The Bee's Knees
November 2018
With Halloween behind us and Thanksgiving and Christmas just around the corner I thought it would be a good idea to speak a bit about the separation between church and state. As a public school we do not advocate for any religion, in order to prevent the perception that our school advances one religion over another. We are fortunate to live in a country in which we are all free to choose or not choose a religion for ourselves and our children.
At this moment in time, in which long standing divisions within our country dominate our public discourse and divisiveness and tribalism are baiting citizens to attack one another, I feel it is important that our school conveys a message of unity. We do so with celebrations and traditions that we hope will bring our students and patrons together. One such example was our Haunted Halls event. The event was meant to be a fun family event. We know not all families participate in Halloween activities. Of course we at Barfield respect that. We have the Haunted Halls event each year not to show disrespect to those families, but to offer our families the chance to come together and enjoy one another. I was very proud to see so many families at this year’s event!
In December we will have a Polar Express event. I will read the book to the students inside a “passenger car” and they will be dressed in their pajamas and will be served hot chocolate and cookies. The building will be decorated with Christmas trees and Santa Claus will come aboard to meet each boy and girl. This tradition is not meant to have a religious tone or to make anyone feel excluded. Clearly, Christmas is a Christian holy day, but the date has taken on a wider cultural meaning over time. Our activities at Barfield contribute to our common culture and are meant to bring us together not further divide us. Barfield, like our country is a melting pot, a common culture strengthened by the contributions of many. I genuinely hope our traditions are perceived in the manner in which I described. If you have any questions about any event that we host I hope you will contact me. Let’s choose unity over division and joy over resentment so that our community and our country will exemplify the morals we profess to value.
Important Dates
11/8/18 :6-7 BEC PTO Meeting
11/21-11/23/18: NO SCHOOL
Staff Spotlight
I have worked as a speech-language pathologist for the Wentzville School District for the last 27 years. I started at Elementary East (which is now Heritage Intermediate) and worked there until the early childhood program moved to Quail Ridge in 2003.
I knew early on that my destination would be in education. I have a B. S. in Elementary Education from Southwest Missouri State University (now MSU). I worked in the education field in different capacities for a few years and eventually ended up teaching 5th grade in Yuma, Arizona, for two years. I loved it, but knew I needed to move on. I went back to MSU and earned my M.A. in Communication Disorders to become a SLP.
I’m originally from Monona, Wisconsin, so I’m a true Wisconsin Badger fan (Go BIG Red!!!). I will confess that even though I’m not really a big sports follower, I do cheer for the Cardinals over the Brewers. Go Packers!!
I am a happy single mom to my beautiful and awesome daughter, Jerusha. We have been a family since adoption in 2005. She is now a student at Liberty H.S. We also have two small dogs, Ramon and London.
Since coming to the St. Louis area, I have been active in figure skating and was a long-time member of an adult skating team at the St. Peters Rec-Plex. I also enjoy a variety of crafts such as crochet/knitting, sewing, making wreaths, and designing games on google to use in speech therapy. I love doing activities with my daughter around the St. Louis area and visiting family back in Wisconsin on school breaks.
Haunted Halls Enchanted Forest
162 new books for the Library :)
Treasure Chest
Library Notes & Reminders
Our "Enchanted Forest" book fair was a big success! We had a total of $4439.03 in sales. That total earned us 50% which made our profit amount $2220.00. We purchased
approximately $1200.00 in new books to add to our library. Thank you to all who were able to attend the book fair and haunted halls.
The library will get back on it's regular schedule starting the week of October 29th. Please make sure you child(ren) bring their library books back. We will start adding up the stars on the back of bookmarkers starting November 12th - 16th. Students with the most stars will pick a prize from the library's "treasure chest".
From the Nurses...
It is also cold and flu season. Students should stay home with a continuous cough, vomiting, diarrhea, rash, and temperature of 100 or higher. Your child should only return to school after being free of these symptoms and fever free for 24 hours without the use of medication.
Everyone had so much fun dressing up during our Halloween party!
Contact Info
Email: amberwhyte@wsdr4.org
Website: https://www.wentzville.k12.mo.us/bec
Location: 2025 Hanley Road, O'Fallon, MO, USA
Phone: 636-561-5757