Galena High School

Good Luck this Weekend to the GHS Trap Shooting Team as they compete at STATE! GO PIRATES!

Tomorrow, May 31st Adobos is hosting a Share Night for the GHS Cheerleading Team. Come out and have dinner to support a great team with great food!

Congratulations to our Galena High School Trap Team for their great work at Spring Season Conference. John Heller took 1st place! Kiera Linenfelser took 3rd place! GO PIRATES!

Mark Your Calendars- May 31st Adobos is hosting a Share Night for the GHS Cheerleading Team. Come out and have dinner to support a great team with great food!

Greetings Pirate Staff, Students, and Families- A demanding but productive school year has drawn to a close. As we breathe a huge sigh of relief and launch into summer break, it is fitting to take a moment or two to reflect on how far we have come and where we are headed. First, I want to recognize all of our staff for the dedication, talent, energy and care you bring to your work. You are making a visible difference for our students, families and community. It has been wonderful for me to visit classrooms at all schools this year and to spend time with employees and students. I am always impressed by the teaching and learning taking place in our schools, and it is obvious that everyone is deeply committed to our school community, and the students benefit greatly from these efforts. During the final weeks of school, we have had so much to celebrate - students’ final performances, showcases, promotion, and graduation. Thank you to all of you for taking the time to appreciate the students’ achievements and encouraging them to find joy in their accomplishments. A big thank you goes out to our employees who are retiring this year-Heidi O’Shea, Joan Peters, and Jackie Werner. We want to express our sincerest thanks for your years of service to the students in Galena, and we wish you the best in your future endeavors. The impact you have on our students is critical to their success and our society’s future. As all of you know, we are at the beginning of a long summer to get as much construction done in the current middle school. I am pleased with the progress of the addition (which is nearly finished) and now we turn our focus to a total renovation of the spaces at the current middle school. When we come back in September, you should expect that the interior renovation will largely be done, with the new gym being finished in the fall. While the project has gone remarkably smooth, the students and staff have lived through an entire school year in a construction zone and I commend them for their flexibility and understanding through the process. A very special thanks to the GPS and GMS crew today who moved almost an entire building worth of furniture in just a few hours. We are extremely grateful for the end product when everything will be finished in late Fall. The new school will be a highlight of pride for our community, and I am thankful to the Board for their support of a project that was funded through our 1% sales tax driven by tourism and not local property taxes. The new Galena Elementary and Middle School will bring positive changes for our district, including ensuring that our PK through 8th grade students are in a facility that is safe and conducive to learning for decades to come. With this combination to one PK-8th grade building, I am thrilled that we will be able to lean on Mr. Soat’s leadership as the Principal and pivot Mrs. Muehleip to Associate Principal, where she will focus on social emotional learning, special education leadership, and parent outreach. I am confident in both of these school leaders in their new roles to direct our school to a culture of pride and excellence. The collective staff coming together from both buildings will provide additional opportunities for students and staff and I am excited for the future for all involved. Later this summer, I will invite the community to an open house to view the upgrades and tour the entire facility. Speaking of building upgrades, a facility committee has been meeting about facility master planning for Galena High School, which is in dire need of physical upgrades. This planning group of board members and school facility experts have already devoted dozens of hours looking at site plans and interior concepts for the future of GHS. This advisory group has been tasked with making a recommendation to the school board and have meetings scheduled through December. It is our objective to provide students with a safe, innovative learning environment from PK-12th grade while being good stewards for the taxpayers of this community. There will be more to come and the meetings are open to the public-if you are interested in attending please contact me and I will provide you with further details. We’re grateful to our teachers, staff, and families who contribute to our success and to all the students who give us hope. We can say with pride that we have helped these students reach their full potential and there is more positive work ahead. Thank you for your support during the 22-23 school year. Tim Vincent Superintendent Galena Unit School District

Greetings Pirate Staff, Students, and Families- A demanding but productive school year has drawn to a close. As we breathe a huge sigh of relief and launch into summer break, it is fitting to take a moment or two to reflect on how far we have come and where we are headed. First, I want to recognize all of our staff for the dedication, talent, energy and care you bring to your work. You are making a visible difference for our students, families and community. It has been wonderful for me to visit classrooms at all schools this year and to spend time with employees and students. I am always impressed by the teaching and learning taking place in our schools, and it is obvious that everyone is deeply committed to our school community, and the students benefit greatly from these efforts. During the final weeks of school, we have had so much to celebrate - students’ final performances, showcases, promotion, and graduation. Thank you to all of you for taking the time to appreciate the students’ achievements and encouraging them to find joy in their accomplishments. A big thank you goes out to our employees who are retiring this year-Heidi O’Shea, Joan Peters, and Jackie Werner. We want to express our sincerest thanks for your years of service to the students in Galena, and we wish you the best in your future endeavors. The impact you have on our students is critical to their success and our society’s future. As all of you know, we are at the beginning of a long summer to get as much construction done in the current middle school. I am pleased with the progress of the addition (which is nearly finished) and now we turn our focus to a total renovation of the spaces at the current middle school. When we come back in September, you should expect that the interior renovation will largely be done, with the new gym being finished in the fall. While the project has gone remarkably smooth, the students and staff have lived through an entire school year in a construction zone and I commend them for their flexibility and understanding through the process. A very special thanks to the GPS and GMS crew today who moved almost an entire building worth of furniture in just a few hours. We are extremely grateful for the end product when everything will be finished in late Fall. The new school will be a highlight of pride for our community, and I am thankful to the Board for their support of a project that was funded through our 1% sales tax driven by tourism and not local property taxes. The new Galena Elementary and Middle School will bring positive changes for our district, including ensuring that our PK through 8th grade students are in a facility that is safe and conducive to learning for decades to come. With this combination to one PK-8th grade building, I am thrilled that we will be able to lean on Mr. Soat’s leadership as the Principal and pivot Mrs. Muehleip to Associate Principal, where she will focus on social emotional learning, special education leadership, and parent outreach. I am confident in both of these school leaders in their new roles to direct our school to a culture of pride and excellence. The collective staff coming together from both buildings will provide additional opportunities for students and staff and I am excited for the future for all involved. Later this summer, I will invite the community to an open house to view the upgrades and tour the entire facility. Speaking of building upgrades, a facility committee has been meeting about facility master planning for Galena High School, which is in dire need of physical upgrades. This planning group of board members and school facility experts have already devoted dozens of hours looking at site plans and interior concepts for the future of GHS. This advisory group has been tasked with making a recommendation to the school board and have meetings scheduled through December. It is our objective to provide students with a safe, innovative learning environment from PK-12th grade while being good stewards for the taxpayers of this community. There will be more to come and the meetings are open to the public-if you are interested in attending please contact me and I will provide you with further details. We’re grateful to our teachers, staff, and families who contribute to our success and to all the students who give us hope. We can say with pride that we have helped these students reach their full potential and there is more positive work ahead. Thank you for your support during the 22-23 school year. Tim Vincent Superintendent Galena Unit School District

Galena High School Class of 2023 Graduation is live streaming on the GalenaStream YouTube Channel. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Oge-V-2LWY

Best of luck to the GHS Bass Fishing Team as they take the the water on this beautiful day. Go Pirates!

May 1st was National College Decision Day! To celebrate this day Seniors showed off their college decision by wearing a college shirt. We are so proud of our class of 2023 and can not wait to see what the future holds for them.

Thank you to the City of Galena Police for coming to GHS today to help serve lunch and build relationships with our students. We appreciate all you do for GHS!

We have two great events tonight for GHS! Please come out and support! GHS Senior Awards Night at the high school is at 6:30 PM. Adobos is hosting a Share night form 4-9PM for the Galena Choir and Band.

Thank you to those that came out to support our GHS Trapp Shooting Team for the Adobos Share night! It was a great time with great food. Please join us this Wednesday, April 26th for the Band and Choir Adobos Share night form 4-9 PM!

GHS was so proud to recognize Lillian Potter as our Rotary Student of the Quarter this week!

Congrats and Good Luck to Sam Eaton, Jenna Smith, and Kennedy Trautsch. Today these three GHS students will be competing in the State Journalism Tournament. Very proud to have them represent GHS!

Congratulations to Sam Eaton for qualifying to compete at State for Academic Challenge today! Way to represent Galena High School Sam! GO PIRATES!

Please join us on Wednesday, April 19th at Adobos Mexican Grill for our first Share night. A percentage of the profits will go to the GHS Trap shooting Team. Adobos will be open from 4:00 PM - 9:00 PM for the share night. Come on out for dinner to support a great local restaurant and a great GHS team! Hope to see you there!

Due to the cold and windy weather the Prom Grand March has been moved the GHS gym. The March will begin at 5:00PM. Hope to see you all there!

Congratulations to Sumr Al-Hamdani for being named GHS March Artist of the Month! Check out her incredible work as well as all of our March nominees here: https://5il.co/1r03o

STATE BOUND! Last night Chase, Nick, Cooper & Summer interviewed at the district level in their proficiency areas. THREE are advancing to the Final Five at the state level! Chase Dittmar STATE BOUND in Agricultural Communications Nick Handfelt STATE BOUND in Agricultural Processing Cooper Einsweiler STATE BOUND in Safety Summer Belken represented our chapter and Section well in Agricultural Education! We are so proud of this crew and wish them luck as they prepare to compete on March 25!!

Good Luck to our GHS Scholastic Bowl Team who will be competing in Regionals today. Regionals are being hosted at GHS starting at 4:30pm. If you are able to come cheer our Pirates on please join us! GO PIRATES!