🌟 Good Morning Husky Family! 🌟
Reminder: Tomorrow is the day! The Annual School Board Election is happening, and your vote matters! Be sure to head to your polling place and cast your ballot.
Here are the candidates running:
✅ Travis Geary – 3-year term, unopposed
✅ Elijah VanderWeerdt – 2-year term
✅ Tory Norby – 2-year term
Good luck to all the candidates! We truly appreciate your dedication to serving our community by running for school board.
Let's show up, vote, and take action!
#ShowingPride...TakingAction
EPJ Softball heads to Sioux Falls tomorrow to play a triangular with Avon and Clark/Willow Lake. Huskies will take the field at 3 pm and 4:30 pm. Here is the link to the livestream https://www.muscovision.com/facility/45701
Huskies Softball hosts DAK XII rival Dakota Valley today at 5:00 pm! Livestream can be found at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ippvf-88Ksc
The student's this week in Mrs. Stabe's Anatomy/Physiology class learned how to use a sphygmomanometer and stethoscope to measure blood pressure. They also used the stethoscope to study the various sounds arising from the heart as it pumps and then located various pulse points to learn how to measure the pulse. Lastly they engaged in some jumping jacks for 5 min to see the effects that exercise has on blood pressure.
Students in Mrs Stabe's Biology classes are learning about DNA and it's role in making proteins. On Wednesday the student's engaged in a hands-on-lab where they successfully extracted DNA from the cells of a banana.
EPJ Softball travels to Lennox today for a DAK XII game!
Accelerated Algebra II did two experiments to illustrate growth and decay exponential functions.
Today is the second day to sign up for the EPJ Y-Club being hosted by Siouxland YMCA. Please sign up early to ensure your spot! The After School Program is 65 Dollars a week. This program has started receiving many registrations so be sure to save your spot for next fall! (With enough interest this will turn into summer programming for the summer of 26).
Also, there will be a YMCA Preschool offered next year in our current preschool room. This program will run from 7:30 am to 5pm. Enrollment is $185 dollars. Please see the attached flyers for more information. This program is almost full, be sure to sign up as soon as possible!
Cheer Reminder: Current 6th-11th grade students who are interested in cheerleading for the 2025-2026 season are invited to attend our Cheer Clinic on Saturday, April 12th from 12:00 PM to 3:00 PM in the EPJ Gym. Attendance is strongly encouraged for those planning to try out. Pre-registration is REQUIRED; no walk-ins will be accepted. Please pick up a registration form from the Art Room and return it to Mrs. Leichtenberg by Friday, April 11th at 3:15 PM.
There will be tryout practices to go over tryout material after school on Monday, April 21st through Thursday, April 24th on the stage from 3:15-4:15pm each day. Cheer tryouts will take place on Friday, April 25th after school.
The softball game vs. Tri-Valley scheduled for tonight in Elk Point has been postponed due to weather and field conditions. It has been rescheduled to Tuesday, May 13 at 5:00 PM in Elk Point.
Husky Strength getting after it at 6 am this morning.
The softball game vs Dell Rapids scheduled for tomorrow (Saturday, March 29) has been postponed due to cold temperatures and precipitation. There has not been a reschedule date for this event at this time.
Wednesday was a very exciting day!! Gracelynn B. and Yixian N. were surprised with a room of fans, some of their EPJ unified partners/athletes and Special Olympics South Dakota’s Turner and Julie to announce to them they’ve qualified for 2026 Special Olympics USA Games!! USA games will be held in Minneapolis, MN on June 20-26, 2026.
This is a great honor to us to have these two represent EPJ during this spectacular event! It was a great addition to our Inclusion week we’re putting on at school this week! Special Olympics at EPJ has been a way for Ms. Cass (Structured Learning Center grades 6-adult transition Teacher) to promote inclusivity in the district and give individuals a way to shine and show just what they are made of, athlete or partner!! 💙🖤
Mike Donahue from Value Up visited EPJ School yesterday and met with All students k-12, staff, and did a parent event last night. Mike focused on the importance of valuing yourself and winning the tough days. It Was A Great Day To Be A Husky!
Reminder: Tomorrow, Thursday, March 27th, motivational speaker and author Mike Donahue will speak to all K-12 students. He will also host a special event for parents of students in grades 6-12 from 6:30–7:30 PM in the HS gym. Students whose parent/guardian attends will receive a 4th-quarter homework pass (valid for a daily assignment, excluding tests and quizzes).
Our EPJ Students Shine at the State Science Fair
Our EPJ students had a fantastic day at the State Science Fair on Tuesday, March 25th! Held annually on the campus of SDSU, the State Science Fair highlights students’ scientific knowledge, creativity, and application of the scientific method.
Below are the recipients of special awards and individual category awards:
High School Special Awards
Delaney Thorson, Natalie Hailey, and Alexandria Herrity
Ricoh Sustainable Development Award: Honorable Mention
SDSU Army ROTC: Honorable Mention
Haley Harkness
SDSU Army ROTC: Honorable Mention
SDSU Medical Lab Science Club: Honorable Mention
American Society for Clinical Laboratory Science: $100 cash award
Hannah Kuehl and Josie Mason
SDSU Medical Lab Science Club: Honorable Mention
SDSU College of Pharmacy and Allied Health Professions: Honorable Mention
Ashley Stark and Natalya Tielke
SDSU Medical Lab Science Club: Honorable Mention
Jaxon Steinbrecher and Kooper Watterson
Falcon Plastics: $50 cash award
SDSU Army ROTC: Honorable Mention
Bode Fennel and Gunnar Skaar
SDSU College of Pharmacy and Allied Health Professions: $100 cash award
Bella Hanson and Patricia Munkvold
Ricoh Sustainable Development Award: Honorable Mention
High School Category Awards
Plant Science
2nd Place: Delaney Thorson, Natalie Hailey, Alexandria Herrity
Honorable Mention: Drew Geary and Beckett Fennel
Computer Science/Engineering/Math
3rd Place: Jaxon Steinbrecher and Kooper Watterson
Medicine and Health
3rd Place: Gracelynn Bruns
Both Mrs. Stabe and Mrs. Norris are incredibly proud of all the students who participated in the state competition this year. EPJ was exceptionally well represented—congratulations to all!
Breaking News: It is official. The EPJ school has been working with the YMCA of Siouxland to provide opportunities for additional preschool options and opportunities after school for families. Space is limited so please see the flyer for more details. All of these programs start in the 2025-2026 school year. For the Y-Club there will be summer programming for the summer of 2026. There is a QR code on each poster for sign ups, or follow each link: https://www.nwsymca.org/little-huskies-y-club and https://www.nwsymca.org/preschool .
Sign up as soon as possible as spots will fill up fast. All questions should be asked to aschultz@nwsymca.org
Students in Ecology are learning about the effects of air pollution on human health. We discussed a variety of respiratory illnesses that are affected by air pollution including asthma, emphysema, and bronchitis. The students engaged in an activity in which they modeled the events that someone with asthma would experience. They blew up a regular balloon to represent a healthy lung and timed how long it took for them to inflate the balloon to a specific size and then how long it took for the balloon to deflate. They then modified the balloon by blowing it up with a straw to represent the constricted airways someone experiences during an asthma attack. Lastly they then filled the straw with honey to model the excessive mucus production in addition to the narrowed airways. They compared the times to inflate and deflate the balloon with all three models and discussed their results.
Celebrate St Patrick's Day at the All Band Concert tonight at 7:00 pm. Note the location is the HS gym! Here is the link to the event if you are unable to attend https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bFgWy7Zeb3s
7th grade exploratory art students wrapped up a successful quarter today by drinking out of the ceramic mugs they made! They had to use slab building to create the vessel and then decorate the outside in a way of their choosing.
