How Can You Make Ice Cream Taste Even Better - Story #2: Be the Turning Point.........In Someone's Life

How Can You Make Ice Cream Taste Even Better - Story #2: Be the Turning Point.........In Someone's Life

The Kingsburg High School Jazz Choir came to perform at our Christmas Sing-a-long at Lincoln.  My daughter, Delanie, is in the Jazz Choir and as they were performing I teared up a little (well, a lot on one song) because the music was so beautiful, I was so proud, and the song was meaningful.  

Some of my students noticed that I had teared up and asked if I was okay when we got back to class.  I told them that I had cried because I was proud of my daughter and her friends and the one song made me a little sad because she will be heading off to college in another year (and I am realizing that time is flying!).

The next day, one of my students, Jonah, came up to me and handed me four quarters.  I asked him if he wanted me to hold onto the money for him. (You see, it was ice cream day!)  Jonah said no.  He said, “The money is for you, Mrs. Dignan."  I asked him why he was giving me money.  He told me that he wanted to cheer me up because I had been sad about my daughter.  He wanted to buy me an ice cream because that always cheers him up. I couldn't believe how incredibly sweet it was, and I teared up again. I told him thank you and we took a picture of me with my ice cream for his mom. It was the best ice cream I have ever had!

Beth Dignan, thanks for sharing!!!!

Honor Band/Honor Orchestra Students

We have three outstanding music students who auditioned for the Fresno-Madera County Music Educators Association (FMCMEA) Honor groups last weekend.

Alyssa Santivanez, 8th grader, earned 2nd chair flute in the Honor Orchestra. This means she was the 2nd best out of all flutists.

Katie Sorensen, 8th grader, earned 1st chair flute in the Honor Band. This means she was the 4th best out of all the flutists.

Brianna Linder, 6th grader, earned 1st chair trumpet in the Honor Orchestra. She scored highest out of all trumpets.

Flutes and trumpets are very large groups. This is very impressive for our 3 students!!

They will perform on January 18th at 3pm at the Clovis North performing arts center.

Congratulations to these talented students!

Central Valley Home School - December 2013

FUNDRAISERS

Thank you to CVHS Families!  We raised $189 from Save-Mart SHARES cards and made a $2,414.83 profit from See's Candy sales.

CRAFT DAY/SOUP DAY

CVHS students and parents will have a Craft Day/Soup Day on Friday, December 13, from 10-12:30 at Roosevelt Elementary School.  Rick Alonzo will do a presentation on bullying, there will be lots of crafts, all ending with a Soup & More Potluck.

STEM AMBASSADORS

STEM Ambassadors from Reedley College helped our students learn exciting things about Simple Electric Circuits.  Our students learned a lot and had a great time!

Washington Elementary School - December 2013

Santa Lucia Parade: Washington, Roosevelt and Central Valley Home School teamed up to have a joint float in the Santa Lucia Parade December 7th. The theme was Clifford’s Christmas. 

Parenting Classes:
Parenting Classes are offered in both English and Spanish at Washington School in room 22 from 6-8 pm. The following classes are open to all parents who would like to attend. The next classes and topics are as follows:
Dec. 3rd—Setting Boundaries
Dec. 10th—The Difference Between Discipline and Punishment.

Childcare is offered in the Washington Preschool.

Kindergarten Christmas Programs:
Children have been learning songs for their upcoming Christmas Program.  The Christmas programs will take place in the cafeteria. Students will sing songs and recite Christmas poems. Students enjoy singing on stage for their family and friends.

Christmas Programs are 12:30 to 1:30 daily for the following dates:
Dec. 11 – Rooms 3, 5, 14

Dec. 12 – Rms 2, 16, 18, 20 Dec. 13 – Rooms 1, 4, 6


KCAPS Toy Drive:
Washington School is teaming up with KCAPS with a toy drive for children and families in need. Toys will be collected on December 6th and December 12th. The classroom with the most toys collected will win a pizza party sponsored by KCAPS. 

Roosevelt Elementary School - December 2013

Santa Lucia Parade

The Santa Lucia parade took place on Saturday, December 7^th.   Roosevelt participated with Washington and Central Valley Home School to create a District K-1 float!! 

December Dates to Remember

12/17, 18, 19  Winter Programs

12/18, 19        Minimum Days

12/20-1/3        Winter Break

Rafer Johnson Jr. High School - December 2013

Winter Olympics!

The Olympian Parent Club, Leadership, and CJSF worked hard on the float for this year’s Santa Lucia Parade. The theme was Winter Olympics. Stacey Scheidt, The Olympian Parent Club (OPC) Co-President organized the float this year.

We had a great turn out of parent and student help! We have a great team that works together to make RJJH shine! Thank you for all of you work and effort to help us be a great success in this year’s parade.

Parent University– Rafer Partners with CSUF

Parent University Comes to Rafer! We began a partnership with CSUF to bring parent University to RJJH. Fresno State provided us with a grant to hold a digital parent class.
The classes began on Thursday, December 5th. There will be 6 classes. The classes are taught in Spanish. The focus in the class is to teach parents computer and internet skills. We had 15 parents show up the first night! Classes are 2 1/2 hours long.

We are excited to offer this at Rafer. If this classes continues to be successful we will look at adding more classes in the Spring of 2014.

December Important Dates

Dec. 7th– Santa Lucia Parade 4:45
Dec. 9th- Rafer Band Concert @ KHS
Dec. 11th at 3:00 pm SSC
Dec. 13th Christmas Dance 6:00-8:00
Dec. 16th Fundraiser Limo reward trip

Important Choir Dates

Monday 12/16- Rafer/KHS Winter Concert 6pm & 7:45pm (2 showings) @ KHS
Rafer presents “Once Upon a Mattress” @ Reagan MPR Thursday 1/16 – 7pm
Friday 1/17 – 7pm
Saturday 1/18 – 6 pm “Dessert Show”
Sunday 1/19 – 2pm
Monday 3/10- Rafer/KHS Pre-festival Concert 7pm @ KHS Little Theatre
Tuesday 3/11- CMEA Choir Festival (boys)
Wednesday 3/12- CMEA Choir Festival (girls)
Thursday 4/3- San Luis Obispo (girls only) all day field trip (tentative)
Tuesday 5/27- Rafer/KHS End of the Year Concert 7pm @ KHS Little Theatre

Reagan Elementary School - December 2013

As we approach the Christmas Break, the staff and teachers at Reagan will continue to focus on providing an excellent educational environment where the expectation and belief is that all students can and will be successful.  In addition, for students who earned the First Trimester Personal Responsibility Award, all three grade levels will be taking these students on their respective reward trips prior to Christmas Break.  

PTO

Reagan Elementary has recently established a Parent Teacher Organization.  The next meeting is Tuesday, December 10^th, in the Reagan Library at 3:15.  This is a great way to get involved as a parent of a Reagan student and I encourage you to attend.  

Santa’s Shop Time!!!

Reagan Elementary is once again providing wonderful Christmas shopping opportunities for Kingsburg students.....each elementary site will have shopping days to purchase Christmas gifts for friends and family.  Santa’s Shop for Reagan students will have a preview day on Monday, December 9^th, and shopping days will be the 10^th – 13^th.  What a wonderful way to start off the shopping season!!!!

Reagan Athletics Winter Season Is Quickly Approaching!

As we head into winter, Reagan Elementary will be starting up its Winter Athletic Season soon.  This season will offer basketball for both boys and girls.  Reagan will be participating in the Selma Athletic League as a full member and will have multiple opportunities for our student-athletes to demonstrate their court skills.  Tryouts for these teams should begin prior to Christmas Break.   

Upcoming Events:

·        Band Concert in MPR – December 5^th (1:30 assembly and 2:30 for parents)

·        Band Concert in MPR – December 6^th (1:30 assembly and 2:30 for parents)

·        Santa Lucia Parade – December 7^th @ 5:30

·        Santa’s Shop @ Reagan – December 9^th (Preview)

·        Reagan PTO meeting – December 10^th @ 3:15 in Reagan Library

·        Santa’s Shop @ Reagan – December 10^th – 13^th (Shopping Days)

·        K-Kids – December 11^th – 1:05 – 2:00 in Reagan MPR

Lincoln Elementary School - December 2013

Lincoln students are getting into the spirit of the season by sponsoring needy families in their classroom, as well as participating in many other in-class activities.  The KCAPS Canned Food Drive will run December 10-14.

Congratulations to all our students who got blue slips for showing examples of good character this first trimester!  Many students got to choose from the prize box.  Also, six students were chosen at random for a goodie bag at the end of the trimester.  Congratulations to the following students:

Joseph Corpus, Matthew Ward, Jessie Castenada, Ashley Garcia, Shea Morris, and Lily DeMaris.

Dates for December:

Dec. 2-6 Santa's Secret Shop
Dec. 7 Santa Lucia Parade @ 5:30
Dec. 9-13 KCAPS Canned Food Drive

Auston Sperling

 

As some of you know, Auston Sperling, a student at Lincoln Elementary, has been in a battle with brain cancer and is cancer free right now.  Two weeks ago, St. Jude Hospital asked that he fly with his family to New York to film a special segment for the Today Show for St. Jude’s Giving Thanks campaign.  Auston and his family had a great time in New York, visiting all the sights and filming the segment.   While in New York, they  asked his family to go to Nashville to do more filming (more of an individual segment). 

A few days ago, Auston's mother, Jill, got a phone call and now Auston has even more exciting news!!  Auston and his mom are flying back to New York on Monday!  He will be ringing the bell at the Wall Street closing on Tuesday, he will be at the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade on Thursday, and LIVE on the TODAY SHOW on the Friday morning after Thanksgiving!!!  Auston is a great kid and always has a great attitude!

Here are some pictures of the family's visit to New York:

 

 

21st Century Learning Technology Committee

The 21^st Century Learning Technology Committee participated in the first of three Saturday workshops on November 16.  The committee bridges together teachers from all grade levels and district staff.  The purpose of the group is to help develop a plan to support staff with the implementation of common core and more specifically, technology and 21^st century learning skills.

Saturday’s workshop was led by Google Certified trainer and FCOE technology consultant, Mark Hammons.  Mark’s passion to help us transition to this technology ocean was outstanding!  The committee learned about Google Drive and Google Forms. 

Google Drive is an all in one tool.  It is used to help keep documents organized.  It’s also a powerful collaboration tool used to keep students engaged.  Students can work together on the same document or presentation, and submit it to their teacher for immediate feedback and comments.  Tired of one student doing all of the work on a “group” project?  Google Drive has a revision history allowing teachers to see who did the work and when it was done.  Google forms are great for student surveys, exit slips, quizzes and so much more.  

Google Drive and forms allows you to sync files to the web, your computer hard drive and your mobile device.  You can make changes to a file in any of these places and it will automatically show up if you were to access it elsewhere.  Information is stored in the “cloud."  No more worrying about forgetting your flash drive at home.

Members of the 21^st Century Learning Technology Committee will be providing their individual school sites with voluntary technology workshops.  More information and a description of workshops will be coming out soon.  All staff is invited to attend any of the workshops provided by members of the committee.  Please contact members of the committee for more information.

 

 

Washington        Ying Lee

Roosevelt            Kristi Warren

Lincoln                  Melinda Casida and Beth Dignan

Reagan                 Amalia Cutts, Michelle Stone, and Amy Sutton

Rafer                     Kristin Perkins and Scott Nielsen

 

District                  Martee Barnett, Jason Wood, and Melanie Sembritzki

 

Color Me Rad 5K

Staff and students from Rafer Johnson Jr. High School participated in the Color Me Rad 5K on November 17, 2013.  Here are some pictures from the colorful event.

Rafer Johnson Jr. High School News - November 2013

Important Band News

 

Our band had an exciting month! They went to Santa Cruz, Pismo, and had their annual March-A-Thon! So far our March-A-Thon brought in over $6,000. Thank you to Mrs. Sigle for all of her hard work. Thank you to all of the community members that helped to support our bands efforts.

Our band has an exciting season. Here are some important dates:
Nov 13 – Prize Day for March-A-Thon 11:45am – 1:00pm

Nov 20 – Jazz Festival TBA

Dec 7 – Santa Lucia Parade 4:45pm – 6:30pm

Dec 9 – Winter Band Concert at KHS 7pm

Important Choir Dates

Monday 12/16- Rafer/KHS Winter Concert 6pm & 7:45pm (2 showings) @ KHS

Rafer presents "Once Upon a Mattress" @ Reagan MPR

Thursday 1/16 – 7pm

Friday 1/17 – 7pm

Saturday 1/18 – 6 pm "Dessert Show"

Sunday 1/19 – 2pm

Monday 3/10- Rafer/KHS Pre-festival Concert 7pm @ KHS Little Theatre

Tuesday 3/11- CMEA Choir Festival (boys)

Wednesday 3/12- CMEA Choir Festival (girls)

Thursday 4/3- San Luis Obispo (girls only) all day field trip (tentative)

Tuesday 5/27- Rafer/KHS End of the Year Concert 7pm @ KHS Little Theatre  

BMX Assembly

We had an exciting BMX assembly. The stunt riders brought two half pikes. They put on a great show. They even had Mrs. North sit on a chair and they jumped over her! They stayed afterward to sign autographs.

Be a superhero! That is our theme at RJJH this year. This Month’s Superhero is :

Lindsey Roman

Lindsey placed 6th in the Valley Cross Country Championship in Hanford!  Congratulations, Lindsey!

 

MESA @ Catalina Institute of Marine Biology

MESA Snorkels at Catalina

By Garrett Cooper and Mrs. North

Snorkeling at Catalina was a great experience. We got to see and learn about many fish and sea creatures. We learned how to put on our wet suit which was really challenging.

The water was really clear and salty. You really have to get used to the mask because sometimes you try to breathe through your nose.

We also got to snorkel the second day. Some of the people in our group even saw sharks! Don't worry they were Leopard sharks and won't harm people.
 
 
  


  

 

 

 

 

  
  

Central Valley Home School News - November 2013

Food Drive

November 1^st – Dec 12^th

 

In support of KCAPS (Kingsburg Community Assistance Programs and Services), CVHS will be participating in a food drive.  All donations will give help to Kingsburg students and families. 

If you would like to donate, bring your items to CVHS.  We will have a collection box in the office.

 

Food Item Suggestions:

·        5 lb bag of flour

·        Small bags of sugar

·        Canned vegetables

·        Lard

·        Shortening

·        Cooking oil

·        Canned Fruit

November

 

11         Holiday, Veteran’s Day

 

12         Math Classes, Gr. 5,6,7,8

 

13         Zoo Field Trip, 9:45

              

15         Math Classes, Gr. 5,6,7,8

               Read/Write/Speak Class Gr. 2-4

              

19         Math Classes, Gr. 5,6,7,8

                   

22         Math Classes, Gr. 5,6,7,8

               Read/Write/Speak Class Gr. 2-4

 

25-29     Thanksgiving Break

 

December

 

Friday L.A. Class Last Day – Dec. 6          

Tues/Fri Math Last Day – Tues, Dec. 17

 

3            See’s Candy Arrives @ CVHS

 

13         Craft Day

               (Math Classes Cancelled)

 

Dec. 20 – Jan.  3   Winter Break

Reagan Elementary School News - November 2013

Principal’s Message

We at Reagan were very pleased with the inaugural Stampede-A-Thon and are looking forward to keeping it as a tradition for years to come.  As a school, we raised nearly $22,000 and will be able to use these funds to benefit all of our students this coming year.  Special recognition goes out to our grade level classroom winners who are:  Room 107 (4^th grade), Room 205 (5^th grade) and Room 305 (6^th grade).  Those classes and individuals who raised at least $150 will be celebrating with pizza parties and ice cream sundaes on Thursday, November 14^th, here at school.  In addition, I would like to recognize the two students in each grade level who turned in the most in pledges and they are: Adam Erickson and Skyler Lee in 4^th grade, Khloe Hodges and Daniel Huerta in 5^th grade, and Natalie Suarez and Owen Hollnagel in 6^th grade.  These grand prizewinners will be going with me to the movies, lunch, and an ice cream sundae party on Friday, November 15^th.  All Stampede-A-Thon t-shirts, water bottles, and bracelets have been ordered and will be distributed to students as soon as we receive them.  Thanks, again, for a wonderful first Stampede-A-Thon!

-        Mr. Sansom

 

 

 

Special Recognition

 

Ashlyn Nelson, Mabel Lunde and Makenna Wells just completed a wonderful fundraiser for the American Cancer Society here at Reagan.  The girls prepared and presented a speech regarding their hopes to raise cancer awareness here at Reagan and to raise funds through a day of ice cream sales at lunch and the results of their efforts turned in a record amount of $362.00!  These funds will be presented to the American Cancer Society by the three girls.  We here at Reagan appreciate all of their enthusiasm and efforts for such a special cause.

 

 

Reagan Athletics Fall Season Comes to a Close...

 

 

The coaches and student-athletes at Reagan just completed our first season of school sponsored athletics here at Reagan.  With flag football and girls volleyball, there were a total of almost 70 student athletes who competed during the season.  What a great opportunity to learn skills, sportsmanship and teamwork.  Starting in December, Reagan will begin the Selma Winter Athletics League in boys and girls basketball.  Look for more information regarding tryouts soon.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Lincoln Elementary School News - November 2013

Principal’s Message

            It’s hard to believe that Thanksgiving is almost here!  Autumn is upon us in the classrooms, though, with pumpkins, pilgrims, and more showing up around Lincoln.  Another tradition is Red Ribbon Week, a time to celebrate making good choices.  This drug awareness week, which took place the last week of October, had a different activity for each day of the week.  The students had fun making banners and posters, wearing bright clothing, and enjoying music on the playground at recess. 

 

BOX TOPS

 

We had a great response!   8,800 box tops were turned in, which mean $880.00 for our school!  Next turn in is in February.

 

 

Share Cards

 

Share Cards have arrived.  Please contact the front office if you would like a Shares care for Lincoln.

 

 

Upcoming Events for November:

 

November 11 - Veteran's Day

November 25-30 - Thanksgiving Break

November 22 - Report Card go Home

December 7 - Santa Lucia Festival of Lights Parade Float

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Roosevelt Elementary School News - November 2013

The past few weeks have been busy for our Roughrider families!! Thank you to all families for your attendance at Parent/Teacher conferences, Grandparents Day and Donuts with Dad.  All of these activities were a huge success and a great deal of fun for all who were able to join us!

On behalf of the Roosevelt Staff, I would like to recognize the Roosevelt Parent Club for their hard work and effort in making sure our activities have gone off without a hitch.  From donation organization to arriving early for Donuts with Dad, we appreciate your efforts and look forward to working together on future events that support our Roughrider student body!!

Veteran’s Day

One tradition at Roosevelt is to honor our Veterans.  On Friday, November 8^th at 1:00 p.m., we will be honoring our men and women, who have served, and who are serving in our armed forces.  We are inviting all Veterans and service personnel to join us for our program and refreshments.

 

Character Trait of the Month~

        Citizenship

Kupa (derived from the Hawaiian for “citizen”) is the BEAR who considers herself a citizen of the world. A philosopher and poet, she believes that we are all part of the same family and must do our share to help each other.

Santa Lucia Parade~

The Santa Lucia parade will be on Saturday, December 7^th.   We will be participating with Washington and Central Valley Home School to create a District K-1 float!! 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Washington Elementary School News - November 2013

Danish with Dads was a success!  It was fun watching several dads playing basketball and other games with the students.  The parent Club made $638 from this fundraiser which will help with their projects for this year.  To view pictures from the event, please see our website.  www.kingsburg-elem.k12.ca.us

Seconds 2 Survive training was presented by Chief Dunn from the Kingsburg Police Department to teachers on October 22, after school.  The teachers were trained in how to respond in an emergency, as we are first responders.  We would like to thank KPD for the insightful training.

October 24, all teachers attended an all-day Common Core Standards/Unit Planning training by our Assistant Superintendent, Mrs. Sembritzki.  The teachers worked on all three trimesters and developed units of study.  This is a work in progress.  Pictures of the teachers busy at work can be seen on the school website. www.kingsburg-elem.k12.ca.us

 

Pumpkin Patch trip for Kindergarten students helped them to understand the life cycle of a pumpkin.  Their writing assessment will be to explain the life cycle of a pumpkin.  Each student received a pumpkin of their very own to take home.

Zoo trip for Transitional Kindergarten gave students a “behind the scenes” view of the zoo and an understanding of zoo animals.  They have been studying zoo animals in class and had the opportunity to see how animals are cared for at the zoo.

 

 

Be the Turning Point.........In Someone's Life - The Law School Graduate: Story #1

This year's theme is "Be the Turning Point.......In Someone's Life."  As superintendent I have the opportunity to hear stories that are truly heart warming and encouraging.  It would be remiss of me not to share these with you.  We all need to know the significance of what we do.  I hope that you will EMAIL or call me with your story, so that I can share it, if you'd like. This first story is short and sweet and was shared with me in a card:

The Law School Graduate: Story #1

".............I had been blessed in my school life, and excited about what lies ahead with the kiddies in room 5 this next year.  I once had a student who graduated from law school, inviting me to the ceremony.  His note read, ”I always knew you liked me - so I wanted you to see what you helped me become.” - L. Spitzer
                                                               

Congratulations to Kingsburg Elementary Charter School District Employees of the Year!

On Thursday, October 24, 2013, employees of the year were recognized at the Fresno County Office of Education Awards Ceremony.

Employee of the Year: 

Suzan Hernandez, Assistant Secretary, Washington Elementary School

Educator of the Year:

Heidi East, 5^th Grade Teacher, Reagan Elementary School

Administrator of the Year:

Lori Willson, Principal, Roosevelt, Island, and Central Valley Home School

We appreciate the hard work and dedication of Suzie, Heidi, and Lori.  When you see them, please congratulate them.  It was a wonderful event!