Friday Focus

Parents have the greatest influence. Back-to-School Night is a great opportunity to learn more about your child’s school. Attend Back-to-School Night and volunteer to help in ways you’ll enjoy. Show your children that school is a top family priority!

Back-to-School Night Meets Many Needs

Back-to-School Night takes place on Thursday evening, August 31 at 7:00 pm here at school.

This is an excellent time to check out your child's classroom, listen to his/her teacher share about goals for the upcoming year, and connect with other families.

The more you know about your child’s school, the more comfortable you’ll feel with it--and the better equipped you’ll be to help your child. To make the most of this year’s Back-to-School Night:

• Be There. This shows teachers and your child that school is important to you.
• Plan to speak up. This on what you want to know about your child’s classes. Write down the questions ahead of time.
• Get your child’s input. What would he like you to ask or tell teachers? Is there anything he wants you to notice about his classroom or school?
• Listen to what teachers say with an open mind. Don’t tune out things that seem unrelated to your child now. They may be useful later.
• Take notes. It’s hard to remember all of the helpful information provided. Write down anything that relates to your child.
• Meet other parents. It’s amazing how many common concerns you’ll have. Exchange numbers and stay in touch.
• Share what you’ve learned with your child. If you have negative reactions, though, sleep on them. Give yourself a chance to think them over. It’s important not to hurt your child’s attitude towards learning.

All of us at school look forward to meeting with you next Thursday evening!

Summer's End Picnic

Our “Summer’s End” Picnic will take place here at school on Sunday, August 27 from 12-4 pm. This event is lots of fun for everybody. There’ll be lots of fun and games, plus lots of food! Each classroom is responsible for bringing the following items:

Kindergarten: Chips
Gr. 1-3: Chips
Gr. 4-6: Hamburger Buns
Gr. 7-8: Soda/Juice

See photos from last year's picnic...

Back-to-School Backpack Safety

Backpacks come in all sizes, colors, fabrics, and shapes and help kids of all ages express their own personal sense of style—in addition to carrying books and supplies to and from school. And if they're used properly, they can be a useful tool for kids.

Below are helpful tips to insure you know how to safely use your backpack in order to promote spinal health.

Step 1: Choose Right. Choosing the right size backpack is the most important step to safe backpack use.

Tip: Bring a friend to help you measure your backpack properly.

Step 2: Pack Right. The maximum weight of the loaded backpack should not exceed 15 % of your body weight, so pack only what is needed.

Tip: If the backpack forces the wearer to move forward to carry, it's overloaded.

Step 3: Lift Right. Face the Pack -Bend at the Knees - Use both hands and check the weight of the pack. - Lift with the legs - Apply one shoulder strap and then the other.

Tip: Don't sling the backpack onto one shoulder.

Step 4: Wear Right. Use both shoulder straps - snug, but not too tight.

Tip: When the backpack has a waist strap - use it.

More helpful information about backpack safety can be found at:

KidsHealth for Parents...

Are You Organized for School Success?

Sometimes succeeding in school is just a mater of organization. Here’s a quiz to see how your family is doing. Give yourself five points for something you do often, zero points for something you never do--or any score in between.

___ 1. I provide a special place for my child to study.

___ 2. I use a family calendar to note important dates.

___ 3. I designate a place for my child to put school notes to families.

___ 4. I help my child keep school items organized.

___ 5. I spend time at night helping my child get ready for the next day.

How did you score? Twenty or above is good. Fifteen to 19 is average. Below 15? Use the ideas in this quiz to help your child become more organized.

Did You Know?

In a study released in June, the Center for Summer Learning at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore found that students typically lose one to two months of reading and math skills during summer break, and that teachers often spend up to six weeks reviewing topics already covered.

For more information and ideas on how you can beat the “summer slide”...

Read this...

Quote of the Week

"A school needs to be a home. If a school is a place where kids want to be...they're going to be successful. If everyone is lifting the kids up, they'll want to try harder. Everyone should know each other--the secretary, teachers, cafeteria workers, custodians should all know the kids and kids should know everyone."

--Ron Clark, 2000 Disney Teacher of the Year

I Need More Stuff!

Conspicuous consumerism is considered the mark of success in America. Why, it is even considered downright unpatriotic by some crazy standard for anyone not to keep spending in times of economic downturn. (Maybe the credit card companies convinced the politicians to sanction and sell that idea!)

A friend in Atlanta recently called my attention to a series in the Journal-Constitution about huge and expensive houses in his city. He also quoted part of a letter to the newspaper’s editor that said: “People live in a constant state of ‘What I have is not enough because somebody else has more.’ This is stressful and creates anxiety. What are we teaching our children with this mentality?”

Not to worry. The kids have gotten the point already. Just try to put the wrong brand of footwear or jeans on them for the coming school year. They’ll let you know in a heartbeat that they’ve picked up on their parents’ and peers’ label-conscious, status-conferring, wouldn’t-be-caught-dead-in-that kind of snobbery.

We’re all caught up in it to some degree. And I’m not referring to the fact that some more expensive items are cheaper in the long run because of their quality or that certain brands are trusted more because of a history of better value. I’m talking about the salivation I can feel when I see the newsprint ads for new cars or stare down the TV for the new electronic gizmo being hawked. The three-year-old car I’m driving is fine, and I don’t begin to need another gizmo.

Shania Twain sings the mantra of an I-need-more-stuff world: “We’ve created us a credit card mess / We spend the money that we don’t possess / Our religion is to go and blow it all / So it’s shoppin’ every Sunday at the mall.” Sounds like the words of an ancient prophet, don’t you think? But the song continues: “All we ever want is more / a lot more than we had before / so take me to the nearest store.” Then comes the punch-line: “Can you hear it ring / It makes you wanna sing / You’ll live like a king / with lots of money and things / Ka-ching!”

One of the businesses that has boomed over the past few years is mini-storage warehouses. Those companies have figured out a way to make even more money by fostering our consumerism. Once we fill up our living spaces, they’ll rent us storage area to put the stuff we don’t need enough to use – so we can go out and buy more unnecessary things. Do you see the insanity of it?

It’s just a tiny little seed idea. But would you join me this week to put something of real value into a stranger’s hand instead of into storage? It’s called loving your neighbor. It is the only known antidote to the wicked idolatry of greed.

--Rubel Shelly