Winter Newsletter

Almira School District January 2015

In this issue Pg 3—K– 1 news Pg 3—Rachel's Challenge Pg 4—8th gr. Debate Pg 4—Pre - K news Pg 5—“The Flapper” Pg 6—8th grade Service Learning class Pg 6—Superintendent news Pg 7— 4th - 5th grade news Pg 7—7th grade Robotics

Back row: Garrett Evers, Will Hahn, Zach Campbell, Brayton Schafer, Hayden Loomis, Gage Burchill, Maguire Isaak, Chris Guttormsen, Hayden Buchanan, Jared Goetz, Giannantonio Giuliani, Carson Fox. Front row: Josh Bresee, Jaxson Seiler, Chase Gerard, Cooper Harris, Tyler Ogden, Griffyn Douglas, Carson O’Neil, Zane McGuckin, Jayden Wesley, Conner Emerson, Grady Douglas. (not pictured Camryn Slahtasky)

REMEMBER EVERY 1ST, 3RD AND 5TH WED. OF THE MONTH IS ONE HOUR EARLY RELEASE Jan 19 - NO SCHOOL— Martin Luther King Jr. Day Jan 21 - K-8 travels to HS to watch the “Flapper” Jan 22 -early release 12:15, end of 1st semester Feb 4 -1 hr. early release Feb 11 - early release 12:15, In-service Day Feb 16 - NO SCHOOL, Presidents’ Day Feb 18 - 1 hr. early release Mar 4 - 1 hr. early release Mar 5 & 6 - NO SCHOOL

Back row: Josie Harris, Mikayla Rushton, Ashley Mitchell, Gabi Isaak, Sydney Cook, Sarah Bradshaw, Christa Christopherson. Middle row: Kya Phillips, Austyn Kenney, Makenna Oliver, Kendel Correia, Krissy Fair, Haley Evers, Ruth Bresee, Aurrorian Pate. Front row: Oshun Parrish, Courtney Rimel, Madelynn Syth, Kathryn Guttormsen, Eryn McCleary, Madison McCleary.

Mar18 - 1 hr. early release April 1 - early release 12:15—end of 3rd qtr. Apr 6-10—Spring Break

January 2015

Page 3

Kindergarten—1st grade News

The kindergarteners and first graders had a fun time getting their classroom looking festive for Christmas, making their parents' gifts, and preparing placemats and paper candles for their party. The students had a wonderful Christmas party with lots of goodies and each got to make their own Christmas card to give away. The picture, with the students sitting at their desks, is at their Christmas party. The other picture is the K-1 students in their Christmas Concert attire right before they went to the gym to perform. Back row of girls from left to right: Lindi Robertson, Brooklyn Standing, Natalie Campbell, Alyssa Calhoon. Front row of boys: Donny Dormire, Levi Oliver, Anden Wynne, Kolston Wynne, Hunter Mings, Harvest Parrish with Adyn Peha right behind him, Ethan Croasmun. (Darren Hoke and DeShawn Pfaffle are not in the picture but were in the gym ready for the program.)

Rachel’s Challenge ACH Middle School and Almira Elementary Accept Rachel’s Challenge By Ava Heathman Rachel’s Challenge is an organization that promotes kindness and compassion. It was formed by Rachel Scott’s family after the tragic Columbine School shootings, in which Rachel Scott was killed. It is an international program that ACH Middle School and Almira’s K-5 recently participated in through a grant from Lincoln In Action. As part of the program, students and staff are “challenged” to make positive choices, speak and act with kindness, set goals, include others, and make a positive impact in their world. Pictured are elementary and middle school students leaving their handprint and signature on the “I accept Rachel’s Challenge” Banner, which now hangs in the entrance to the Almira School. Friends of Rachel (FOR) is a middle school student led open organization that promotes kindness within the school. Parts of their activities include “Monday’s Motivational Moment”, which is a light-hearted video during lunchtime in the cafeteria that raises everyone’s spirits. The videos promote kindness among the students. “Wednesday’s Words of Wisdom” is a quote that uplifts and encourages students, and is announced over the intercom in the morning bulletin. We are beginning to make paper chains with the students’ names on them, and sting them up in the hallway. Every time someone sees an act of kindness being done in the school, they will write that action down and add it to the chain, promoting a chain reaction! We hope that our chain eventually wraps all the way around the gym! Our goal in forming the FOR in ACH Middle School is to promote a kind and compassionate environment for every student at our school. With so much bullying in schools across America, we want to make an intentional effort to promote a positive school environment at ACH. For more information, please contact Susan Douglas [email protected]

Winter Newsletter

Page 4

Eight Grade Debate Class Eight grade students in Mrs. Pat Elder’s debate class are learning to make effective arguments using evidence, logic and reasoning as well as refuting their opponents’ case with counter-examples and points. The debate occurs between two teams, the proposition and the opposition. Each team has three speakers, a first speaker, a second speaker, and a rebuttal speaker. The speakers on each side have 5 minutes to build and extend their case while answering the opposition’s arguments. The final 2 speakers from each side has the responsibility of summarizing the case and showing why their side has made its case and the other side has not. Topics this fall have been: Television is a bad influence Spanking should (or should not) be illegal

Front row girls: Christa Clouter and Ava Heathman. Back row: Maguire Isaak, Jared Goetz, Giannantonio Giuliani, Gage Burchill, Jacob Mitchell, Wyatt Zielinski and Sean Syth.

Pre-Kindergarten Program Kids ages 4-5 are eligible to attend pre-kindergarten. The program is designed to prepare kids for a rigorous full day of kindergarten. The P-K class is Monday through Friday for two hours per day. Our program is best suited for a maximum of ten students. In order to be eligible to enroll, the child must be toilet trained and meet the minimum age requirement which is age 4 years old by September 1st. Other factors may be considered as well. If you would like to enroll your child in the 2015-2016 P-K program and met our eligibility requirements, you are encouraged to call the school so we may place your child’s name on our P-K list. Parents will be contacted about the “P-K Roundup” day when parents and child(ren) will be invited to visit the classroom the school year before they attend. If you have any questions or concerns regarding our Pre-Kindergarten program, please do not hesitate to call. Shauna Schmerer, Superintendent/Principal

January 2015

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Almira Coulee Hartline High School Drama Presents

FLAPPER! a madcap 1920’s musical comedy

Thursday, January 22nd ACH Scholarship Org. Dinner- 6:00, Musical- 7:30

Friday, January 23rd Musical only- 7:30 Paul Lauzier Activity Center, Coulee City Tickets on sale now! Produced with special permission from Pioneer Drama Service

Winter Newsletter

Page 6

The Service Learning 8th Grade class

front row: Sammi McGuckin, Anthony Giuliani, Maguire Isaak, Connor Emerson, Josie Harris, Ava Heathman, Anli Guttormsen Back row: Wyatt Zielinski, Gage Burchill, Jacob Mitchell Last month, students of ACH Middle School and Almira– Hartline Elementary sent several packages of for distribution to Carlton fire victims during the holidays. As part of their ASB and Friends of Rachel “Campaign of Kindness”, gifts and gift cards were delivered to the Pateros Brewster Long Term Recovery Organization. The Service Learning 8 th Grade class (pictured above) sorted and packaged the donations, totaling more than $400 in gift cards, and four large boxes of gifts. During the ACH High School December 16th basketball home game, local fans wrote over 40 personal messages to families in the Pateros area, sending well wishes and thoughts of concern. In a reply from the PBLTRO, they stated, “Our Adopt a Family committee was overwhelmed by your gifts and notes. What blessings to receive from other communities who understand what small towns are all about”. ACH students continue to care about the recovery and well-being of their neighbors to the north, and want to thank the surrounding community for their response and support! Donations can be sent to, PBLTRO, PO Box 655, Pateros, WA 98834.

From the Superintendent’s desk Happy New Year! Can you believe we are half way through the school year? Time has been passing so quickly and before we know it, June will be knocking on the door! This year the State Assessment is very different and we will have a schedule posted on our website soon. It is important that your student is not absent during this testing time. All students (grades 3-8) will be taking all sections of the state tests on the computer. This is not an assessment that we want kids to stress about, but we need them to do their very best! By doing their very best, it will allow us to see what they have learned for the year. We want each student to hit their potential and by doing their very best we will be able to help them and challenge them in areas they need for the next school year. If you want more information about the SBAC (state test), please go to the OSPI website under state assessment and you can learn all the facts. If you have questions or concerns, you may also call me @ (509) 639-2414. Please be checking our website for any new information that may come our way that we want to share with you! Warm regards, Shauna Schmerer

Mr. Hein’s 4th 5th grade news During the months of November and December in science the 4th & 5th graders worked on building towers. Each group had $2,400,000 to spend in order to build their towers. They had to buy supplies from the central store. Large straws were priced at $40,000, glue for the day was $8,000, toothpicks were $10,000 each, and so on. Each group had to fill out purchase orders correctly and keep ledgers of their expenses. The students started by drawing a blueprint of their towers. At the end each groups’ tower had to be able to hold two dictionaries without collapsing. The tallest tower that didn’t collapse was the winner. The above picture shows Prairie Parrish and Amaija Church who built the winning tower. Also during the month of December the students practiced their parts for the 37th annual Christmas play. This year’s play was titled, “How Santa Got His Christmas Tree” written by Tim Kelly. On December 19th at 9:00 a.m. the students performed their play for the students, teachers, and family guests. Each student did a great job and the audience enjoyed the performance. Towards the end of January the 4th & 5th graders will receive 200 trout eggs to raise and release in June as part of the “Salmon in the Classroom” program.

Mr. Dotson’s 7th grade Robotics Class The world is an ever changing place. Employment opportunities offered today are different than they were five, ten, or fifteen years ago and will be different in another five years. Our schools, from kindergarten to higher education, are under constant pressure to keep pace with all of the changes. Some of the larger school districts in the state have specialized high schools emphasizing engineering, healthcare, technology, or the arts. Students can choose a high school that emphasizes their area of interest, which better prepares them for higher education opportunities. The days of high school wood and metal shop are being replaced with design and modeling, robotics, engineering, and 3-D printing. Smaller school districts have to work even harder to keep pace and ACH is taking steps to do that. Two years ago we decided to offer Robotics to our students. When they finish the seventh grade they are able to build robots that are programmed to perform specific tasks, adjust to changing environments, and travel across varying terrains. During the first semester our focus was on design and engineering, gears and ratios, and building various mechanisms. Next semester our focus will be on adding motors, sensors, switches, and potentiometers. The final step will be learning to write computer programs that control the robot’s movements. Robotics takes students into the world of 21st Century Learning and as you can see in the picture they really enjoy the hands on process.

Chase Gerard, Tyler Ogden and Brayton Schafer

Almira/Hartline Elementary

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ACH Middle School

achsd.org

Almira School District Primary Business Address Address Line 2 Address Line 3 Phone: 555-555-5555 Fax: 555-555-5555 E-mail: [email protected]

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Almira School District No. 17

Almira School District No. 17

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