also create a do-it-yourself craft station during First Fridays so that people can make a piece inspired by their work.

***Annika Miller — Student Mural

A sixth grade science teacher at Goshen Middle School, Miller organized students to paint a mural in the community. Working with seven community partners, the students designed each of the murals and then painted them. This year’s project will take a similar approach, perhaps with the same community partners or new ones, she said.

Amanda Wagner — Youth Arts on the Millrace

A Goshen resident, Wagner will be using her grant to expand opportunities for student artists to create and exhibit their works at Arts on the Millrace. Wagner organizes the kids art activities at the annual event, and the grant would also allow for a larger area for this creativity.

The Little BIG Idea Grants are intended to spread love, creativity and community through programs, events and projects that celebrate life in Elkhart County. The more people who can get involved or be affected positively by a project, the better!

Grant applications for up to $1,000 awards are still being accepted at www.LittleBigIdeaGrant.com. It doesn’t matter if you’re 8 years old or 88 years old. The Little BIG Idea Grant and the Vibrant Communities initiatives believe in the power of creative people being inspired to shine their light across the community.

For more information, contact Steve Gruber, chair of the Little BIG Idea Grant committee, at artsonmain@frontier.com or Terry T. Mark of the Elkhart County Convention & Visitors Bureau at 574-262-8161 or terry@eccvb.org.