Spring 2009 Newsletter

The winter months passed with record amounts of snow outside, while inside we dove head long into the depths of the ocean.  Well, sort of.  We studied the ocean which left us in awe of the amazing creatures adapted to living in different depths and temperatures of the oceans that cover the majority of our planet.  We watched many dvds of ocean life.  We amassed quite a collection of ocean books.  The children each filled a journal with research information and illustrations.  They also created questions/answer cards for our Science Quiz Game Show and played Ocean bingo.  The stairway landing presently hosts “The Coral Reef” at its artistic best created by a group of students.  The other students helped create a rather large Ora whale and many other life forms that are hanging in the hallway.  Currently, clay is the artistic endeavor of choice and many of the figures created are reflective of our ocean life study.

We recently had a red-tailed hawk and a saw-whet owl visit.  The presenters from the West Valley Outdoor Learning Center introduced us to the raptor family and gave a slide show.  Afterwards, the children each received an owl pellet to dissect and discover what the owl had eaten.  (Owls eat prey, digest the food and what they can’t digest such as fur, feathers, bones and beaks, are compacted together and spit out.)  So the Southside students donned their CSI gloves and cracked the “Case of the past meal”.

Laurie, secretary of the Manito United Methodist Church, gave the children a tour of the church part of the building.  This is Manito’s 100^th year.  The church is a Kirkland Cutter building.  The children loved the private stairway with one moving chair that takes church goers upstairs (early elevator).  Of course there were chair rides, the biggest hit of the tour!  We also learned that the Fellowship Hall where we have performances and PE was once a gym with shower rooms and a barber shop!

The children continue to help the “MY BAG” organization carry donations into the building and then turn around once the items are assembled into back packs and carry the packs back up to the van.  About 50 of these back packs are filled each week.

Our classroom continues to be a very action packed place.  Rikki teaches sign language on Mondays.  Recently the children played bingo with sign language!  OnTuesday mornings, Mike Keyes extends our knowledge of chess.   Breean Beggs gave us a civics lesson around inauguration time.  Carl Sunderman joins us with a variety of science instruments and demonstrations.  Andrea, from Stretch and Grow keeps the children moving enthusiastically throughout our Thursday PE class.

Esta joins us on Tuesdays for Theater Class.  The children love this class and I have loved watching the joy and growth that goes on in that class.  In May, families will have an opportunity at an evening performance to see what they have been doing.  They have also been learning theater terms, some having to do with the stage.  We will be attending “Heidi” performed by the Spokane’s Children’s Theatre in May and Esta has arranged to walk the stage with the children afterwards so that they can have a closer look.  (Esta directed “Annie” last year and many of the “Heidi” actors worked with her.)

Our tradition is to celebrate my February birthday with a pizza party at school.  This year I told the children that with so many people in need in our community, that I would rather the pizza money go to the Second Harvest Food Bank.  This led into a wonderful conversation about the needs for both food and heat for some people in the Spokane community.  We got into how a food bank works, the concept of volume buying, etc.  Pretty soon they were asking if they could bring food.  So, my birthday was celebrated with the donation of 117 pounds of food brought by the children and $100 in donations.  There was great joy in their generosity and accomplishment.  There was a big grin on my face when I delivered the goods.

In March the children read up on parakeets. They created lists of supplies, foods, care instructions, “gotta have” toys and suggestions on how to make birds feel at home with us.  The new cage was prepared to welcome a couple of parakeets to our room.  Upon return from spring break, we heard the welcomed sounds of chitter chatter in the classroom.

We are so ready for the weather to catch up to the calendar and deliver spring temperatures!  We so desire to set aside the winter gear.  My mind is full of ideas and plans for spring.  Butterflies, ants, rocks, outdoor reading, etc.  Bring it on!