Yes indeed, it is the beginning of the school year again. As always, there are some new rules and updates to hear about. School started for us Cardinals Tuesday, Sept. 4th. Possibly the best news received was the brand new elementary gym floor. If you have entered that gym within the past few years, you are sure to understand just how outdated that floor was. With what felt like rock solid concrete underneath the surface, running on that floor was practically guaranteed to give just about anyone shin splints. However, the gym turned into its own version of Frankenstein last year. This was due to water damage. In the far left corner of the court, the surface bubbled up and oozed a brown liquid. Sure enough, patching it up with some nice red tape was the solution that year. Thanks to the dedicated staff, they knew it was time for something new. Now this update is far from affordable. Thankfully, South Shore practically got the $50,000? cost waived except for a $3,000 deductible, for insurance on the water damage. Nevertheless, be sure to make it apart of your trip to the school to check out the sweet floor!

The classrooms got plenty of new updates as well as this school year. New furniture in more than half the rooms. The B.E. room also received brand new touchscreen HP computers for the students. Business Education is now run by a new instructor, Mrs. Kaczmarski. She grew up in Clear Lake, WI. She used to teach at Baron School. Mrs. Kaczmarski has two kids, Porter and Dalton and is married to John Kaczmarski. Porter is now attending first grade here at South Shore. When asked about plans for this year Mrs. K replied, “My main focus is to get to know the students and build a great curriculum for the core courses.” She will be teaching class 1st-5th hour so come over to the B.E. room and give her a warm welcome.

Another addition to the teaching staff is Mr. McNorton, who took the position of P.E. teacher. He teaches elementary grades, along with some high school classes. Mr. McNorton has brought a whole new level to the purpose of gym class here at South Shore. He has created a curriculum syllabus for each class. The first weeks of class involve a series of fitness tests to see where each student is at.  He also teaches two high school courses that are not your typical gym class. 1st hour he has several kids in Lifetime Sports. In this class, students will experience a wide variety of sports. They have already started with Disc Golf. Another class is 5th-hour Personal Fitness. In this class, students are in the gym three days of the week, while the other two days they are in the classroom. On the gym days, students have a specific workout to follow along as a group for the whole hour. This first week they have started on cardio. They follow videos such as Body Project for 30 minutes of cardio work. In the classroom, students learn about their body, health, and everything you need to know about fitness. This concept brings not only the physical aspect of fitness but also the educational side. Mr. McNorton is from Duluth, MN. He has set some goals for his first year here, “I plan to improve my students’ physical fitness test by 75% around springtime. Most of my students discover a new sport or activity through my classes that they enjoy and can do outside of school. I like South Shore because it is kind of in the middle of nowhere. It reminds me of back home. I’m country at heart, although I live in Duluth. I grew up in Alabama and I am a Southern boy.”

These are just a few of the updates brought to South Shore this 2018-2019 school year. South Shore is always looking to improve and excel. We are all so grateful to have such a forward-thinking school body. Overall, we are all excited for a new year. Do your best this year and strive for greatness.