Heavilin Elementary
February 2018 Newsletter
For Your Calendar
3 Robotics Competition at Cooks Corners
5-9 Jump Rope for Heart
9 Pajama Day
9 Movie Night - Pick up at 5:30pm
13 PTO Meeting at 6:30pm
15 Spirit Wear Day
16-19 No School
19-23 Follett Book Fair
21 Heavilin PRIDE Day (wear your house colors)
22 Math Bowl Competition at 6pm at VHS
26 ISTEP Window opens (grades 3-5)
March
2 Spirit Wear Day
7 Read-A-Thon KickOff
16 School IN SESSION
Great Kids
Thank you for sending us such wonderful, kind, thoughtful children. Every day, they bring joy and love to our school. It is absolutely a privilege to be a part of their lives.
Love,
Heavilin Staff
Snow Make-Up Day
Valentines
Chinese
Kindergarten Round Up
Book Rental
Movie Night
Robotics Competition
9:00 Event begins
9:30 Qualification Rounds
12:00-1:00 Lunch Break
1:00 Qualification Rounds
3:15 Championship Rounds
Best wishes to our teams!
Gold Team: Kaenen, Finn, Alyssa, Grayden, Jordan, Landon, Alexa, and Molly
Green Team: Lily, Ava, Ben, Chris, Tulip, Xavier, Julia, and Mark
Geography Bee
Ethan Poisel
Cayden DeSmet
Grayden Lash
Landon O'Halek
Christian Dennis
Vincent LaFollette
Ava Hearn
Carter Tanis
Maeve Ransom
Lilyana Ward
Our winner is... Ethan Poisel. Well done, Ethan! Ethan will be taking the National Geography Bee winner test to see if he qualifies to advance. Good luck!
Plastic Lids
(As a side note, please wash your lids. Our girls scouts had quite an experience with a particular bag of milk lids that hadn't been rinsed - I'm sure you can imagine! - and we actually had to throw them away.)
Help Our Library
Attendance
Please call or leave a message at 219-476-8820 every time your student is absent, even for a doctor or dentist appointment. You can even call outside of school hours to leave a message. It is very important we verify every absence daily. Thank you so much for your help.
Math Bowl
ISTEP for 3-5
5th graders - get ready!
From Our Social Worker: Media... Friend or Foe?
Our media has become a large part of our lives. Electronics, the number of television and radio stations, gaming and streaming have all become more commonplace in our society, schools and homes. There is a great deal of content to choose from, and ultimately filter through to find what we like.
Have you ever heard about a book, movie, video game and wondered if it was appropriate for your child? As a parent, I think one of the hardest things to navigate is media of any kind. What our kids listen to, watch and read affect their development, personality, character and overall well-being. We are all influenced by our surroundings but in individual ways. One size definitely does not fit all.
It is important to remember that our brains develop throughout our years and while certain subject matters may not affect us adults negatively, children’s brains are still developing. Our kids may not always be able to sort out fact and fiction. They may see actors or you tubers do something that gets attention or a laugh in an episode and not realize fully that the action was staged. They may hear songs on the radio with explicit lyrics and not connect that they would be inappropriate to repeat. They may see things in movies, games or shows that confuse or scare them. The impact of media input can often be overlooked until your child gets in trouble or has fears or nightmares that they verbalize.
I wanted to share a couple of resources I have found helpful. Common Sense Media (www.commonsensemedia.org) is a website that offers reviews and suggestions for all types of media. They list a suggested age range and also allow for peer review so you can hear what other users are saying. As I was looking through all the options the website offers, I found some great useful information. I value the insight of others, especially when there is so much to sift through.
Another monitoring that is coming for most families, if not there already, is monitoring apps on tablets, phones and other devices. While some applications appear harmless, there are hidden features that allow users to do things undetected. It is important, again, for the adults to stay current and there are plenty of websites that offer guidance on what apps do and which could be dangerous. Here is a link to one article (there are many) that you may find interesting.
https://www.familyeducation.com/fun/mobile-apps/10-apps-parents-monitor-kids-mobile-use
After all this information, you may think “no technology ever!” Like most things in life, media is good with guidance and moderation. If you are concerned about your child’s usage, talk with them, do a family “fast”. Choose one or more items you will all abstain from and use that time to connect with your kids more. Sometimes, even as adults, we get sucked in to the immediacy of social media or the relaxation that comes with kicking back listening to music or our favorite shows. Taking time to talk about media boundaries now could save heartache in the future.
Heavilin Elementary
Email: bstephens@valpo.k12.in.us
Website: www.valpo.k12.in.us
Location: 2450 Heavilin Road, Valparaiso, IN, United States
Phone: 219-476-8820