December 2016
Aiken Alligators
Donations and
Fundraisers
An Aiken Elementary
Publication
Inside This Issue
Staff Spotlight
2
Fun Facts
2
Donations and Fundraisers 2
Upcoming Events
2
Help Them to Hope Food
and Dry Goods Drive has
started! Please encourage
your students to bring in
canned or non-perishable
food items. Each classroom
has a festive box to keep
the collected items. A fun
new twist this year: On
December 7th, OHS
Leadership students will
come to Aiken (dressed as
Santa, elves and reindeer
with a sleigh) and visit
classrooms to collect the
things that have been
donated!
Active Alligators
Aiken Active Alligator walking club has logged over 1100
miles. That’s nearly all the way to Lincoln, Nebraska!!
Don’t forget to put names
on coats, hats, gloves,
and boots.
We are always looking for volunteers.
Please call 541-889-5584 and let us
know how
you’d like to
help.
Send in your box tops!
Every year, as many as 7.5 million students nationwide are chronically absent, meaning
they miss 10 percent or more of the school
year for any reason, excused or unexcused.
That level of absenteeism predicts poor
academic performance as early as preschool
and is a warning sign that a high school
student will drop out. New research suggests
that chronic absence predicts whether a
student will finish college. The discipline and
determination to get to school every day builds
a habit that helps a student persist and
succeed in college. The good news is that chronic absence can be reduced when
schools work with families and communities to debunk common myths about
attendance, build a culture of going to school or preschool every day and address
barriers to getting to class.
Ontario School District is an equal opportunity educator and employer.
Page 2
The Gator Gazette
Staff Spotlight
Ms. Towers teaches 5th grade at Aiken. She
was gracious enough to answer some
questions so we all could get to know her
better.
What is your full name?
Lacey RaeAnn Towers
Do you have a nickname?
Laceybug
What is your favorite thing to do in your
spare time?
Travel and graphic design!
If you could possess one super-human
power what would it be?
Super-strength!
What is the funniest thing that has ever
happened to you?
Hanging upside down to kiss the Blarney
Stone in Ireland for the gift of eloquence
and persuasiveness.
What is the craziest thing that you have ever
eaten?
Guinea pig in Peru a few summers ago.
What is something that you are really proud
of and why?
I am really proud to be a first generation
college graduate.
If you could jump on a plane, on a train, in a
boat, or in an automobile and go anywhere,
where would you go?
The next stop on my destination list is
Greece.
If you could meet any historical figure, who
would it be and why?
Christopher Columbus because we have the
same passion for traveling/exploring in
common.
Who is your favorite cartoon character?
Minnie Mouse
Fun Facts
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Your thigh bone is stronger than concrete.
Your fingernails grow almost four times as fast as your
toenails.
You blink your eyes over 10,000,000 times a year.
Your mouth uses 75 muscles when you speak.
A sneeze travels at over 100 miles per hour.
Your tongue has 3,000 taste buds.
Your brain is 80% water.
The average human dream lasts only 2 to 3 seconds.
The smallest bones in the human body are in your ear.
If all the blood vessels in your body were laid end to
end, they would reach about 60,000 miles.
In one day your heart beats 100,000 times.
By the time you are 70 you will have easily drunk over
12,000 gallons of water.
The brain uses over a quarter of the oxygen used by the
human body.
It takes the body around 12 hours to completely digest
eaten food.
Your sense of smell is around 10,000 times more
sensitive than your sense of taste.
As well as having unique fingerprints, humans also have
unique tongue prints.
What is your
most
embarrassing moment?
In elementary school - I ripped my pants at
recess.
What is your favorite part about being an
Aiken Gator?
My favorite thing
about being an
Aiken Gator is that
I get to work with
amazing children
and a fantastic
staff!
Upcoming Events
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12/2 3rd grade Field
Trip to Birds of Prey
Center
12/9 Winter Music
Concert
4-5 grades @ 1:15
2-3 grades @ 2:00
K-1 grades @ 2:45
12/14 Hot Cocoa and
Candy Canes for all
students @ 9:15 am
provided by Aiken PTO
12/16 College and
Career Day / Gator
Buck Store
12/13 Favorite sports
team dress up day for 25 cents
Ontario School District is an equal opportunity educator and employer.
 12/19-1/2 Winter
Break– NO School!