Randolph School Notes for March 21, 2014
Runza donation to the Food Bank of Lincoln Backpack Program:
$412.50 from the Runza BackPack fundraiser last week. That’s awesome!!!
Congratulations to Jaelyn K. (Kindergarten) and Tristan A. (4th Grade). Their artwork was chosen to be part of the Youth Art Month Exhibition at the state capitol during the month of March. They will be attending the YAM celebration at the capitol this Saturday at 2:00 pm. You can view their artwork on Artsonia’s website https://www.artsonia.com/ or on the Randolph Visual Art website http://randolphart.weebly.com/
State Testing Starts March 26th!
See the calendar below for the list of dates and grades completing their Nebraska State Assessments in Reading, Math, and Science!
These NeSA tests are very important. Encourage your children to do their best!
Help them do their best by getting to bed early and eating a healthy breakfast.
Science Fair Fun!
Over 60 students shared their Science questions and investigations on Tuesday! Many families came to view and learn about the experiments. Thank you to all the community members and staff who served as judges, interviewing the scientists, and organized this experience!
Breakfast Power: March 24-28
Our next Wellness Challenge is to encourage everyone to EAT BREAKFAST EVERY DAY! Students will bring home their Breakfast Challenge Chart today (March 21) and will keep track all next week of the breakfast items they eat. Students can eat breakfast at home, at day care, or at school. Breakfast is served at Randolph from 8:35-8:55. Every student who turns in a completed challenge form on Monday, March 31 will get a small prize recognizing her/his efforts to give their brain breakfast!
Science Fun! “Nano Days”
The newest, most transformative realm of scientific discovery and invention is happening at the nanoscale, many times smaller than the microscopic level. To celebrate this exciting science, we invite you, your students, and their families to be a part of a free, educational festival called NanoDays.
NanoDays will take place at Gateway Shopping Mall in Lincoln on Saturday, April 5, from 1:00 to 4:00 pm.
This public event offers engaging, hands-on activities to explore the miniscule world of atoms, molecules, and nanoscale forces. Participants will get to:
· Construct their own nanomaterials!
· Investigate super thin materials used in solar cell technology!
· Change the color of a butterfly’s wings!
· Chat with UNL faculty and graduate students about current nano research!
There will be prizes for the first 100 student attendees who visit all of the ten interactive demonstration tables, and a nanoscience education kit awarded to the elementary and middle schools with the most student attendees.
NanoDays is part of a nationwide festival of educational programs about nanoscale science and engineering sponsored by the NISE Net program. In Nebraska, NanoDays is sponsored by Nebraska EPSCoR in collaboration with UNL’s Nebraska Center for Materials and Nanoscience (NCMN) and the Materials Research Science and Engineering Center (MRSEC).
CALENDAR:
March 24 Report Cards due to Dr. B.
March 24-28 Breakfast Challenge! Record what you have for breakfast.
March 25 PLC Early Out! 2:18
March 25 SCIP meets
March 25 PTA Board meets at 5:00
March 25 Fourth Grade Parents: Outdoor Education Camp Meeting 7 p.m.
March 26 & 27 NeSA Reading grade 3
March 26 Earth Wellness Festival for grade 5
March 26 Grade 4 Spring Training Pledge Cards home
March 27 Hy Vee Night at 84 & Holdrege
March 28 Report Cards home
March 28 BIST Q4 reteaching log due
March 28 Freeze Pop Friday! The Moms in Touch group will run the sales tables right after school. Freeze pops are 25¢ each, and all proceeds benefit the Backpack Food program.
April 1 & 2 NeSA Reading grade 5
April 2 All Outdoor Education Camp permission forms for fourth grade due
April 3 & 4 NeSA Reading grade 4
April 4 Freeze Pop Friday!
April 5 BackPack Walk: LPS Fundraiser for the Food Bank of Lincoln’s Backpack Food program. Randolph has over 55 families who receive a backpack of food each Friday to help feed their family for the weekend.
April 8 & 9 NeSA Math grade 5
April 9 & 10 NeSA Math grade 4
April 11 Freeze Pop Friday!
April 15 & 16 NeSA Science grade 5
April 18 NO SCHOOL Good Friday
April 25 NO elementary SCHOOL: plan day
April 29 PLC Early Out 2:18
Love and Logic Moment:
Praise Junkies?
Are we raising a society hooked on praise? Perhaps you know someone who doesn’t feel whole…doesn’t experience happiness…unless they are receiving acknowledgment from the outside.
Do we want our kids dependent upon the praise of others, or do we want them guided by a voice of personal responsibility residing in their hearts and their heads?
Far too many parenting and school discipline approaches rely on changing behavior by consistently providing praise and tangible goodies.
While occasional praise is fine, do we set our kids up for difficulties when we overdo it?
Life guided by an internal set of ethical principles…and a strong understanding of cause and effect…is far more likely to produce confidence and joy than a life dependent upon the fickle opinions of others.
Take the following quiz to see whether you are creating responsibly independent kids…or praiseaholics:
- When my kids succeed on a task, I recognize their effort and their good feelings…rather than telling them how happy it makes me.
- I demonstrate that I love them, even when I don’t necessarily love their behavior.
- I allow my kids to see me resisting peer pressure…rather than always trying to project a perfect image.
- I provide praise rarely…and only when they have done something truly praiseworthy.
- My kids often overhear me talking about how I make my decisions based on my own beliefs…rather than seeing me make decisions based on what “everybody else is doing.”
- I allow my kids to make affordable mistakes and learn from them…rather than constantly telling them what to do.
The more “yes” answers you gave, the more likely your kids will learn to resist peer pressure and lead lives where their happiness is based on doing the right thing rather than trying to please everyone.
In our CD Shaping Self-Concept, Jim Fay gives parents and teachers the tools they need to help kids learn to look for their strengths and become motivated, confident, and proud. Kids who will be able to keep going when the tough gets going and see themselves as winners.
Thanks for reading! Our goal is to help as many families as possible. If this is a benefit, forward it to a friend.
Dr. Charles Fay