Children hear all kinds of messages about the kind of people they should be from friends, family members, neighbors, the media, etc. I love when I am teaching social skills lessons and a student says, “Hey, that’s what my mom said!” and I always reply with something like, “Your mom is right!” The fact is we are all in this together and it takes a village to help our kids grow to their fullest potential.

Children learn character by the values we teach, our words, and even the way we correct them. They see our daily interactions with others and learn what acceptable character is. As adults, we need to be conscious of what we are teaching, purposely or not. Never forget, they are always watching and learning from us.

Hope Week is next week (February 6-10)! Hope Week is all about kindness and inclusion, and our Hope Squad has planned a lot of fun activities for the students at Sand Springs. We would love for as many students to participate as possible! Keep an eye on the Sand-A-Gram or follow @sandspringselem on Instagram for updates/activities.

Claire Caldwell

School Counselor

Sand Springs Elementary School

801-402-3857 – ccaldwell@dsdmail.net

Mrs. Caldwell's Canvas Page

The visit from Jennifer A. Nielsen was a huge hit. What an inspiring storyteller! The library has been full of kids trying to get on waiting lists for all of her books. Some kids have talked to me about writing their own books! We have just added a few more copies of her books Resistance, Rescue, and Lines of Courage to our library. These books are great Historical Fiction for kids, but adults can enjoy them too. They make great read alouds for 4th through 6th grades. My kids love to hear stories about where I was and my reaction to different events in history. If you read Jennifer A. Nielsen’s A Night Divided (about the Berlin Wall), you or another family member should tell your kids about when it came down. Stories become real when we know someone who has lived it. If you read Rescue or Words on Fire, you could discuss family stories from World War II. Jennifer A. Nielsen, in her book Words on Fire, said, "For who are we all, if not the product of who we love, what we know, and every wonderful word that we have read?"

Information for Lego League and Mindstorms

Sand Springs Elementary Team

For Fifth and Sixth Graders

We are starting Lego League teams here at Sand Springs Elementary. We will accept approximately 36 students. About 3 students will be on a team. We will do a school competition that all teams will participate in. FLL teams will be taught by two teachers from Sand Springs Elementary: Melissa Skousen and Terra Moss, plus, a parent from Hill Air Force Base personnel, Jeff Wiggington. Lego League and Mindstorms are two different competitions and two different sessions.

What is Lego League? This is a team of students who are interested in Lego building, robotics, engineering, technology, coding, math, and science. We will be using Legos to construct a robot and will program the robot to perform certain tasks. A school-wide competition will take place. Interested students will write a paragraph about why they would like to participate in Lego League. The teachers will be working together to select the teams.

The cost per student will be $50.00 (payable to Sand Springs) for the robots, competition, and related expenses. Interested students should have their parents sign the permission slip and are due by January 20th. We will let you know by email on January 25th if your student will be participating in Lego League. Bring your money on the first day of Lego League or as soon as you know you will be part of the Lego League for 2023.

What is Mind Storms? The 5th grade competition is called “Amazing” and will learn how to program a robot to drive through a maze. The 6th grade competition is called “Sumo” and students will learn how to stay on a circular platform while pushing their opponent off. The best part about this competition is that it will be two students to one robot. They get a lot of one-on-one time with the robot. The competition is held at Lagoon on May 13th, where we will compete against other schools throughout the state.

Students will be selected from the Lego League competition to make the Mind Storms teams. During Lego League teachers will be observing students that work well in a team, understand the programing of a robot, participate, and attend all necessary meetings.

The cost per student will be $50.00 (payable to Sand Springs) for the robots, competition, and related expenses. This will not be paid until students have been chosen for the Mind Storms Team. This will be the second section and is separate from Lego League.

Feb 3rd

Orchestra 7:45 am

Feb 4th

VEX Tournament

Feb 6th

Vex 3:30

Feb 6th-10th

Hope Week

Feb 8th

Class Photo's

Feb 7th

Orchestra 8:45

Feb 9th

Cultural Club 3:30

Feb 10th

Orchestra 7:45

Feb 14th

Orchestra 8:45

Feb 16th

4th grade program

Feb 17th

Orchestra 7:45

Feb 20th

President's Day (No School)

• Log on to your MyDSD account
• Click on the payments tab at the top
• Click pay for fees/lunch
• Then click on Optional fees
• You will see the selection to but a year book
• Check out

We will be selling yearbooks until Friday May 19th 2023 on your MyDSD account.

After May 19th they will no longer be on MyDSD for purchase.

If there are any left after May 19th 2023, I will let you know so that you can come in that last week of school to purchase.

Please read our school security procedure below.

*Please remember, NO ONE will enter our building without a photo ID (NO Exceptions) Please check in on the iPad and put on a visitor/volunteer sticker.

*ONLY those listed on your emergency contacts are allowed to check out your student.

*Emergency Contact MUST BE 18