Timberwolf News
May edition 2022-2023
Talkeetna Elementary families,
Thank you to our community readers who came in to read to children during our Read-A-Thon today! What a successful event that supports our Upper Susitna Food Pantry. I am continually inspired by our entire Timberwolf staff and their unwavering dedication to supporting and educating our students at high levels all year long. We have an incredible team.
A new change this year is that Chromebooks will go home with students, K - 5, on the last day of school for the summer. Please see the detailed flier below in this newsletter for more information.
We are in our final weeks of school and look forward to finishing strong! Please be sure to sign your child/ren up for the reading program at the Talkeetna Public Library, encourage your child/ren to read, listen to audiobooks, read to them, and check out the resource strongreadersms.com for ideas on working with your children to keep their reading skills strong.
It has been an honor and privilege to serve as Talkeetna Elementary's principal for the past 6 years. Thank you for your support and partnership in growing our community's children.
Becky Moren, Principal
Important Dates/Events
- 5th Grade Promotion - Thursday, May 4 @ 5:00 PM
- Mural and song reveal and spaghetti dinner - Sunday, May 7 @ 4PM @ Su-Valley Jr/Sr High
- Spirit Week - May 8 - 12
- Kindergarten Graduation - Wed., May 17 @ 1:00 PM
- MAP & Aims data will go home w/ students - Thursday, May 18
- PTA picnic and last day of school - Friday, May 19
- Quarter 4 Report Cards ready in ParentVue or mailed - Monday, May 22
Kickin' It In Kindergarten
Thank you for your care and support of our young learners this year and I know they are all ready for an amazing summer and heading on to First Grade next Fall.
Mrs. Schwartz
Buddy Reading at the Read-a-Thon
Another Buddy Reading at the Read-a-Thon
Yet Another Buddy Reading at the Read-a-Thon
Reader's Response to Dragons Love Tacos
A Table View from our Taco Celebration
Kid's Love Tacos Too!
Leaping out of 1st
Mrs. Charity
Soaring in Second Grade
We have reached that bittersweet time in the school year where students have demonstrated amazing academic growth, we have grown close as a classroom family, and we get ready to say goodbye for summer and come back as third graders. This has been a fantastic year and I am overjoyed to have gotten to spend another school year having fun, learning, and growing with my second grade classroom community. We have been making the most of learning about our Talkeetna community by getting out and visiting some essential businesses for place-based learning: the Walter Harper Ranger Station, the Talkeetna Museum, our local radio station KTNA, and our local Post Office. As we move into the last two weeks of school I feel incredibly proud of each and every second grade student for the effort they have put forth in learning and growing themselves this year in Second Grade.
I hope you all have an amazing summer filled with sunshine, and adventures with your friends and family. Thank you all for being partners in educating our Talkeetna Timberwolves! I hope to see you all around this summer as we enjoy all that our amazing community has to offer.
Cheers,
Mrs. Suzi
The Walter Harper Talkeetna Ranger Station
The Talkeetna Historical Society Museum
The Talkeetna Post Office
Salt Dough Landforms
Creating landforms
Changing landforms
Observing the incredible map at the museum
Learning about avalanches
Learning about snow and avalanches with Ms. Jill
Nurse's News
Distracted Driving and Choices Matter
The Alaska Highway Safety Office’s Choices Matter program recently came to SuValley and spoke about distracted driving with the high schoolers. The message was eye opening, and I want to pass on some of the knowledge because safety is important and can be lifesaving.
Buckle up because it’s time for a crash course from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA):
- In 2020 3,142 people were killed and approximately 400,000 were injured in motor vehicle crashes involving a distracted driver.
- Research has found that dialing a phone number while driving increases a teen’s risk of crashing by 6 times, and texting while driving increases the risk by 23 times.
- In 2019, nine percent of all drivers 15-19 years old involved in fatal crashes were reported as distracted at the time of the crashes.
While those numbers may sound like just statistics, they’re anything but. They could be someone. There are too many sad tales of deaths and injuries that could have been prevented had drivers been paying attention to the road instead of someone or something else. We live in a world where people expect instant, real-time information and those expectations don’t stop just because someone gets behind the wheel. Drivers still do not realize or choose to ignore the danger they create when they take their eyes off the road, their hands off the wheel, and their focus off driving.
People often say, “I can do two things at once. I’ve memorized where the numbers are on my phone” or “sending or reading one text is pretty quick-that should be okay.” They couldn’t be more wrong.
For those who think they can do two things at once, think about this: According to a 2014 special article in the New England Journal of Medicine, the risk of a crash or near-crash among novice drivers increased with the performance of many secondary tasks, including texting and dialing cell phones. Try writing your first name with your left hand and your last name with your right hand at the same time. Don’t cheat...you will find that you are unable to write your name well with either hand because your brain is unable to do two tasks well at the same time. Your brain can jump back and forth so fast that giving a second to one or the other will improve the spelling of your name but when you are texting and driving, you do not have that second to give if it is the cost of a life.
No one is immune from the dangers of distracted driving. Please sit down and talk with your family members, especially teenagers, about safety on the road. Remember that your choices matter and could save a life.
Thank you,
Romy Byrd RN
School Nurse
Talkeetna Elementary PTA
Talkeetna Timberwolf families,
Consider joining us! We always welcome new volunteers and PTA members and encourage you to join our PTA at https://tke.memberhub.com/store#. Your membership fees help to provide healthy snacks two days a week and a lunchtime salad bar two days a week for all of our students. The PTA is also a strong supporter of student art programming.