Pioneer Press

Student-Led Initiative to Promote Reading for Fun

This year, Pioneer students who serve on the Superintendent Student Advisory are leading a schoolwide project focused on reading for enjoyment. Before winter break, the Pioneer student group chose to highlight reading as a way to encourage classmates to read by choice—because they want to, not just because it’s assigned.

Students shared several creative ideas to help build excitement around reading, including:

• Writing short, bookstore-style book recommendations to be displayed in classrooms and the library

• Inviting teachers to share their own favorite book recommendations

• Creating video book recommendation segments for the Pioneer Daily News

• Continuing Lexia PowerUp ticket incentives to recognize reading growth

Students will be working with their ELA teachers, Leadership teacher, and Video Production teacher to bring these ideas to life. A recommendation drop-off box will also be available in the main office for students and staff who would like to share favorite books.

This student-driven project aligns with our School Improvement Plan goals and reflects our commitment to fostering a love of reading at Pioneer—both in and beyond the classroom.

Mrs. Fernandes

Medical Detectives

Students in Ms. Joslin's Medical Detectives classes are working on a unit about the nervous system. Students investigate how the nervous system collects information from the outside world, moves this information through neurons, processes this information in the brain, and initiates the body’s response accordingly. Students just finished creating models of neurons and a gif of signals traveling through them. Next up, students will perform a sheep brain dissection to learn about brain anatomy and physiology.

Choir

Since returning from Winter Break all the choirs have jumped back into their choir's daily routine of warm-ups, learning singing techniques, sight singing and preparing music. Each choir received 2 to 4 new pieces of music that they will be performing in our Spring Choir Concert on March 24th. On February 28th selected soloists and a large ensemble from each choir will be performing at the Mountain Region Vocal Solo and Ensemble Contest held at Spanaway Lake High School in Spanaway. All performers will be performing for an Adjudicator and will receive verbal and written feedback and an overall rating. Last year all our ensemble received the highest rating of Superior. In the last week of January, we will have our second sight singing assessment of the year. We have been preparing for this assessment since October and Mrs. Elshire is excited to see how singers have progressed so far this year.

The Advanced Choir is working hard on preparing their 6 songs for their performance at the ACDA Conference in March. Last week they started working on the dance for their pieces. We hope to have this dance learned by February 3rd so that we can perform the song, Jong, Jong Lani for the composer Tracy Wong. Ms. Wong will be working with the Advanced Choir during class on the 3rd via google meets. We are excited to learn about the meaning behind the song Malaysian culture and any feedback that Ms. Wong has on our performance.

Foreign Languages

In the foreign language classes, we are finishing up the semester with a project. In this project the students have many options for what they are choosing to do. This project takes place outside of the school day and encourages the students to select activities that experience the language, either Spanish or German, in a manner of their own choosing. This is the second time this year students have done this project. This time, some students read a children’s book in the target language and then drew pictures of some of the terms, others recreated art by a Spanish or German artist or worked with songs from that culture. One translated Nena’s 99 Luftballons anti-war song. Several watched weather forecasts or read news articles, still others ordered from a restaurant in Spanish or cooked from a recipe in the language. One student used his model building skills to create a German tank. This is one of my favorite projects and many students let me know how much they enjoy learning in this way.

Band

In our first couple of weeks back from break, all the bands have returned to their regular program of musical and instrumental fundamentals, along with beginning to tackle the music for our Spring Concert on March 19th. Each group is given music that is significantly more challenging than the previous Winter Concert set!

On February 21st, soloists and small groups of students will perform at the Mountain Region Solo and Ensemble Contest held at Cougar Mountain Middle School in Graham. All performers will be performing for an Adjudicator and will receive verbal and written feedback and an overall rating.

The Symphonic Band is also starting to prepare for their regional competition that will be held on April 30th at Orting Middle School, where they will compete with all the other middle school bands in the area. They will perform with other middle school bands in the audience, and for three adjudicators, one of which will be the clinician for the band immediately following the performance.

The Art Room

The art room has been humming with creativity as students explore a wide range of media, including graphite, oil pastels, ink, watercolor, and mixed drawing tools. Students recently completed impressive graphite pencil drawings by enlarging a 5x5 reference image into 14x14 masterpieces using the grid method. These works emphasized contour drawing, shading techniques, strong composition, creativity, and craftsmanship.

Seasonal oil pastel projects filled the room with cozy winter scenes, featuring glowing full moons on snowy nights as we prepared for the holidays. Some students even transported us to tropical islands, capturing vibrant sunset views.

We also spent time building art appreciation skills by creating abstract compositions inspired by Wassily Kandinsky, using colored pencils, markers, and crayons. As the semester comes to a close, students are currently finishing watercolor and ink silhouette projects, wrapping up an exciting and creative term in the art room.

Camp Dates: April 13–15 and April 15–17

Location: YMCA Camp Colman
Cost: $180 per student; $100 per chaperone (plus fingerprinting/background check)

Action Required by Friday, March 6, 2026:

• Register your student on ParentSquare

• Submit payment

• Sign up to chaperone (optional)

More details, links, and camp information can be found on ParentSquare.https://www.parentsquare.com/feeds/69340664

If you have questions, please allow a minimum of two business days for a return call, email, or ParentSquare message.

Contacts:
Amanda Gidley | agidley@steilacoom.k12.wa.us
Kyle Haller | khaller@steilacoom.k12.wa.us

1st Semester Ends

• Last day of 1st semester: Friday, Jan. 23

• New semester starts: Monday, Jan. 26

• Families can view student schedules in Skyward Family Access

• Changes are considered for electives (space permitting) or placement issues (e.g., math level).

• Space in electives is limited and may depend on core class placement.

How to Request a Change:

1. Forms are available in the Main Office starting Monday, Jan. 12.

2. Review, complete, sign, and date the form with your student.

3. Your student submits the form to the Main Office.

4. The scheduling team will review requests and notify students if changes are made.

5. Only paper forms are accepted; no emails, phone calls, or walk-ins.

⚠ Processing time: Requests may take up to 72 hours.

Need to discuss your student’s schedule?

• Parents/Guardians may request an appointment with a counselor by emailing: pioneermsoffice@steilacoom.k12.wa.us

• Include your student’s full name and grade.

• Walk-ins are not accepted; counselors are busy and direct emails may take longer than 72 hours to receive a response.

If you need to make a change to your student’s after-school transportation, please contact the main office by 1:45 p.m. on Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays, and by 12:45 p.m. on ACE days (Wednesdays).

You can reach us:

• Phone: 253-583-7205

• Email: pioneermsoffice@steilacoom.k12.wa.us

These deadlines ensure we have enough time to communicate the change to your student before dismissal.

Please note:

• Transportation changes requested by parents/guardians after the deadline cannot be guaranteed to reach your student before the end of the school day.

• Bus passes will NOT be issued to students at the end of the day.

• 🚫 Do not email staff directly regarding attendance, tardies or other time-sensitive issues. If the staff member is out, your message may go unseen.

Season 3 (Winter II) Sports Registration for Girls Soccer & Boys Basketball

Registration Dates:
January 19 - February 2
Register Here

Tryout Schedule:
February 2 - 6 (Monday - Friday)
2:45 PM - 4:45 PM
Be sure to bring your A-game!

Sports Physical REQUIRED to Participate Blanks Sports Physical Form

Interest Meetings:

Boys Basketball

• Athletes: Thursday, 1/22, during lunch

• Parents: Wednesday, 1/27, 7:00 PM - 8:00 PM | Library

Girls Soccer

• Athletes: Thursday, 1/22, during lunch

• Parents: Monday, 2/3, 4:50 PM (Right after Day 1 of Tryouts) | Meet on the Track

See our school club schedule below:

Tuesdays

• Gay Straight Alliance (GSA) – Room A101 with Mrs. Percefull

• Christian Faith Group (CFG) – Room B103 with Mrs. Vaccaro

Thursdays

• Pokémon Go! Club – Room E129 with Mrs. Elshire

• Game Club – Room A202 with Mr. Milton

• Builder's Club - Cafeteria with Mrs. Holyfield

Transportation:

After-school activity buses are available on Tuesdays and Thursdays for students attending school clubs. Click here for route information.

January 19th - MLK Birthday - NO SCHOOL

January 21st - ACE Day - 1:40 pm student release time

January 23rd - HALF Day - 11:40 am student release time

January 28th - ACE Day - 1:40 pm student release time

February 2nd - February 6th - Counselor Appreciation Week

February 4th - ACE Day - 1:40 pm student release time

February 13th - NO SCHOOL

February 16th - President's Day - NO SCHOOL

See our website for more information: https://pio.steilacoom.k12.wa.us/