Elm Road Express April 2020
"Putting Dreams into Flight"
From the Desk of Dr. Soto Kile
This has to be the most interesting month of school in my twenty-eight years as an employee in PHM. I want to begin by thanking all of the students, staff, and families for support at this time. I am always grateful to be an Elm Road Eagle. I continue to be in awe each day when I am made aware of the latest gift of collaboration, effort, and love that is demonstrated in our eLearning classrooms and Internet video meetings. These unprecedented times have surely stretched all of us and allowed us to grow in ways we never thought imaginable. I am very pleased with the students and their work each day. I appreciate parents taking the time to provide needed input in our eLearning survey. The feedback was very positive, and particular input will be used to guide our instruction moving forward. I have enjoyed watching the Flipgrid videos of the students participating in our weekly STEM challenges. I appreciate all of our parents and guardians for your continued guidance and encouragement of our students. Your positive approach makes all the difference. Thank you for the work you are doing each day with our eLearning instruction. Our staff members are working hard to make the information relevant, timely, and important to our key grade level standards.
Please note Dr. Thacker's reminder for instruction following Spring Break week. Please disregard Dr. Thacker's reference to the return of school in May. His memo was written prior to Dr. McCormick's announcement on April 2nd. A key point in his memo includes the fact we will not have eLearning instruction on April 13 and 14. ^Please note that there are several embedded links in this newsletter that contains additional information.
We are Elm Road Eagles
Website: elmroad.phmschool.org
Location: 59400 Elm Road, Mishawaka, IN, USA
Phone: (574)259-3743
Twitter: @ElmroadES
STEM - Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math
STEM Visit
At Home STEM Challenges for Spring Break
Elm Road Staff STEM Challenges and Spring Break Send-off
When we return from break, we are asking you to send in one picture of your family during Spring Break or a picture of you doing a STEM activity. Please send the picture to your teacher, so we can include it in our next video. We will include school-appropriate pictures in a school-wide slide show.
STEM in Action!
Group Work
Fouth Grade STEM Activities
Social Emotional Learning Newsletter
Youth Service Bureau
If you or your child needs support through these challenging times, please email Mrs. Shell. She is here to support students and families in need.
Hello Elm Road Eagles and their Families,
I am hoping you are all doing well throughout this time of uncertainty. If you are struggling and need assistance, please reach out to me through email: ashell@phm.k12.in.us. I wanted to provide you with a list of food resources. Please check these websites below to see how they can help you with getting the resources you need. I have also attached a SEL Challenge and Scavenger Hunt for you to do with your family during our break. Let's see how many items we can check off of this list over the next few days. I challenge you to share what you did through the Elm Road Facebook page.
Again, if you have any questions or needs please email me. I will be off during spring break, but I will respond to your email after the break. Thank you!
Stay healthy and happy,
Andrea Shell
SEL Challenge and Scavenger Hunt #1 Try this scavenger hunt at home.
The Food Bank of Northern Indiana
The Food Bank Covid response page is
https://feedindiana.org/novel-coronavirus-covid-19-response
The Food Bank of St. Joe County is
https://feedindiana.org/food-pantries/community-food-pantry-of-st-joseph-county
To find pantries close to your family:
Oh, The Places You'll Go!
Students of the Month
Congratulations to the following
“Eagles” for their wonderful
“SOAR” behavior
Renz: Frida Hill & Maverick Koch
Swaby: Landon Kujawski & Sophia Cyrier
Hinton: Martin Cochran, Levi Stachowiak & Nora Hamper
Taylor: Owen Sterzik, Blake Fielder, and Avery Coffin
Clark: Isabella Johnson, Cheyanne Kertai, Alo Mokoma
Richard: Kyra Buahin, Jaxon Signorino
Tornquist: Dontae Hollingsworth, Peyton Dodd
Anderson: Ainsley Frederick Connor Szakaly
Myers: Erik Jaquay & Jacelin Vance
Pillow: Abby Freeman & Peyton Hernandez
Cook: Adaira Henry and Dom Loveless
Keough: Page Weesner & JaMya Porter
Newcomer: Maddox McClain and David Moyer
Freeman: Nevaeh Miller & Bo Blimling
Mellor: Richie Boice and Baylee Ward
Shreiner: Kevin DeRoeck, Brianna Frost
Gym STEM Activities
Cross-Curricular Connections
Math and Physical Fitness
Students are making equations and working on dribbling and shooting during gym class.
Having Fun in Gym
Gym Happenings in March
Elm Road Families:
First through fifth graders finished a basketball unit along with Jump for Heart. Congratulations to our school for raising $12,014.60 for American Heart Association! Ms. Anderson’s class won the most students registered on line and will receive recess equipment soon! We also just had barely over 50% of our student body register on-line to receive the $500 in gym equipment! Our Elm Road community ROCKS! Our top fundraiser at Elm was Emma Pratt. She raised $344.68. Congratulations, Emma! Students demonstrated incredible growth with jumping skills and hopefully have shared with you many ways they can take care of their heart!
During our basketball unit, students demonstrated growth with passing, dribbling and shooting skills through drills and lead up games! We definitely targeted good sportsmanship and how to be a cooperative teammate during this unit.
First through fifth grade competed in “The Fastest Class Challenge” during physical education in March. Congratulations to Mrs. Clark’s class for earning the title of “Fastest Class” at Elm. They ran 296 laps in 5 minutes which averaged 14.1 laps per student! Mrs. Bush’s class won for first grade (12.3 per student), Mrs. Pillow’s/Anderson’s class won for 3rd grade (13.38 per student) and Mrs. Keough’s class won 4th grade (14.09 per student), Mrs. Freeman/Mellor won for 5th grade (13.9 per student). Such a close competition!