Howse's Hello
LEAD, LOVE, LEARN... BECOME MORE!
January 2016 Principal's Newsletter
Extra! Extra!
We have so many great things going on here at John Weldon. A example of this is our 1st graders recently collected over 300 food items for 100th day when their goal was 100 items. This food was collected for Bear Necessities. I am so proud of our kids.
FHSD will name a New Superintendent on Thursday, February 4th, who will take the place of our current Superintendent, Dr. Pam Sloan, who is retiring June 30, 2016. The new Superintendent will start July 1, 2016.
NEW - Kindergarten Orientation will take place on Saturday, April 23, from 9:30 a.m. - 11:00 a.m. This will take place at John Weldon for incoming Kindergartners only. Preschool children who are not coming to Kindergarten will not be part of the visit and will need to find other child care. We will provide you with lots of information about John Weldon, Vacation Station, Do's and Don'ts of Kindergarten as well as a bus ride and tour. Students will be visiting classrooms and meeting some of our Kindergarten teachers. We will not know their teacher by that date so please make sure that your child knows this will not be their assigned teacher.
Staff Changes
Mrs. Pam Watts - Retiring from PE at the end of the school year.
Mrs. Penny Gabbard - Retiring from Reading at the end of the school year.
We wish all three of these ladies the best in their future endeavors as mom's and grandparents to their families, we are so fortunate to have had their service to our school community.
Get to know Mrs. Pam Watts- PE Teacher
Pam began her teaching career in 1979 by teaching 3rd grade in Louisiana, MO. After moving to the St. Louis area to be with her husband, Stew, she began teaching 5th grade in a rural district down by Festus and Crystal City (Jefferson R7). She taught 5th grade for 4 years then moved to Kindergarten for 1 year. She was then hired full time at Castlio (Francis Howell) teaching 5th grade. All three of her children went to Castlio and graduated from Francis Howell. She stayed at Castlio teaching 5th grade until she took the P.E. position at John Weldon in 2004.
Mrs. Watts has announced her retirement effective at the end of this school year. Below is a statement from Mrs. Watts:
I have LOVED teaching both in the classroom and P.E. Teaching has been my love and passion. If I went back in time knowing what I know now, I would DEFINITELY choose teaching again! One of my favorite memories is having the chance to work with Carrie Bradley (current 4th grade teacher at JWE). She is one of my former students. I will miss everyone so VERY much!! Thirty-six years sure went faster than I ever dreamed it would. I do look forward to my next journey: spending time with my grandchildren, traveling with Stew, volunteering, going on some mission trips, and, of course, subbing at John Weldon.
Teacher of the Year
Our nominees were Ray Kimmins, Ashley Carley, Emily Giltner, Christie Vorderstrasse, Erin Meyer and Janie Strebeck.
Thank you for all that you do to guide, support and help our students!
Spelling Bee Finalists
The last two finalists battled it out on Friday and had to continue on Monday when they ran out of time.
After several more tough rounds, Zachery Avram pulled ahead and is our 2016 Spelling Bee Champion!
D.A.R.E!
To learn more about this program, visit www.dare.org.
Noetic Learning Math Contest
The following students are the winners of their teams and have achieved National Honor Roll. They scored in the top 10% of all participating students across the USA! This is a big deal!
Andrew Fu (2nd grade)
Ian Curran (3rd grade)
Stephanie Li (3rd grade)
The following students are also winners of their teams and have received National Honorable Mention:
Alex Bryan (4th grade)
Spencer Wallut (5th grade)
The students listed below have also received National Honorable Mention:
2nd grade: Leah Urnikis, Jackson Reinhart, Allison Thuet, Elise Snyder
3rd grade: Caden Harper, Emma Kelly, Wesley Troyer, Spencer Niemeyer, Avery Helms, Braden Hoenig, Rishabh Jain, Jaxon Dearing
4th grade: Ayur Manangi, Austin Mitchell, Aidan Zhang, Nicholas Littlejohn, Anvitha Makkena, Colin Vorderstrasse, Kush Maheshwari
5th grade: Brandon Doyle, Joshwin Thomas, Nithya Pippala
Contest results are posted at Noetic-Learning.com. Congratulations to all our team members who participated in the Noetic Learning Fall Contest!
No school!
Leader in Me Student Schoolyard
The Leader in Me has a great online activity playground that can help reinforce and reteach the 7 Habits. Check it out!
WE VALUE YOUR INPUT!
Email: Bryan.Howse@fhsdschools.org
Website: http://fhsdjwe.sharpschool.net/
Location: 7370 Weldon Springs Road, Dardenne Prairie, MO, United States
Phone: 636-851-5500
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/jwefhsd
Twitter: @JWEPrincipal