Monday Memo
Week of March 9th-13th
Greetings, CCE!
Celebrating Dr. Seuss Week is always a fun and wonderful way to celebrate literature and lessons learned from the imaginative stories that Dr. Seuss has written. All of this week's stories are timeless and have been passed on for many generations. One of my favorite stories is The Lorax, not only is it entertaining (and was longest story to read at bedtime to my kids), but the lesson behind the story i.e. conservation of natural resources, awareness of human impact on our environment, etc. is powerful and relatable to most generations.
As I looked at what this week will bring, I realized that this Wednesday is considered Johnny Appleseed Day. In relation to The Lorax, the Legend of Johnny Appleseed is a timeless classic that teaches us about the importance of having an unselfish and kind heart towards our environment so that we can benefit others and sustain their hopes for a brighter future. Johnny (John Chapman) planted appleseeds so that one day others would enjoy the apples on their journey as they settled across America. The apples and the trees brought nourishment and shade to many for years to come. The apple trees that he planted grew to be strong trees and one of them is still rumored to live to this day.
Although, you may not think that you have anything to do with both of these stories or characters, you do! Teachers also plant seeds each and every day when working with students. You help guide each branch of a child's growth and help shape their minds the best that you can to ensure that they have a strong root system in their education. Teachers help encourage students to take risks and blossom into the wonderful people that we want our students to eventually become. There is a well-known proverb that I just love that reminds me of the hard work that we do as educators:
"The true meaning of life is to plant trees under whose shade you know you will never get to sit in."
CCE, each one of you is "Legendary" in my book! You are planting those trees every day!
Thank you for all that you do to shape, nurture, inspire, and grow our students!
Thank you, CCE, for being the best!
What's Happening at CCE...
Week of March 9th- TELPAS Window Continues
IA Window Begins 3rd-5th
3/9: Dual Language Visits by Dr. Esquierdo (DL Classes Only
STEM Nation Elementary Launch Assembly @ 8:00 AM Gym (All Campus)
Mrs. Marsh's Baby Shower @3:15 PM in Library
3/10: Staff Meeting: Vertical Team Committees (Teachers Only)
3/11: PLCs- RtI (Jeffers/Janda sent invites to Grade Levels)
Johnny Appleseed Day! Enjoy an Apple in the Teacher's Lounge
3/12: PK/ECSE/HIH Field Trip- Sweet Berry Farms
PTA Bush's Chicken Spirit Night Fundraiser
Texas Heritage Day Assembly @ 1:45 PM Gym (See Kozak's Email)
Attendance 101 Meeting/Truancy @ 5:00 PM
Open Gym Night @ 6:30 PM
3/13: HMS Band Screening Make-Ups (All Day-5th Grade)
Janice Burch/Region 13 Visits (Champs Follow-up/Pilot Team Visits)
Special Event: Scottish Rite Play Performance @ 1:30 Cafeteria
3/16-3/20: Spring Break, Enjoy your time!
Other News, Reminders & Need-to-Knows
Celebrating Good Things
3/5: Belated Birthday- Adelaida Perez
3/9: Elisabeth Cargal
3/14: Elda Rendon
3/24: Amanda Savoy
The Lorax & Plant Unit Ideas
Plant Unit/Seeds Lesson Ideas (Kinder)
Launching Us Off!
Every moment and every event of every man's life on earth plants something in his soul.
Thomas Merton
Teachers' Corner
Submit a story, success, aha! moment, funny, photo, announcement, etc. that you would like our CCE family all to know about. Email it to me by Friday of each week and I will put it in the next Monday Memo.
Interested in supporting TEA?
Proclamation 2021 State Review Panel
TEA needs bilingual volunteers and nominees to review prekindergarten systems materials in English and Spanish to determine the extent to which the materials address the Texas Prekindergarten Guidelines.
Please consider joining us—or nominating someone else to join us—for this important work. Teachers, administrators, parents, business community members, and others with appropriate content knowledge are all welcome. Candidates must be available June 14–19, 2020, be proficient in Microsoft Excel, be fluent in English and Spanish, and be able to read on a computer screen for an extended period of time.
Nomination/volunteer forms are available on the TEA website. When asked for your committee selection, choose Proclamation 2021 State Review Panel.
Safety & Security Reminder
Remember that staff may not share their keys or give keys to students to open doors, etc. Keys for our building are to be maintained by employees only. No employee to employee sharing of keys, especially with State Testing coming up. Keep your keys and badge with you.
If you need a lanyard, please stop by and ask Billie for one. We have some extra. Thanks!
GLLs, Have a grade Level Purchase to Request for this Year?
Helping "Kind Hearts" from KES at CCES!
Staff, a message from KES~
A group of KES 5th grade students wrote and received a grant titled "Kind Hearts." Their idea was to collect items to fill the containers to deliver to children in the oncology unit at Dell Children's. So many of the children receiving services there, are confined to their beds for days/weeks on end. The students would love to collect items such as books, playing cards, board games, coloring books, crayons, small toys, etc.
How can we help? Each campus is being asked to collect donations during the first two weeks of March. We will send home flyers and an announcement blurb provided by KES by Wednesday. A KES staff member will come by on Friday 3/13 to collect all items that were donated. After filling containers, KES students will then deliver them to Dell Children's the first week of April.
The containers/bins will most likely be located by Mrs. Kozak's office. Thank you!
STEM NATION! STEM NATION! Hooray!
STEM Nation Elementary Launch Assembly
on March 9th from 8-9 AM in the CCE Gym!
This year's theme is Global Impact. The focus is on worldwide accessibility to basic resources. There will be prizes for the top projects. 20 Hutto ISD students will be awarded $100 and 2 teachers will be awarded $150 Amazon gift cards.
For those of you that are new to Hutto ISD, STEM Nation is a free event hosted by Hutto ISD each May where students of all ages showcase science fair projects and/or any other type of classroom project/product they're proud of. All projects/products are welcome. They do not have to be STEM or theme related. There are also hands-on activities (like a Makerspace) and demonstrations for students to experience, and the culinary arts students prepare delicious food that is free for all attendees to enjoy.
Here is the teacher info shared by our district!