100th Day of School - DATE CHANGE - Monday, January 30th

Our 100th Day of School Celebration is fast approaching and THE DATE HAS CHANGED!  Due to scheduling conflicts with our 1/2 teachers and professional development conferences on Tuesday, we will be celebrating the 100th Day on MONDAY, JANUARY 30TH (the actual 100th day).  On Monday our brains will be another 100 days smarter and I'm excited to fill the day with fun activities surrounding the number 100.

As a special treat for Monday, we are in need of snacks for our 100-item snack. Please use the “100th Day Snack Sign Up” link to volunteer to bring in a snack.  When signing up, please include the type of snack you are providing. Snacks should be items where students can easily take 10 pieces from each provided snack. Examples may include small crackers, pretzels, cereal, dried fruit.  There will be 9 students at school on Monday, so please be sure your provided snack has at least 90 items in the box.   Please bring the snack on on our 100th Day of School - Monday, January 30th.  Since there are 10 families (including me) in our class, if each family could bring in one snack to contribute that would be wonderful!!  As a note: there are no food allergies or concerns, but please be sure it is low in sugar.  Many thanks.

To prepare for Monday, your child brought home a letter about our upcoming 100th Day of School and a small homework assignment.  Please take a look at the letter sent home and the information below.  As part of our festivities, I am asking each student to count and collect 100 small objects, and to place those objects in the attached plastic bag labeled “_____’s 100th Day Collection”.  All the objects in your child’s collection bag should be the same.  After all students have returned the bags to class, we will use the collections to conduct fun-filled classroom learning activities.  The bagged collections will then be returned to the students to bring home.  It is important that each bag close securely over the 100 objects, so please help your child count and choose 100 objects small enough to fit in the bag.

Here are some collection ideas:
• 100 pieces of popcorn
• 100 paper clips
• 100 stickers
• 100 metal washers
• 100 hair elastics
• 100 rubber bands
• 100 toothpicks
• 100 pennies
• 100 pieces of cereal
• 100 beans
• 100 pictures of toys (or 100 pictures of animals, etc.) cut from magazines

Please consider the items on this list to be suggestions only.  Feel free to help your child collect any objects that will fit into his or her bag.  I only ask that you avoid objects that are sharp (such as tacks).  Your child’s 100th Day of School Collection is due back to school on our 100th day, THIS MONDAY, JANUARY 31st.

Thank you in advance for helping to make our 100th Day of School a complete success.  Please let me know if you have questions.

Oaknoll Monthly Field Trips - Next one NEXT Thurs 1.12

Our December Oaknoll field trip was a huge success and I am so proud of how wonderful our students were given it was our first trip to a new place.  Brianna Becker, Oaknoll's Volunteer Coordinator, and I have worked out dates for our monthly visits to Oaknoll for the remainder of the year.  These visits are so heartwarming and help students build reading fluency skills and interpersonal communication skills with others.  Our January field trip has been scheduled for NEXT Thursday, January 12th.  Drivers are needed.  Click here to sign up to drive for this field trip and the other months to follow (the 2nd Thursday of each month).  I know the turn around time is quick on this January field trip, but it seems to be the best date for both Oaknoll and us.  Your help is much appreciated.  Let me know if you have questions, don't forget to leave your child's booster seat on Thursday, January 12th, and in the meantime, enjoy these photos from December's Oaknoll trip.

PS:  Our January library trip is planned for Wednesday, the 25th.  Please be sure your child has their library card.

MLK Jr. Day of Service (Mon 1.16) - Help needed!

Monday, January 16th is Martin Luther King Jr.'s Day of Service.  In honor of MLK Jr, K-6 students will spend the morning learning about and celebrating his work and legacy.  In the afternoon, K-6 students will work in their multi-age service learning groups and put the finishing touches on their semester long service learning projects.  K-6 students have been working in two groups to make an impact in our community.  One group is working to help better our own school and the other group is working to make a difference in the Iowa City community.  Ask your child which group they are participating in.

Both groups are in need of your help!  Our Willowwind School Service Learning Group has created a Go Fund Me page (linked HERE) to ask for small donations to cover the cost of supplies for various projects to better our school.  The Willowwind School group will also be working with the Iowa City Service Learning Group to share Go Fund Me donations to give back to our community.  If you are interested in donating please visit our Go Fund Me page by Friday, January 13th.  Cash donations may also be given to Rachel B. or Dana at the Front Desk.  Please specify your cash donation's intent.

In addition, our Iowa City group is working with various organizations in Iowa City to support local causes.  The Iowa City group will begin a brief Ronald McDonald Wish List Drive on Monday, January 9th.  This Wish List Drive is specifically looking for "individually-wrapped snack items" to give to patients and families as they are on the go in between appointments. Non-perishable snack items may include:  granola bars, trail mix, fruit snacks, Pop Tarts, fruit cups, applesauce pouches, pudding cups, single serving bag of chips / popcorn etc.  There will be a drop off bucket in Willowwind's Front Entry Way.  Cash donations can also be dropped off at the Front Desk with Rachel B. or Dana.

We are so proud of our students as they have committed a great deal of time and effort into playing our annual Day of Service.  They are excited to help so many.  Your support is greatly appreciated.  We cannot do it with your help!  Thank you for your dedication to our students' wonderful generosity!