We have "Reese"-ently heard there are special wishes due today, May 26th. Happy Birthday to Reese Richards!
Mrs. Diane Clements, a paraprofessional at our district, is retiring after 7 years of working with the students at Ithaca. Within those years, Diane has worked with our smallest Bulldogs all the way to our graduates. To thank Mrs. Clements for her years of service, she will be stationed at the end of the "Summer Send Off" parade route tomorrow from 6pm until 7pm with signs and balloons. Any family planning on participating, please feel free to make signs for Mrs. Clements to read as you drive by.
Not only is it Memorial Day today, May 25th, but there are birthdays today, too! Happy Birthday to Lucas Pluemer, and to Carrie Morris we wish a very special Happy Birthday!
Traditional celebrations for Memorial Day are different this year. The reason we honor this day remains the same. Remember our fallen servicemen and women who gave all for the protection of our freedoms, the freedoms of others in the world, and the rights of humanity. We invite you to find your own way of honoring the fallen this Memorial Day.
Tomorrow Bower-Gunnill-Dalton VFW Post 2267 will still hold a public Memorial Day service at the St. Mary's Cemetery in Richland Center beginning at 10:30am honoring our area fallen servicemen and women. It will also be live streamed from on the Richland Center Tourism Facebook page for those of us choosing to attend from home. Please find a way to honor our fallen, as they have given all so that we may have so much.
From the VFW Post 2267 Facebook Page,
"According to legend, Memorial Day-type remembrances began a year after the end of America’s Civil War. Shops in Waterloo, N.Y. closed for a day in 1866 to honor soldiers killed in that four-year war. The day of remembrance eventually spread to places such as Richmond, Virginia, where flowers were put on the graves of soldiers and, by 1868, a ceremony was added in which the dead were honored with songs and flowers. The annual ceremony began to be called Decoration Day. In 1882, the name was changed to Memorial Day. In 1971, Memorial Day was declared a federal holiday to be celebrated the last Monday in May. Memorial Day celebrations include flags and bunting, eagles and other symbols of America’s hard-fought wars and fallen soldiers.
Postcards were one way to express the emotions of Memorial Day and to honor those who had died for their country. They are great collectibles, with their bright colors and sentimental pictures and words. This 1911 postcard with the words “Lest We Forget” was published by LR Conwell."
Don't forget to sign up for the Food Program pick up next week. Due to Memorial Day, there is no pick up on Monday. The survey is still open today if you'd like to sign up. Go to our website or app on the "News" tab and open the article "Food Service Survey" to find the link.
A very Happy Birthday goes out today, May 23rd to Annalynn Webster! Have a very special day.
As we head into the long weekend, today, May 22nd, we have birthdays to celebrate. Happy Birthday to Nathan Drone and Mr. David Klang!
Ithaca Summer Send Off!
Join Ithaca staff as we send off students for the summer!
Tuesday, May 26 from 6-7pm
Rain Date: Wednesday, May 27 from 6-7pm
Staff will be along the sidewalks of Highway 58 from the Community Gym to Willow Creek Road (the Homecoming parade route).
All social distancing guidelines will be followed.
We ask that you maintain highway safety.
Do not get out of your car; just drive by, wave, and say hello.
Both lanes of Highway 58 will be used. It will NOT be one-way traffic.
See you Tuesday!
"Lettuce" celebrate birthdays! Today, May 21st we send out a big Happy Birthday to Elise Newkirk, Taygan Ryan, Jed Scallon, and Rebekah Weitzel.
Does your student want to join our new group of beginning band students? If so, please click on the following link and go to "Instrument Matching Tool". Students should do the listening activity and then click on "submit". This is the first step in the process of choosing an instrument. Please do this by June 5th. Also included on this website are videos of all of the band instruments playing so that students can hear what the instruments sound like and start thinking about what they might like to play. (Link is also found on our website and app in the "News" tab.)
https://www.bepartofthemusic.org/group/index.php?id=3162
Mrs. Boland’s students are working with numbers in different ways to use the same mathematical concepts. They made a meal for their family, converted the recipe to new measurements, and graphed 2 ingredients to keep equivalent proportions. Yummy!
The Food Program survey for next week is now open. Sign up by completing the survey on our website and app under the "News" tab in the Food Service article or on our Facebook page. Complete a new survey for each week. Next week, the program runs from Tuesday through Friday. There is NO pick up on Monday, May 25th due to the Memorial Day holiday.
The Richland County Mental Health Coalition is partnering with Ithaca and Richland School Districts to promote mental well-being of our students. Hortonville Area School District in northeastern Wisconsin is part of N.E.W. Mental Health Connection https://www.newmentalhealthconnection.org/, and is our mentor school. They, along with Prairie du Chien Public School, are guiding our districts in screening students to identify topics and individuals who need more focused attention. By screening students, we can better serve their needs. This video shows how Hortonville Area School District decided to utilize screening and campus-based visits to help promote healthy mental well-being for all their students. Hortonville was the first high school in Wisconsin to implement Sources of Strength in 2015. Since then 42 high schools and two middle schools implemented Sources of Strength. Together, we work toward teaching Hope, Help and Strength.
https://dpi.wi.gov/news/dpi-connected/mental-health-video
Like other graduates before them, this year's graduating seniors face a future of uncertainty. Unlike other classes, the Class of 2020 will be able to say they encountered challenges like no other. We wish them congratulations, as does the US Department of Education.
The Krouskop Park Fence along Highway 14 has been transformed in to an awesome display to honor the graduates of the area schools. Each of the Class of 2020 students are featured on a beautiful sign with their name, photo, and an image of their school mascot. Schools represented (in alphabetical order) are Eagle, Hillsboro, Ithaca, Kickapoo, Richland Center, Riverdale, and Weston.
A huge thank you to Southwest Partners, Richland County Bank, Walsh's Ace Hardware, Wallace Cooper & Elliott Insurance, Erie Insurance, and Rotary Lights for their help in making this wonderful display to honor our area graduates.
If you can come to Richland Center and take a look at the fence that is great, but if not, here is a video of the entire fence for you to enjoy - https://share.vidyard.com/watch/i5q7Kihxyy3uE5ubVMX6XM?
#Classof2020
Please continue to keep the Ithaca High School Senior Class of 2020 in your thoughts as they graduate. They have worked hard to achieve such an accomplishment! We complete our spotlight on the seniors with Sterling Weitzel, Bethany Weldon, and Sawyer Willis.
We want to wish AJ Manning a Happy Birthday today, May 16th! Hope it's legen-DAIRY!
So much to be proud of! We would like to continue to shine a bright spotlight on the Ithaca High School Senior Class of 2020. Today we honor Caleb Scallon, Elizabeth Stocks, and Kaleb Underwood.
June 1st we will be videotaping for virtual graduation that will be aired on June 7th at the time slotted for graduation. YOU MUST BE HERE on June 1st to tape this for the class. We will be breaking up the class in groups for social distancing . Meet in the commons at the time your group is supposed to meet. WEAR YOUR CAP AND GOWN.
We start at 8am with taping speeches, so Jim, Beth, McKenna and Zach need to be there at this time as well as their scheduled time slot.
These are the times and groups broken up for the day. Please make arrangements to be here. If you are not feeling well, we will reschedule. If you do not respond or make arrangements to be here, you will not be videotaped. If you have any questions, please email Ms. Durkin ASAP.
Group 1 9-10am Jim, Logan Clary, Ellie, Noelle, Aaron
Group 2 10-11am Shelby, Keegan, Gunner, Melissa, Charlie
Group 3 11-12pm Alexis, Kayde, Raelyn, Erin Louis, Jonah
Group 4 12-1pm Erin Miller, Carrie, McKenna, Andrew, Zach
Group 5 1-2pm Aubrey, Logan Olson, JoAnn, Stone, Robert
Group 6 2-3pm Caleb, Elizabeth, Kaleb, Sterling, Beth, Sawyer