Hello Winona Families.......Happy April!
Each school year, students and families participate in our Walk-A-Thon, called the Wildcat Dash, to raise money to put back into our school. With this fundraiser, we have put in a track at the back of our field, which students have been using in PE and at recess. Our next step is to create an outdoor classroom for classes to go out and learn in. We have already added sitting stones at each of the corners and in the month of April we will begin adding curbing from the track towards the middle of the track where the outdoor classroom will be. We have applied for a grant to add native plants to the area, and have previously raised funds to go towards more of the material that we have on the track for the ground. Our Wildcat Dash will be held on May 19th!!! ALL money raised will go towards our Outdoor Classroom, specifically around large sitting boulders for students and classes to use.
It seems that since our Winter break, we have had a lot of cell phone conversations with students. The conversations have not been around using cell phones at school, but rather the impact that having their phones with them at night is having. These impacts have included being extra tired at school due to playing on technology or their phones late at night (sometimes without their families knowing), students sending or receiving messages from others, and students spending time on social media late into the night (also without families being aware). Here is a great article about the impact that being on technology at night has on our bodies and our brains (as kids and adults). If your child has access to their phone or other technology at night, I would like to encourage you to have conversations with them about this, or remove the technology access by a certain time each night as part of their routine.
Our carnival is scheduled for May 1st. At conferences we had students vote on a theme for our carnival and the results showed that we will have a Sports Theme for the night! Our flyer will be shared out within the next few weeks! Keep an eye out for it! We will also be sharing out information about a couple of carnival planning dates/times. We cannot have our carnival without some hands to help us out. This may include planning a game, helping with set-up, planning decorations or volunteering that night for a little while.
