Dicken Family Newsletter
2.4.22
Principal's Corner
Dear Families,
Thank you so much for your flexibility this week with the three virtual learning days. I know this puts a strain on you at home and we appreciate your support so much.
Upcoming Dates
- Monday, February 14 - NAAPID (National African American Parent Involvement Day)
- Monday, February 14 - 11:30 - 12:00 - Principal's Coffee
- Tuesday, February 15 - Winter Walk (Info Below)
- Wednesday, February 16 - Early Release - 1:18 Dismissal
- Monday, February 21 - No School - Mid-Winter Break
Title 1 Status & Staff Welcome
I am pleased to share that Dicken has regained its status as a Title One school. This gives our school additional resources and staff to offer further academic support for students. I am thrilled to introduce Ms. Andi Klott, our new Title 1 teacher who will begin with us in a few short weeks. Her introduction can be found below:
Hi! I am Andi Klott and I am thrilled to be joining the Dicken Elementary family! I have been teaching for over 12 years in a variety of places. I have had the opportunity to teach Kindergarten through 8th grade in rural Virginia, downtown Philadelphia, and different suburban Michigan districts. I graduated from Michigan State University and my blood bleeds green and white; however, I lived in Milan and taught at Willow Run Community Schools and I have come to love the Ann Arbor area. I know that Spartans and Wolverines can be great rivals and friends. I am a lifelong learner and earned my Master's in Reading this past March.
I took some time off from teaching to be with our children when they were younger. My husband Mark and I have four children (daughter 17, son 16, daughter 14, daughter 12 & a Golden Retriever, Marina). We are lucky enough to live on a lake. When we aren't enjoying lake life, we travel and seek adventure. We are looking forward to learning how to luge on a weekend trip to Muskegon this month.
Title I/intervention is my passion and I cannot wait to meet everyone and start collaborating on how to best support our students.
Sincerely,
Andi
NAAPID Reminder
NAAPID (National African-American Parent Involvement Day) will take place on Monday, February 14. This tradition was originally started in an effort to involve African-American families in the classroom, however it is open to all parents. Teachers will be sharing specific times that you can visit classrooms via Zoom to share in some of your child(ren)'s learning.
For those new to the community, here is some information on the origins of NAAPID in AAPS, founded by local legend, Joe Dulin, who passed in 2014:
https://news.a2schools.org/naapid-founder-retired-aaps-educator-joe-dulin-it-starts-with-you/
https://www.mlive.com/news/ann-arbor/2014/10/ann_arbor_educator_joe_dulin_p.html
I will also be hosting a Principal's Coffee on this day - a bit later than our usual time, from 11:30 - 12:00.
Winter Walk Reminder
You are invited to the 18th Annual Winter Walk on Tuesday, February 15 from 6:30-7:30 (Thursday Feb. 17th is the bad-weather-backup date).
Our 1st-5th grade artists have created Luminaries that will be placed around the school and through part of the Dicken Woods by volunteers. Please come with family and friends to walk the wintry night path lit by the glowing artwork. The hundreds of glowing lanterns change the environment of the woods and make the entire experience a communal work of art!
As in previous years, the trail will be lit from 6:30 until 7:30. It takes time to set up the luminaries so please wait until then. At 6:30 you may begin to follow the lighted path.
The Winter Walk is a beautiful and simple night to enjoy the combination of art and nature with family and friends…plus…enjoy a treat after the walk compliments of our PTO!!!
Please dress warmly, wear a mask, and remember to walk the paths so that no artwork or people get injured! Hope to see you then!
–Ms. Erickson-
...
All the best,
Heather
Message from the PTO President
Happy February! We're still looking for a few volunteers for the Winter Walk - see the link below if you're able to donate up to an hour of your time that evening.
Dicken Directory | Form For Directory Inclusion
—Jenifer Miller, Dicken PTO President
Dicken Elementary parents’ Facebook group
Upcoming Event Dates:
Winter Walk! - February 15 (February 17 backup date)
Dicken PTO Board Meeting - February 17
Dicken PTO Board Meeting - March 17
Dicken PTO Board Meeting - April 21
Dicken PTO Board Meeting - May 19
All PTO meetings are currently scheduled to take place over Zoom.
Looking for Winter Walk volunteers & spring auction donations!
Winter Walk is Tuesday, February 15 from 6:30 to 7:30 pm. We need volunteers for setting up, concessions, and helping to take down the event.
Parents! We will also be collecting bottle of wine for the wine pull at the spring auction. If you would like to donate, bring a bottle of wine (at least $10 value) to the Winter Walk. A car will be parked at the front of the school in the PTO VIP spot to collect them.
Thank you for helping us expand the school library diversity book selection!
The PTO would like to thank all of the families who contributed to our Amazon wish list over the last week to purchase new books celebrating Black History Month and Women's History Month. We were able to collect 62 new books that will be distributed to classroom teachers and the Dicken library in the next week. As always, we are so grateful for our Dicken families and community for supporting these efforts.
Black History Month Books:
Little Leaders Bold Women in Black History
Ron's Big Mission
The ABCs of Black History
Carter Reads the Newspaper
Who Was Coretta Scott King?
Voice of Freedom: Fannie Lou Hamer: The Spirit of the Civil Rights Movement
Be A King, Carol Boston
Twins: A Graphic Novel
Granddaddy's Gift
The Undefeated
P.S. Be Eleven
The Listeners
Women's History Month Books:
Thank You, Omu
Fantastically Great Women Who Changed the World
The Water Walker
She Persisted
Who is Sonia Sotomayor?
Good Night Stories for Rebel Girls
George
Sonia Sotomayor: A Judge Grows in the Bronx Elizabeth Started All the Trouble
Hidden Figures: The True Story of Four Black Women and the Space Race Mae Among the Stars
WESO Update
We are still looking for volunteer coaches for several WESO events! Dicken can only send a team to compete in an event if an adult volunteers to coach the team. Coaches will coach all grade levels for an event (2nd-5th for most events, but some are 2/3 or 4/5 only) at the same time. Coach training will be via Zoom the first few weeks of March.
This year WESO is requiring all volunteers to be both vaccinated and boosted (showing proof at the door), will not be allowing anyone other than the competitors and scheduled volunteers into the building, and is strongly recommending but not requiring students to be vaccinated.
WESO has asked that schools only select the number of students who can compete to practice for each event (for most events 2 kids per grade). This should keep practice teams below ten students. In the past Dicken has allowed every interested child to practice, so this will be a different year in that regard.
Events listed in bold are still in need of coaches. There are materials for some events either already in the supply closet at Dicken or available from WESO.
- Aerodynamics: participants will build and fly paper airplanes for distance, time and accuracy.
- Feathered Friends: Participants will detested on bird identification by sight and sound, anatomy, life history and habitat.
- iRobot (grades 2&3): Participants will be tested on their knowledge of basic computing and robot automation concepts, including software, their understanding of how computers and robots solve problems, and their ability to create a simple program that can be uploaded to the ozbot to complete an objective
- iCompute (grades 4&5): Participants will be tested on their knowledge of basic computing concepts including hardware and software, their understanding of how computers solve problems, and their ability to create a simple program.
- Mystery Architecture: each team will be given a bag of materials to build a structure that an support a ball. The tallest suture wins.
- The Human Machine: Take a journey through the human body to find out what you are made of and how all the parts work together. Teams will answer questions pertaining to basic human anatomy and physiology and then move through a series of stations that address the organ system(s) of focus for that year which is the musculoskeletal system.
- On Target: Each team will build missiles, using straws as the missile body (materials are provided by WESO). The accuracy of the missiles launched indoors at a fixed target will be tested.
- Potions: each team will answer questions about basic chemistry concepts and complete several simple chemistry experiments, exercising basic lab skills and safety procedures.
- Read it, Build it (grades 2&3): students will follow provided grade-appropriate instructions to construct an object from fun materials.
- Write it, Build It (grades 4&5): Group A will be shown a picture made from materials and will write a description of it. Group B will be given the pieces of the picture and Group A’s written description. The event tests an team’s ability to clearly communicate in writing between two groups.
- Zip-A-Dee-Doo-Dah: given a few household materials, each team will construct a cable car capable of safely carrying a ping-pong ball down a zip line.
- Pentathlon: five athletes from your team will compete in this event that combines a physical challenge relay with the ability to do arithmetic, estimate, and interpret data visualizations.
If you or someone you know is interested in coaching one of these events, please reach out to Dicken’s Head Coach Colleen Diedrich via email (clmaloney3@gmail.com), or phone/text (207-240-5542).
AAPS Support Group
Did you know there are a variety of parent and student support groups active within AAPS?
Check here in the newsletter each week, where we will highlight one group each week.
PFLAG Ann Arbor
- We offer: Support, Education, and Advocacy
- Contact: PFLAG.AnnArbor@gmail.com
- 734-741-0659 (leave message)
- Facebook: facebook.com/PFLAGannarbor
- https://www.pflagaa.org/index.html
- PFLAG Ann Arbor is rebuilding. WE WANT YOU to serve on the executive board (President, Secretary, Treasurer). We can help with the transition and infrastructure to make this a smooth hand-off!
- PFLAG Ann Arbor (area) is the only fully inclusive support organization for family, friends, allies and people who are LGBTQ+