Incline Village Schools

Vote for IMS and help it win some cash prizes.  http://www.care2.com/schoolcontest/3200431!

GreatSchools.net is a self-help educations website for parents.  It has joined Care2 and Campbell's for a “favorite school contest”.  Vote for our middle school and IMS could earn some cash.

Thanks,
Shawn Comstock

Dear Parents:

The IMS library has a book fair coming up November 2nd-5th.  The theme is “Reading Around the World”.  The IMS Library will tie the book Three Cups of Tea by Greg Mortenson into the event. There is an intermediate and children's version of the book that the library will be promoting.

Scholastic book fairs has a competition every year for the schools that promote the theme and unify the school and community.  The grand prize winner has a famous author visit their school!

IMS purposely scheduled the book fair around “Dad's Day” (Nov 5th) to help with the community component of the event.  In addition, IMS will have an International Food Fair for the community on Friday, November 6th during lunch 11:09-11:39. The advisory classes will be assigned different ethnicities and they will be responsible for bringing food in to share.  There will also be a costume contest and the advisory class that best represents their country will be given a school trophy.

As part of the event, IMS will be collecting spare change for Pennies for Peace (Greg Mortenson's foundation), which will go to the Central Asia Institute to help build schools in the middle east.

Please come and view this special event that our students are hosting.

PARENT VOLUNTEERS NEEDED:

Our IMS Librarian, Liz Harrell would greatly appreciate some help: 

• Costco Run to purchase items for the advisory classes perhaps on Monday, November 2nd; 
• Set Up Assistance in the Forum on November 6th from 10:15 – Noon;
• Clean Up & Tear Down from noon – 1:15.  Please contact Liz Harrel (lharrell@washoe.k12.nv.us) or myself (sevgroup@nvbell.net).

Thank you!
Dianne Severance

Incline Middle School's Annual Halloween dance had more than 150 students attend. The dance was a huge success because of the many community members who volunteered their time or donated supplies to this great event.

The Incline Middle School Junior Boosters would like to thank the following: Sharon Kennedy, Kathleen Watty, Steve McKibben, Chris Johnson, Dianne Severance, Joy Strotz, Katy Washington, Susan and Blake Goldenberg, Suzy and Jeff Homola, Kathy Vomund , Stacey Herhusky, Shawn Comstock, Joanne Devine, Bridgette Cornell, Jeannie Miraglia, Stacy Hanna, Amy Smith, Joan Skelly, Mark Rotter, Kelly and Pat Thompson, Anya Guymon, Mary Danahey and friends; Incline High School Leadership students Katie Wright, Jeff Mitchel, Sarah Scott, Sasha Severance, Julia Severance, Justine Nelson and Davis Bedient, and teacher Aaron Parsons; Linda Offerdahl and Dress the Part(y); IMS custodial and office staff; all the Junior Boosters members; and to anyone who we may have forgotten. We could not have made this year's Halloween dance such a success without all of your help!

Thank you!

Ken and Jeanette Martinez
Junior Boosters Halloween chairs

BOOOOOOOOOOO!

Just sending out another request for volunteers! 

We need help decorating the dance from 1:30 – 4:30 PM on Friday.  Come buy with a staple gun, duct tape and a ladder if you have one!  Contact Jeanette and Ken if you need to at <lake_too_high@hotmail.com>

We need individually bagged treats that aren’t sweet – like pretzels, potato chips, etc. (we have plenty of sweets coming in).

We need 2 volunteers to man 2 of our games, contact Joy Strotz if you can help with this. <joy@strotzphotography.com> 

Thank you in advance to our chaperones, we will need you at the dance between 6:15 and 6:30 PM — Don’t forget to wear a costume!

• Sharon Kennedy
• Susan and Blake Goldenberg  <villagetoys@yahoo.com>
• Dianne  Severance  sevgroup@nvbell.net
• Ken and Jeanette Martinez lake_too_high@hotmail.com
• Joy Strotz
• Suzy and Jeff Homola
• Katey Washington (IVGID)
• Stacey Herhusky
• Steve McKibben (Lake Tahoe School Students)
• Chris Johnson (Sage Ridge)

As an ongoing celebration of this year’s Teen Read Week, kids ages 10 – 17 who are “caught” reading or studying at the Incline Village Library have a chance to win an MP3 player.

From now through December 31, 2009, young library patrons may be awarded one raffle ticket per day for a chance to win one of five MP3 players. Prize drawings will take place on Tuesday, December 1 and Thursday, December 31. Winners will be notified and should come to the Incline Village Library to pick up their MP3 players.

Contact:  Amy Levy
Incline Village Library
845 Alder Avenue
Incline Village, NV  89451
Phone: (775) 832-4130
alevy@washoecounty.us
Website:

It would take a pandemic among teachers and students for Washoe county schools to close because of the H1N1 virus, a school district official said today.

But if that were to happen, the Washoe County School district has a strategy for learning to continue, using both cyber technology and low-tech methods, said Steve Mulvenon, district spokesman.

“Closing schools is really a remote possibility,” Mulvenon said. “ we have not noticed a big spike of students out because of influenza-like illness.

“And teacher absenteeism is not running unusually high,” he said.  Mulvenon said that student and teacher absenteeism would have to be so high, “ that we simply wouldn’t be able to operate.”

Mulvenon said that a valuable lesson learned last spring when the virus first started to spread.

“The (Centers for Disease Control) learned that pre-emptive closure of schools did not really slow the spread of the virus,” He said. “It also had a negative impact on families with parents having to miss work."

In the event a high school or middle school student will be absent for a protracted period they can take advantage of the Edline Web site, where students and parents log on, enter a password and can get the students homework plan and finish it from home, Mulvenon said.

“For elementary schools, we have a more low-tech approach,” he said. “Home and lesson packets are prepared and parents can pick them up from the campus, and then return them or the students can we the return to school.”

School Zone is a weekly column written by the Washoe County School District trustees and administrators about key issues and noteworthy news for parents, teachers and students.

I believe educating the whole child is vitally important. When I say this, I mean we need to provide students with a broad range of subjects that interest and develop them. When we commit to educating the whole child, we commit to providing a learning environment which connects not only math, science, the arts, sports and humanities, but also mind, heart, body and spirit.

Research shows that there are parts of the brain that are dedicated to the arts. With this in mind, we would be failing in our task as educators not to develop these parts. If we want students to graduate -- and believe me, we do -- then they must be engaged in their studies and in school. If we provide children with opportunities to be successful at some classroom task, it will help to keep them in school. Art, dance, film and music are perfect subjects for encouraging children to attend school, and when they are in school, they are learning.

At the Washoe County School District, we do believe in teaching the whole child. Many of our schools not only teach the arts but excel in those subjects. You only need to take a look at the calendar page in the local newspaper or visit a school Web site to see some of the activities our schools are undertaking. For example, on Nov. 19, the Wooster Players will open the first show of the 2009-10 season with a play entitled "Moon Over Buffalo," but look further and you'll find information on marching bands, theater groups and dance troupes.

So for you parents out there, become arts-active parents. Think about taking your child to a movie, play or a musical or maybe an art festival or craft fair, museum or gallery. There's much you can do to develop your child's interest in the arts at home such as listening to music, drawing, painting or photography. These are topics they can explore further in school or with their friends and as they grow older.

Barbara Clark is president of the Washoe County School District board of trustees.

Music really does matter.

This year, the Reno Philharmonic Youth Orchestra expanded its number of orchestras from two, the Youth Concert and Youth Symphony Orchestras, with students ranging in age from 12 to 18, to three, now including the Youth Strings Symphonia. In spite of financial difficulties, the youth orchestra began the third orchestra in order to expand its range of musicians to include children in fourth to sixth grades.

The youth orchestras are made up of young musicians in the Washoe County School District, including woodwind, brass, percussion and string players. Every year, the groups entertain more than 32,000 people in Northern Nevada and northeastern California.

The three groups have three different functions.

The youth concert orchestra, led by Jason Altieri, is geared toward developing players, teaching children better performance technique. Meanwhile, the symphony orchestra, also under Altieri, is for the most advanced students who want more of a challenge and can rise to the occasion.

The newest orchestra, the strings symphonia, was created as a string-only ensemble to serve children younger than 12, who because of their age, can't participate in the older groups. It is led by Carol Laube.

The group had thought about expanding the program because it had to turn away so many after the auditions. Many of these students had nowhere to go for orchestral experience.
The audition experience is, nonetheless, rather rigorous.  "They had to play for me a scale and excerpts of pieces," Laube said.  This can prove difficult, especially for younger students.

Laube originally moved here from Branson, Mo., and stayed because of the relationships she formed here through the philharmonic. Her favorite part of the new program is being with the students.  "It's one of my favorite hours of the week," Laube said.

The symphonia rehearses one hour from 4 to 5 p.m. each week, while the other two rehearse 2 1/2 hours.

"It's a sense of accomplishment with their instruments and as a group together," she said. "I do it for the thrill of sitting with an orchestra and hearing the music."

Although the symphonia is the new section and has the least experience, Laube said she has high hopes for the young musicians. They are going to perform with the established orchestras at the biannual concerts, in fall and in spring. Also, they will be performing in the Christmas concert, playing "Carol of the Bells" with the group The Tintabulations.

"It's scary for some of them because it will be their first time performing," she said.  However, Laube said she is confident in their abilities.  "I hope to have many proud moments with them," she said.

Caleb Wolz, 18, of Sparks, originally joined the symphony orchestra on the recommendation of his strings teacher, who thought participating in the group would be a good experience for him.

"I've always wanted to play in a more advanced orchestra," said Wolz, who has been playing the bass for seven years.  Now, his favorite part of the orchestra is its advanced atmosphere. He enjoys the challenge the program provides for him and the other upper-level musicians of Northern Nevada.

"I think it's fantastic," Wolz said. "I love all the music and the opportunity to play it at Nightingale Hall. It always gives you something to do."

A closer look

The symphony orchestra is made up of the best players in Northern Nevada, according to conductor Jason Altieri, 38, of Atlanta.  "They're the best of the best," he said.

The orchestras comprise the upper levels of the program.  The concert orchestra provides a training orchestra for the symphony, with both groups auditioning on the same material. The group is made up of winds, brass, percussion and strings for a total of about 70 musicians.  The symphony orchestra performs throughout Reno at community concerts and at Renown.  They are in the process of a few tours to Las Vegas and Sacramento in order to spread awareness of the group.

The two orchestras also are dealing with a new addition to their ensemble: Altieri, who also conducts the University of Nevada, Reno Symphony Orchestra, has only been with the philharmonic for one year.

"Truthfully, I've been touring for the past six years," Altieri said.  He moved to Reno because it gave him the chance to stay in one place, which was very appealing to him. "I'm basically doing everything young conductors want to do," he said.

The music

For all their similarities, the two groups have their differences when it comes down to the music. In the concert orchestra, they play many arrangements for the whole group, with one piece for strings only in order to develop their technique.

This year, they will be performing movements from Antonín Dvorak's "Symphony No. 8," arranged by Vernon Leidig; "Didon," originally by Niccolo Piccinni and arranged by Harold M. Johnson; "Psalm and Fugue," a strings-only piece by Alan Hovhaness; and "March to the Scaffold" by Hector Berlioz, arranged by Anthony Carter.

However, in the symphony orchestras, "arrangements" is an unheard of word.

They are playing mostly romantic music this year, including "Slavic March" by Peter Ilich Tchaikovsky; "Academic Festival Overture" by Johannes Brahms; "English Folk Song Suite" Ralph Vaughan Williams and "Intermezzo" by Pietro Mascagni. "Slavic March" is Wolz's favorite piece.  "It involves every section, and the main melody is shared by every instrument once," Wolz said. "It's difficult, but really fun. I've always loved Tchaikovsky's work." 

As a bass player, Wolz knows that many times, the bass will simply be written off as a rhythm-keeper by the conductor.  However, he said that this is not the case in symphony orchestra.  "(Altieri) doesn't neglect the bass players," Wolz said. "If we mess up, he calls us out on it. He doesn't neglect any section."

Altieri has many excellent characteristics that are noticed and praised by his students.  "Jason is awesome," Wolz said. "He's really animated. He's up there leading the music. It exudes his energy to us."  However, Altieri doesn't view his job in such a light manner.  "My job as a conductor is to create new soldiers for the arts," he said.  His main goal is to improve the orchestra's talent and overall provide them with experience by surrounding them with other phenomenal musicians.

The performances

His proudest moment in the orchestra is the Young People's concerts. "That's four shows of trying to be as consistent as you can," he said.  "They played at a level that was very, very professional. I couldn't have been prouder."

In addition, the spring concert gave them another spectacularly professional performance. Altieri's accomplishment was very different.  "I really felt like they had begun to trust me, and that felt great. I'm really, really proud of these kids."

The symphony's current goal goes in defiance of the economic recession: Altieri wants to take them overseas.  "When you work for a goal like that, everyone wants to work hard," he said.

His goal is to shine a good light on Northern Nevada and allow the orchestra to play at an even more advanced level.  "More than (the economy), it takes a lot of will to make this happen," he said.

For more information

Free admission Thursday, November 5, to Fleischmann Planetarium

Admission is free to the University of Nevada, Reno's Fleischmann Planetarium and Science Center from 3 to 8 p.m. Thursday.

Activities include the film "Solar Max," hands-on interactive displays, exhibits and free ice cream. Gift shop purchases will be 10 percent off during those hours.

The event celebrates the planetarium's new wind turbine and solar panel installation, built by Black Rock Solar with a grant from the NV Energy Foundation.

For every person who visits the planetarium then, NV Energy will donate $6 to its GreenPower environmental education program.

Details: 775-784-4812 or www.planetarium.unr.edu.

Nevadans Helping Natives

A Blanket andWinter Clothing Drive

The Native American Student Association (NASA) of Sierra Nevada College is conducting a two-day blanket and winter clothing/coat drive at the SNC Campus in Incline Village, Nevada.

Individuals and businesses wishing to donate may drop off (new or gently used) clean items:

Friday, November 6          (12 pm to 7 pm)
Saturday, November 7        (9 am to 5 pm)
Patterson Hall on the SNC Campus
999 Tahoe Blvd. Incline Village, Nevada

Donations are tax deductible.
California residents are encouraged to participate.
Info: 775-832-1212