Dicken Family Newsletter
12.22.22
Principal's Corner
Upcoming Dates
Friday, December 23 - Reminder, no school this date!
Friday, December 23 - Friday, January 6, 2023 - Winter Break
Monday, January 9 - School Resumes
Friday, January 13, 9:30 - Principal's Coffee - Staff Lounge
Monday, January 16 - No School, MLK Jr. Day
Thursday, January 19 - Dicken PTO Meeting, 6:30 - 8:00 (Zoom)
Tuesday, January 31 - Early Release Day, Dismissal at 1:18 PM
Tuesday, February 7 - Dicken Winter Walk, 6:30 - 7:30
Lexia & Dreambox Information
Please see the attached letter for important information about Lexia (ELA) and Dreambox (Math) practice at home. Thank you!
Free COVID Tests
Every U.S. household is once again eligible to order 4 free at-home COVID-19 tests. Just visit www.covid.gov/tests
MLK Jr. Youth Program
The University of Michigan School of Education is resuming its annual in-person MLK Children and Youth Program on January 16, 2023. It is the 25th Anniversary of the program, and Pre-K through 12th-grade students are invited to this special celebration and commemoration of the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Please click here for more information: MLK Children and Youth Program
Washtenaw County CDC Covid Level
As of today, Washtenaw County is in the CDC MEDIUM/YELLOW Community Level.
The Ann Arbor Public Schools Fall 2022 Covid Guidance is available here. The Ann Arbor Public Schools will always remain a mask-friendly environment.
Fall 2022 Guidance on masking in AAPS schools:
Masks are strongly recommended indoors when CDC Community Level is ‘HIGH’- RED
Masks are encouraged indoors when CDC Community Level is ‘MEDIUM’ - Yellow
Masks are welcomed indoors when CDC Community Level is ‘LOW’ - Green
All the best,
Heather
PTO News
Message from the PTO President
Final updates from the PTO for 2022: this week we've approved grant requests for books for Y5-1st grade, materials for our Occupational Therapist, and we're continuing to improve the staff lounge.
See you in January,
—Jenifer Miller, Dicken PTO President
Click here for the Dicken Elementary Parents Facebook group.
Find information about events, meeting minutes, and more on the PTO website at www.dickenpto.com
Dicken Directory is Here!
Please click here to access the Dicken Directory for class lists and family contact info.
Upcoming PTO Dates
Thursday, January 19 - PTO Board Meeting, 6:30 - 8:00 pm (virtual via Zoom)
Thursday, February 16 - PTO Board Meeting, 6:30 - 8:00 pm (virtual via Zoom)
Thursday, March 16 - PTO Board Meeting, 6:30 - 8:00 pm (virtual via Zoom)
Thursday, April 20 - PTO Board Meeting, 6:30 - 8:00 pm (virtual via Zoom)
Thursday, May 18 - PTO Board Meeting, 6:30 - 8:00 pm (virtual via Zoom)
Thursday, June 15 - PTO Board Meeting, 6:30 - 8:00 pm (virtual via Zoom)
To see all Dicken school & PTO events in one place, click here for our PTO Google Calendar.
Another helpful link: the AAPS School Calendar.
Used winter boots needed!
With big winter weather on the way, the front office is in need of boots to loan out to students who may forget theirs at home. So if you have any boots around the house that are no longer needed, please bring them to the front office. All elementary sizes are welcome! You can also arrange a porch drop off near school over break by emailing Rebecca Ankeney at rmankeney@gmail.com
WESO is coming and Dicken needs coaches!
Do you or your child have a have a passion for science? Want to spend one night a week hanging out with your super-cool, future Nobel prize winning kid, and sharing that passion for science with other like-minded Dicken kids? Then WESO is for you!
WESO (the Washtenaw Elementary Science Olympiad) is an annual academic competition that allows students in elementary schools across Washtenaw County to compete utilizing their math and science skills in a fun, challenging, one day-long Science Olympiad. This year the date of the competition is Saturday May 13th, 2023 and is currently scheduled to be in person at Huron High School. Practices are anticipated to begin in February or March.
Who can participate?
Students in grades 2-5 are eligible to participate.
How can you help?
Right now, Dicken needs coaches. In order for our school to compete, we need adults willing to spend an hour or so a week for a few months meeting with small groups of kids; helping them understand their subject, practice, and prepare for the big day. For some events, in light of the current situation, Zoom meetings may even be an option. Parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, older siblings, and neighbors, are all welcome!
This year’s events are:
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 can support a ball. The tallest structure wins. (Could be a different challenge for 2023)
The Human Machine (grades 2&3): 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 this year (not yet specified).
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 (grades 4&5): 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 a 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.
Map Reading (grades 2&3): students will test their map reading skills with various geographical questions using different types of maps.
If you or someone you know is interested in coaching one of these events, please reach out to either of Dicken’s Head Coaches Colleen Diedrich (clmaloney3@gmail.com or 207-240-5542) or Alex Harman (esotericthinks@gmail.com 248-599-2539) .
Dicken Garden Compost Project
We’re going to make our own compost! We have a new compost tumbler and we’re hoping to fill it with good stuff that will turn into better stuff for our plants in the spring. We’re providing compostable bags to collect fruit and vegetable scraps in classrooms, and you can bring in materials from home. We are using only raw fruit and vegetables, eggshells and coffee grounds. Help us make this experiment a success! Contact Anne Erickson amcerickson@gmail.com.