As part of the 6th-grade letter writing unit, students learn to write three separate types of letters: friendly, business and persuasive. The final project in this unit is to write a persuasive business letter to a company of their choosing. Many businesses, local and national, have responded to students and some have even sent students materials and promotions. Charlie Fox wrote to the Arizona Coyotes about his love of hockey and wanting new equipment for WFES and the Coyotes responded by surprising Charlie and his classmates with new equipment and a brand new hockey curriculum for Coach Converse! Aaron Moore wrote a letter to the University of Arizona and received a letter and small items in return. Jaxon Bolken received a response from Traxxas, a company that makes remote control racing trucks. Aaron Wuls received a gaming headset along with a handwritten letter encouraging him to continue with his passions. Morgan Willis wrote to the Diamondbacks regarding her love of being a catcher on her baseball team and received a hat. Ayden Cornell wrote to the Kansas City Chiefs and received back a fan package including a team flag, bookmark, and stickers.

5th-grade students wrote letters from the point of view of an explorer they researched in class regarding their expedition. Students wrote their letters in proper friendly letter format and included historical facts regarding successes, challenges, tragedies, people they met, as well as having inferred other details by using their own thoughts based on their research. Students also included maps of the route(s) of their explorers and presented their letters in the first person point of view. The students then aged their letter to make them look authentic.

Second Grade students are currently learning all about settlers moving west and exploring the land. They start with the Louisiana Purchase and follow a timeline up until when the Transcontinental Railroad was built. The Mountain Man who came and shared with our students is a man who still hunts, fishes, and lives like the settlers did during that time.

We may have the next Picasso or DaVinci among us! With the help of parent volunteers, students in all grade levels learn about different artists and art pieces as well as creating their own masterpieces. 6th-grade students learned about perspective and created amazing winter cards.

Is your student missing a jacket, lunchbox, hat, or left shoe? If so we may have it in our lost and found. Please have your student check and claim any lost item(s). All items still in the lost and found bin after winter break will be donated to charity.

From now until Dec. 13th we will have a winter tree in the office with names of students from our sister/adopted school who are in need this holiday season.
Stop by if you'd like to give back by sponsoring gifts for families this season. You may choose a tag from the tree and sign it out at the office. The tag will have the name/gender/age/etc. of the child along with a wish list item.
Please return the gift/gifts wrapped (along with the tag on the outside of the package) by December 13th.
STUGO and PTO will deliver the gifts to the schools!

The recent Goodwill Drive at WFES raised nearly $500 for the PTO. Thanks to your generous donations, we were able to help fight unemployment in Arizona by supporting no-cost career centers. Last year, more than 45,000 jobs were placed with hundreds of local employers.

From November 14th - 30th, our Student Government held a stuffed animal drive where they encouraged fellow students to bring in a new stuffed animal to be donated to the Arizona Helping Hands toys drive. The Student Government had a goal of 250 donated stuffed animals and they ended up meeting and exceeding that goal! The Student Government students dropped the stuffed animals off and were greeted by the CEO of AZ Helping Hands. He helped them unload all the stuffed animals and gave them a heartfelt tour of their new facility.

There is still time for those that would like to make a tax credit eligible donation to WFES. Making a contribution to receive an Arizona public education tax credit is simple. You can get a tax credit up to $200 for an individual or $400 per married couple.

Beginning in 2016, credit eligible fees paid and contributions made to a public school from January 1 through April 15 of the calendar year may be used as a tax credit on the prior year's tax return. For example, qualifying contributions made to a public school January 1, 2018, to April 15, 2018, may be used as a tax credit on either your 2017 or 2018 Arizona income tax return. (Pub 707 AZDOR). For additional information, call (602) 449-2049.

Arizona tax law allows taxpayers a credit for contributions made or fees paid to a public school for support of extracurricular activities or character education(as defined in ARS 15-719. If married taxpayers file separate returns, each spouse may claim one-half of the credit that would have been allowed on a joint return. Extracurricular activities such as sports, band, speech and debate or overnight field trips are generally not fully funded by school districts, so your donation directly supports students.

To make a tax credit donation, please visit this PV Tax Credit Donation Link

If you would like to recognize a staff member at WFES, give them a shoutout by completing this short form: http://bit.ly/2LEa7Xb

All shout outs will be shared and celebrated with the staff!

• Band Concert - December 10th at 7:00 PM in the MPR
• Strings Concert - December 11th at 7:00 PM in the MPR
• LEGO Robotics Tournament - December 15th at 7:00 AM at Metrotech
• WFES Spelling Bee - December 18th at 9:00 AM
• Westward HO! 2nd Grade Celebration - December 20th at 10:00 AM at the Boy's and Girls Club
• Last Day of the Semester - December 21st
• Winter Break - December 24th - January 4th

Know anyone looking for a great school? Have them visit our "A" rated school by scheduling a tour today! Wildfire Elementary School is now accepting open enrollment applications for the 2019-20 school year.