Eagle News 3/1/2021

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!