Ithaca South
Elementary
Jr. Jacket News
“Hey! It’s getting
colder!” Issue
November 2011
INSIDE THIS ISSUE:
To our partners in education...
PTO News
2
South School Cares!
3
Student Illness
3
Cool Websites
3
Counselor Corner
4
Character Counts!
4
As I watched the masses file
into the High School cafeteria
last week for the 2nd grade
Halloween program, I was
reminded once again how involved and supportive the
Ithaca community is to our
school. It is exciting to see
how many of you are involved
on a regular basis and how
important you feel it is to be
part of your child’s education.
Regardless of grade, regardless
yf whether you work or not,
You are there for us, in large
numbers. In a world where
educators are making do with
less and less resources, you
are a constant source of support for our district.
As we go through the school
year together, I want you to
remember how important you
are to us. Whether you are
volunteering at the school, or
helping your child with homework,..every bit counts!
wonderful school we are without wonderful families.
I want to thank all of you for
the work you do. From the
bottom of my heart, thank
you!
If you ever need help from us
here at school, or if you want
to volunteer here to help
strengthen the learning process for our students, please
DO NOT HESITATE to call us
at the school.
We have a partnership together. The more we can do
to work together for our students, the better. Your role is
vital and we could not be the
Mark Abenth
Principal
Dates To Remember:
 November 2-3 Parent
teacher conferences
 November 3rd, 11:30 release
 November 4th, NO SCHOOL
 November 15th, NO
SCHOOL
 Nov. 23-25, NO SCHOOL
I Was Good For a SUB!
Occasionally your child will
have a substitute teacher in the
room for various reasons. On
these days we ask students to
be on their best behavior.
Beginning in November, we
will once again be running our
“Be Good For A Sub” program. Students who show
great character and great be-
havior will be rewarded by
earning a chance to win a submarine sandwich from MAIN
STREET PIZZA. So, to sum it
up, “If I’m good for the SUB, I
can win a good SUB!”
Names of winners will be
posted in the lobby each
month.
Special thanks to Main Street
Pizza for partnering with us in
this program.
PTO NEWS
Homecoming photo buttons, cheek cheers, and Spirit Wear sales were a huge success!
Thank you for your support!!
Yellowjacket Pride from the students and alumni was overwhelming!!
The Ithaca Elementary Parent Teacher Organization has numerous events coming down the pipes. If you are interested in becoming a volunteer, please fill out our Parent Volunteer Form and return it to North or South school. See below for some of
our upcoming events as well as our monthly meetings.
Upcoming PTO Events and Dates to Remember:
Spirit Wear Sales – Will be sold again in time for Christmas - Wed., Nov 23rd through Fri., Dec 9th. Please allow 2
weeks for delivery (secret delivery can be arranged)
Holiday Decorating at the schools – *Seeking gently used Christmas decorations* .Donations can be dropped off at
the North School office any time between now and Nov 23rd. VOLUNTEERS are also needed to decorate the North
school during the week of November 28th. If you are interested, please contact us.
November PTO Meeting Date – Please see below our PTO meeting schedule. Please note, due to no school on
Tues,, Nov. 15th, our meeting will be held Wed.. Nov 16th.
Monthly Meeting Dates/Times/Places:
*Wednesday, November 16th – 6:30pm – South School Library
Tuesday, January 17th – 6:30pm – South School Library
Tuesday, February 21st – 6:30pm – North School Media Center
Tuesday, March 20th – 6:30pm – North School Media Center
Tuesday, April 17th – 6:30pm – North School Media Center
Tuesday, May 15th – 6:30pm – North School Media Center
*No December Meeting
*Thank you to all the parents and school staff that attended the last meeting. We greatly appreciated your
thoughts and input! We hope to see you at the next meeting!
2011-2012 PTO Board Members:
CO-Presidents: Jenny Cooley and Brandie Bupp
CO-Treasurers: Heidi Gavenda and Danielle Fulghum
Secretary: Ana’ Lisa Marshall
Please feel free to contact us with any questions: Jenny Cooley (989) 875-7055 or Brandie Bupp (989) 763-4918.
Email us at [email protected] or like us on Facebook at Ithaca Elementary PTO
Page 2
J R . J AC K E T N E W S
Page 3
“ H E Y ! I T’ S G E T TI N G C O L DE R ! ” I S S U E
Our South Family CARES for our Community
Last year the South Elementary School
students and staff collected over 4,000
pounds of food for the needy in Gratiot
County. It was an AMAZING amount
of food!
This year, we will once again be collecting food for our neighbors. We will be
asking students to bring in nonperishable items beginning November
7th and continuing until Thanksgiving.
We were quite the media darlings,
collecting awards from local agencies,
being featured on radio, TV and in the
newspaper. We were so very proud of
all of you! And we plan to give it another try...
More details will come home soon, and
thank you in advance for all of your
generosity!
Please encourage your child to participate in this effort.
Tis’ the season, and germs are the reason
It’s that time of year again, flushed
faces, red noses, chapped lips, upset
bellies and hot foreheads are becoming
a daily occurrence here at South Elementary. We realize that kids get sick.
We also have come to grips with the
fact that we can’t stop it from happening. Our only hope is to contain it as
well as possible.
To do this, we remind all students to
wash their hands, cover their mouths
when coughing or sneezing, and dress
for the weather. School policy dictates
that any student be sent home with a
temperature of 99.6 degrees or above.
And must remain home until 24 hours
after the fever breaks.
do not report names, just numbers).
Your help is the key to keeping our
school healthy, and we appreciate all of
your efforts.
Your part is to help us from home.
Please dress children for the weather,
keep students who are ill at home and
report to us the details of why they are
out. Certain illnesses are contagious
and require us to report numbers of
reported cases to the health dept. (We
Check out these wonderful online resources
When surfing the web at home, take a minute to visit these sites. They are safe and
fun for our students.
bookpals.net/storyline
www.sesamestreet.org
www.kidsreads.com
www.coolmath.com
What’s new in the world of Mrs. Schumaker
Ithaca South Elementary School
400 Webster Street
Ithaca, Michigan
48847
Phone: 989-875-4741
Fax: 989-875-8701
[email protected]
ITHACA SOUTH
ELEMENTARY
A Character Counts!
School
We are on the Web!
www.ithacaschools.net
Character Counts!
Update
This month at South, our students will be learning and practicing good CITIZENSHIP. Each morning they will hear a “character thought of the day” about citizenship that will challenge them to be good citizens at school, home, or in their community. Our teachers will be on the lookout for kids showing good citizenship, and
writing what they see on good character “tickets” that will go into the monthly
drawing for a yummy CHARACTER COUNTS! lunch. Our students will also meet
Kupa the Bear at our CHARACTER COUNTS! assembly this week. Ask your child
to tell you what it means to be a good citizen!
Our kindergarten students will not only meet Kupa the bear at the assembly, but
they will be meeting all 6 of the CHARACTER COUNTS! Characters when I visit
their classrooms this month. Ask them which of the following characters is their
favorite:
Shinrai the camel (Trustworthiness), Austus the lion (Respect), Ansvar the elephant
(Responsibility), Guisto the giraffe (Fairness), Karina the Kangaroo (Caring), and of
course Kupa the bear (Citizenship).
First graders will have some fun with manners this month when my visit includes a
manners match-up game. They will explore ways to use their manners in many
different settings such as the movie theater, the playground, and even at home when
they eating dinner, or watching TV. There is never a wrong time to show RESPECT
by using the right manners!
Finally, I will close with an apology to the parents who may have had their second
grade student sticking their tongue out at them after their recent character lesson.
We usually discourage such a thing, after all, it isn’t very respectful. However, when
you are learning that paying attention is a good way to be RESPONSIBLE, a fast
“froggy” tongue comes in handy. Ask your second grader about the “poison dart
frog” game they played, and how they used eye contact to pay very close attention.
Doni Schumacker
Our first reward luncheon was a tremendous
success! All of the winners enjoyed lunch at a
special table, and were also given a prize as well.
This month we had almost twice as many nominations turned in to the office.
In November, we will be stressing the pillar of
CITIZENSHIP. We will be learning about being a
good citizen and what patriotism means.
November’s Character Luncheon winners are:
Kindergarten
Ryley White-Clancy
Emily Elliott-Clancy
Rylee Turner-Smith
Marissa Gross-Meier
Rosie Rodriguez-Smith
Elementary School Counselor
Laiyla Pray-Smith
Jackson Conn-Clancy
Karlee Whitmore-Meier
1st grade
Phoenix Martinez-Curtis
Joslyn Sandoval-Melow
Kiersten Plumley-Curtis
David Barror-Curtis
Gabe Miniard-Heffner
Ethan Ramsey-Curtis
Brynn Bootsma-Freestone
Valerie Reniewicz-Melow
2nd grade
Abbie Hillman-Villalobos
Dalton Seaman-Edgar
Gibson Marr-Villalobos
Shayne Johnson-Edgar
Merry Bailey-MacLaren
Dillan Abell-MacLaren