Tawanka Times

Spring is here! As warmer weather becomes the norm, please keep in mind the following clothing expectations for school:

• Footwear: Sneakers are best. Sandals with a firm sole and heel strap are acceptable. For safety reasons, flips flops or similar footwear are not acceptable.
• Clothing: t-shirts are best. Tank tops with tight armholes are acceptable (Avoid basketball-style jerseys - unless worn with a t-shirt underneath). Avoid short shorts, tube tops, and shirts/blouses that expose the waist/stomach. Tank tops/blouses should have straps of 2-finger width (approximately 1") or greater.
• Spring temperatures can be unpredictable. We recommend to continue to send your student with a light jacket or hoodie for recess.

The Neshaminy STEAM Expo is back next week! Admission is free! There are plenty of hands-on activities for elementary students as well as a whole list of special guests. Come have some fun while learning!

StandUp Neshaminy is excited to announce the return of the Sunset Challenge 2k/5k race on Friday, May 13th starting at 6:40 pm at Maple Point!

This race offers families, teams and individual runners two great courses: the 2K walk/run will stay on Maple Point property while the 5k will use the new walking trail on Langhorne Yardley Road as part of a circular course that winds through Middletown Community Park and back to Maple Point. The race will be chipped and professionally timed by RunBucks, LLC, each runner gets a t-shirt and medal, and prizes will be awarded in multiple categories and a school banner for the Neshaminy school with the most participants (based on percentage). The evening will feature a DJ (Mr. Gosser!), snacks and drinks for runners, and more!

Register before March 31 to get the best price; to guarantee a race t-shirt you must register before April 22. Register at www.sunsetchallenge.org.

Tawanka was the school with the highest participation the first time around, and we have the banner to prove it! We want to see another banner hanging beside it this year!

REGISTER NOW!

Tawanka's Got Talent show will be held Friday, April 8th at Poquessing Middle School from 7 pm to 8:30 pm. Our Tawanka Eagles have been practicing their acts and can't wait to show them off!

Our Lost & Found is overflowing again. If you think you recognize an item, please contact the office at 215-809-6310 and we will be happy to check sizes, etc. if needed. We would love to return these items to their owner! Items not claimed will be donated.

Mr. Josh Eichenauer is going to be hanging out with Mr. Wright in the gym for the next 7 weeks. Mr. E is a student teacher from Cairn University. Let's give him a nice Tawanka welcome and say "Hello" in the hallways!

Mr. Finkel and Mrs. Hanna's buddy classes got together to practice STEM skills. They built their own basketball catapults for March Madness.

There were 87 students who participated in Math Challenge #11. Amazing job, everyone!

The classes with the highest participation were: Ms. Curtin, Ms. Wendling, and Ms. Wells

Math Challenge #12 is due to Mrs. Phelan by March 30th.

Keep up the great work!

Fourth, third and second graders made their way back to the cafeteria this week for lunch! Students were reminded of proper lunchroom behavior expectations; it has been a long time since they were able to sit together as a group! It was so nice to see the cafeteria full of smiling faces and hear their excited chatter!

First grade and Kindergarten will be having their lunch in the cafeteria soon as well!

But the fourth graders did sing about him at 4th grade movie night!

Students brought blankets to lounge on, ate snacks, and sang along with the movie Encanto. Everyone had a great time!

Fourth graders took a trip the the high school for their annual music presentation. They heard performances by the Wind Ensemble, Symphony Strings, Select Choir and the Jazz Ensemble.

The third graders in Mrs. Tryon's class did! The students have been hydroponically growing romaine lettuce since January. This past week, they harvested their lettuce, washed it, and got to eat it along with some cucumbers, croutons, and ranch dressing. It was so good they all had seconds and were asking for thirds!

Our second graders in Mrs. Hanna's class celebrated being respectful, responsible, and safe Empowered Eagles with a Camping Reward Day! Great job!

They also practiced their measurement skills while enjoying the beautiful weather outside!

Second graders researched different animals and then made habitats. This is some from Mrs. Belser's class. Look how creative they were!!

Here are some of the finished products of the Shoe Box Habitats from C105!

Ms. Fisher took her class outside to measure using different units! They used inches, centimeters, meter and yards to measure their surroundings!

First graders are learning about air resistance. Mrs. Curtin's class went outside on a beautiful spring day to fly their parachutes!

Mrs. Fedele's class continued with March Madness activities using BeeBots. The students had to get their BeeBots to score a basket while dodging obstacles. After the students figured out the code, they wrote it down. We invited our buddies in Mrs. Blaydon's class to come try them out!

Children in Mrs. Reichert's class are building their coding skills through the program known as Kodable.

Welcome to our zoo! Our Kindergarteners spent the last two weeks learning about zoo animals and worked really hard to create zoo habitats as part of project based learning in Science. They finished up by giving presentations just like real life zoo keepers! Dr. McGee even visited "The World's Greatest Zoo" and learned so many new things!

Great job, everyone!

Tawanka's very own teachers Mrs. Fedele and Ms. Wells will both be on the Neshaminy Dream Team for the Harlem Wizards game tomorrow! Make sure you cheer them on!!

Here is the Board Approved 2022-2023 school year calendar for your planning purposes:

Safety of all students and staff is a top priority at Tawanka, so we have strict safety procedures in place. A reminder of the following:

Building Entry: All visitors must scan their driver's license or state issued ID at the kiosk in the front vestibule and wait for entry. This is required at every visit, or access will be denied.

Early Dismissals: Please notify the teacher if your child will be picked up early. If being picked up by someone other than a parent/guardian, please specify who will be picking up your child. Students will only be released to individuals listed on the emergency card, but the office must be notified prior to pick-up. Students must be signed out in the main office. Again, driver's license or state issued ID is required to pick up a student. We strongly encourage early dismissals be no later than 3:00 pm.

Our next PTO meeting will be held on Wednesday, April 6th at 7 pm. All Tawanka parents are welcome! Please join us!

We are in need of parent/guardian volunteers to serve on our PTO executive board for the 2022-2023 school year. We are hoping that next year returns to normal with many more events for our school. The only way these events happen is with our dedicated parent volunteers who plan, organize and lead them. We currently have the following vacancies without candidates:

1st Vice President

2nd Vice President

Recording Secretary

For those who missed the in-person meet and greet session on the 23rd, a Zoom session will also be held by the PTO next Wednesday, March 30th @ 7 pm. Details will be provided regarding the duties of the various positions on the board.

Elections will occur on Wednesday May 4th, 2022. Those interested in running should submit their intent to the PTO by the April 6th, 2022 meeting. Contact: Tawankapto@gmail.com