Friday Newsletter - September 23rd
Harvest Break is upon us! What an incredible start to our school year we’ve had. I am profoundly grateful to be here. I admit I was a little apprehensive about leaving the classroom for administration because I thought I wouldn’t get to see kids engaged in learning as I had before. How wrong I was!
This week was pretty special here at WDES. Third graders walked to the post office with their postcards today. Remember last week I mentioned they were writing to all 50 states and Romania?
Sixth graders also went on a field trip today. They bundled up against the wind and went for a hike and picnic lunch at the Nordic Heritage Center.
Fourth grade made some absolutely phenomenal biome projects. I spent time in their classroom today, looking at each one. To be honest, if I hadn’t known better I would have thought the projects were made by middle schoolers. There were waterfalls, snakes, and icebergs, along with a bird’s nest (complete with tiny eggs), and a sleeping polar bear among the shoebox creations.
Speaking of middle schoolers, I was invited to the 7th-grade Library class this morning. There I had a chance to see the slideshows for their Seven Natural Wonders of the World project. It was fascinating to see how many different ways they came up with presenting the same material. Those projects are a perfect example of how we can all be presented with the same material, idea, or suggestion, yet receive and respond with individuality. I love that about education, and truly believe that the teachers here at WDES try incredibly hard to take that into consideration when they present and assign material.
The seventh grade also finished a Social Studies unit on Mesopotamia, and to wrap things up they created and carved their own clay tablets. Although, I did hear a rumor that some of the clay spent a bit of time pretending to be spinning pizza dough before a tablet was formed...
Today we also celebrated the September Students of the Month. I wish you all could have been here to witness the joy on the faces of the students nominated, as well as the genuine celebratory smiles and cheers from their friends. We are working hard to foster a sense of support and celebration within our community here. Believe me, when I say, it’s working.
Finally, I ended the day with a dance party in Kindergarten. They had music, lights, and lots of laughter. (I will pretend the laughter wasn’t aimed at me, a middle-aged, out-of-shape grown-up with less than dignified dance moves.)
Have yourselves a fantastic couple of weeks. Remember, students return to school on Wednesday, October 12th. I hope you know how much we appreciate all you do to support the staff and students here. We couldn’t do it without you.