Elm Road Express February 2020
"Putting Dreams into Flight"
From the Desk of Dr. Soto Kile
The month of February is filled with many exciting happenings at Elm Road. The students will be busy taking their Dibels, Airways, Study Island, and Mini-Assessments during the school day. I would also like to encourage all of our students to sign-up for the upcoming Young Author’s Conference on the morning of March 7th. It is an exciting morning in which students are able to listen to an author and read a book that they have written in class. We also look forward to Family Fun Night on the 21st.
The iLearn test will take place April 20-May 15. The third grade iRead test will be March 16-April 3. Attendance is very important. Please do not schedule any appointments during this time and make certain students are present on time to school each day. We cannot interrupt testing should a student arrive during the assessment. We appreciate your support during this very important time.
Important Dates
Feb 7 - 2nd Grade (Clark/Tornquist) Snite Field Trip 9:30-1:30
Feb 10 - 2nd Grade (Richard) Snite Field Trip 9:30-1:30 pm
Feb 10 - PTO Meeting 2:30 pmFeb 17 - President's Day RECESS DAY
Feb 21 - PTO Family Fun Night 6-8:30 pm
Feb 22 - Snite Family Day
Feb 19 - 3rd Grade/ Ethos Field Trip ( 2 classes) 8:30- 11:15 am
Feb 26 - Kindergarten Field Trip to Planetarium 12 pm
Feb 28th - 5th Grade/Ethos Field Trip (2 Classes) 9-1:30 PM
Notes from the Office
- Yearbooks will be going on sale in February. This year they will be in color ! The cost is $11.00. Order forms have been sent home.
- Car Riders: Please use your turn signal when approaching our parking lot. It lets our other cars leaving the lot know if it is safe to exit our parking lot.
- Reminder: Do not go around the buses waiting to enter the parking lot in the morning. We want to keep everyone safe.
Fun in the Sun Day June 4th
Are you interested in volunteering for our annual Fun in the Sun Day?
Fun in the Sun will be on Thursday, June 4th, 2020. It's an all day event for our entire school to enjoy! We have several indoor and outdoor stations that require a lot of adult supervision and assistance.
There are morning and afternoon shifts, or you can stay all day!
Mrs. Parisi will be in contact with you later in the year confirming and explaining your volunteer location and duties.
We are also looking for parents who may be interested in sharing a skill/hobby of their own. Examples include: dance, aerobics, fitness, sports, nutrition, body systems, summer safety, crafts, etc.
Stations are 20 minutes long, so your presentation/activity would need to fill that time, and be available for the entire school day. (We can give additional parent volunteers to your station to assist.)
If you have questions about whether your presentation would work as a station, please email Mrs. Parisi at dparisi@phm.k12.in.us
If this is your first time volunteering, you must bring your driver's license with you to the office, have a background check on file, and have completed the following training:
https://forms.gle/J2E5YNBA4GDvBG5q8
The day is guaranteed to be a lot of fun, but it would not be possible without volunteer help!
Thank you for your consideration! Click the link to volunteer.
-Mrs. Parisi & Mrs. Sime
Student of the Month
Students of the Month
Congratulations to the following
“Eagles” for their wonderful
“SOAR” behavior
Barnes: Violet Cotton & Evelyn Stephenson
Portolese: Ellison Potts & Lewis Nguru
Renz: Rocco DeCicco & Eleanor Grimm
Swaby: Elias Knight & Phoebe Crain
Bush: Bennett Burks & Jai'Anna Villalobos
Hinton: James Thompson & Ariah Vigil
Taylor: Lynnette Cruz & Peter Knight
Clark: Lydia Miller & Lucas Ulrich
Richard: Elena Clark, Royce henry
Tornquist: Will Armenteros & Hannah Smith
Anderson: Brielle Moore & Seth Hayden
Miller: Savanah Jones & Jack Blimling
Myers: Honor Sharp & Kameron Harmon
Pillow: Brian McKinnies & Daniel Andrews
Cook: Ethan Karnath & Leyna Tropp
Keough: Jackson Higgins & Kristina Garcilazo
Newcomer: Karmyne Grant & Ariah Jodarski
Freeman: Evan Hertel & Ella Neuenschwander
Kertai: Nick Rochefort & Mary Mahoro
Mellor: Mara Sandoval & Joshua Sobieralski
Shreiner: Max Barnes & Lia Grontkowski
We are Elm Road Eagles
Website: elmroad.phmschools.org
Location: 59400 Elm Road, Mishawaka, IN, USA
Phone: 574-259-3743
Twitter: @elmroadES
Library Lines
As we begin the second semester of school, continue to read near, with, and to your children. They notice what you are reading and your example makes a difference to them. Cuddling together on the couch reading together will make memories that last a lifetime! Read! Read! Read!
Plan to attend The Young Author’s Conference on March 7th at Schmucker Middle School. Registration will take place from Jan. 27 - Feb. 21st.
Friendship and supporting the PE Healthy Heart Course will be our main topics for this month in the library for CAMPE rotations.
Thank you to all of our Library Volunteers – I appreciate you!
Mrs. Linda Knapp,
574-259-3743
Youth Service Bureau
It’s tax time! Families in St. Joseph County may qualify for VITA (Volunteer Income Tax Assistance). This program offers free tax help to people who generally make $66,000 or less, persons with disabilities, the elderly and limited English speaking taxpayers who need assistance in preparing their own tax returns. IRS-certified volunteers provide FREE basic income tax return preparation with electronic filing to qualified individuals. Call 574-213-5172 between 8:00 am and 5:00 pm Monday through Friday to schedule an appointment.
Check in with your child(ren) to see how SEL is going and what they are learning. Ask your child(ren) what are I-Messages or how can they deal with their stress without erupting like a volcano?
As always, if you have any concerns, please don’t hesitate to give me a call at 259-3743. Thank you! - Mrs. Shell
Mrs. Zache's Literacy Corner
I hope everyone had a wonderful winter break and is ready to finish off the second half of the school year!
Elm Road will again be participating in South Bend Cubs Reading Program this year! I will be sending out more information soon. The program kicks off the beginning of March!
Mrs. Renz and Mrs. Tornquist both had 100% participation in their reading calendars for the month of December! Great job to both classes!
Make sure your child is reading nightly and documenting their reading! At the end of each month, have your child turn in their reading calendar/goal to their teacher! I would love to visit your child’s classroom next!
“Spotlight Readers” for the month of January! Congratulations!!!
Kindergarten: Gavin DeVreese
1st:Warren Haab
2nd:Mason Francis
3rd: Ava Rice
4th:Maddox McClain
5th: Joshua Sobieralski
These students will receive a book,certificate, acknowledgement on the morning announcements, and their picture posted under our “Reader Spotlight” bulletin board!
Any questions or concerns, please feel free to reach out to me at azache@phm.k12.in.us
Happy Reading!
Mrs. Zache
Social & Emotional Learning
In January, SEL lessons will focus on identifying and managing our emotions, assertive communication, as well as resiliency and perseverance. To help students identify and manage their emotions, SEL lessons focused on helping students identify a range of emotions and ways to assertively express themselves and/or implement a coping strategy so they keep their emotions in check and do not erupt like a volcano. In order to share with others how they feel and be assertive, they learned how to use an "I statement" as opposed to a "You statement." Assertive communication techniques like "I statements" help us communicate how we feel in a respectful manner. A simple framework to use "I statements" is as follows: "I feel ___ when ___ because ___." Finally, students also worked on building resilience and perseverance to help them know they can work to push through when things get tough. They also discussed reasons behind why we look at mistakes as practice and a learning opportunity, rather than failure and a reason to stop trying. When children are resilient and persevere, they can bounce back after setbacks, are adaptable, and are more likely to keep trying in the face of adversity, which can be applied in difficult times in life as well as helping them push through on a hard test in school.
Elm Road's Jumping Eagles
What's Happening in Gym
Greetings,
Throughout January, students developed floor hockey skills through stations, drills and games. Some games students enjoyed included: “Sharks”, “Pin Knockdown”, “Sideline Hockey” and “Get the Point”. All grade levels continue to enhance coordination, balance, agility, strength, and motor skills through our Minds in Motion maze. As a warm up during the month of January, we played “Uno Fitness” and “PacMan”. Grades 2-5 also took part in our Elm Road Scooter Football super bowl game during gym class.
Kindergarten has been working on their soccer skills. They have focused on keeping the ball under control, dribbling, and kicking the ball. They will be playing a variety of games to hone in on these skills. Ciara Peel will be teaching Kindergarten gym for the next few weeks while Mrs. Sime is out on her maternity leave. Mrs. Peel has finished her student teaching at Elm Road, and will be a great fit to teach the kindergarten friends.
We will be discussing cardiovascular health and the circulatory system in Feb, as well as beginning a jump rope unit. The students will also be journeying through a “heart obstacle course” Feb. 3rd-7th, where they pretend to be a blood cell following a path through the heart.
Each grade level will also be jumping rope and raising funds for the American Heart Association through Jump Rope for Heart during gym class (February 24th-28th). Students/parents received information packets for these the last week of January. Last year our Elm Road Community raised over $12,000! Any student raising $100 or more will belong to our “heart hero” club and have a lunch bunch with Dr. Soto Kile. The class that raises the most funds will be rewarded with some recess equipment from the American Heart Association and an Amazon Gift Card to use as a class.
Our jump team will be performing at Bethel University on February 4 at 7:00 during half time of the men’s basketball game and at Penn High School on February 18 at 7:30 during half time of the boys’ basketball game.
Please remind your child to bring tennis shoes in his/her backpack when coming to school in boots. Tennis shoes are the best choice for a day in the gym or classroom!
Stay Fit,
Debbie Parisi
Sarah Sime & Ciara Peel
Greetings from Elm Road Music Room
In the month of February, students will be studying composers Joseph Haydn and William Grant Still. The first and second grades will continue in their solfege studies through silly songs and games. The 3rd grade will study music in 6/8 time.
For the 4th and 5th grades, the month of February is busy! All 4th and 5th grade students will perform a concert on March 31st. The month of February will be dedicated to assigning parts and rehearsing for their performance. In addition, the Circle the State with Song Choir will head to Goshen College on the 22nd. These students have worked for months to prepare for these programs. I am very proud!
Mrs. Nakayama
Elementary School Night with the Penn Kingsmen Basketball
Please join us to cheer on the
Penn Boys Basketball team as they take on Goshen Saturday, February 1st
at 6:15 pm
All elementary students & staff are FREE!
Students will be provided a raffle ticket upon admittance for a chance to participate in varsity halftime activities for an opportunity to win prizes!
Hope to see you there!
GO PENN!
Grissom Middle School News
Hi! We’re Ella, Georgia, Lily, and Abby, 8th-grade students from Grissom Middle School. In February 2019, the Short Hair Because We Care hair donation event was created. A local salon, Salon Nouveau, volunteered to come in during a girl’s basketball game and cut students’ hair to donate to Children With Hair Loss. We had 12 people donate their hair. We are excited to announce this event is happening again this year on Tuesday, February 25th from 5:00-7:00. It is during our girl's basketball game against our rival Discovery. We invite you and your family to this unique experience and consider donating hair this year. Students must have a parent attend with them, to participate. We accept all hair types including dyed or treated hair. All donations will be sent to the Children With Hair loss charity. No preregistration required and it's all free! We hope to see you there, even if you aren't able to donate your hair.
Thanks,
Ella Smoker