DISTRICT

Spring Break runs through April 4. The District Office will remain open during Spring Break from 7 a.m.-noon and 1-3 p.m. School resumes at all buildings on Late Start Monday, April 7.

Facilities tours of Helen Haller Elementary and Sequim High School will take place on Thursday, April 3, at 10 a.m. and 1 p.m. Call Patsene Dashiell, Director of Communications, at 582-3264 if you are interested in signing up for a tour.

A school construction bond public forum will be held Tuesday, April 8, at 7 p.m. in the Sequim High School library. If you have questions about this event, call the District Office at 582-3260.

HIGHLY CAPABLE PROGRAM

Ten HiCap students recently attended the Young Writer’s Conference at Peninsula College in Port Angeles where they visited with two professional author/illustrators, participated in writing exercises and shared their own written pieces with students from all over the Olympic Peninsula. According to teacher Margaret Whitley, it was an interesting and inspiring day!

GREYWOLF ELEMENTARY

Josie Olsen, disaster services coordinator for the Olympic Peninsula Chapter of the American Red Cross, visited Greywolf during the week of March 17-21. The American Red Cross works closely with local schools and youth groups to help children and their families become better prepared. They provide information in a fun, nonthreatening and interactive learning environment and tailor the information toward the needs of the students and the school.

A disaster preparedness presentation was made to students in kindergarten, first and second grades. This unit teaches students how to prepare for disasters such as earthquakes, floods and house fires. Students learn to develop disaster plans, build disaster kits and other critical preparedness steps. It included take-home activities that can involve the entire family.

A Basic First Aid for Youth presentation was given to students in third, fourth and fifth grades. This unit helps students learn the basics of first aid, emergency response and disaster preparedness. Students received hands-on practice with basic first aid techniques such as bandaging wounds and assisting choke victims. Take home first aid kits were given to each child.

Students not only learned vital emergency skills, but they loved taking their new knowledge home to their families.

Caryn Little’s fourth-grade class is working on elaborating their writing using the strategy Show, Don’t Tell. This strategy helps writers to “grow” their writing by showing how a character feels rather than just coming out and saying it.

Here are some examples of their work:

Happy: Clap! Clap! Clap! Jump! Jump! Jump! I just got the new Lego Star Fighter! “It’s $500. How did you pay for this?” yelled Phil. Charles Logan

Clumsy: The boy broke the plate, the glass and the vase all at the same time! The boy shouts, “Oops!” The parents were not happy. He stepped on the sharp glass and shrieked, “Ouch!” No one seemed to care. When his mother cried, “My vase, my beautiful plate!” “My lucky cup!” so yelled the dad. No one cared that the boy was bleeding. Dylan Jackson

Embarrassed: It was the first day of school. On the bus, I hid in my jacket. At recess I sat on the curb. I was blushing all day. Kaely Henning

Disappointed: On Christmas morning Craig wanted to open his present but his parents were still asleep. So Craig looked in his stocking and found DARK CHOCOLATE! Craig’s shoulders dropped. When his parents woke up Craig opened his present and it was underwear! Craig started to cry and frown. Harrison Bell

Excited: One Christmas morning Heidi woke up and saw every present. Her heart started to pound. She stared wide-eyed, her mouth was wide open and she jumped up and down. Sami Stallman

Sad: She was holding back her tears. Well, not all of them. She had a big frown and her head was hanging so low. She had lost her best friend. I felt so bad for her. Hailey Collier

Proud: “Yay!” yelled the person with his head held high and his chest pumped. “I get to work at the Burger King!” screamed Bob. “That means one burger an hour!” Ashton Smith

Helpful: There’s a new girl at school and everyone made fun of her, but Lizzy. Lizzy is nice to her. One day she dropped her books and everyone laughed. Lizzy didn’t.  She helped pick up the books and gave them to the new girl. Ellie Turner

Clumsy: He was in the woods playing. He tripped and rolled over everything. Bailey Genissee

Shy: Today was the tryouts for the Talent Show. When I went on stage I felt my cheeks blush so I just stayed on the ground. But when I did sing, I sang softly. When I left, I tried to act like nothing was wrong. Andreana Johnson

Sad: He is having a bad day because his friend moved away. He never really got a chance to say goodbye. He has lots of tears in his eyes. Myles Tadlock

HELEN HALLER ELEMENTARY SCHOOL

Teacher Jane Labeaume would like to share the lyrics to the song the students created with the help of Jim Valley, and performed during a school assembly held Jan. 29. Jane says, “We call it Cougar Call Out.”

Cougar call out that’s for me

Following the rules … 1, 2, 3

Kelso choices always win

You too can zone it in

The big three are Haller’s golden key

Safety-respectfulness-responsibility

Kindness, friendships, work together

Teamwork always makes us better

Haller is the place to be

Cougar call out that’s for me

Cougar call out … 1, 2, 3

Yayyyyyyy!

Sharle Osborne’s fourth-graders would like to report on a few recent happenings:

About Cougar Call-Outs:

A cougar call-out is a reward given to you by an adult at school for being respectful, safe and responsible. When you get it, you put your name on the back of the card. Samantha Gonzalez

You put the card in for a drawing. Some of the options are a read-in with popcorn and a snack with Kelso. Xander Hatt

The other three options are Recess with a Buddy, an Art Lesson and Games with Principal Russ Lodge. Sydnee Price

At the end of the month we collect all the Call-Outs and see who gets the prizes. Kaitlyn Sweeney

Cougar Call-outs are cool! Jesse James Obermeit

Ceramics Lessons:

We made snails. Soon we will glaze them. Jacob Pedrazzini

My favorite part was making the snail’s shell. Mayhsa Deol

We had a lot of fun. Roslyn taught us the steps. Olivia Brandt

The teacher is the owner of Arts Aglazing in Port Angeles. Aarell Ancheta

We are going to have three ceramic lessons this year. Jack VanDeWege

In our next class we will make ceramic birdhouses. Keena Paris

SEQUIM HIGH SCHOOL

Five students traveled to regional competition for National History Day held at Olympic College in Bremerton on March 24. They brought home five blue ribbons. Competing in the Senior Individual Exhibit category, Anthony Creasey won first place. Competing in the Senior Team Website category, Mikaele Baker, Brenna Neal, Hannah Patterson and Dustin Shofstall took first place.

These students now have an opportunity to refine their projects before the state competition, which will be held at Green River Community College on May 3.