SGS NOVEMBER NEWSLETTER
November 2025 🦃
Mrs. Stallings working with her 3rd Grade Reading Groups
Pre-K visits the Pumpkin Patch
WARRIOR WEDNESDAY continues with the Men's Basketball Team
SCKMEA DISTRICT HONOR CHOIR
Asher Giorgetti, Hawken Mattson, Braylee Boor, Aria DeWit, Kynlee Peterson, Ada Tesone, Payton White, Dinah Schrag, and Mazee Detmer were able to represent our school at the SCKMEA District Honor Choir on Saturday, October 18th. These students were nominated by their teacher to participate because of their exceptional leadership and musical abilities during Music Class. It was a special treat for our students to have SGS alumni Janie Brokenicky as the conductor and clinician while having our beloved Cindy Anthony, previous SGS music teacher, accompany on the piano.
1st Quarter Kindness Winners
State Farm Agent, Tory Tipp, awarded an SGS teacher and an SGS student for going above and beyond with KINDNESS. Janae Ryan, our Special Education teacher was the faculty recipient and Laikyn Splitter was our student recipient. These two members of our BearCub family always show Kindness in everything they do. Each recipient received gift baskets full of gift cards and free items from our surrounding communities. Thank you to Mr. Tipp and everyone who donates to our staff and students.
MRS. KAY COMLEY
MRS. JANET SCHNURR
Janet Schnurr has been married to her husband, Dan, for 42 wonderful years. After spending time as a stay-at-home mom, she returned to college and earned her Associate’s degree from Hutchinson Community College, then graduated from Sterling College in 1997. She later completed her Master’s degree in Early Literacy and Reading from Walden University in 2006.
Janet has spent 29 years in education—most of those years teaching 2nd grade and the last four serving as a Title I reading and math teacher. She loves helping students believe in themselves and seeing the moment when things “click.” Family is at the heart of Janet’s life. She and Dan have three grown children, Ashley (Joshua), Dallas (Julia), and Aspen and five wonderful grandchildren: Noah (17), Grayson (14), Hallie (8), Brynlie (5), and Jackson (3). When she’s not teaching, Janet enjoys fishing, camping, hiking, biking, and working outside. Her heart is happiest when she’s spending time with family and helping students succeed.
MRS. JANIS FAIR
A graduate of Macksville High School, Ms. Fair attended SGS as a 2nd & 3rd grader. She began her career as an admissions counselor, before
returning to school at Oklahoma State University to complete post-graduate
teacher certification. Upon returning to Kansas after living in Nebraska &
Iowa, Ms. Fair substituted for Sterling prior to being a K-4 Title teacher. Over the years, she served in several additional capacities in the district and enjoyed helping teach music as an accompanist & music assistant for most of her 21+ years working in the district. She earned her degrees from Fort Hays State University. Janis’ sons, Taylor & Cameron, are graduates of SHS. Taylor is currently a pastor of youth & families in Kansas City. He and his wife, Ashtyn, recently welcomed a son, their first child. Cameron is an associate in the real estate department of a law firm in Minneapolis. He & his wife, Marissa, have two children & are expecting their third in January. She says the Black Bear experiences from which her boys benefitted, both in the classroom & through their involvement in many activities, made it well-worth the wait for a teaching position here. Ms. Fair currently enjoys attending her nieces’ & nephews’ activities, playing the piano, & being in the Methodist Church Bell Choir. She loves to sing, a hobby that was greatly changed by her lengthy illness the spring of 2024. Her greatest joy, though, is spending time with her children, grandchildren, and the rest of her family.
RICE COUNTY CLERK PRESENTS "COOKIES WITH THE CLERK"
Rice County Clerk Raechel Manley presented a special story time for Sterling Grade School students on Oct. 23 focused on the election process and the importance of voting.
During the “Cookies with the Clerk” presentation, Manley read aloud One Vote, Two Votes, I Vote, You Vote: All About Voting, written by Bonnie Worth in the style of Dr. Seuss, which explains elections in kid-friendly terms. The book shares facts about how elections work and why voting is an important civic duty. Following the presentation, Manley provided a cookie for each student and donated a copy of the book to the school library.
“I love how the ‘Cookies with the Clerk’ event connects our students with our county’s election officer and explains the voting process and why it’s important,” explained SGS librarian Amy Brownlee, who facilitated the event.
Manley also invited students and their families to attend a special “Pop-in voting” event at the Rice County Courthouse on Nov. 1 from 10:00 am to 2:00 pm. Snacks and activities will be provided for children while adults vote.
These events are part of an outreach effort by Manley to educate children about the voting process, increase voter turnout, and encourage residents to make their voice heard through the election process.
MRS. BROWNLEE PRESENTS AT THE NATIONAL LIBRARIANS CONFERENCE
Mrs. Brownlee was asked to present a lesson on Graphic Novels at the 2025 AASL National Conference for librarians in St. Louis in mid October. Her presentation was a huge hit with the K-12 graphic novel lovers. She taught other educators and librarians how Graphic Novels can be powerful tools for educating students about important social issues. We are blessed at Sterling our students and teachers get to learn from one of the BEST librarians in the country.
Tre Reid receives the Safer tomorrow award
5th and 6th Grade Fun Run
5th and 6th graders participated in their annual Fun Run. Each student ran a mile at the Sterling Golf course before the home Cross Country meet.
October was Fire Prevention Month.
Mr. Brian Rife from the Sterling Fire Department presented our annual Fire Prevention program this week along with some fellow fire fighters. Students learned what to do when their was a fire. Mr. Goracke, our own Superintendent and Sterling Volunteer Fireman, demonstrated to our young students why not to be scared of firemen when came into a house after them. Thank you to all the firefighters who took their time to come present to SGS. We appreciate YOU!