It is with very heavy hearts that we have returned to school following the Christmas break without Mrs. Peggy Heinz. She was our guiding light in so many ways and she will be greatly missed by all who knew and loved her. Mr. James Cutshaw has graciously stepped in as our Interim Principal. We look forward to getting to know him and learn from his many years of experience in education.

Our “speech team” continues to consist of myself, Miss Allison and Mrs. Kelsey and not much has changed since last year. We current have 67 kindergarten and 1st grade students receiving help with improving their speech and/or language skills. Our speech sessions are typically 20 minutes long.

The focus of the sessions depends on the needs of the child. Some children need assistance with improving their understanding of the movements of the articulators (tongue, teeth, lips, etc.) that are necessary for correct sound production. Other students might need help with increasing their understanding and use of words (receptive and expressive language skills). These skills are vital to academic success!

Some skills that are worked on are improving grammar/sentence structure (nouns, verbs, pronouns, prepositions, adjectives, etc.), labeling objects and actions, using inferencing skills (reasoning), asking and answering “wh” and yes/no questions, sorting items into categories and explaining why the items belong in the groups and a whole lot of other skills.

Early intervention is the key! If you have a preschool age child (3-4 years old) and have concerns with their speech, language or learning, feel free to reach out to the McKinley Learning Center at 605-353-6680.

Lori Eggleston

From sunny and cloudy to windy and stormy. They are building vocabulary to describe various weather patterns.

Students are learning the difference between a weather watch and a weather warning, as well as what to do in the case of severe weather conditions, so that they and their families can remain safe.

Students are also utilizing various engaging activities and visual aids to deepen their understanding of the terms in English.

Mrs. Schlader’s students are also preparing to take the Access English proficiency exam in two weeks. They are practicing daily writing, reading, listening, and speaking in English, to improve their understanding and comprehension of the English Language.  The purpose is to increase the confidence of the student in all four domain areas.

Students practice listening and speaking by answering and asking questions verbally. Students read passages in English and answer comprehension questions in writing as well as write about various pictures presented to them.

Mrs. Schlader
ESL Teacher
Huron High School