Wednesday, March 25, 2015

Principal's Epistle



www.stmarksmilford.org            http://stmarksmilford.blogspot.com            
Calendar                   
25 Chapel at 9:15AM, Martial Arts Club 3:30 – 4PM
26 April lunch orders due by 11AM
28- April 6 Spring Break
29 St. Mark’s has worship services at 8AM, 10:30AM, and 6PM with Sunday Sch. at 9:15AM
2 Maundy Thursday service at 7PM
3 Good Friday service at 7PM
5 Easter services at 7 & 10:30 AM and 6PM
6 No school
7 School resumes
Prayer Families
Annsley V (P4), Alexa N. (P3), Hadassah L. (P3)
Saint Salute
A big Saint Salute and thanks to the Schulte and Verberg families for hosting the Father-Daughter Dance last Saturday.
A big Saint Salute to those students climbing up on the AR Wall of Fame
    • Ava B. (4)                   900 points
Notes
            The Fellowship Hall carpet is done.  It looks great!  The Father-Daughter Dance went real well!  So many of the young girls have commented at the door about the great time they had.  Pictures from the night are on the school’s web site at www.stmarksmilford.org.
Important Dates to Know
March 28 – April 6   Spring Break – No School
The Winner Is -
The Box Tops "Make-Your-Own Sundae" contest has ended and the winner is Preschool 2 year olds!  Congrats children for a great collection.  You had over 21 Box Tops per student from your class.  Good job!  Grades 3 and 4 came in second and Grades 1 and 2 took thirds place.  Keep collecting those Box Tops and bring them in to your teacher.
Chapel Offerings
This last grading period’s chapel offerings went to Ben Helge, a missionary overseas.  We were able to send him $582.50.  Your giving will go a long way in his country.  Way to go!
Full Day PK next year
St. Mark's will offer PK students two options for next year.  Students may attend the AM session – 9-11:30 PM, Monday-Thursday or all day – 9AM-3PM, Monday – Thursday.
Jump Rope Club to start
St. Mark's will have a Jump Rope Club that will start April 7 and end May 21.  Students in grades 1-8 may attend on every Tuesday and/or Thursday.
Art Club to Start April 9
St. Mark's will start a new Art Club on Thursday, April 9.  It will meet every Thursday until 4:15.  This is for grades 1-8.  The last art club day is May 21
Happy Birthday
25        Maggie S. (4)
30        Connor R. (P4)
3          Audrey T. (3)
6          Blake L. (P4) & Ruby L. (P4)
7          Tristin T. (P4)

Classroom information
Mrs. Schulte (Pre-2)
This week our class celebrated Easter together.  We enjoyed retelling the Easter story with a child-sized tomb and a big stone that was rolled away to reveal only a white linen cloth left behind because HE IS RISEN!  We worked hard on our Letter Q and R turning them into a Queen and Rabbit.  We ended our day rejoicing together with our family and friends during our class Easter Party filled with Easter snacks, crafts, and games.
Mrs. Frey (Pre-3,4)
Preschool is studying letter E for Easter! We will focus on the true meaning of Easter, Jesus’ death as payment for our sins and resurrection! Students will learn the Easter account and create cross and empty tomb artwork. Both classes will celebrate Jesus with an Easter party at the end of the week. In Bible Time we will hear the rest of the account after Jesus’ death. He has defeated the devil. He is risen!
Mrs. Reynolds (PK)
This week Pre-K is learning about the letter K and Spring/Easter. In Bible we will be learning about the wonderful true meaning behind Easter and how Jesus' love and sacrifice has saved us from our sins. We will be brainstorming to find words that begin with K and practice all of our letter sounds and recognition. We will also be reading a few books about how things change in the Spring and what we can expect during this time of year. Our centers for this week will include math puzzles and handwriting practice as well as letter recognition. We will also be matching upper and lower case letters. We are excited to learn about Spring this week!
Mrs. Sherman (K)
At Bible time, the class heard about the events leading up the crucifixion.  They may not quite understand why people turned against Jesus and called for Him to be crucified but they are confident in the knowledge that their sins are forgiven through Christ's death on the cross.  Several of the Easter themed activities enjoyed this week included an Easter egg sight word hunt, reading an Easter emergent reader, finding bunnies, eggs and chicks as the class added the room and making a stained glass egg.  During math, they built addition towers and created 2-D and 3-D shapes with toothpicks and marshmallows.  In the afternoon, the all day students read The Easter Bunny's Assistant.  The boys and girls had a good laugh when they found out that the assistant was a skunk!  They also learned facts about skunks. 
Mrs. Reisenbichler (1-2)
This week, we studied the death of Jesus.  I am glad there is more to the story.  The children made special crosses to hang as a reminder of God's great love for us.  The second graders started a new unit in language arts based on the story The Chalkbox Kid.  In science, we finished our unit on physical and chemical changes to matter.  Fractions were the topic in first grade math.  I can't think of a better way to teach fractions than with a Hershey's chocolate bar.  Have a great spring break!
Mrs. Mayo (3-4)
In religion we are watching a video of parts of Matthew leading up to the death of Jesus.  It's giving us a good idea of what life was like with Jesus.  We started the book, The Flunking of Joshua T. Bates, in reading.  In math, the 3rd graders are learning 3 different ways to multiply large numbers this week. The 4th graders finished a chapter on fractions.  In social studies we learned how the railroads and canals began in Ohio and how it changed Ohio life.  In science we learned about microbes and the good that they do. 
Mr. Postenrieder (5-6)
In our Bible time this week we began to look at how Lutherans worship and why we worship the way we do. In 5th grade math we worked with the coordinate plane. We drew pictures based on coordinates given.  In 6th grade math we took our 15th test. We also worked with measurement and the volume of a rectangle. In our Language Arts time we read a story, “Nadia the Willful,” dealing with keeping memories alive, even painful ones.  We continued to build our vocabulary. In Social Studies we looked at the major bodies of water in Asia. We also learned about the Three Gorges Dam. In Science we continued with our models of the layers of Earth as we study plate tectonics. In Spelling we studied the prefixes inter-, sub-, and over-.
Mr. Mayo (7-8)
With Spring Break just around the corner and the end of the quarter being last week, we spent a great deal of time trying to tie everything up with a nice bow!  Ask me how THAT went!  We have spent a lot of time writing about whether space and ocean exploration are worth the costs.  In history, we learned about Woodrow Wilson, and had interesting discussions about whether he was a better president than Theodore Roosevelt, whom we enjoyed learning about.  TR seemed to be a larger-than-life character, who really enjoyed being president.  We wonder if he could be elected today.
Mr. Reisenbichler (7-8)
In religion we will study lesser known accounts in God’s Word.  In 7th grade math the students are graphing functions, evaluating expressions, and solving percent change word problems.   In 8th grade math we are studying scales, multiplying binomials, and solving equations containing exponents.  In science we are learning about the periodic table.  The students are building parachutes in STEM.

Wednesday, March 18, 2015

Principal's Epistle



www.stmarksmilford.org            http://stmarksmilford.blogspot.com            
Calendar                   
18 Chapel at 9:15AM, Martial Arts Club 3:30 – 4PM
20 End of 3rd qtr.
21 Father Daughter Dance
22 St. Mark’s has worship services at 8AM, 10:30AM, and 6PM with Sunday Sch. at 9:15AM
23 Strategy Club meets until 4:15
25 Chapel at 9:15AM, Martial Arts Club 3:30 – 4PM
28 Spring Break begins
Prayer Families
Roman M. (P3), Kara W. (3), Kexie W. (1), Jordan S. (K)
Saint Salute
A big Saint Salute to those students climbing up on the AR Wall of Fame
    • Maggie S. (4)                        800 points
Notes
            The Fellowship Hall has carpet that is about 12 years old.  It is time to replace it.  This Thursday and Friday, it will be done.  Thanks to Mike, Russell, and Isaac Woeste, Michael and Markus Vrbanac, Taylor Rehmer, and Mr. Postenrieder for staying Tuesday after school and lending a great amount of effort.  Demolition was completed in 1 ½ hours.  It is now ready for a new coat of blue moon.  The students will eat in their rooms on Thursday and Friday.
Important Dates to Know
21      Father-Daughter Dance
28 – April 6   Spring Break – No School
Full Day PK next year
St. Mark's will offer PK students two options for next year.  Students may attend the AM session – 9-11:30 PM, Monday-Thursday or all day – 9AM-3PM, Monday – Thursday.
Father Daughter Items Needed
Following items are needed for the Father Daughter Dance being held this Saturday, March 21st.  Please have items in church kitchen by end of school day on Friday, March 20th.  Please mark "dance" on the items.
No red, blue or bright colored frosting (don't want to stain the new carpet).  Thank you!!
  • Cookies
  • Brownies
  • Cupcakes
  • Rootbeer - 2 liter
  • Cream Soda - 2 liter
  • Orange Soda - 2 liter
Art Club to Start April 9
St. Mark's will start a new Art Club on Thursday, April 9.  It will meet every Thursday until 4:15.  This is for grades 1-8.
New Carpet Workers for Fellowship Hall Needed
St. Mark's will have new carpet installed in the Fellowship Hall on March 19-20 – in time for the Father-Daughter Dance.  Students in grades 5-8 that needed some volunteer hours may help remove the old carpet on Tuesday, March 17after school until 4:30 PM.  Others can help that evening at 6:30.  The cove base and the carpet need to be removed.  Spades, scrapers, and putty knives will help do the trick.  See you then.
Box Tops Update
Keep those Box Tops coming in!  It looks like the Preschool 2 year old class is still in the lead for the "Make-Your-Own Sundae" Box Tops Contest.  They are out in front with 21.14 Box Tops per student.  Way to go 2 year olds!  That is wonderful!  They are followed by Grades 3 and 4 with 13.86 Box Tops per student and grades 1 and 2 are in third place. Today the contest ends but there are Box Tops that need to be counted.  A final report will be in the newsletter next week with the announcement of the contest winner.  Thank you for collecting the Box Tops for St. Marks.  Please continue collecting them and next school year we will have more challenges.  Have a good end of the school year!  God bless, Mr. and Mrs. Schepmann.
Happy Birthday
25        Maggie S. (4)

Classroom information
Mrs. Schulte (Pre-2)
This week our class come to school in our Pajamas as we continued to enjoy our Camping theme by "Sleeping Under the Stars".  We read the book The Napping House by Audrey Wood, and talked about what goes on at night time.  In Art, we made shadow puppets, and painted our Letter P with pompoms.  During Bible Time, we shared the story of Easter and used props to make the story come alive.  During Center Time, we enjoyed our Night Sky reading nook filled with glow in the dark stars and fun flashlights.  We ended the day by singing and dancing to our new favorite song, He is Risen!
Mrs. Frey (Pre-3,4)
Preschool is studying letter K for kites this week! We are also excited to learn about the signs of Spring. 3’s will create kite scenes and discuss how we know Spring is on its way. 4’s will discuss animals in spring and make bird nests. Both classes will read Spring and Mouse’s First Spring. In Bible Time students will hear of God’s greatest gift to us: the sacrifice of His Son on the cross to take away our sins. Jesus suffered and died for us on that Good Friday.
Mrs. Reynolds (PK)
This week we are focusing on the letter R. R is for rainbow! We will be learning about rainbows and the color wheel. We will discuss the meaning of the rainbow and how it is God's promise to us that He will never again destroy the earth with water. We have two fun science experiments this week. First we will use paper towels and food coloring for a color blending experiment. This will show us how different colors can blend together to create new colors! Then we will be creating a rainbow in a jar out of various kitchen ingredients.  We will discuss that we are quickly moving into the season of Spring and what that means. As well as playing educational games and doing math puzzles to get us thinking and strategizing!
Mrs. Sherman (K)
Kindergarten excitedly awaits spring as they enjoyed the warmer temperatures!  In science, they sorted living and nonliving objects and identified the needs of living things. During math, the class made a chart of the characteristics of solid shapes  and learned a poem to remember the shape names.  During reading workshop, the class searched for words and vowel sounds in the sensory bins and also wrote about their favorite Eric Carle book.  Kindergarten had a surprise visitor.  Lucky the Leprechaun and his friends snuck into the classroom and shrunk hats that the boys and girls had made.  The leprechauns did not leave any gold but gave the children pieces of a rainbow!  At Bible time, the class heard about the beginning of Holy week as Jesus entered Jerusalem and prayed in the garden.   The full day students did leprechaun addition with coins and made addition towers.  They enjoyed making predictions and recognizing details found in illustrations but not in the text as the class studied the book, Jamie O'Rourke and the Big Potato.
Mrs. Reisenbichler (1-2)
This week in Jesus Time, the children learned about Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane.  In math, the first graders learned to make change and the second graders worked with units of capacity and weight.  Our science lessons were about physical and chemical changes of matter.  On St. Patrick's Day we learned the truth about St. Patrick.  He was a very effective missionary to the people of Ireland.  This is just a snapshot of what we learned this week.
Mrs. Mayo (3-4)
In religion we will be working on some projects this week.  We are glad that we're taking our last PARCC test this week and we can get back to our regular schedule.  In math, the 3rd graders are finishing a chapter and taking a test on multiplication.  The 4th graders will work with probability, fractions, and multiplying fractions by whole numbers.   In social studies we will work on our map skills while learning some towns in Ohio.  In science we will learn how scientists classify living things into kingdoms.  We'll also be talking about different habitats.  In Spanish we will be learning family words this week.
Mr. Postenrieder (5-6)
In our Bible time this week we continued to look at when we should pray as well as why we should pray. The lessons on prayer are also a look at our Lord’s Prayer. In 5th grade math we worked with percents, relationships between the fraction and the whole, fraction division, and we enjoyed our Unit 8 test!.  In 6th grade math we worked with fractions, capacity, area of triangles, and ratio. In our Language Arts time we worked with idioms. We also built our vocabulary through our story about old westerns. In Social Studies we looked at the climate and vegetation of East Asia. In Science we created models of the layers of Earth. In Spelling we studied the prefixes pre-, fore-. post-, and after-.
Mr. Mayo (7-8)
We’re finishing our History unit, finding that women got the right to vote in 1920.  We are amazed that less than 100 years ago, women could not vote.  It boggled our minds a bit to find out that at one time John D. Rockefeller’s wealth was equal to 1% of the GDP of the United States!  When Andrew Carnegie sold his steel company, he sold it for more than the entire budget of the U.S. at that time!  In Literature, we’re discussing speeches and the biggest differences in reading them and seeing them delivered.  We’re learning the role TV plays in getting points across regardless of whether we agree with the point or not.  
Mr. Reisenbichler (7-8)
In religion we will study lesser known accounts in God’s Word.  In 7th grade math the students are multiplying monomials, converting units within rates, and calculating interior angle of polygons.  They will also be taking the PARCC math test.  In 8th grade math we are studying the scales of maps, proportional equations, and solving two equations for one unknown.  In science we are learning about the periodic table.  The students are building parachutes in  STEM.  We are taking 2 of the PARCC tests this week.