Happy Friday from Mrs. Ferland - August 19th
Hello everyone and welcome to our first Friday Newsletter. It has been such a great week! I know leaving summer behind can be a bit of a bummer. And, it is especially difficult when we start before lots of other schools because of our future harvest break. I want to say thank you to all of you. You came back with smiles and cheerful attitudes even though you’d rather be camping or hiking, going to the beach or playing a favorite video game, or staying up and sleeping late.
Even though it was a short week, we sure did manage to squeeze a lot of good stuff into it. I walked through the building and caught many people doing some pretty great things. While greeting students at the door this morning I witnessed a seventh-grader walking his younger cousin into school, keeping them safe and being encouraging. What a terrific role model this young man is. He leads by example and I am proud to be here at WDES with him.
I learned that kindergarteners have been working on letter books, and watched first graders making good choices at recess. In one second-grade room, students were getting to know their classroom library; in the other, they showed me some of their quiet, free time choices. Third graders started their Friday running off some energy in PE, and fourth graders let me hang out while they made their Friday Free Agent choices, which is where I learned about some cool websites on their Google classroom. Fifth grade was rocking the math problems on the whiteboard. I was impressed with the respect the students showed each person on the board. It takes a lot of courage to work in front of the class like that.
All of our middle schoolers participated in a team-building activity this afternoon. It was awesome to look out onto the soccer field and see everyone engaged in fun and games on a beautiful breezy day. I cannot stress enough how important this kind of community building is to our overall well-being as a school community. Kudos to the middle school teachers and students who began the year with this kind of positive spirit! You are setting a great example for all of us.
Continuing with community building, we will be doing “Washburn Wednesdays.” Every Wednesday, students, and staff are encouraged to show their school spirit by wearing our school’s colors, BLUE and GOLD!
All in all, I have been incredibly impressed with the kindness and respect showed by students and staff this week. We are so lucky to have one another. Thank you for allowing me to be a part of it all. Have a wonderful weekend!