DISTRICT
_ No school on Friday, Feb. 12, and Monday, Feb. 15, in honor of Presidents Day weekend.
_ Looking for 2010-2011 Sequim School District kindergarten students: Spread the word. Now is the time to prepare for kindergarten registration. Staffing for our kindergarten is directly related to how many students register in the spring. Please help us get the message out to parents and especially those who may not presently have other children in the school system.
_ Kindergarten readiness meeting: 6-7 p.m. Thursday, March 4, at Helen Haller and Greywolf elementary schools
Parents will have the opportunity to meet the kindergarten teachers, principal and other staff. After a brief presentation of requirements, a question/answer session will be held.
Kindergarten registration will be from 4-7 p.m. Monday, May 3, at Helen Haller Elementary and all week during school hours for Greywolf Elementary.
Call Greywolf at 582-3300 and Haller at 582-3200 if you absolutely cannot make it in to register during the above times.
To be eligible to attend kindergarten for the 2010-2011 school year, your child needs to be 5 years old on or before Aug. 31, 2010. Registration is not complete and teacher assignments are not made until all the requirements below are met
Necessary items:
_ Immunization dates. Requirements are as follows: four DTP – with last given after 4 years of age; three polio – with last given after 4 years of age; hepatitis B – series of three; two MMR – first after 1 year of age and second at least 28 days later; two doses varicella (chicken pox) – given after 1 year of age.
_ Bring an original birth certificate. These are available through the Clallam County Courthouse if the child was born in Washington. The schools make a copy of the original. Hospital certificate with cute little feet is not acceptable.
_ Your child – he/she goes through a brief screening process with the kindergarten staff while you complete paperwork.
_ Proof of residency – current bill, lease agreement, etc., with your physical address listed.
_ Students attend Helen Haller if they live east of Seventh Avenue. Those students west of Seventh Avenue need to register at Greywolf Elementary. Maps are available in the school office if you are unsure where your child should attend.
GREYWOLF ELEMENTARY SCHOOL
Students, parents, community volunteers and staff gathered early on Tuesday, Feb. 2, to begin Camp iCan, an eight-week camp designed to help students with positive experiences in math, reading, vocabulary and test-taking skills. Every day students earn points for attendance, attitude and achievement as they participate in varied and fun activities before school. Principal Patti Grenquist buried all of the students’ lists of academic "I Can’ts" as they prepared to celebrate all of their "I Cans!"
– Sue Park, math specialist
HELEN HALLER ELEMENTARY SCHOOL
• The coho salmon eggs have arrived at Helen Haller. All students see the eggs weekly during science class and watch them hatch, change to alevin and then fry. Sharle Osborne’s fourth-graders assist the kindergarten through fourth grade as they come to Hurd Creek Hatchery to release the fry on March 18.
– Sharle Osborne, teacher
SEQUIM MIDDLE SCHOOL
_ Sequim pharmacist Ruth Iredale spent a day with Steve Koehler and Meredith Johnson’s combined sixth-grade science classes to discuss medicines and the process of testing new treatments with clinical trials. Students were attentive and enthusiastic as she enjoyed answering questions about medicines and the job of a pharmacist. The students and teachers are very grateful for Iredale’s gift of her time and expertise
– Steve Koehler, sixth-grade science teacher
_ The amazing sixth- and seventh-grade students in Michael Galligan’s classes read more than 800 books combined just in the first semester! Way to go guys. Keep reading!
– Michael Galligan, NBCT, language arts teacher
Earlier in the year when the annual SMS magazine sales failed to raise as much revenue as was needed to pay for this year’s athletic and ASB activities, the ASB council put their thinking caps on. Many ideas were tossed around, many were dismissed by advisor Caity Karapostoles as too time intensive or chaotic or just plain impossible.
One idea that seemed attractive to the council members and acceptable to its advisor was grade against grade Penny Wars held to shore up the ASB funds. The idea was tossed around and it was decided through a council vote to add the Penny Wars to the ASB calendar in addition to the annual Jeff Katerina Penny Wars held later in the spring. The goal was $1,000.
So, the penny jars were distributed, posters were made and displayed, and the war was on! For anyone who hasn’t been involved in Penny Wars, it is a simple game. Pennies, nickels, dimes and quarters increase the grade’s total. Dollars in the same grade’s jar decrease the total count. The class with the most coins and fewest dollars earn spirit points. Of course any money donated benefits the ASB, whether a dime or a dollar!
The war raged for two weeks with the sixth grade holding the lead for most of the time. Often its lead was almost three times as much as the seventh and eighth grades. Sabotage was rampant as the seventh and eighth grades put their one, five and ten dollar bills in the sixth grade’s jar. And still the sixth grade held the lead.
A lot is at stake in the quest for Spirit Points this year. The class with the highest coin count was awarded 20,000 spirit points, second place earned 10,000 spirit points and the class with the least coin count was rewarded with 6,000 spirit points. An average spirit event earns the classes half as much so winning this event was huge as it leveled the playing field for the classes currently in second and third places. The eighth graders – the class of 2014 – have won Spirit Wars both their sixth- and seventh-grade years, and being in second or third place was not going to be an option.
There was a lot going on as the grades plotted their campaign in the Penny Wars. The sixth grade started out hot and heavy and as mentioned before, maintained the lead until the very last. The seventh grade started out slow and like a turtle, made slow and steady progress. While they never led the pack in the daily counts, they were often in second place. This position brought on more sabotage directed at them by both the sixth and eighth grades. In the end, the eighth grade rallied and brought in $170 in coins, including $25 in rolled pennies brought in each by Matthew Kowitz and Dylan Chatters. In addition, Allison Masangkay brought two $20 bills in and demolished the sixth graders lead. In the end, eighth grade ruled supreme once again.
And the goal? The students collected $976.98, and the forever giving teacher Tricia Billes wrote a check for $23.02, bringing us up to our goal. Now the ASB has funds to cover the upcoming Honor Roll Dessert Social and other great fun events.
– Caity Karapostoles, ASB advisor/secretary
SEQUIM COMMUNITY SCHOOL
The next planning meeting for the First Teacher fundraiser event will be at 10 a.m. Thursday, Feb. 18, at the First Teacher room. As always, children are welcome at the planning meeting. Save this date: First Teacher Fundraiser on Saturday, May 15, at the
Sequim Boys & Girls Club.
– Patsene Dashiell, First Teacher events coordinator
_ Other First Teacher happenings:
Wednesday, Feb. 10 – Kids Craft at 10:30 a.m. is chocolate kiss mouse valentine (Drop in from 9:30 a.m.-1 p.m.)
Thursday, Feb. 11 – Parent Connection with Nicole Brewer at 10 a.m. Come meet other parents and talk about parenting topics while your children play together. For more information about Parent Connection, contact Nicole at 461-9992.
Friday, Feb. 12 – First Teacher is closed.
Monday, Feb. 15 – First Teacher is closed in observance of Presidents Day.
Tuesday, Feb. 16 – WIC (Women, Infants, Children) is set up in the First Teacher room from 9 a.m.-4 p.m. For more information about the WIC program, call Pam Walker at 417-2275
• We still have openings for the free upcoming six-session parenting class "Developing Capable People: Raising Self-Reliant Children in a Self-Indulgent World," taught by Linda and John Benson. Based on Dr. Stephen Glenn’s research on the five skills that determine how effectively children will deal with life’s challenges. Class sessions will be 6-8 p.m. Wednesdays Feb. 17, Feb. 24, March 3, March 10, March 17 and March 24 in the First Teacher Room 4W, at 220 W. Alder St. Child care is available at $10 per child per session. Call 582-3428 or 681-2250 to sign up for the class and for child care.
• Block Fest is coming to Sequim on Thursday, March 25. Block Fest is a free indoor educational play opportunity for children ages 8 months to 8 years old and their parents, using different sizes and types of building blocks. Block Fest will be at the Sequim Community School, 220 W. Alder St. There will be three, 50-minute sessions offered at 10:30 a.m., 2 p.m. and 3:30 p.m. Children must be accompanied by a parent. Interested parents should call 582-3428 or 681-2250 to reserve a spot.
• The First Teacher Room 4W is in Sequim Community School, 220 W. Alder St. The facility is open from 9:30 a.m.-1 p.m. Monday, Wednesday and Friday. There is no charge to visit the room. Parents can check out books from the parenting library, and children can enjoy the playroom and playground. Sign up to receive the monthly newsletter with parenting tips and information about local resources for families. For more information on the First Teacher program, call 582-3428 or 681-2250, or e-mail mdashiellatsequim.k12.wa.us. Visit our Web site at www.firstteacher.org.
– Patsene Dashiell, First Teacher events coordinator
SEQUIM HIGH SCHOOL
_ A great big congratulations to Jason Kowitz, who is representing Sequim High School as a National Merit Scholar finalist. He was a semi-finalist with 16,000 students before being recognized as a finalist. We wish him luck. We will hear in May if he will be a National Merit Scholar for his excellent academic work at Sequim High School.
– Shawn Langston, principal
_ The Sequim High School Women in Networks Program has organized a self-defense class for WIN members. The class will be held on Saturday, Feb. 27. A $5 fee is required and covers the class, a self-defense DVD to take home, a T-shirt and lunch. Interested girls can see Mitzi Sanders in the high school Career Center for more details and permission forms. WIN is a partnership between Sequim High School and Soroptimist International of Sequim. WIN aims to provide opportunities for young women to explore nontraditional careers and education. The free program is open to all Sequim High School girls thanks to our local Soroptimist chapter.
– Mitzi Sanders, Sequim High School WIN director
_ Sequim High School talent show auditions are at 4 p.m. Friday, Feb. 26, in the auditorium. A meeting for those wanting to help back stage or run lights will be at 3:30 p.m. on the same day in the auditorium. It is open to all high school students, their parents and staff.
– Dave Toman, coordinator,
