Monday, March 30, 2015

Boy's Basketball Coach Justy Northrop Gazette Coach of the Year

A special congratulations goes out to Plainsmen Boy's Basketball Coach Justy Northrop who was named the Cedar Rapids Gazette area Coach of the Year for the 2014-2015 winter season.  Led by Northrop the team had a record setting year capped off wight the schools first ever appearance at the Boy's State Basketball Tournament in Des Moines.

CR Gazette Article

Wednesday, March 25, 2015

Spring Fever at Belle Plaine


Time flies, and this year is certainly no different.  With 75% of the year complete there are still many things to get done before the end of the year.  This time of year becomes even more important to students.  It's vital that they finish the year strong and not wait till the last couple weeks to try and get things done.  With anything it is always important to have a strong finish at the end.

In February students took the Iowa Assessment test and we hope to have those results very soon.  At the beginning of the year we set a goal of 80/20 for student performance on the Iowa Assessment.  That goal means we are striving for 80% of students to perform at above proficiency and 20% perform in the advanced range.  We also hope to see individual growth among every student as well.  Once we receive our results we will be analyzing the scores and sharing out that data.

We are currently in the process of planning for next year and Mrs. Koch has been meeting with students to assist with scheduling for classes in 2015-2016.  It is always an exciting time to start looking at what we will be offering our students in the upcoming year.

The end of the year also brings exciting events like the HS Musical, Prom, Service Learning Day, Senior Awards Night, and Graduation.  As you see there are many things yet to do this year and we hope you will show your BP Pride and support our students.

Todd Werner

Tuesday, March 3, 2015

An Exciting February at Belle Plaine!

The month of February was a good one at Belle Plaine Jr./Sr. High School for many reasons.  At a recent assembly we recognized students for their academic success during the 1st semester of the year.  Students received certificates for being on the Honor Roll (3.25-3.49 GPA) and the High Honor Roll (3.5 and above GPA).  Advisor/Advisee groups were also recognized for cumulative GPA for the 1st semester.  High Advisor group GPA honors went to Mr. Waltons Advisor group, followed by Mrs. Mantz, and then Mr. Kremer.  High Advisor group in the JH was Mrs. Cronbaugh, followed by Mr. Bohlen, Mrs. Rupp, and Miss Bird.  The sophomore class leads the way with the highest GPA in the high school.

Students were also recognized for having nearly perfect attendance (1 day absence) or perfect attendance.  It was great to see such a high number of students recognized for having demonstrated a commitment to attending school at such a high level.

The softball team was also honored for their hard work in the classroom by receiving recognition from the Iowa Girls High School Athletic Union for having above a combined 3.25 GPA as a team.

Multiple members of the speech team also performed and qualified for State Competitions.

Jazz Band members also performed recently at Coe College in Cedar Rapids.  Mr. Johnson stated that the group performed very well and he received great feedback about the performance of the group.

National FFA Week was a great success highlighted by the Meal Packaging Event held in the gym on Friday February 28.  Students and staff worked together to put together nearly 20,000 meals that will be donated to the Benton County Food Bank and distributed to families in need within the Benton County area.  It was great to see everyone having fun and working together for such a great cause.

In athletics the girls basketball team had a very good run in the playoffs with wins over Meskwaki Settlement, and Iowa Valley before losing to Lynnville-Sully.

In wrestling, Joey Schwenn was the lone Belle Plaine wrestler to qualify for the Iowa State Wrestling  Tournament in Des Moines.  Wrestling at 160 lbs., Schwenn had a great showing in his first trip to State placing 5th.

The highlight of the month came this past Saturday night when the boys basketball team defeated Bellevue-Marquette 79-69 in overtime to qualify for the schools first ever trip to the State Tournament in Des Moines.  The BP boys will play Earlham on Monday March 9 at 12:15 at the Wells Fargo Arena in Des Moines.

It's been great to see so many of our students performing at such a high level in so many different areas!  What a great month February was, and let's continue to finish the year at a high level.