March 2021

Final week of school for before Spring Break and the calendar turns over to April! Hard to believe that we only have two months of school left in what has been a school year never to be forgotten.

Today is the last day of our Reading Week at Alpine Elementary. We hope that there have been a lot of kids reading this past week!  We are encouraging all students to keep track of minutes read or being read to at home.

Enter your minutes, TODAY Monday, March 29, by 10 pm. It will only take seconds to enter your student’s name, teacher, and total minutes.

You can click here to record total minutes or refer to the PTA Newsletter on the Alpine Elementary website.  Be sure to add any food allergies. Alternate treats are available for those with allergies. The top ten students from each grade who have entered the highest number of minutes will receive a Crumbl cookie !

Our next PTA meeting will be held on Tuesday, March 30th at 9:15 in the staff Room at Alpine Elementary. Everyone is welcome to join us!

Our 5^th grade Battle of the Books team participated at the District competition on Saturday, March 27 at AFJHS. The “We Survived the Great COVID-19” team of Adrienne Bodily, Ari Ingo, Lily Goodwin, Kyrie and Aria VanVactor (filling in for Ava Scoville) tied or won five of their six battles and were excellent representatives of Alpine Elementary! A huge thank you to our librarian Paula Ruesch, for organizing this year and every year’s, Battle of the Books. What a wonderful way to get students engaged and excited about reading.

On Saturday, Mrs. Ruesch introduced me to Keely Giles, the librarian at Vineyard Elementary. Eleven years ago, Keely brought Battle of the Books to Utah after seeing how much her sister’s children in Eugene, Oregon enjoyed BOB. As a native Oregonian, I didn’t know that BOB in Utah has its origins in my home state.

Kindergarten registration will continue through April 2. Please come into our office and get the necessary registration materials for any kindergartner who will be starting the 2021 – 22 school year. A child needs to be five-years-old before September 1, 2021 to be able to enroll in kindergarten.

We are excited to inform parents that they can now excuse student absences online on Skyward! See the attached flyer for step-by-step instructions.

The following students were recognized as Students of the Week on Friday, March 26. Teachers nominate students who are consistently demonstrating the character traits of the Alpine Big 3: Being Respectful, Responsible and Ready to learn. Congratulations, Students of the Week!

Brigham Adams– 3rd grade, Ms. Elder

Jaxton Bennett– 5th grade, Mrs. Hill

Reese Clark– 2nd grade, Mrs. Andersen

Benjamin Garcia– 1st grade, Mrs. Chou

Rebecca Hale– 1st grade, Mrs. Chou

Gracie Hartley– 4th grade, Ms. Vipperman

Conley Hughes– 1st grade, Mrs. Faux

Ruby Mason– 4th grade, Mrs. Keller

Jenica Morris– 6th grade, Mrs. Reyes

Violet Olson– 5th grade, Mrs. Padgett

Ethan Passey– 6th grade, Mrs. Reyes

Addison Rose– 1st grade, Mrs. Bailey

Callen Shin– 1st grade, Mrs. Johnson

Quail Smith– 1st grade, Mrs. Bailey

Viktoria Wilcox– 3rd grade, Ms. Elder

When I bike up Suncrest, as I did on Saturday morning, I always think of man I never met, but is legendary in the Utah Valley biking community. When you come to the four-way stop near the Suncrest Village Green Park, if you turn left, there is another half-mile climb up to Oak Summit Drive, the most difficult part of the Suncrest ascent. On June 17, 2011, Lloyd Guthrie, who is the father of Westfield Elementary principal, Salonna Thomas, was biking up that very steep climb on South Traverse Ridge Road, had a heart attack and passed away doing what brought him joy in life. Lloyd Guthrie was 83-years-old at the time of his passing! Having biked that very steep road many times, I stand in awe of a man who would even attempt such a feat at 83 years of age! The road bikers who know Lloyd Guthrie’s story call that portion of the ride Lloyd’s Hill, and for me, the inspiring account keeps me motivated to keep on pedaling on in all aspects of my life.

Have a wonderful Spring Break, and as always, remember that it is a great day to be an Eagle!

I hope you all enjoyed having your students home on Monday. Our staff had an excellent training on the importance of helping all students and staff meet their social emotional well-being needs.

What a year it has been since our world changed from a worldwide pandemic in March 2020! A year ago, I could not have told you the definition of social distancing, when it is appropriate to quarantine, how the Moderna and Johnson and Johnson vaccines compare, how to project documents in a Google Meets or Zoom meeting, and which mask works best for a man with a nose the size of mine! Lots of unexpected learning opportunities during challenging times! We seem to be seeing light at the end of the pandemic dark tunnel, but there will undoubtedly be ongoing hurdles to overcome. What a year it has been!

We are excited to inform parents that they can now excuse student absences online on Skyward! See the attached flyer for step-by-step instructions.

Our Lost and Found is once again overflowing. See the attached photos. One simple thing that parents can do to help us is to put your child’s first and last name on coats, jackets, hats and lunch boxes. With a name, we can return the lost item to the student here at school. Please come to the school and reclaim any lost items that should be in your homes and not sitting unused in our Lost and Found.

The following individuals will be recognized at the Lone Peak Council PTA Luncheon on Tuesday, March 16. Congratulations to the award recipients!

Teacher–Anna Moore

Support Staff–Sunny Wright

Parent Volunteer–Cherie’ Kelly

6th Grade Student–Caleb Ashton

The following students were recognized as Students of the Week on Friday, March 12. Teachers nominate students who are consistently demonstrating the character traits of the Alpine Big 3: Being Respectful, Responsible and Ready to learn. Congratulations, Students of the Week!

August Balser– 2nd grade, Mrs. Blodgett

Scout Bolen– 5th grade, Mrs. Padgett

Miko Braden– 1st grade, Mrs. Chou

Zoi Bruni– 5th grade, Mrs. Hill

Sarah Buchanan– 2nd grade, Mrs. Blodgett

Rockwell Gardner– 3rd grade, Mrs. Duke

Jackson Hebbert– 1st grade, Mrs. Faux

Sydney Hogge– 2nd grade, Mrs. Wallace

Joy Hung– 5th grade, Mr. Horan

Millie Lanham– Kindergarten, Mrs. Aitchison

Jaxon Larkin– 3rd grade, Ms. Elder

Joseph Merrell– 4th grade, Mrs. Orgill

Timothy Neves– 6th grade, Mrs. Kaczmarek

Ian Orgill– 1st grade, Mrs. Chou

Finn Rosenvall– 1st grade, Ms. Johnson

Laura and I had the opportunity to spend Saturday with our three children and 11 grandchildren who live along the Wasatch Front at a friend’s cabin in Tollgate, outside of Park City. A bit of a sketchy drive on snowy roads driving up the cabin, but a wonderful family gathering and reminder of what is most important in life. And because the upcoming week is Spring Break for Oregon schools, we will have in our home our daughter, son-in-law and the three grandchildren we didn’t see on Saturday. We need to find time to travel up to Rapid City, SD to visit our son and daughter-in-law to have time with all five of our children!

Have a wonderful week, and as always, remember that it is a great day to be an Eagle!

How about that weekend weather! The sunshine felt good and gave us all the opportunity to get outside and work in our yards or participate in our favorite outdoor activities.

We will be conducting a Safety Week, March 8 – 12. I have attached our Emergency Response Plans which can be found in Emergency Procedures under the Information tab. We want students, parents and staff to understand what is meant by the following emergency procedures:

We also encourage parents to review the Alpine Safe Route Map on the school website.

The Alpine Elementary School Community Council will be having their March meeting on Thursday, March 11, 9:30 – 10:30 am in the Conference Room. The agenda is attached.

We are grateful to all of the Alpine Elementary students who participated in this year’s Storytelling Festival! This year’s winners are Paisley Nance (lower grades) and Jane Rasmussen (upper grades). These two students will advance to the district level of the competition. Congratulations!

TODAY is the last day of Math Madness Week, and it has been such a great week! Remember to enter in all of your child’s minutes they have spent doing math minutes here in the google form TODAY.  Any websites that you work on with math, flashcards, worksheets, or recipes will count. The top ten kids from each grade who have entered the highest number of minutes by March 8th at 10 pm will receive a Crumbl cookie!!!  For those with food allergies we will have another prize option. Check out the link for more information.

We on the PTA board are so grateful for all those who have reached out to help us fill the PTA board for next year. There is one more spot left to be filled. We have an amazing mom, Suzanne Campbell, that has stepped up to be either President Elect or Co-President, but she needs someone to work with, as President or Co-President . She has done a fantastic job organizing and running our Chinese Lantern Festival the past few years. She will be great to work with!  Please reach out to Ammie Gillespie 801-472-4323 or Laralee Proctor 385-225-0657 if you have any questions. Thank you!

5^th and 6^th grade students who signed up for Battle of the Books will be battling today, Monday, March 8th? The winning team will compete at the District Battle of the Books Competition on Saturday, March 27th at American Fork Junior High School.

Our 3^rd and 4th grade students will battle on Monday, March 22!

Our Lost and Found is once again overflowing. See the attached photos. One simple thing that parents can do to help us is to put your child’s first and last name on coats, jackets, hats and lunch boxes. With a name, we can return the lost item to the student here at school. Please come to the school and reclaim any lost items that should be in your homes and not sitting unused in our Lost and Found.

The warmer temperatures are hopefully a harbinger that Spring is quickly approaching. For our date night on Friday, Laura taught me how to play pickle ball. Fun game but I have a lot to learn. My rudimentary skills are humbling when balanced with my very competitive nature. And on Saturday morning, I biked up up Suncrest. Good workout going up the hill and always fun coming down the mountain at an exhilarating speed!

Have a wonderful week, and as always, remember that it is a great day to be an Eagle!

Can you believe March has arrived? Has it really been almost a year that we have been dealing with a worldwide pandemic? As I have mentioned before, I am so grateful that our students have had the opportunity to be in school since August 18. We have three grandchildren in Oregon in 2^nd, 5^th and 8^th grade that have been going to school on a modified schedule since the first of February, and this week will be their first full-time week in school! We have been very fortunate here compared to many parts of the country.

There will be no school for students on Friday, March 5. It will be a Prep Day for our teachers.

Let’s give math a “Slam dunk”! March 1st-8th math is the game! This means we want students to do as much math as they can at home. Online math websites, flashcards, worksheets, recipe measurements. Anything that includes numbers! Please keep track of all math done in minutes and record in the google form. Click here.

The top ten kids from each grade who have entered the highest number of minutes by March 8th at 10pm will receive a Crumbl cookie!!!  For those with food allergies we will have another prize option.

Our champion teachers will encourage the kids at school, but the game plan includes all participation minutes with math at home. Please click on the link to see the flier for more information. https://docs.google.com/document/d/1REi9fymK5Yy-FxHGPBu7Iaqvm3rD6DrGboVzDa22w9U/edit?usp=sharing

The PTA is in need of a few more volunteers to fill the board, especially the President and President-elect positions. Laralee Proctor and Ammie Gillespie have been the Co-Presidents for two years and unfortunately two years is the max they are able to serve in this position. We know a lot of people are hesitant to get involved because they are not sure of the time commitment or responsibilities included. To help with this, we are having a meeting this Tuesday, March 2, at 9:15 am in the Staff Room at Alpine Elementary. We will be talking about both the time commitment and the responsibilities of each of the board positions. We feel that if people knew how easy it really is to be on the PTA Board, more people would be interested in doing it. Please know that coming to this meeting does in no way commit you to anything. It is purely an informative meeting. Please come, and bring a friend. Thank you!

We will soon be having our Battle of the Books competitions:

5^th and 6^th Grades –Monday, March 8

3^rd and 4^th Grades—Monday, March 22

Don’t forget that our school can receive money for your old ink cartridges. We have a recycling box in the Staff Room. Just put your old cartridges in a plastic bag and deposit the ink cartridges in the recycle box.

Our second annual Lantern Festival was a success! The time, effort and creativity of the students in creating the lanterns is to be celebrated. We appreciate the many parent volunteers who came to the school to both hang and take down the lanterns. And a special thank you to Suzanne Campbell who has been the source of vision and passion behind our two Lantern Festivals!

The following students were recognized as Students of the Week on Friday, February 26. Teachers nominate students who are consistently demonstrating the character traits of the Alpine Big 3: Being Respectful, Responsible and Ready to learn. Congratulations, Students of the Week!

Sage Bolen– 2nd grade, Ms. M. Moore

Carston Castle– 6th grade, Mrs. Monson

Leah Christensen– 6th grade, Ms. Kuo

Charlotte Collings– 1st grade, Mrs. Chou

Lila Crawley– 2nd grade, Mrs. Blodgett

Daisy Elder– 6th grade, Mrs. Kaczmarek

Charlotte Gerber– 2nd grade, Mrs. Blodgett

Tyler Greenwood– 3rd grade, Ms. Elder

Morgan Greer– 6th grade, Mrs. Monson

Kayleigh Nelsen– 4th grade, Ms. A. Moore

Cash Reynolds– 1st grade, Ms. Johnson

MaryKate Smith– Kindergarten, Mrs. Aitchison

Rome Verzello– 4th grade, Mrs. Keller

Annika Wilcox– 1st grade, Mrs. Faux

Danielle Zaharias– 5th grade, Mrs. Padgett

An educator always appreciates hearing from a former student who in some way communicates that we have made a difference in his/her life. Perhaps it is a former student seeing a teacher in the store or some other public place and running up to the teacher and enthusiastically saying “hello”. Or if they are brave enough, sometimes a middle or high school student will see a former teacher and express their appreciation for the experience that child had while he/she was in the teacher’s classroom. Nothing makes a teacher feel better than those moments!

Over the weekend I heard from a former student, now 48-years old, who I taught in a Language Arts class 33 years ago at Redmond High School in Redmond, Oregon. Brian Malarkey is now a well-known chef/restaurant owner who lives in San Diego, California. He has opened over 25 restaurants and has appeared multiple times on the Food Network and Top Chef. Brian was always a loud enthusiastic student who was often the class comedian, but it was evident that he was very creative and someone who liked to think outside of the box. Friday night, Brian, who I have not heard from in years, sent me an email saying, “I have been randomly thinking about my biggest influence from my school days, and I just wanted to reach out and say thank you so much for your influence. My wild spirit that you encouraged and did not put down, has driven me to great success.” The payoffs as an educator come in unexpected and special ways, even 33 years later. It is never too late to say thank you to an educator who made a difference in your life!

Have a wonderful week, and as always, remember that it is a great day to be an Eagle!

The Alpine School District Board of Education announces the appointment of Dr. Shane Farnsworth as interim superintendent effective March 5th, 2021. Dr. Farnsworth will oversee the day-to-day operations of the district as interim superintendent until his appointment as superintendent is official in July of this year. Superintendent Sam Jarman will continue serving in various assigned responsibilities and in a consulting capacity until his official retirement in July.

We are grateful for all of the students who made lanterns that will be hung throughout our school by parent volunteers today as Alpine Elementary rings in the Chinese New Year with a Lantern Festival, February 22 – 26.

Here is the link to the online performances from our Chinese classes for the Chinese New Year. Enjoy!

Thank you to the PTA volunteers who helped us with Internet Safety Week last week! The internet can be a dark and scary place if not used with boundaries and proper education. Computer Lab teacher, Jaime Clement’s, Digital Citizenship tab on the Alpine Elementary website is a great source of information on how to keep your children safe on their electronic devices.

 Students of the Week

The following students were recognized as Students of the Week on Friday, February 19. Teachers nominate students who are consistently demonstrating the character traits of the Alpine Big 3: Being Respectful, Responsible and Ready to learn. Congratulations, Students of the Week!

Charlotte Ashton– 3rd grade, Ms. Elder

Adrienne Bodily– 5th grade, Mrs. Chang

Lennox Deaton– Kindergarten, Mrs. Malone

Darren Favro– 4th grade, Mrs. Orgill

Ellie Fugal– 6th grade, Ms. Kuo

Gabe Hansen– 4th grade, Ms. A. Moore

Luke Hejny– 2nd grade, Mrs. Andersen

Landon Morris– Kindergarten, Mrs. Aitchison

Saydee Nelson– 2nd grade, Mrs. Andersen

Logan Rogerson– 5th grade, Mrs. Hill

Elina Rose– 1st grade, Mrs. Faux

Nathanael Smith– 6th grade, Ms. Kuo

Sara Walker– 4th grade, Mrs. Orgill

Kinley Wing– Kindergarten, Mrs. Aitchison

Taj Andrew Young– 2nd grade, Mrs. Wallace

As part of our annual evaluation process, all teachers and administrators are asked to get feedback from key stakeholders in a survey. I have attached the results from the surveys that I administered to teachers, parents and one grade level, 5^th grade, of students.

Have a wonderful week, and as always, remember that it is a great day to be an Eagle!

We are grateful for the new snowfall, but please be careful on the snowy roads. Driving times to and from school will need to be extended.

Check out the Internet Safety/Digital Citizenship tab on the Alpine Elementary website. Resources are included for parents.

Ask your child about the video they watched in class, or watch the video as a family. Complete the challenge and submit a photo each day to be entered into a drawing for fun prizes.  Drawings will happen Wednesday, Thursday & Friday.

List the names of each Alpine Elementary School student and send pictures to *[email protected].  

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I can be Smart on the Internet! – Faux Paw Adventures in the Internet

CHALLENGE: Submit a picture or drawing of your family making a smart internet choice*

I can avoid Cyberbullying! – Faux Paw Meets the First Lady

CHALLENGE: Send a kind email or make a nice comment on social media*

I can Balance Real Life with Screen Time – Faux Paw Goes to the Game

CHALLENGE: Play a game, go on a walk, do a non-screen activity together*

I can be a Good Digital Citizen! – Faux Paw and the Unfortunate Upload

CHALLENGE: watch a positive video online together*

Don’t forget to email a picture each day for a chance to win great prizes like those below. Three winners each day!

$20 Chick Fil A Gift Card

Bop It Game

$20 Roxberry Gift Card

$20 Fiiz Gift Card

Card Game:Cover Your Assets

Zingo Game

$20 Amazon Gift Card

Bowling (Jack and Jill Lanes)

Stuffed Eagle

We are so excited to host Alpine Elementary’s Second Annual Chinese Lantern Festival coming up next week! Students (not just those in Chinese Immersion) should be bringing to school their lanterns this week, and we ask that all lanterns are turned in to their classes by this Friday. The lanterns will be hung on Feb. 22nd and students will take a tour of the lanterns by individual classes.

The Chinese Lantern Festival will kick off with the Chinese Immersion classes performing their Chinese New Year concert, only this time the classes will be recorded and links will be sent out for viewing. The entire week will be filled with fun Chinese New Year activities in individual classes, as well as in our specialty classes.

We are still looking for parent volunteers who would be willing to come to the school Monday, February 22 to help hang lanterns, and also those who would be willing to help take down the lanterns the afternoon of February 24. Please contact Suzanne Campbell at 801-635-7899 to help. And a final reminder, the class with the most lanterns turned in wins a pizza party!!

The following students were recognized as Students of the Week on Friday, February 12. Teachers nominate students who are consistently demonstrating the character traits of the Alpine Big 3: Being Respectful, Responsible and Ready to learn. Congratulations, Students of the Week!

Bella Bruni– 4th grade, Mrs. Keller

Zach Burgess– 2nd grade, Mrs. Wallace

Eden Christensen– 1st grade, Mrs. Faux

Nathan Conley– 1st grade, Mrs. Chou

Liam DeVilliers– 3rd grade, Mrs. Duke

Ronan Harward– Kindergarten, Mrs. Malone

Chase Hejny– 5th grade, Mr. Horan

Aaron Janeway– 6th grade, Mrs. Reyes

Cody Mason– 6th grade, Mrs. Kaczmarek

Henry Olson– 1st grade, Ms. Johnson

Cassidy Pullham– 6th grade, Mrs. Reyes

Penn Slemboski– 5th grade, Mrs. Padgett

Hue Slemboski– 2nd grade, Ms. M. Moore

Sydney Thompson– Kindergarten, Mrs. Malone

Ruth Willis– Kindergarten, Mrs. Malone

A few hours after receiving the second vaccine shot on Saturday, my body starting telling me not to get too cocky about the good health I have enjoyed during the pandemic. 24 hours of fever, chills, headache and lots of sleep. All gone now, but a good reminder that anything associated with this virus needs to be taken seriously.

Last week, I went to visit Silver Lake Elementary in Eagle Mountain to eat lunch with our first-grade grandson who is having difficulty transitioning from home schooling with his mother for the first part of the school year to returning to the public school. Because Easton refuses to get out of the car in the school parking lot, our daughter walks him into his classroom each day and sits in the back of the room with her three-year-old daughter while Easton gets into his school day groove, at which time, his mother and younger sister quietly exit the room. While I was visiting with the principal, Joel Miller, at Silver Lake Elementary, outside of the lunch room, a student approached us and said, “Mr. Miller, is that your grandpa?” As you can see in Mr. Miller’s school photo, he is a handsome, mature looking man. But his grandfather? Ouch! Maybe I should start shaving my head like Mr. Miller.

In that same first grade classroom at Silver Lake Elementary, our daughter sent us a photo of the Valentine bag one of the students brought to school on Friday. Aurora is still working on the proper spelling of pencils.  See attachment.

Have a wonderful week, and as always, remember that it is a great day to be an Eagle!