Hays USD 489

One More Round of 20 Years!!! Ms. Patty Deines - Roosevelt Elementary Ms. Valerie Anderson - WCKSEC LaCrosse Ms. Gabrielle Otte - Hays Middle School Ms. Debbie Braun - Rockwell Admin #EveryStudentEveryDay489

20 years!!! We appreciate the longevity and the committment to our district!!! Ms. Sharon Bell - Early Childhood Connections Mr. Jerry Braun - Hays Middle School Ms. Julie Pfannenstiel - Hays High School Ms. Joann VonFeldt - Hays High School #EveryStudentEveryDay489

More With 20 Years!!! Mr. Dan Balman - Hays High School Ms. Jeana Dinkel - Hays High School Ms. Heidi Harper-Wamser - Roosevelt Ms. Kelly Ackerman - Hays High School #EveryStudentEveryDay489

Now we are ready to show off the staff that have reached their 20 year mark!!! Ms. Twyla Ricke - Hays High School Ms. Cheryl Shepherd-Adams - Hays High School (no photo preferred) Ms. Donna Lubbers - Hays Middle School Ms. Sandra Shupe - WCKSEC at Ellis High School #EveryStudentEveryDay489

PIZZA PIZZA PIZZA!! Get your little a pizza and a book!!! #EveryStudentEveryDay489 #ThanksForHelping

One More With 30 years!!! Ms. Marla Stecklein has been teaching in our district for 30 years!! #EveryStudentEveryDay489

And More 25 Years... Mr. Matt Brooks - Hays High Ms. Laura Gaughan -O'Loughlin Elem Ms. Krista Brooks - O'Loughlin Elem Ms. Amy Wasinger - Lincoln Elem #EveryStudentEveryDay489

Next up...25 years!!! These two staff members have been in our district for 25 years! Ms. Karla Bixenman graces Early Childhood Connections every single day! Ms. Patty Kuhn is part of our Nutrition Services, working at Roosevelt Elementary!! #EveryStudentEveryDay489

Next up...30 years! These four teachers have worked in our district for 30 years!!! Ms. Patti Park Ms. Sonya Herl (no photo preferred) Ms. Patsy Thorell Ms. Kathy Basinger #EveryStudentEveryDay489

Today is the start of something really exciting!! Since the district will not host an annual staff recognition event in person, we are going to recognize our staff via social media!! The very first recognition is a teacher who has been with our district for 40 years!!! 40 years!!!! Ms. Jan Burkholder!!! Please help us congratulate her on this amazing amount of time in the classroom!! Thank you for your dedication to the little ones of this community! #EveryStudentEveryDay489

Happy Mother’s Day to all the mama’s out there!!! #EveryStudentEveryDay489

Summer Meal Information: #EveryStudentEveryDay489

Nutrition Update: Reminder, no meals are served on Fridays! Here is the menu for next week. Information about summer program will be coming out soon! See you Monday! #EveryStudentEveryDay489

Teacher Appreciation Week, Day 5 This week we have celebrated our teachers, we have heard from parents and students, we have laughed about the funny things kids say and we have learned that teachers mean the world to their students! As the Seniors of 2020 head off into the world..here is what a few of them had to say about school at USD 489. "I started out at O'Loughlin Elementary and had the best teachers! HMS rocked and every teacher that I have had at HHS has been kind! I am going to miss school!" "I went to Kindergarten at Roosevelt Elementary and now will graduate from HHS! I am going to FHSU to learn to be a teacher! I would love to teach in Hays one day!" "I moved here in 7th grade and everyone was so nice to me. High school wasn't easy but I had teachers who cared about me!" "School was hard for me, but in middle school I had a teacher who spent so much extra time with me and taught me that I matter! That changed my life, I am not going to college because I am going to start working right away, but I am sure that if I didn't have that great teacher from HMS, I would not have made it!" "I came to Hays in 4th grade and went to Wilson Elementary. I got in trouble a lot in middle school! I got to HHS and straightened out! I had great teachers and awesome coaches! I am hoping to be a coach someday to help another kid like I was!" "My family moved to Hays my Sophomore year of high school, HHS was much harder than my other school! Teachers were extra helpful to me, I went to extra study sessions and came in early for a long time, and now am excited to go to college! Thanks to all the teachers who spent extra time with me!" USD 489 believes in Every Student Every Day and our teachers are wonderful humans that carry this banner with them daily! Even though this week stands out to celebrate them, we celebrate them every single day!! #EveryStudentEveryDay489

Seen Around USD #489: Keeping you informed...if you need assistance please reach out to the trained folks!!! #EveryStudentEveryDay489

Teacher Appreciation Week, Day 4 During this crazy weird time of continious learning ..teachers have had to embrace an entirely new way of teaching. They have had to make complete overhauls of their plans, relocated classrooms to kitchen tables and basements, all while not physically seeing their students. They had no warning that this was coming and no chance to even say goodbye. They are adaptors and innovators...so they all just picked up and started teaching from the kitchen table! We asked a few students questions about this new time...responses are below. What have you liked about distance learning? "My teacher singing and reading us books on video!" Roosevelt, Kindergarten "My teachers giving us grace and being very helpful!" HHS Sophomore "My teacher has made us all laugh on video. She is really funny!" Lincoln, 3rd grade "My teachers have all asked us how we're feeling." HMS 7th grader Are you excited to go back to school next year? "Yes! But I will first hug my teacher from last year!" Roosevelt, 4th grader "Yes! I can't wait to see everyone, have recess and eat lunch in the lunchroom!" O'Loughlin, 3rd grader #EveryStudentEveryDay489

Seen Around USD #489: Great video from HMS (made by a student)!! https://youtu.be/yBNzL3zhe_0 #EveryStudentEveryDay489

Today is National School Nurse Day!! USD #489 has the best!!! We love all of you and appreciate our nursing staff every single day! Thanks for all you do!! #EveryStudentEveryDay489

Teacher Appreciation Week, Day 3: During a regular school day, teachers teach the basics, they develop lesson plans and they assign homework..but so much of the time, they are not just doing the basics!!! They are there to help a child who is struggling or to celebrate a milestone that has nothing to do with the lesson plans!!! Hays High Seniors shared with us the "other" things a teacher has taught them over the years: "My Biology teacher helped me get free lunches and a prom dress one year when my family had no money." "A teacher taught me to tie a tie my freshman year!" "My Government teacher taught me that sometimes it's easier to just go for it, instead of wishing that I had. I did just go for it and now have my black belt!" "My FACS teacher taught me that somtimes life is really hard, but find the funny in it will help!" "My English teacher showed me how to solve a really hard Alegbra problem, in the middle of her class lecture, all because I was trying to figure it out instead of listening to her talk!" #EveryStudentEveryDay489

Day #2 of Teacher Appreciation Week!!! Today we asked parents how they feel about our teachers! So many responses and sweet messages, but here are just a few to warm your heart!! "Ms. Colip at Lincoln Elementary has been wonderful! Our daughter was new to Lincoln this year and everyone has embraced her, she loves it!" "My daughter struggled with reading but Mrs. Gaughan has helped her so much!" "Ms. Tasha Lang makes everyone feel like they are somebody!" "Mr. Stuart Bott strives to make sure everyone can understand each lesson. He goes at a pace that my child can follow!" "My son is in kindergarten at Roosevelt and Mrs. Wamser is just wonderful! He has so many stories from school and he didn't even want to go to school!" "Mrs. Johnson is amazing. She finds a way to help my son enjoy subjects that he has always disliked in other years!"