We had Ethan Enns in room 22 who ran an amazing 29 laps in 30 minutes, followed by Hannah Mettee from the same class who ran 28 laps. In 2nd grade the most laps were run by Samantha Gonzales (running 26) from room 57, and we have a four-way tie all running 28 laps: Noah Brown (rm #6) Carino Ciano (rm #6), Tristan Amparan (rm #41) and Caleb Irigoyen (rm 57). The students enjoyed the icy cold fruit cups after their run. Daily drawings were held every day with 20 lucky winners per day.
Thank you to all who donated and helped make this year’s jog-a-thon a HUGE success.
The Poetry and Prose Team, along with their coaches, Carol Stone and Carol Seaward, traveled to the Tulare County Office of Education in Visalia to participate in the “Poetry and Prose on Stage Festival”! Their performance day at the festival was Tuesday, March 12, and all thirteen team members, their coaches, and their parents had a great time!
The participants were judged on the delivery of their poems, based on the following criteria: Voice (quality and variety); Articulation (clarity); Pronunciation (correctness); Posture and Presence; Meaningful Gestures; Facial Expressions and Eye Focus; Preparation, Suitability of Selection; Communication of Meaning and Emotion; and Naturalness, Sincerity, and Poise. The coaches were very pleased with the judges’ evaluations of this year’s team. All entries not only received an overall SUPERIOR evaluation on their poems, but every entry also received a Superior rating on all ten criteria!
The outstanding team members and their poems were: Troy Bamford, Derek Brett, Sadie Quintana, and Kaylynn Alves performed “Squirrely Shirley”; Emma Chappell, Claire Lunde, and Lyric McLeod performed “Samantha Cinderella Scott”; Trista Fry, Drew Johnston, and Kendra Hodges performed “It’s Awkward”; Sadie Carpenter performed “Class Pest”; Nicolette Fierro performed “Chocolate Maniac”; and Montana Wells performed “Rich Kid”! Bravo!
Peach Blossom Festival at Fresno State was held on March 15. All of the students representing Lincoln received a Superior rating. Our Peach Blossom team was coached by Steve Hofer. Those students who participated include: Riley Beck, Adam Erickson, Joey Lee, Claire Dutra, Kaia Tate, Jenna Salazar, Ezekiel Weathers, Nathan Bishop, Jillian Regier, Kailey Emmerson, Makenna Wells, Ryan Long, Lexi Maxfield, Tanner Rosales, Daniel Ortega, Sam Chappell, Chelsea Flood, Natalee Philips, Kamryn Ewert and Luke Sever.
Room 22 is wrapping up their research reports on animals. They are anxiously waiting for their Zoo trip on March 21. They will spend the day observing animal behavior, writing descriptions of the animals they see and watching for how they have adapted to their environment. We will be following this experience with a narrative writing and presenting their research report to their classmate.
On February 24-26th, Alyssa Duarte (Rafer Johnson) and Jameson McDowell (former Rafer Johnson, now KHS) represented Kingsburg in the Special Olympics Winter Games held at China Peak. These athletes competed in the Nordic events. Alyssa received a gold medal in the 500 meter and two silvers in the 100 and 200 meter races. Jameson swept three races by earning gold medals in the 3K, 1K, and 500 meter races. He did this in spite of racing against older athletes with twice his years of experience! They had a great time at the event with about 75 athletes plus numerous coaches and volunteers. Lodging was provided through donated Shaver Lake cabins and the food was prepared by the community of Shaver Lake and served at the Community Center. The residents fundraise all year to support this annual three-day event.
In addition, Alyssa and Jameson were selected to compete with Team Fresno, about 100 Fresno County athletes, at the Special Olympic Summer Games which took place last year at UC Davis. It was also a multi-day event with competition against other athletes from around California. They both brought home medals! It is always an exciting time to see these athletes push to their personal best to achieve a goal and the look of accomplishment when they complete a race is inspiring! It is a lesson for life!
Jameson McDowell (former Rafer Johnson, now KHS) and Alyssa Duarte (Rafer Johnson)
