Fantastic Friday!

Today, we officially finished our State MAP Testing.  The students did such an amazing job each day of testing this week, had a positive attitude, and worked very hard!  Dr. Helm provided a much deserved "surprise" treat for all students during lunch AND we had a visit from Mrs. Worthington (6th Grade Counselor) and Mr. Scott Lackey (6th Grade Principal).  Our students got first hand information about the transition to the middle school and had the opportunity to ask questions and watch a "Ram Rundown" created by current LMS students.  In just a few weeks, our fifth graders will be taking a field trip to the middle school and get personalized tours from current eighth graders.  We also have many other fun events planned for the rest of April and May. Every day is a good day to be a Dragon!
 .   

 .  

   

 . 

Culture and Arts Day 2018

One of the things that makes our district (and building) so amazing is the incredible diversity amongst our students and families.  We are always looking for ways to celebrate our diversity throughout the year, but one of my favorite ways that we do this is through our annual Culture and Arts Day.  As in years past, I have been nominated the "photographer" for the morning (which is the best job ever since I get to see bits and pieces of all of the presentations).  It is always a joy to see our students actively engaged in learning and presenting about different cultures and arts represented from around the world.

The presentations vary from year to year (based on our group of students at the time).  This year, we were fortunate to have the following demonstrations:
Marital Arts and Culture of Southeast Asia
Jazz Dance
Australian Culture
Israeli Dance
Croatian Culture 
Henna/Bollywood
Japanese Language and Origami
Pakistan-Pashtun Culture
Canadian Culture
Russian Culture
Indian Traditional Dance
Irish History and Music
Austrian Musicians
Chinese History and Culture
Italian Culture
Irish Dance
Guatemalan Culture
Judaism
Persian Culture

Our morning concluded with an all school performance from Dances of India and classroom discussions centered around the following questions:
What was your favorite presentation of the day and why? What was something new that you learned? Was there any presentation that changed your perception of a culture? What culture has sparked your curiosity to learn more?  Was your culture represented in anything you saw or presentations your classmates and their families described?

A huge thank you to all of our incredible students and families for volunteering their time and sharing their expertise with us.  We are so very grateful!


   .  . 

 .                                        .    .
 .

 . 

 . 

 . 

 .   


 .

Career Cafe Today

Our two speakers for today were Mr. Mark Saxon (a sports writer/reporter) and Ms. Shyra Huddleston (an accountant).  Our students had many questions for these two professionals and were actively engaged in conversations with them regarding sports and finance/money. It is hard to believe we only have one Career Cafe left this school year (coming up in May).  Thank you Mr. Saxon and Ms. Huddleston for a wonderful afternoon of lunchtime learning.

     


 .
 .      

Thank You Dragon Leaders!

Last week, some of our Dragon Leaders from the Greeter Leader Group and Dragon Council did an amazing job representing our school at our annual "Fourth Grade Parent Transition Night."  Our leaders really helped make our school shine by passing out programs, speaking about our school in front of a large parent audience, and giving personalized tours of our beautiful building.  I always tell our students that the parents really don't care as much about what Dr. Helm and I have to say about the Fifth Grade Center.  However, they hang on every word that our students have to say.  After all, our students are the "experts" about our building and can share first hand knowledge of what it feels like to be a fifth grader here.  Almost all students reported being "very tired of answering so many questions" after their guided tours.  Regardless, they did an outstanding job (as always).  Dr. Helm and I are so proud of them and thank them for their service to our school community!  

                                           .