OUR GRAY HAWK FAMILY works together to help students feel safe, loved, and inspired so they can be empowered learners and engaged citizens.

THANK YOU TO OUR GRAY HAWK COMMUNITY VOLUNTEERS FOR ASSISTING AND MAKING THIS SUCH A WONDERFUL EVENT!

I cannot say enough about OUR GRAY HAWK FIFTH GRADERSl. The leadership they showed was exactly what we have come to expect from them when they helped with our morning field day!

Check out the drone footage shot by Mr. Bartels.

Parents can still purchase a book for $14 that he will autograph to your child on that day. Order forms were sent home last week or you can print one off below.

There will be a lot of things to do including board games, real life HUNGRY HUNGRY HIPPOS in the gym, gaga ball in the gym, and a variety of different outdoor games to play with your family. It promises to be an amazing night of FAMILY FUN!

Remember this is a FREE event for OUR GRAY HAWK FAMILIES. We will have hot dogs, chips, pop, water, and popsicles for $1.

We will also have a dunk tank where you can get two chances for $1 to dunk a staff member. Check out the schedule below!

All money raised from this event along with any donations will go directly towards the purchase of a gaga ball pit for OUR GRAY HAWK playground!

We could really use some help! If you are available to help, please sign up at https://www.signupgenius.com/go/10C0F4FAFA92BA3F4CF8-summer.

Be there to celebrate UNITY in the COMMUNITY!

For our final Celebrating Differences this year we’re going to take a look at some classic titles that have always been designed to celebrate what a wonder it is to be different! I hope you recognize and enjoy some of the books we look at here! I know I always have! Thank you Dr. Springer for encouraging this weekly activity as I have enjoyed sharing books I love so much!

“ALL REALLY GOOD PICTURE BOOKS ARE WRITTEN TO BE READ FIVE HUNDRED TIMES.” Rosemary Wells

Each week we will provide clues to the identity of someone from throughout history that has made an important impact on our world. We provide these clues each morning and then reveal the person to OUR GRAY HAWKS on Friday morning with a brief video. Here are the clues from this past week.

• I was born on March 31, 1927 in Yuma, Arizona. I had two brothers and two sisters and my family owned a farm and a local grocery store. We lived in an adobe home that was built by my grandfather. When I was 11 years old, my father lost his farm due to the Great Depression. The Great Depression was a time when so many people lost their jobs, were hungry, and many people were homeless. Our family packed up and moved to California to look for work.

• We became migrant workers and moved from farm to farm in California looking for work. Days were very long and we had to work very hard. Even though we worked very hard we barely had enough to eat. We moved so much that I didn’t really have time to go to school.

• Teachers were very hard on me. In a short time I went to 35 different schools. One time when I didn’t speak English, a teacher made me wear a sign that said “I am a clown. I speak Spanish.” After finishing eighth grade, I stopped going to school.

• Working conditions in the fields were very bad for workers. Farmers treated us very poorly. There was no clean water and no bathrooms. Anyone that complained was fired! I began to work for civil rights for Latinos and helped to register Latinos to vote. I had a personal motto “Si, se puede” which meant “Yes, it can be done!”

• I was influenced by several incredible people including Ghandi and Martin Luther King Jr. I wanted to help migrant workers in California and I wanted to do it a peaceful way. One of my first major actions was to strike against grape farmers. We marched 340 miles to Sacramento which took several weeks. Our protest march worked and grape farmers made it better for migrant workers picking grapes. In order to bring attention to our cause, I fasted which means I didn’t eat. I once fasted for 36 days and many celebrities joined me. I died peacefully in my sleep on April 23, 1993 and over 50,000 people attended my funeral. I received the Presidential Medal of Freedom after I passed away.

As adults we sometimes forget that OUR kids experience stress - yes, even our youngest. They can get so caught up in their stress that they don't realize that their body is giving them clues - headaches, muscle tension, and different pains are connected.

I love these body scan meditations because it is a great way to bring awareness to what is going on in your body when you are stressed or just trying to unwind at the end of the day.

Body scans really are not about relieving the pain but being more aware of it to try to deal with it when you feel the pains coming on. This is a great body scanner for kids to try to use after lunch or at the end of the day.