Dicken Family Newsletter
11.18.22
Principal's Corner
Upcoming Dates
- Wednesday - Friday, November 23 - 25 - No School, Thanksgiving Break
- Wednesday, November 30 - Early Release Day (1:18 Dismissal)
- Friday, December 2 - Principal's Coffee 9:30 - 10:00 (Virtual)
Appreciation
Many thanks to the PTO for funding our first all school Assembly, "It's Cool to Be Kind" with Gincy Hartin. Special thanks to PTO Enrichment co-chairs Jeanetta Arhin and Lynette Gerido for organizing the event. The students had a wonderful time!
Morning Meeting Pods
The Dicken Team is pleased to bring back the Morning Meeting Pod tradition! Morning Meeting is a part of our Responsive Classroom framework and all classes begins their day with this routine. It's a way for students to come together as a community, greet each other and share something about themselves, in an effort to promote a classroom culture of belonging for all. Our school wide Morning Meeting Pods are cross grade groupings held once a month on Fridays, where students travel to a teacher or staff member's classroom other than their own. Students are in the same mixed age pod group all year, and get to know this other group of students in a similar manner as their own homeroom classroom. In doing this we allow students to build relationships building wide, and get to know another trusted staff member other than their classroom teacher. In addition to classroom teachers, pods are led by special area teachers, support staff, myself, and even our amazing custodian Alpha.
Our first Pods of the year took place on November 4 with the theme of "Kindness". In addition to getting to know our Pod mates and discussing what Kindness means to each of us, we watched the following videos together:
Kid President's 20 Things We Should Say More Often
Color Your World With Kindness
Our next Pods will take place on Friday, December 2!
From the Art Room
It’s that time of year again! Over the next few weeks 1st through 5th grade students will begin
the process of decorating a glass jar or vase for this year’s Winter Walk!
**The Winter Walk will take place on February 7 from 6:30 - 7:30.**
For those of you who are new to Dicken, The Winter Walk is a beautiful and simple night to
enjoy the combination of art and nature with family and friends. Our 1st - 5th grade artists create
Luminaries by decorating a glass jar or vase. Then on a wintery evening in February, all jars and
vases will have a LED light in them and the luminaries will be placed in a path (hopefully snowy)
around the school and through part of the Dicken Woods. The hundreds of glowing lanterns
change the environment of the woods and make the entire experience a communal work of art!
More information on the Date and times will be sent out closer to the event!
For now, we need your help by bringing in wide mouth glass jars or vases. Each student from
1st through 5th grades will need one! Please look for the paper attached below to come home with your student. The paper will have a date requesting you to bring a glass jar or vase by. The glass jar
or vase must have the student’s name, grade and teacher, on a piece of paper in it when it is
brought to the art room.
I always accept and appreciate extra donations of glass jars or vases to have for our students
who don’t end up bringing one in. Please have a piece of paper marked “extra” or “donation”
in any of the glass jars or vases that are being donated.
Thank you so much for your help!
Sincerely,
Ms. Erickson
Staff Introduction
We are please to welcome Mr. Justin Green to the Dicken Staff as our new Behavior Intervention Specialist. Mr. Green will be working to support general education students with social and behavioral needs. Mr. Green is with us on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Friday mornings. He travels to Haisley on his non-Dicken days. Thank you for helping us welcome Mr. Green to the Dicken Team!
Holiday Help
If your family could benefit from Holiday Help, please remember to turn in the "Sponsor a Snowman" form. Forms were sent home last week. If you are missing your form, please call or email the office and we'll send one home in your child's backpack.
For those who wish to give:
This year we are pleased to once again offer our families Holiday Support through our "Sponsor a Snowman" program. Each Snowman represents one Dicken student and a list of three items to be purchased, an article of clothing, a book and a fun item such as a board game, a doll etc., we ask that no single item exceed $25.
This year, parents are able to come in the building and pick a Snowman from the office bulletin board as in years past. If you are unable to come in person to pick one, please contact Mrs. Dorris by email or phone and we can send one home in your child’s backpack. Snowmen should be available for pick up the week after Thanksgiving break. dorris@aaps.k12.mi.us or 734-994-1928
We ask that all presents be brought to the office unwrapped with the Snowman attached no later than December 15.
Thank you as always for supporting our Dicken families!
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
Heather
PTO News
Message from the PTO President
Things have been fairly quiet on the PTO front. Last night's PTO meeting included some formal spending approvals for warm winter gear & restocking the staff supply closet. We hope everyone enjoys the break from school next week. It seems like winter is here to stay, so keep warm out there! If your family needs some help getting warm winter gear this year, please reach out to the Dicken Office Staff or your student's teacher.
—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, November 17 - PTO Board Meeting, 6:30 - 8:00 pm (virtual via Zoom)
Thursday, December 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.
Super Science Day- December 7th and 8th and help is needed!
Super Science Day(s) is coming! This is a two-day event put on by the Ann Arbor Hands On Museum to give all of our Dicken Dolphins a fun opportunity to explore various aspects of science. The Museum will bring 10 activities to Dicken, and each class will have a chance to rotate through all 10 stations during their hour visit to the gym. Stations will include magnets, ooblek, a look at how animals keep warm in the arctic, light, an exploration of gravity, and more! This is an amazing event that the kids truly love, but we can't do it without a LOT of volunteers.
We need 10 volunteers for each time slot. Whether you want to come just during your student's visit or can stay for longer, we guarantee a lot of fun for our adults as well. This is a great chance for local grandparents, relatives, and neighbors to come support Dicken. No science knowledge is necessary! Everything will be set up (and cleaned up) for you, and the stations have clear instructions to help adult volunteers share science with the students.
Sign up to help here. (full schedule is below if you want to sign up to help with a particular grade!)
Wednesday, December 7th
- 9:15 - 10:15 - Hubbard / Concannon (3rd graders)
- 10:15 - 11:15 Miller / Brann (4th graders)
- Lunch break
- 12:30 - 1:30 Posey / Van Oyen (2nd graders)
Thursday, December 8th
- 9:15 - 10:15 - Harris / Gargaro (Kindergartners)
- 10:15 - 11:15 Hane / Chartier (5th graders)
- Lunch break
- 12:30 - 1:30 Brogno / Maus (young 5's & 2nd grade)
- 1:30 - 2:30 Rossi / Thomas / Kairys (1st graders)
We want to hear from you!
Thank you to everyone who took the time to complete the initial spending survey. The Spending Committee has carefully reviewed the results from the initial survey and created a final survey that is being distributed to the entire Dicken Community (staff, students, and parents/guardians). This short survey only takes a few minutes to complete.
PTOC Meeting
Topic: What Does Safety Mean To Us in AAPS?
Find the zoom link (or the recording at a later date) here:
Mon, Nov 21, 2022, 07:00 PM
https://www.a2schools.org/Page/18385
AA PTO Council | Halal Turkeys
Br. Omar Abdrabboh from HOPE will be hand delivering halal uncooked turkeys and sides to families in need next Wednesday, 11/23 Inshallah.
If you have an address or multiple addresses of someone in need, please send to him by Friday, November 18th.
Contact: norhamaziz@outlook.com
Celebrate what makes us UNIQUE!
It is Native American Heritage Month and this week we are celebrating arts and culture. The National Library of Congress hosts an online collection of First Peoples poetry, which is a great way to hear a poem by Michigan’s own Gordon Henry Jr. called, “River People – The Lost Watch”.
Also, check out this Twin Cities PBS video (shared by a fellow Dicken parent), describing the importance of hair in Native American culture.