WildCat News
March 4, 2022
In this Issue...
- Message from the Principal
- Attention 5th Grade Families
- Specialist's Corner
- Message from Transportation
- Enrollment Open for 2022-23 School Year
- Important COVID Links
- PTA News
Message From the Principal
Hi wonderful Woodin families!
I hope that each of you were able to find time to enjoy friends, family and a bit of relaxation during the mid-winter break. While the respite came at a very welcome time, I’m entirely excited to be back at it with our amazing students. With the first semester solidly in our rear view, we are focusing our attention on the individual needs of our students and planning a responsive instructional model with each of them in mind. February 28th, marked the first day of one of the longest stretches of learning on our academic calendar so far! We are all looking forward to this time with students.
To say there has been a lot going on in the world lately would be an understatement. The news out of Ukraine has been devastating and surely raised a lot of concerns or wonderings about what information to share with your students and how to go about having those conversations.
Events like this can also bring up new or increased anxiety, sometimes catching us off guard. We wanted to share some helpful resources for how to talk with your students about what is happening and ideas of how to make sure you're able to help them or yourself with any overwhelming feelings.
Two articles that help explain why talking to your kids could be helpful and ways to go about doing that, regardless of age, are this one from PBS and another here written from a few psychologists. You or your student may also be feeling new or increased anxiety or stress, or just overwhelmed in general. Sometimes going back to the basics can be the thing that helps the most, such as trying to disconnect from online, getting outside, connecting with loved ones, and making sure you're getting enough rest. This article from the BBC gives a few more ideas about how to make that work for you.
We hope that these resources might be helpful, but please know we are here to support your students and your families in any way we can. If you have further questions or need additional resources, please don't hesitate to reach out and let us know.
In partnership,
Dawn Bowers, Principal
Jen Anderson, Counselor
Attention 5th Grade Families
Next Tuesday, 3/8, at 7:00 pm, we will be hosting a Camp Informational Webinar for fifth grade parents. See link below. This webinar will be recorded and available on the Camp Cedar Springs NSD website later that same week.
You are invited to a Zoom webinar.
When: Mar 8, 2022 07:00 PM Pacific Time (US and Canada)
Topic: Parent Meeting - 5th grade Camp Cedar Springs
Please click the link below to join the webinar:
https://nsd.zoom.us/j/88380649618?pwd=Tmk3Y1VXcy9CZUhVaXExVTFQQ2d0QT09
Specialist's Corner
PE:
As we wrap up our Jump Rope unit we are celebrating everyone’s progress in this challenging skill set. Dozens of students were able to sign posters designating achievements. Kindergarten showed their skill when they jumped 10 straight times with no mistakes to join the Kangaroo Club. Intermediate students were challenged to jump for 1, 2, and/or 3 straight minutes with no stopping. And everyone was challenged to sign a Woodin Wall of Fame poster for a successful double-under or reaching at least 100 jumps during the 1-Minute Speed Jump Challenge.
Wildcat fitness is the theme for March. Starting March 5th we will be using a cardio-based drumming program that combines physical activity with brain fitness. Students will be using our DrumFIT equipment which uses exercise balls, drumsticks, and great music to get kids moving. We will also have students working on muscle strength and endurance through activities like rope climbing, pull-ups and push-ups, wall-sits, and planks.
Our Mileage Club numbers continue to climb. Our Wildcats have combined for almost 25,000 laps totalling nearly 5,000 miles. Go Wildcats!!
MUSIC:
The music department is excited to kick off March Madness in Music! Brackets will be arranged by musical genre and all music is chosen to expose students to music they may not regularly hear. All classes will get the opportunity to participate in voting and picking a “winning” song at the end of the month!
LIBRARY:
K-2: We are continuing to work our way through the list of the 2022 Washington Children’s Choice nominated books and this week, read the 13th title in the list. We have only 7 left to go! Soon it will be time to vote for our favorite! Stay tuned for the exciting results coming this spring! Through our read-alouds, students in grades 1 and 2 are continuing to discuss character and setting as well as other important elements of a story including conflict/problem, events (what does the character DO to solve the problem?), and solution (or how does the story end?). Kindergarteners are practicing responding orally to comprehension questions before, during and after reading. For example, who was in the story? Who was your favorite character and why? What do you think will happen next? What was the story about? What was your favorite part of the story? Thinking about and responding to these types of questions throughout our reading helps hold students accountable to key content within the story.
3-5: Throughout February and continuing into March, intermediate students are practicing their research skills by learning about and using a variety of databases. Students in grades 3 and 4 will be researching topics based on personal interest while 5th graders will be exploring databases through a mini research project focused on the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing, China. The goal is for students to see that there are many ways to gather information on a given topic. Not to mention it provides an excellent opportunity for them to practice those all-important note-taking skills! In other news, 3rd graders will begin exploring the 2022 Towner Award nominees (non-fiction stories) and students in 4th and 5th grade will move on to previewing the 2022 Sasquatch Award nominees.
BIKES FOR BOOKS:
“Bikes for Books” is back!! This week, every student at Woodin is bringing home an informational letter about this optional program that allows students to earn chances to win fabulous prizes for reading at home, including 2 brand new bikes donated by the Ashler Masonic Lodge! Please make sure you review the letter with your students so you are fully informed on all the details. Here are some important ways you can support your readers at home:
This year’s incentive program will run from Monday, March 7th to Friday, April 1st (all calendars will be due by 4/1).
Help your readers set reading goals - how many tickets do they want to work to earn?
Encourage them to keep their Bingo “boards” in a safe place at home – I told the students that if they lose their first one, they can get a replacement but they will have to start all over!
Make sure you INITIAL EACH box/task your child completes and then sign at the bottom when your child is finished – students who turn in unsigned papers may not receive tickets!
All reading tasks must be completed outside of school hours and can be fulfilled by either reading or being read to!
Questions? All of this information can also be accessed through your child’s Schoology account (in their Library course) or you can email Mrs. Chmiel at lchmiel@nsd.org
COUNSELING:
We have had such a wonderful month, with a special emphasis on kindness! Our Kindness Spirit Week was so much fun and so great to see all of our students spreading kindness all over our school. Spending time focused on kindness helps us better understand how to be kind to each other, but also ourselves, and all of the different ways this can look.
Last month in Kindergarten we talked about the difference between big problems (ones that require an adult to help right away) and small problems (ones that students can try to solve on their own first). It is showing kindness to our classmates and friends when we work together using our problem-solving skills, and when we know it’s important to get additional help.
In first, second and third grade we’ve been talking about different ways of showing kindness to ourselves. First grade has learned about how we all get worried sometimes and it’s important to have ways of not letting the worry get so big it gets in our way of doing what we need to or having fun. Second and third grades have been focused on perseverance, acknowledging and celebrating our accomplishments, and remembering that we are capable of doing difficult things.
Our fourth and fifth grade students have continued to think about what kindness looks like towards one another. That includes understanding how significant it is to choose not to get back at others when they’ve done something unkind or hurtful. We’ve talked about other ways of solving a problem with someone else, like ignoring, walking away, talking about how they’ve made us feel, etc. Just like meanness can lead to more meanness, kindness can also lead to more kindness.
As always, if you or your student needs support or if you have any questions, please do not hesitate to reach out! You can reach me by phone at (425) 408-5454 or email at janderson3@nsd.org.
Message from Transportation
Enrollment Open for 2022-23 School Year
Important COVID Links
- NSD Covid Protocols: https://www.nsd.org/covid19/protocols
- NSD Covid Testing Registration for Pop Keeney: Pop Keeney Registration Link
- NSD Quarantine Learning Support:https://www.nsd.org/covid19/quarantine-learning-support
- East Region Learning Support: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/16ia2_KXcYwIAcIHcTm4zS813nYh2HuOHN0XrMZGVvXo/edit#gid=1156049834
PTA News
Join us for our general PTA meeting
March 15, 2022 07:00 PM Pacific Time (US and Canada)
Join Zoom Meeting
https://zoom.us/j/91261588850?pwd=RWkrQjJUVnZXa205OWZ2Z0xCMlFjdz09
Meeting ID: 912 6158 8850
Passcode: 466185
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Dial by your location
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Meeting ID: 912 6158 8850
Passcode: 466185
Bingo Night - Volunteers Needed
The PTA is starting to plan for this year's Bingo event and would LOVE more volunteers for the committee. The event will take place, Friday, March 25th, at WHS. Any amount of time you can commit is appreciated!
Please email woodinpta@gmail.com if you are interested.
Looking to get involved?
Are you looking to get more involved at your child's school? Are you looking to have fun and make friendships? PTA is for you! Woodin PTA is currently looking for board positions for the 22/23 school year. There are jobs and positions of all sizes and responsibilities.
Please email woodinpta@gmail.com
Woodin Elementary
Email: tcussac@nsd.org
Website: www.woodin.nsd.org
Location: 12950 Northeast 195th Street, Bothell, WA, USA
Phone: (425)-408-5400