Wednesday, October 22, 2014

Principal's Epistle



www.stmarksmilford.org            http://stmarksmilford.blogspot.com            
Calendar                   
22 Chapel at 9:15 PM, preschool field trip to Shaw farm
26 St. Mark’s has services at 8AM, 10:30 AM and 6 PM with Sunday School at 9:15AM
27-30 Parent Teacher conferences K-8
28 Duke Energy assembly at 11:20 AM
29 Chapel at 9:15 AM
Prayer Families
Grace C. (P3), Grace Ann K. (P4), Seth B. (5), Caleb B. (K)
Saint Salute
v A big Saint Salute to those students climbing the AR Wall of Fame
o   Alaina S.. (4)             1000 points
Notes
I would like to introduce  our new staff – one each week.
           
I am Brittany Reynolds. I have a few different titles here at St. Marks. I am the Pre-K teacher, the Kindergarten Aide, and I am in charge of the Extended Care program. It is my first year at St. Mark's as you all know and I have to say I am loving it! I love the kids and my fellow staff and truly feel blessed to be a part of this mission field!  I was asked to share with you a few things you may not know about me. Let's see. I am the oldest in my family I have two younger brothers Chris is 20 and Zack is 15. I also have a foster sister, Savanna who is 16. I have been married to my best friend Joshua Reynolds for 3 1/2 years and we have a beautiful one year old little boy named Grayson and a 2 year old golden retriever named August. Being a mother is the greatest gift I have ever received and I thank God for blessing me with Grayson every day.
      I graduated last June with a Bachelor's in Psychology from Ashford University. I am currently pursuing my Master's in Special Education online through Ashford University. I have taught Preschool for the last two years first at a privately owned preschool in Tallahassee Florida and more recently at Primrose School of West Chester. I love the passion and enthusiasm Preschoolers have for life and learning. I learn a lot from them. I love trying to see the world from the eyes of children. It is amazing what you can learn.
      If you enter my classroom at any point you may notice that I have somewhat of an obsession with owls. You will see owl decorations all over my classroom as well as on the outside of my door. I happen to think that they are very cute. Besides owl I like to read, watch movies, spend time at home with my family, and shopping. I particularly like to hunt down bargains at thrift stores it is somewhat of a hobby of mine. 
     I would love to get to know more of you! Feel free to stop by my classroom and say Hi! (You can find me behind the door with the big owl on it!)
Important Dates to Know
27-30  Parent-Teacher Conferences
November 7 Walk-a-Thon
Walk for Resources
Starting today the children have been challenged to request donations for our Walk-a-thon.  All the information was sent home today attached to a collection envelope.  Please read all the information concerning the only big fund raiser of the year for St. Mark’s.  This is in place of the usual selling something fund-raiser.
Fund Raisers
Box Tops for Education Challenge – Starting November 3, 2014, we are challenging each classroom to bring in the most Box Tops per student for a special treat.  The classroom that has the highest percent per student will have a “Build Your Own Sundae” sometime in January.  Each classroom should have a place to collect the Box Tops and we will collect them from the classrooms each week.  A running tally of how many have been turned in for redemption will be kept and posted.   The Challenge will end January 19, 2015.  Have fun collecting Box Tops!
Science Club
Starting Thursday, November 6, students in grades 1-4 may stay after school until 4:15 for unique science activities – one each week.  Mr. Reisenbichler is the leader of this group.  Parents are welcome to attend and help.
Science Olympiad
Starting Tuesday, November 4, students in grades 5-8 may stay after school until 4:15 for the start of our competitive Science Olympiad.  Students can pick from 23 different events.  Any student or parent that has a question about this team may come to our first introductory meeting on Nov. 4.  Students must be able to compete on Sat., March 7.
Happy Birthday
23        Angela G. (1)
24        Mr. Reisenbichler
Classroom information
Mrs. Schulte (Pre-2)
 We continue to spend October ‘on the farm’.  Our theme this week was “Plenty of Pumpkins”.  At Circle Time we looked at pumpkins seeds and shared the book Pumpkin Circle – The Story of a Garden by George Levenson.  At Center Time we explored the seed, vine, flower, and fruit of a pumpkin plant.  We sang and danced to our Creation Song at Bible Time.  Then we ended the day with a little pumpkin to take home. 
Mrs. Frey (Pre-3,4)
Preschool is finishing up our study of spiders this week. 3’s will create handprint spiders and build a web by weaving yarn. 4’s will create a spider web and practice letter S. 4’s are also looking forward to their field trip to Shaw Farms on Wednesday. In Bible Time 3’s will review the account of baby Moses and learn about God’s plan for this tiny baby. 4’s will review the account of Jacob and Esau. Our song of the week is “God Is So Good.”
Mrs. Reynolds (PK)
With no school Monday and Tuesday and a field trip to Shaw Farm on Wednesday Pre-K has a short week! We are very excited about our field trip!! Since Thursday is our only day at school we will be reviewing the letters L and S and talking about what we learned on our field trip.  We will also be dissecting a pumpkin and learning about the pumpkin's life cycle and all the many delicious things you can make with pumpkins. In Bible we will review the story of Abraham and sing some new songs! We are excited for a short but exciting week!
Mrs. Sherman (K)
Kindergarten has a short, learning filled week.  They will continue the account of Joseph during Bible time as they retell the story.   At math time, the class will identify tricky teens, decompose numbers and participate in math stations.  During writing workshop, the class will learn about labeling and label Mrs Sherman!  The full day students will sequence and retell the story of the stubborn pumpkin, construct "teen" buildings and "teen" chains.
Mrs. Reisenbichler (1-2)
This being a short week, we took the opportunity to learn about the Reformation and Martin Luther in our Jesus Time.  The children also had a lot of fun this week focusing on fall.  We played a pumpkin game in math, baked pumpkin bread and pies, made and wrote about scarecrows, and a host of other fall related activities and skill boosters.  Second graders prepared for their student lead parent teacher conference, and first graders learned more about the writing process.
Mrs. Mayo (3-4)
It's a short week because the teachers went to their conference, but we'll still get a lot done.  In religion we'll study the account of Joseph and his brothers and learn that despite sibling rivalry, God's plans are always best.  In reading, we continue seeing how Bradley and Jeff change in There's a Boy in the Girls' Bathroom, while working on cause and effect.  In math, the 3rd graders will work on measurement and the 4th graders will review, then take their chapter test.  In social studies we'll learn some Ohio cities.  In science we'll continue with heat and light.  In Spanish we'll work on plurals.  We'll also do a team building activity called "Detectives" this week.
Mr. Postenrieder (5-6)
In our Bible time this week we practiced for our chapel skit which we will present on October 29th. In 5th grade math we worked with tessellations, angles of polygons, and practiced using our geometry template. In 6th grade math we reduced and multiplied fractions, worked with angles, and found least common multiples. In our Language Arts time we continued with the writing process.  We are writing our papers about recess. In Social Studies we presented power points on Egypt. In Science we finished our study of viruses and bacteria with a test on Friday.  In Spelling we played Sparkle and reviewed the rules of the words we have studied. 
Mr. Mayo (7-8)
We have begun our discussions of Reconstruction of the South after the Civil War.  We are starting to understand how much animosity there still was between the North and South after the war.  After Lincoln’s death, this job fell to a less-able president.  Andrew Johnson’s attitudes weren’t always as forgiving as Mr. Lincoln’s.  Mr. Johnson and Congress didn’t seem to be able to agree, either.  Imagine that!
In Literature, we’re learning about myths and their meanings.  We’ll study Icarus and Arachne in myth and poetry.  We hope we don’t fly too close to the sun in this study!
Mr. Reisenbichler (7-8)
In religion we will study what God’s Word says about time management.  In 7th grade math the students are calculating with decimals, solving ratio problems, and finding the area of a triangle.  The 8th grade is working with congruent polygons, multiplying integers, and finding the area of various polygons.  In science we will be starting our study of heredity.  The students are planning and making a structure in STEM that resists wind and water.  It may end up something like the Native Americans’ dwellings.  They build it on Friday.

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