On Tuesday, June 4th the 5th grade went on a field trip to explore the Porcupine Mountains. Students hiked to Lake of the Clouds, a portion of the Government Peak Trail, and learned about archery. Throughout the hikes, students participated in investigations.
Thank you to the four knowledgeable rangers that led our hikes and taught our students archery skills! Also, a big thank you to the "Friends of the Porkies!"
In the final days of school, students were engaged in many activities. Due to inclement weather, our 4th grade students were unable to go to their planned field trip (Norrie Park for a Water Ecology exploration), so we took over the MakerSpace for five different science stations: fossils, plants, volcanoes, earthquakes and bird beaks. An engaging and informative learning experience for all!
Students in Mrs. Stehlik's Metal Fabrication class are finishing up their special projects. Delwyn Westeen and Mason Oesau are second year students, they each completed a small wood stove, perfect for ice shacks.
Sophia Perin was an Italian exchange student this year, she fabricated these two carts which will be used for the Ironwood Area Schools Makerspace. Simeon Ruotsala, Logan Recla and Gage Mullikin, who are in Advanced Woodworking worked together to build the wooden table tops for Sophia's carts as well as two new tables for the Makerspace, Tristin Laabs fabricated the metal tables in Mrs. Stehlik's Metal Fabrication class.
Storm Parish, Ethan Gallo, Simeon Ruotsala and Eli Ruotsala worked together to construct two Ironwood Area Schools Sauna Stoves. Tristin Laabs, who is an advanced welding students and a 'veteran stove maker' helped Mrs. Stehlik oversee the stoves completion. The kids worked very well together.
Jada Godfrey built a bean bag toss for the PTO this year, Parker Osterman designed the graphics for the game. The game was used for the first time for the Elementary Students Field Day last Friday. Jada did a terrific job.
Excellent work, students!
Today we are going all the way back to 1929 & 1924. Did you know that our school once had a gymnastics team? They performed for the halftime show of basketball games, at the Ironwood theater, assemblies at other local schools, and the patients at Gogebic County hospital. The biggest event of the school year was the annual circus with over 4000 people attending, with a parade downtown the afternoon before the first performance! (in April) Also, as we close out this school year, we honor and thank all the work of the Hematite yearbook staff throughout the years. They capture the people and events of our school each year for generations to come. The foreword of the 1924 yearbook reads, “If, when Father Time shall have dimmed these tender recollections, and when a cloud of forgetfulness shall have shadowed by-gone days, we may wander together down the rosy paths of memory with this treasure-house as a guide; then we shall have found our reward in the fulfillment of our mission and the accomplishment of our task.” We hope to see you during Festival Ironwood in July for our Centennial Celebration events!
IAS is accepting applications for Summer School Program Paraprofessionals. Detailed Job Description is available at: https://www.ironwoodschools.org/page/employment-opportunities
Thank you to the PTO and all volunteers for another successful field day last Friday!! All the kids had so much fun!
The last few weeks of school are always busy with events! Last week, our 1st through 4th graders performed a spring music concert. Well done, students!
The 4th graders took a trip to the Porkies this past week. They learned about nature through the Nature Awaits program. Thank you to the rangers that taught our students! One bonus is that now all of our 4th grade students have a free day pass to any Michigan State Park throughout he program!
Congratulations to these students, who won a gift card by entering the Mental Health Awareness campaign Bingo challenge!
Don't Miss out on the 2024 Summer Youth Camps at GCC!
The GOISD/GCC Summer Youth Camps still have a few slots left! Current students in grades 6-8th can still sign up for the following camps: Esports (1); Technology (3); Outdoors/Wilderness (8); Woodworking (9). The camps will be held the week of June 10th-14th from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. CST at Gogebic Community College and Ironwood High School. Lunch and transportation to and from GCC is provided. For more details about the camps, bus/van schedule, and to register please go to this website:https://www.gogebic.edu/community/syp2024.html. or if you have camp questions, please contact Monica Benson at 906-307-1316 or monicab@gogebic.edu
We hope to see you at camp!
Today’s Throwback Thursday photos are memories of spring sports teams 20 and 50 years ago. Despite running and practicing in the cold and snow at the beginning of the season, the effort and skills learned in teamwork and discipline pay off by the time the grass is green and the lilacs are blooming. Hats off to all athletes and coaches of every season through the years at our school! Please feel free to share if you have a special memory of a team, coach or event.
Sam the Samson showed up at Ironwood on Tuesday! He greeted the 8th grade students, and each student received a GCC t-shirt. Thanks, Sam!
On Friday May 24th, the 6th grade went on a field trip to release the three sturgeon we’ve been raising in our classroom since October. They started out each weighing about 10 grams, when we released them they had grown to about 270 grams. They increased their weight 27 times in around 8 months and almost tripled their length. When something eats ⅓ of how much it weighs in food every day, it grows extremely fast! Hopefully in about 25 years they will return to the Ontonagon River to spawn and replenish the population on their own, without our help.
With the rest of our day we went and explored more of the Porcupine Wilderness State Park. We climbed the tower at Lookout Peak. We ate lunch at the pavilion at Presque Isle Park. We spent the rest of our time relaxing, exploring, and hanging out with friends on the island across the suspension bridge at the Presque Isle River. It was a great day!
Senior John Balchik and Junior Zach Smith recently completed two new podiums, one for the JROTC program, and one to celebrate Ironwood Area Schools Centennial Anniversary. The JROTC podium was on display at the JROTC awards ceremony last week, and the Centennial podium was used for the graduation ceremony last Friday night. Thanks for all your hard work completing these beautiful pieces, boys!
Congratulations to the April Students of the Month! Lowell Hampston, 1st grade, Aidynn Tesch, 3rd grade, Elliott Nelson, 5th grade, Bukkit Paul, 11th grade, and Charles Eades, 4th grade, were all awarded a certificate at last Monday's board meeting for showing excellent RISE expectations. Way to do things the Wright Way!
It's Throwback Thursday... a little late!
Luther L. Wright has had a Junior ROTC program since 1931. Today we are one of three schools in the Upper Peninsula with JROTC which also include Calumet and Houghton. Many cadets have benefited from this leadership program with excellent commanders providing the instruction. Here is a photo of the group in 1995. We would also like to salute our Class of 2024, as our seniors graduate tonight. We wish them all the best in the years ahead. “Keep your face to the sunshine and shadows will always fall behind you.” -Walt Whitman
The Summer Lunch Program starts on Monday, June 10th. We are serving from 11:00am - 12 noon Mon - Fri. We also have some area groups with Kid friendly activities (tied in with our Summer Lunch) throughout the summer. All area children ages 18 and under can enjoy free lunch. You do not have to be a student of Ironwood Area Schools to participate. It is a great time for your child to interact with other area children in a safe, friendly fun environment. Adults can enjoy a lunch with their child for $5.25 each.
We hope to see you there.
Every year, students enrolled in woodworking make shadow boxes for the VFW. This is a continuation of a community project that was started many years ago by retired shop teacher Dave Paynter. These shadow boxes house the shells of the shots fired at the funerals of veterans, as well as the American flag. The shells reference the practice of firing three shots on the battlefield to signal a pause in fighting to remove the bodies of fallen soldiers. They also represent the words duty, honor, and country. The boxes are gifted to the families of veterans who have passed.
This year Lily Magdziak and Jaiden Demaray put an exceptional amount of work into the project doing all of the finishing work so that the boxes look clean and beautiful. Nice work girls!
IAS is accepting applications for a Full-Time K-6 School Counselor. Detailed Job Description is available at: https://www.ironwoodschools.org/page/employment-opportunities
The Advanced Woodworking students are learning to use our new Onefinity CNC router. CJ Feezor, who is a senior baseball player, just completed this Red Devils Baseball Sign. It was built in the Woodworking Lab in memory of Mike Wasley, who was a 2007 graduate of Ironwood Area Schools. Beautiful job CJ!
