Cinco de Mayo Celebration

We had an excellent celebration of Cinco de Mayo today. Each of our class rotations focused on an aspect of the Mexican culture. History, children's games, art, literature, and food were all part of our day. The fifth grade even performed the Mexican Hat Dance, and taught the fourth grade how to dance! Our luncheon visit to El Jaripeo was very organized and everyone was seated, received their food, and finish lunch in less than an hour. What a great day!

Room 4 ISTEP week info.. etc.

ISTEP begins Tuesday morning. We will be testing on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday mornings between 8:30 and 10:30 AM. Please try to have your child at school on time, rested, and ready to do their best. Students may bring healthy snacks on testing days. We will not have PE on Thursday this week, due to our ISTEP schedule, so students should be in their regular school uniform on Thursday. The all-school Mass is on Friday this week, instead of Wednesday, due to May Crowning. Don't forget to return your child's choice for our Cinco de Mayo luncheon next Monday.

5th Grade: Student Council Election

All 5th Graders have been invited to run for Middle School Student Council seats for the 2013-2014 school year. Holy Sprit Student Council advisor, Mrs. Amy Moran, spoke to the 5th Grade today about opportunities available for the next school year. Students must have 80 student signatures from the current 5th, 6th, and 7th Graders, three teacher signatures, and a speech turned in by May 3,2013 to have their name placed on the ballot. All students received information today explaining the each position and the requirements for each.

5th Grade Freedom Essays

All 5th Graders are involved in an essay contest sponsored by the Sertoma Club of East Indianapolis. Most students have completed their essay on the topic What Freedom Means to Me. The students will be editing and proofreading this week, and the winning essay be be announced on Friday. The author of the winning essay will receive $25.00 from the Sertoma Club, and will be invited to a luncheon with their family, teachers, and Mrs. Parsons on April 18, 2013.

Room 4 reminders, etc.

Don't forget about student-led conferences this Wednesday, March 13th. If you are unable to come on Wednesday, let me know, and we will arrange for another time. To sign up, change your time, or check available time slots go to www.signupgenius.com 3-5 grade awards will be at 10:30 AM on Thursday. Last chance for yearbook order is tomorrow, Tuesday, March 12th.

Room 4 News and Reminders

Holy Spirit School students will be learning more about Riley Hospital for Children this week. We have a guest speaker from Riley on Tuesday and students who donate $3.00 may dress-out in red tomorrow. Tomorrow during recess, all students will participate in a 15 minute Walk-A-Thon to promote healthy habits. Please encourage your child to make a small donation to Riley Hospital. We will be collecting all week.

BizTown Success

We had a great day at BizTown on Friday. The students received many compliments about behavior and how seriously they took their responsibilities at their jobs. We spend many hours of class time teaching the economic (Social Studies), communication and writing (Language Arts), and banking lessons (Math)that go with this Junior Achievement program. Thanks again to all our parents who attended, and especially our Room 4 volunteers: Mrs. Nagel, Mrs. Carr, Mrs. Spears, Mrs. Keith, Mr. Nagel, and Mrs. Conway. We appreciate your willingness to give up an entire day to help. Also, thanks to Mrs. McRanor for volunteering to help interview the students for their jobs.

Room 4 Valentine treats and BizTown

If your child plans on bringing Valentine cards or treats to our class party tomorrow, please send enough for everyone. We have 18 students in Room 4. Please do not let your child bring exclusive cards or gifts for individual students. Thank you. Only parents who have completed a Virtus session, and have an up-to-date background check will be able to go to BizTown. Please let me know as soon as possible if your plans have changed. Students will need to wear their school uniform on Friday. Students and adults will need to bring their lunch on Friday, or order a sack lunch from the Cafe. Snacks and drinks will be available at BizTown.

Room 4 BizTown Volunteers, etc

We had several parents who volunteered to go to BizTown with 4th and 5th Grades who had not completed a Virtus workshop, had a background check, or have a Code of Conduct form on file in the office. Information was sent home last week to all volunteers so you can be current on all requirements. Please let me or the office know if you are not able to go with us to BizTown on Friday, February 15th.

Room 4 News

We began Catholic Schools Week by wearing purple to show we are against bullying. Unfortunately, there has been many incidents of bullying in 5th Grade recently. Mrs. Parsons came to our religion class today to address the issue. The class discussed examples of bullying witnessed by students. Almost all students saw or heard and incident of bullying, but did not speak up. They did not tell the bully to stop, or did not tell an adult. Please remind your child that their words and actions, as well as their lack of words and actions, hurt others.

Room 4 BizTown volunteer reminder

If you plan to accompany the 4th and 5th Grades to BizTown on Friday, February 15th, please return the volunteer form by Friday. Parents who volunteer will be working in a shop with 6-8 students. Lunch and shopping breaks are scheduled with your child, but parents are not assigned to the shop where their child works. Students will ride the bus to BizTown. Parents will not be driving students, because parents need to arrive at BizTown 45 minutes early for training.

Room 4 News and Info.

-4th and 5th Grades will be going to Junior Achievement's BizTown on Friday, February 15th where they will participate in a day long simulation. The students will learn about all areas of economics and banking in the next four weeks to prepare for this trip. We will need about 20 parents to accompany us on this day. More information will be sent home this Friday. -All students received a Mass Journal today from Fr. Paul. We took the Journal to church this morning and the students wrote a short reflection after communion. Fr. Paul would like all students to bring this Journal with them to Mass each Sunday, and write a similar reflection, beginning this Sunday. We will discuss their reflections during Religion class on Monday, and this will be part of their Religion grade. Please make attending church on Sumday a priority. -Former middle school Social Studies teacher, Mrs. Amy Moran, is working on her license as a school counselor, and she has offered counseling services to all students during the school day.

Room 4 News, etc.

Our class is planning the all-school Mass for this Wednesday, January 9th. The entire class should be involved in some part of the Mass. We will have choir, servers, readers, and gift bearers. Happy Birthday to Madi B. We enjoyed the doughnuts! We started the second round of Benchmark testing today. The students will test in one class period per day. Don't forget about ALEKS and First in Math. Each student needs to complete five ALEKS topics each week as part of their Math grade. Also, First in Math builds basic math skills. 2nd quarter report cards will be available online this Friday. The students will receive a hard copy as well. They will have time in class on Friday to reflect on their 2nd quarter goals and plan new goals for the 3rd quarter.