District News

Mindy Sendelweck, prekindergarten teacher at Ireland Elementary School, was honored for the Early Childhood Educator Excellence Award at the 2023 Educator Excellence Gala on September 8, 2023.

This award recognizes an individual early childhood educator with three of more years of experience who has demonstrated a commitment to supporting Indiana’s youngest students in developing kindergarten readiness skills. The individual proactively engages in professional development and seeks out opportunities to learn from other educators, welcomes feedback, and uses data to drive their instruction to ensure all students are supported.

“I am honored to be given the 2023 Early Childhood Educator Excellence Award,” said Sendelweck. “I am surrounded by so many inspiring educators that drive me to be the best educator by continuing to always aim high when it comes to educating our wonderful students. Our school leader, Mrs. Bauer, our staff, our school families, and the amazing kids make going to school each day so enjoyable and being an educator a wonderful profession to be in. Prekindergarten is near and dear to my heart as we help them start their educational journey and assist them in learning their foundational skills for their school careers. Prekindergarten is full of creativity, excitement, and imagination and I am very blessed to be teaching that at Ireland Elementary.”

“When you step into the vibrant world of Mrs. Sendelweck’s PreKindergarten classroom, you see a classroom filled with engagement and students who are thriving,” said Ireland Elementary School Principal, Shannon Bauer. “Her passion for educating young students is at the forefront which drives age-appropriate activities and a student-focused curriculum. I am truly honored to have Mrs. Sendelweck at Ireland Elementary School making a difference each and every day!”

Greater Jasper Consolidated Schools would like to say congratulations to Mrs. Mindy Sendelweck on receiving the 2023 Early Childhood Educator Excellence Award. We deeply appreciate her role as a member of the GJCS staff.

See a surprise video from her former students and Mrs. Bauer here: https://youtu.be/17FCqwPKvkE

Ireland Elementary School and Jasper Elementary School are about to embark on an electrifying journey! Get Your Teach On (GYTO) has handpicked these two schools, standing out along with ten other schools in the state, for an explosive partnership. But this isn’t just any partnership, this is a game-changer for students, staff and the entire Dubois County community! 

Imagine a dynamic alliance with GYTO, the trailblazers in educator empowerment. They are on a mission to ignite growth tailored to each school’s unique needs. From amplifying classroom strategies to boosting student engagement, their approach will propel students and staff at these GJCS schools towards academic excellence.

GJCS educators, who were already inspired by GYTO, have attended electrifying conferences and retreats, where their excitement and passion for the organization has continued to grow. Last year, Cedar Crest was lucky to experience a partnership with GYTO, and one project included redoing the LGI room and installing a 360 projector to create an engagement lab for students. This year, Ireland Elementary School and Jasper Elementary School will be two of the lucky schools that will see changes thanks to GYTO. Lisa Kincer, educator at Ireland Elementary, and Ryan Erny, principal at Jasper Elementary, submitted proposals to GYTO that were chosen for the partnership.

On August 25th, a zoom meeting took place with the entire GYTO team. During this zoom, it was announced that GYTO star, Amelia Capotosta, would be the team member coming to both Jasper Elementary School and Ireland Elementary School. Brace yourselves - she’s not just making one pit stop, but four two-day visits to each school. With GYTO’s visionary leaders by her side, she will unleash a tsunami of instructional brilliance. They’re not just tweaking the academics, rather sculpting a whole new dimension of growth. Think academics, think climate - it’s all under the spotlight.

The Indiana Department of Education and GYTO joined forces in 2022. This seismic alliance is not about just boosting test scores, but about sculpting a whole new world of education. Picture an environment where every student’s potential bursts forth and every teacher’s impact is celebrated like fireworks. It’s not just about numbers, it’s about hearts and minds soaring higher than ever.

Jasper Elementary School and Ireland Elementary School aren’t just partnering with GYTO, they’re working to ignite a revolution in education. The sky is not the limit, this is the beginning of an exhilarating journey that will impact students, staff, and the entire Dubois County Community.

To learn more about Get Your Teach On, visit https://www.getyourteachon.com/.

Ireland Elementary staff celebrating the GYTO announcement.

Jasper Elementary Teachers wearing their black and gold for spirit day in honor of the GYTO announcement.

Students at Jasper High School earned academic honors from the College Board National Recognition Programs. These programs celebrate students’ hard work in high school and showcase their strong academic performance. The academic honors for rural area, Black, Indigenous, and/or Latino students are an opportunity for students to share their strong academic achievements with colleges and scholarship programs seeking to recruit diverse talent.

At Jasper High School, the students below received the following academic honors:

• Ava Bower: NRSTA 
• Caroline Buechlein: NRSTA
• Carson Book: NRSTA
• Connor Fair: NRSTA
• Elizabeth Louviere: NRSTA
• Emma Flamion: NRSTA
• Jackson Stallings: NRSTA
• Jordan Voegerl: NRSTA
• Kade Ashby: NRSTA
• Melani Martinez Blanco: NHRA
• Nicole Fant: NRSTA
• Olivia Hopf: NRSTA
• Reese Mundy: NRSTA
• Samuel Krapf: NRSTA

*National Rural and Small Town Award (NRSTA), National Hispanic Recognition Award (NHRA)*

The criteria for eligible students include a GPA of 3.5 or higher, PSAT/NMSQT or PSAT 10 assessment scores that are within the top 10% of assessment takers in each state for each award program or earned a score of 3 or higher on 2 or more AP exams in 9^th and 10^th grade, and attend school in a rural area or small town, or identify as African American/Black, Hispanic American/Latino, or Indigenous/Native.

Eligible students are invited to apply on BigFuture during their sophomore or junior year and are awarded at the start of the school year in the to share their achievements in high school as they plan for the future. At the same time, colleges and organizations using College Board’s Student Search Service can connect directly with awardees during the recruitment process.

"It's becoming increasingly hard for students to be 'seen' during the college recruitment process. We're exceptionally proud of the National Recognition Programs for celebrating students who are at times overlooked but have shown their outstanding academic abilities," said Tarlin Ray, senior vice president at Big Future at College Board. "This is a benefit not only for students but also for colleges and universities committed to recruiting diverse and talented students." 

At GJCS, we are incredibly proud of our students and their outstanding accomplishments!

GJCS educator, Mrs. Anna Grant, was selected for the 2023 Indiana Educator Fellowship for Creative Teachers (FCT), a program of the Indiana Arts Commission (IAC) and the Indiana Department of Education (IDOE). Mrs. Grant is one of 20 educators from across the state who have been chosen to participate in this program. Over the summer, she participated in two days of immersive, hands-on training in connecting creativity to state standards. Along with the learning experience, she now has the opportunity to host a free, creative arts residency in her classroom with a guest teaching artist from the community. 

When asked about the program, Mrs. Grant said, “The Indiana Arts Commission led a two-day professional learning summer seminar for the fellows selected for the Creative Teaching Fellowship. Teachers from all subject areas were taught how to instruct using new techniques across all teaching disciplines. My favorites were bringing theater education principles into the history classroom, and collaborating with other educators across Indiana. The theater workshop taught me how I can better support my student’s confidence in presentations and reading. Collaborating with other teachers, I was able to learn new ways to structure class time and homework assignments.” 

While at the program, Mrs. Grant was given time and assistance for planning her arts-integrated project for her classroom. She will be partnering with the Jasper Community Arts and the Thyen-Clark Cultural Center to help make the project possible. Local artist Jay Hamlin will co-teach her regular world history course for a week to provide the photography skills needed to capture “living history”. The project will challenge students to capture the history that has helped shape our modern community and world. Mrs. Grant noted “I’m excited to have community partners enter the classroom to help establish new community connections and see how art and history are all around us”. 

There will be a culminating event at the Thyen-Clark Cultural Center where students will showcase their captured histories seen in the community and celebrate their work with family and community members. So often, students only see school, work and home. The goal of the project is to expand their daily perspective and awaken an appreciation of history and learning! 

Above: Working on a hand felting project, a process that would be incredible to incorporate into her World History course when learning about early central Asian civilizations. 

Above: Sitting in a circle during a theater workshop exercise used to get movement in the classroom and create groups for projects.