LANCER NEWS April 17, 2017 The Countdown is On! The last full month of school brings us rain, state testing, rain, prom, the start of track season, more rain, and the school play. Your Lancers may be ready for summer, but this month is keeping them plenty busy! Read on for more of what’s been happening and what’s still ahead!
1 Hands On Mrs. Ashley Bures, K-6 Special Education Ah! Spring is here and I couldn’t be more excited, but this 휀me of year can be difficult for students and teachers. We are all ge埕�ng restless because we are being tempted by all of this nice weather and the end of the year is within sight! While this is a good feeling we also know that between us and the end of the year we have State Assessments, which tend to be a stressor for everyone. I have no휀ced that when this 휀me of year rolls around we all go into assessment mode where we are working so hard that we forget about some of the fun that comes with spring and the comple휀on of the school year. In special educa휀on and educa휀on in general, the use of manipula휀ves can make learning more meaningful as well as more fun! We have found a few things to help us learn our le។�ers and numbers that the students absolutely love that are easy to make and fun to work with. Making learning fun is important all year, but I have found that if we can incorporate fun into our daily rou휀ne we see fewer behavior issues as well as plain old boredom. Even just taking a class outside for a lesson can boost everyone’s mood and increase produc휀vity. Pictured are le។�ers wri។�en in salt, le។�ers made from equal parts of cornstarch and hair condi휀oner, le។�ers made out of pretzels, and hopscotch with le។�ers! 2 April 2017 Lunch 3 One for the Books Mr. Austin Lee, Social Studies With the end of the year quickly approaching, and myself as a first year teacher, I am quickly realizing that I am not ge埕�ng along my “historical 휀meline” very fast, and will not get near as far as I had wanted to this year. The last couple of weeks we have been working on and studying about the Civil Rights movement, and the many issues that belong in that era. Star휀ng with Mar휀n Luther King Jr. to Brown vs. Topeka Board of Educa휀on, to Jim Crow, and finally to the Civil Rights act of 1964, we will wrap up the “Civil Rights Movement.” Along with teaching American History and a couple other subjects, the Junior class has just finished up with prom. As co‐junior class sponsor with Mrs. Lee, we couldn’t have made it a great prom without the help of Cathy Stephens, who spearheaded the event, and made it a success. Under the Big Top Mr. & Mrs. Lee get down! 4 From the desk of the Superintendent, Mr. Mahon As the month of April is rapidly coming to an end and as we celebrate Easter, it is the time of year for children to go outside and enjoy the warmer weather. Students will go for walks, play on the playground, and play games around the building as part of their educational day. Play is an important part of a child’s education. Crest schools values the importance of play in the development of children, especially at the elementary level. This along with great instruction gives all of our students the opportunity to be successful. This time of year also brings the administration of the Kansas State Assessments. Our third, fourth, fifth, eighth, and tenth graders are administered the state Science, English Language Arts, and Mathematics Assessments throughout the month of April. The assessments align with the state standards and are administered to help us understand how children are progressing in their learning. This data also assists in making curriculum decisions at both the district and school level. If you are wondering what you can do to help your child, here are some suggestions: ● Encourage your child to try his/her best! ● Help your child get a good night’s sleep and have a good breakfast in the morning. ● Help your child with time management. ● Remind your child to read carefully. ● Remind your child to check his/her work. Finally, I would like to send a special thank you to all the people who helped with Under the Big Top, the 2017 Junior­Senior Prom. Without the students, staff, and great volunteerism of parents, the event would not have been as special at it was. It is so amazing to watch our students work to pull off such a great event. We are so proud of the entire junior class and their sponsors Mrs. Bailey and Mr. Austin Lee for organizing this great evening. In addition we want to thank all the parents who organized the After Prom, a very important part of the experience. - Mr. Chuck Mahon 5 Inside 6th Grade Science Mr. Craig Frazell, Science The sixth graders have wri។�en ar휀cles for you over things we have covered in science this year. Enjoy! Endangered Species Presentation Trevor Church, Avery Blaufuss, Ty Chambers, & Kamryn Luedke Endangered ‐ at risk of Ex휀nc휀on Our class each chose an endangered animal for our presenta휀on. Avery chose the Greater Prairie Chicken, Trevor chose the Javan Rhino, Ty chose the Greater One‐Horned Rhino, and Kamryn chose the Ocelot. On our first slide, it showed our animal and its name. On the second slide we put the defini휀on of our animal and the defini휀on of endangered. To find the defini휀on of our animal we typed in the name and it popped up. On slide number three we described our animal’s habitat. On slide number four we described the climate and weather. For slide five we described the diet of our animal. For slides six and seven we found facts about our animal. Last, but not least, for slide eight, we got to choose a video. Then we were finished! Nervous System Disorders Sydney Stephens, Shayda Womelsdorf, & David Wood A nervous system disorder is when your nervous system has been damaged, disturbed, or you were naturally born with a nervous system disorder. In class we studied and learned about nervous system disorders. A뼀er a long studying period, we each created a powerpoint individually on our own nervous system disorders that we found interes휀ng and wanted to learn more about. These disorders were things such as tremor, herpes simplex HIV2, and epilepsy. For these powerpoints we were told to cover different points such as the defini휀on, symptoms, common treatment, facts, and a short educa휀onal video. We presented these powerpoints in class on Mr. Frazell’s computer. At the end of our presenta휀ons our class would have a chance to ask the presenter ques휀ons. A뼀er ques휀ons, we would give the presenter a round of applause. Owl Pellets Colby McAdam, Karter Miller, Ethan Godderz, & McKenna Hammond An owl swallows its prey whole, then regurgitates its bones and fur in a ball called an owl pellet. We dissected them in class and built a mouse skeleton. It was so fun. We found a skull, legs, vertebrae, ribs, jaws, tailbone, teeth, and claws. We built the skeleton, glued it on a poster, and hung it up in the hallway. Barn owls eat mice, shrews, moles, and voles. You can find owl pellets in barns and in fields. A뼀er barn owls eat their prey, the bones and fur go into the 6 gizzard and the meat goes into the stomach. Then the bones and fur get compacted together to form an owl pellet, which the owl regurgitates. The owl regurgitates up to three pellets a day. Dissections Brinley McGhee, Cody Nolan, Kendalynn Williams, & Trynton Dietrich This year, our class dissected two things. We dissected an owl pellet and an earthworm. When we dissected the owl pellet, there were many bones. Some of the groups found many bones and skulls, such as eight skulls. A뼀er we separated the bones from the hair, we figured out what the bones were called and then we organized them into groups. Soon a뼀erwards, we took the bones and made a skeleton of the prey the owl ate. We labeled the bones on the poster. We all ended up doing great. The earthworms were fun when we dissected them. We looked in them and learned about all the organs. It was really hard to dissect the earthworms because if you cut too deep it would cut through the organs. We had to pin the skin down with some pins that were really sharp. It turns out earthworms have five hearts and two brains. The brains were really small, but they were cool. That is what we dissected this year, and we hope we get to dissect more! We also did five presenta휀ons on lots of things, such as vertebrates. They were great, and we all did lots of things. They were fun. We learned a lot about vertebrates. 7 Attention Crest Parents and Guardians There have been several instances where vehicles dropping oퟤ� students have passed a Crest School Bus that is stopped to unload or load students. This is a violation of the law and will not be tolerated anymore. We are asking all parents/guardians to review and adhere to the following guidelines for the dropping oퟤ� and picking up of students on school grounds. · Obey all posted signs. The sign posted at the south entrance to school parking lot clearly states “TRAFFIC PROHIBITED WHEN SCHOOL BUSES ARE IN DRIVEWAY” · Buses arrive in the morning between 7:35 AM & 7:40 AM and leave between 7:45 AM and 7:50 AM. All other vehicles are prohibited to enter the drive in front of the school until all buses have vacated the parking lot. · Vehicles that do not follow these guidelines will lose the privileges of picking–up or dropping-oퟤ� students on school grounds. · Whenever a school bus is stopped and the red lights are flashing and a STOP sign is out, do not pass the school bus. NO EXCEPTIONS. · At this time there will be no changes to the aퟬ�ernoon procedure for picking up students but it is being evaluated and may be changed at the start of the 2017_2018 school year Thank you for your immediate cooperation with these directives. 8