STC Newsletter
March 2025
Reading never grows old! Celebrating reading with your family or in your classroom helps foster good reading habits. From a young age, children love Storytime! Adults who encourage kids' fondness for books and reading are investing in children's future success in reading skills. Did you know that you can join the Dolly Parton's Imagination Library and your child can receive FREE books each month up to age 5?!
Encouraging children to read not only introduces them to a healthy hobby, it can literally become a healthy habit! Literacy benefits include: opportunities for higher education, better opportunities for employment and economic growth, lower crime rates and prevention of diseases.
There are limitless ways to encourage others to read. You can encourage young readers with books about subjects and characters that interest them and teach them new things. Celebrate reading at a local library during Spring Break this month! Join them for Storytime, sign up your child for a library card, use FREE WIFI, computers and tablets, discover e-books, join a book club, meet an author, try arts and crafts, and more! Blue Rapids Library Waterville Library Marysville Library Spring break staycation? Head to the library! Couple story time with cuddle time to teach relaxation. Create dramatic adventures by creating and using puppets, use special character voices and act out stories. Some may enjoy alternative types of books, comic books, graphic novels, e-books, books with music and cookbooks! There are many fun kids' cookbooks available! Modeling reading and teaching new skills like cooking or crafts improves comprehension-a WIN/WIN!
National Reading Month began in 1994 and is celebrated in March by book lovers, educators and librarians honoring the birthday of Dr. Seuss on March 2, 1904. He is a popular and well known author of children's books, who contributed greatly to children's education in reading. In 1984, he received a Pulitzer Prize! That is certainly worth CELEBRATING!
A FREE online summit is available to parents and teachers with ADHA and Autistic students. Hints to help you turn struggles into strengths. You will learn ways to connect and build children's confidence that can change everything; making life and learning more manageable rather than experiencing meltdowns. Help your kids build a resilience for success with practical tools that will maximize their potential so that they can live a life filled with confidence and joy! March 3-6.
Volunteers really do make a difference!
https://5il.co/38lw9A HUGE THANKS to Aubrey Umscheid and Morgan Vinduska who spent a few hours sorting donations and reorganizing the Waterville Colts Closet on a day off from school. Together the transformation came together and looks great! Schools That Care is blessed with donations throughout the year that include both girls and boys, coats, jackets, hoodies, sweatshirts, shorts, dress pants and shirts, dresses, shoes, socks underwear and pj's! Some items are brand new while some have been used but well cared for. Kids grow so fast that many items look barely used at all. There are some really nice name brand clothes as well. The girls enjoyed sorting through and seeing the variety of kids clothing, admiring many cute prints and styles.
Their first task was to sort boys and girls items by size and styles. The coats, jackets and hoodies were hung up; girls to one side and boys to the other, by sizes. That will make it easier to shop if a parent, teacher, staff member or student is seeking a specific size for a student. Items that may have been stained or in need of repair were eliminated so that we can continue offering only the best quality items. Some items and sizes that were acquired in an abundance were donated to the Wearhouse. Donated boxes were wrapped with colorful contact paper for storage units. Boys items in the green boxes and girls items in the lavender boxes. Each box is clearly labeled with the items and sizes in each box. Dresses were hung on a clothing rack. Hats, gloves, socks, underwear and shoes are stored in cubbies that hang on each side of the closet; girls/boys.
If you are looking to organize your kids' clothes at home; get your children involved in the tasks of folding and putting clothes away, just like putting toys away. Make it simple for the littles with labels that picture where everything goes. Click here to download and print some labels to use at home. Thanks again ladies for doing an excellent job! The closet looks and works better because of you!
If you know a child or a family who can benefit from the clothing selections in our Colts Closets, please refer them to the Family Advocate.
Spring is almost here and as sensitive as we can be to the weather changes, they are effectively beyond our control. What can we do about a cold blustery wind, one last wintery blast or a dreary cool drenching rain in the forecast? Remember that living in Kansas means the weather is temporary at best, it will change soon. In the mean time, take what you can control into your own hands and practice these mood boosting tips when you can't shake the doldrums that the weather fancies.
- MUSIC! Nothing deeply impacts our emotions like music does! Create a new playlist, pull out some old time rock n roll albums or sing your favorite kids songs with the family. If you need relaxation or motivation, the right tunes will lift you up! And while you're at it....have an impromptu dance party!
- RANDOM ACTS OF KINDESS. It's simple and doesn't have to cost a thing...give a compliment, leave a note for a colleague, text a friend, send a meme, open the door, or pay it forward. Small kind gestures often brighten your day as well as those around you and it can start a chain reaction that has no end.
- LAUGHTER! It is the best medicine after all. Science indicates that laughter is one of the most powerful natural mood boosters! So go ahead and tell a joke, watch a funny video, read a funny book, share a funny story or memory or watch a comedy. It could change yours or someone else's outlook on the whole day!
Got the wiggles? Take a brain break! Can't see the forest for the trees? You may benefit from a brain break! Has the afternoon lethargy set in? Get up and take a brain break! Research shows that we can all benefit from a 1-5 minute brain break when we transition to new tasks, become frustrated with a task and when the mundane requires some new motivation. Our kids and students are no different, they can benefit from increased productivity with frequent brain breaks.
Why are Brain Breaks Important? Even short brain breaks can improve attention, boost energy and refocus us on the tasks at hand while also reducing stress, anxiety and frustration. Brain breaks offer help especially to students and kids who struggle with self-regulation and executive functioning skills. Brain breaks also offer opportunities to develop creativity and social skills. As a part of their learning, brain breaks offer students time to process what they have learned, consolidate memories and make associations with other things and formulate new ideas. Breaks that include physical activity get the blood circulating, and with more oxygen to the brain it keeps our minds sharp, healthy and active.
How and when can brain breaks be useful? In the classroom, reading and when completing homework assignments. Everyone is different and it may depend on the age, attention span and executive functioning skills but as students grow the time between necessary breaks increases. Some students give clues when they need a break; typically during the grade school years, every 10-15 minutes is recommended. During high school every 20-30 minutes is realistic. Brain breaks can be as short as one minute but lasting up to five minutes can provide an efficient reset.
The best brain break activities include some form of physical exercise, like taking a short walk, doing jumping jacks, stretching, yoga poses, marching in place, wall pushes, a dance party, freeze frame, or simply getting up to go get a drink of water. Physical activities increase the blood flow and oxygen to the brain boosting neural connectivity. That stimulates nerve cell growth in the hippocampus-the brain's center of learning and memory. With that, physical brain breaks effectively improve attention, memory and increase brain activity and cognitive function while also enhancing moods and the ability to cope with stress.
One quick game of solitaire, listening to or singing a favorite song, a short obstacle course, tapping, drumming or a quick minute to win it game can also be rejuvenating and motivating.
Consider mini breaks essential to learning, especially for younger students. Research suggests that regular breaks during the school day and learning process reduces disruptive behavior and increases students' efforts and ability to stay on task.
March 12 & April 10
Say YES! to the Formal Dress events began in the Spring semester of 2022 at Valley Heights. Now in it's 4th season, girls in 7th-12th grades are offered formal dresses that have been donated. Some dresses are new-with the tags still on them and others are used but still in great condition! Girls may choose a dress to call their own -at no expense to them- for upcoming events: Jr High dance, March 28 and Prom, April 26. Many colors, styles and sizes are available. These after school events offer a designated time for girls to bring their mom or a friend to help them choose an appropriate dress that may be altered. Snacks will be provided, some jewelry is available, shoes and nail colors too! Practice updo's and make-up too if you wish. This is a fun time to experiment with the look you want to achieve at your special event! Each event ends at 5pm. If you and your friends can't make these scheduled events but would like to try on some dresses, please contact the Family Advocate to accommodate your schedule.
Dress shirts and limited dress pants and shoes are available for the guys during school hours and by appointment.
Donations are being accepted.
