Lake Agassiz Elementary School
October 2021
Message from Mrs. Jonasson
As we lead into October, our PTO has completed its first fundraiser for this school year. Thank you to all families that helped raise funds for the much-anticipated blacktop addition to our playground! It was our PTO's goal to raise $8,000 to help cover the cost of a blacktop ...(insert drumroll here...) In the end, our families raised over $10,000!!! Thank you to all families that purchased 1 book or helped to sell 20...or 40...or more!!
Parent-Teacher Conferences:
October has us back to welcoming families for in-person conferences this week. Thank you to families for prioritizing your child's education by taking part in parent-teacher conferences; whether that was in person or virtual, we are glad you see the importance of these conversations with your child's teacher.
Student Leaders:
Our 5th grade Student Leaders have jumped right into service work and leadership tasks already! Students are keeping track of our mini moments, making daily announcements, helping with deliveries, helping with teacher requests, and so forth.
Service Projects:
If you have any connections to community service projects, reach out and let us know. We have several student groups that would love to have the opportunity to help others in our community.
Word of the Month:
In the past, we have focused on a character education word (a.k.a. 'skill') for our student body to learn more about and put into practice in their daily lives. This year, we had a difficult time only choosing nine for our nine months of the school year. To remedy that, our School Climate team decided to take 3 weeks per word (again, 'skill') so we could cover more ground as a school in our social-emotional learning. As we work to help students (and staff) put this learning into practice, we also have a key term or skill that we learn about each week that helps to build our overall social and emotional strengths. For example, our initial weeks of the school year are as follows:
Week #2 - #4: KINDNESS: Empathy & Compassion
Weeks #4 - #5: COMPOSURE: Self-control, Self- management, & Self-discipline
Weeks #6 - #8: GENEROSITY: Giving Back & Gratitude
Every classroom and every student are studying these skills -- it is our goal to grow a common language and common understanding of the skills throughout our school. These are some great table talk starters for your family time...
What are some things you can do when you experience an emotion? What can you do when you're happy, sad, mad, excited, etc.
- What are some things that stress you out? (Likes vs. Dislikes)
- Why do you think it is important to have rules?
- What are some examples of times that you have been generous? What did you do? How did that make others feel?
- How can we give back without a cost?
Did you say Pie a Teacher???
We say goodbye...we welcome...
And we welcome Mr. Rodell Ottum as our new Head Custodian at Lake Agassiz. Mr. Ottum was previously an evening custodian at South Middle School and is very excited to be at Lake Agassiz.
Social Worker Support at Lake Agassiz
Upcoming Dates
Friday, October 1st
School Pictures in the morning
Tuesday, October 5th
PTO meeting in the school library at 6:30 p.m.
Tuesday, October 5th
Parent/Teacher/Student Goal Setting Conferences 4-7 p.m.
Thursday, October 7th
Parent/Teacher/Student Goal Setting Conferences 4-7 p.m.
Friday, October 8th
Parent/Teacher/Student Goal Conferences 12 - 4
Friday, October 8th
Early Dismissal - School is dismissed at 11:20 a.m.
Wednesday, October 13th
Early Release - School is dismissed at 1:30 p.m.
Wednesday, October 20th
No School - Professional Development
Thursday & Friday, October 21 & 22nd
No School - Administrative Convention
Wednesday, October 27th
Early Release - School is dismissed at 1:30 p.m.
Mrs. Nordstog’s Counselor Corner
In September, I visited all classrooms to share about my role as a school counselor. Take a look at the attached flyer to learn about me as well! Throughout this school year, I will be in Kindergarten-2nd grade classrooms teaching students about empathy, emotion management, and problem solving through the Second Step curriculum. I will visit 3rd-5th grade classrooms to teach Sources of Strength, which is a prevention, mental-health based curriculum.
Learn more about:
Second Step at https://www.secondstep.org/what-is-second-step
Sources of Strength at https://sourcesofstrength.org/elementary/overview
Turkey Basket Drive!!
The University of North Dakota Mortar Board will be providing turkey baskets to families that need them. Each turkey basket contains all the items needed to prepare a traditional Thanksgiving dinner. The Turkey Basket Drive will be a drive-thru process allowing individuals and families to stay in their vehicles when they pick up their baskets. If a family arrives by city bus, there will be an area for foot traffic to safely pick up their baskets.
The scheduled time for pick up is:
Saturday, November 20th, 2021 10:00 a.m. – 2:00 p.m.
Location: UND Transportation Building—3925 Campus Road,
Grand Forks, ND 58202
Parents Lead
Substance Use Prevention Tips
Make sure your child knows your rules — and that you’ll enforce the consequences if rules are broken. Kids are less likely to use nicotine, alcohol, and other substances if their parents have established a pattern of setting clear rules and consequences.
Source: https://drugfree.org/
Confused? Something not clear?
Lake Agassiz Elementary
Email: cmomerak140@mygfschools.org
Website: gfschools.org/Domain/1047
Location: 605 Stanford Road, Grand Forks, ND, USA
Phone: 701-746-2275
Photo Disclaimer: LA Stock photo - Pre-COVID!