OUR GRAY HAWK FAMILY works together to help students feel safe, loved, and inspired so they can be empowered learners and engaged citizens.

We will be selling drinks and food with the proceeds going towards purchasing a gaga ball pit for OUR playground next year. Additionally, we have had a family donate a dunk tank. People will have the chance to dunk staff members for $1 for 2 chances. Again, the money raised from the dunk tank will also go towards OUR gaga pit.

It promises to be a lot of fun and we hope that you will save the date and join us!

Students also walked the neighborhoods directly across from the school and delivered special cards, notes, and gifts celebrating Earth Day. They also picked up trash around the area to help beautify the neighborhood!

Shout out to OUR PTO who also passed out 300 paper butterflies that are embedded with wildflower seeds for students to take home and plant. The seeds that are used on these butterflies include: Five Spot, Catchfly, English Daisy, Baby Blue Eyes, Siberian Wallflower, Scarlet Flax, Zinnia, Sweet William Pinks, Gloriosa Daisy, Candytuft, Spurred Snapdragon, Corn Poppy and Black-Eyed Susan. To plant your butterfly, please follow the directions below.

Directions: Your butterfly is embedded w/a mix of colorful flower seeds. To Grow: Soak butterfly in water overnight. Tear up & plant under a thin layer of soil. Water daily until seeds germinate in 1-3 weeks.

Thank you GRAY HAWK PTO!!!

Students that sold 7 or more cards qualified for a Kona Ice treat. We are working on scheduling a time for this to occur and not disrupt the school day.

Week 4 of books from OUR BLEF grant focused on Hispanic American Stories.

OUR Featured Titles this week are: Alma and How She Got Her Name by Juana Martinez-Neal

Alma Sofia Esperanza José Pura Candela has way too many names: six! How did such a small person wind up with such a large name? Alma turns to Daddy for an answer and learns of Sofia, the grandmother who loved books and flowers; Esperanza, the great-grandmother who longed to travel; José, the grandfather who was an artist; and other namesakes, too. As she hears the story of her name, Alma starts to think it might be a perfect fit after all. from the Amazon Review.

Bright Star by Yuyi Morales

One of this year’s Caldecott Honor books and the winner of multiple awards this book, which showcases multimedia art techniques, takes its readers to the borderlands between the US and Mexico. The words and artwork focus on the animals, plants and humans that travel through this area. There is beauty, there is danger and there is hope. The artwork is stunning!

Each week we will provide clues to the identity of someone from throughout history that has made an important impact on our world. We provide these clues each morning and then reveal the person to OUR GRAY HAWKS on Friday morning with a brief video. Here are the clues from this past week.

Tuesday: I was born in Plympton, Massachusetts on December 17, 1760. When I was a very young girl, my mom could not take care of our family and she sent us off to live with friends and relatives.

Wednesday: When I was 10 years old, I went to work as a servant in a farmer’s house, and helped out on the farm. This hard work helped me to become very strong! I learned to sew, hunt, ride a horse, and do carpentry. I was not allowed to go to school but I loved to learn so much and the boys in my family would teach me what they learned in school. When I was eighteen years old I became a teacher.

Thursday: During the time I was alive, the colonies were going to war with Great Britain to fight for our freedom from British rule. This was called the Revolutionary War. I was very strong and wanted to be a soldier and help, but girls could not be in the army so I decided to dress as a man and join the army anyway. I changed my name to Robert and I was a very good and brave soldier!

Friday: During the very first battle I was wounded by two musket balls in my leg and I was afraid that people would find out I was a girl. I dug out one musket ball with a pocket knife myself but I couldn’t get the other one so my leg never healed properly. I did such a great job as a soldier that I eventually became the personal assistant to one of the generals. My secret was eventually discovered and I traveled around talking about my contributions during the war. Men during this time were given money for being soldiers but when I was discovered to be a woman they did not want to give me this money. My friend Paul Revere helped me write letters and eventually I did receive money. I died on April 29, 1827 at the age of 67.