Specials Spotlight

Spirit Catholic Radio is doing their annual prayer card drawing contest. This year, the drawing contest is centered around the Sorrowful Mysteries of the Rosary. Students compete in grade level bands for prizes. Each grade band has two mysteries to choose from to draw. We have a few entries every year, BUT THIS YEAR we have more than ever and the kids are pulling out all the stops! Entries must be on a 6.5" x 8" piece of paper, so if your kiddo wants to enter, please send them to me for the specially cut paper. They can work on it at home and turn it in to me by November 21 so that I have time to mail it in before the deadline in December. Check out some of our entries so far. (Kora Lawse's pictured to the right.)

We are thrilled to announce that Lauren Tarshis, the beloved author of the I Survived series, will be visiting Omaha this Sunday!

When: Sunday, October 19th at 4:00 PM Where: Westside Community Center, 3534 S 108th St, Omaha, NE 68144

Lauren will be sharing the compelling story behind her new book, I Survived the Dust Bowl, 1935.

This is a free appearance and will include:

• A captivating presentation

• A Q&A session

• A book signing

For more details about the event, please follow this link: https://www.bookwormomaha.com/event/lauren-tarshis-will-sign-i-survived-dust-bowl-1935-westside-community-center

Book Signing & Sales: Signed books will be available for purchase both in advance and on-site, courtesy of The Bookworm.

Share the Excitement! Please feel free to share this exciting news with any friends, family, or educators you know who are fans of the I Survived series.

We hope to see you and your I Survived fans there!

Mr. Tucksen is out this week, but check back next week for more music news! In the meantime, enjoy this snapshot of the third graders drumming!

Last week we wrapped up our Football unit, which brought tremendous growth school-wide. PreK through 1st Grade students were all able to catch at least one pass. 2nd and 3rd Grade ran a predetermined route while catching a pass. 4th and 5th Grade students incorporated offensive and defensive strategies in a modified game to score touchdowns. 2nd and 3rd Grade students also learned Gaga Ball. There will be rules posted on the Gaga Pit soon, which are more student friendly to involve everyone.

Middle School started our Volleyball unit on Friday. The first day was about consecutive rallies, in which 8th Grade led the charge with 17. This week PreK through 1st Grade students are volleying with a balloon using various body parts (hands, knees, thumbs, etc.). 2nd through 5th are demonstrating the three key skills (bump, set, and serve). There has been great progress already this week.

This week in technology class, students across grade levels are engaging with a mix of foundational and project-based digital skills!

Kindergarten and 1st Grade

• Through fun, collaborative dice games, students focused on key math skills: basic addition, understanding greater than/less than, and using tallies and graphing to organize data!

3rd Grade

Third graders have been focusing on digital literacy and word processing skills. They recently completed an iPad Pages Acrostic Poem project, which allowed them to practice:

• Keyboarding proficiency.

• Formatting and editing text within a document.

5th Grade

Fifth graders have started a research project focused on a famous inventor. This assignment is designed to teach research and presentation skills:

• Search Strategies: We began by discussing effective and reliable ways to search for information online.

• Google Slides Presentation: The final project will be a Google Slides presentation, where students will apply their research and learn to organize and present information digitally.