Author: Van Am Gram

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Angel Tree Time!

As shared yesterday, our annual Angel Tree drive started this week.  Mrs. Stanley is once again heading up this heartfelt project of love our campus annually participates in to assist Manna House with holiday needs.  Helping our learning community and friends in need remains a major part of who we are at LME; this project is certainly no exception.

Each “angel” on the tree will have a clothing need angel-treeor special gift request for a local child or senior citizen.  You are welcome to choose one angel or several depending on your preference.  Permission slips for participation went home on Monday this week, but the office has more if you need one (let your classroom teacher know you need another).  Once the permission form is given to Mrs. Stanley, your child may choose an angel.  Please send the “angel” attached to the unwrapped item no later than December 6th.  Also, if you are willing to purchase a larger item (electronics, bicycle, etc.), please contact Mrs. Stanley for these specific arrangements.

As always, we appreciate the overflowing response of gifts, talents, service, and especially love when we participate in selfless acts of kindness on behalf of others in need.  These valuable lessons learned at an early age garner greater acts of loving kindness in the future.  Thank you for assisting us in creating altruistic lifelong learners and leaders for the future!  🙂

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Movers and Givers…

StuCo1This is the time of year to count our blessings, give with great thanks, and share our bountiful harvest with others.  Our LaRue Miller Elementary learning community did this in a BIG way!  Our entire campus collected a total of 2,622 food items during our annual food drive all last week.  Our Student Honor Council members assisted Mrs. Stanley in carefully sorting, counting, and packing the items in categories for our local food pantry, Manna House.  The group StuCo2willingly helped to load the Manna House van this afternoon during their recess time as a way to share their time too.

Thank you, LME learning community (especially our parents), for sharing your gifts and service with those in need during this holiday season.  If you missed out on last week’s project, our next one starts this week (more to come!).  🙂

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Veteran’s Day 2013!

In teaching others, we teach ourselves; the best and greatest teach from their hearts.  As is our tradition at LME, we take this day to honor vet2and thank the brave men and women who choose to serve our nation’s military.  Our fifth grade classes spend great time in preparing historical displays on the branches of military service, preparing scripts and texts, and learning patriotic musical singing and bell-ringing numbers to share.  With the entire school decked out red, white, and blue, we gather together to offer our love, support, and genuine thanks to our nation’s finest citizens, our Veterans.

vet1This year, we were particularly blessed to have servicemen from four of the military branches present the U.S., Texas, and military flags at the beginning of the program.  Special thanks to Air Force Master Sergeant Joe Cabler, Army Sergeant Doug Schimdt, Marine Corps Chief Warrant Officer Jeffery Grant Sr., Army and Marine Corps Sergeant Ray Maldonado, Navy Seaman Joe Hocker, and Air Force Lieutenant Jeffery Grant Jr., and Navy seaman and master trumpeter Bill Thompson for participating with us!

This annual tradition marks an opportunity to remember, reflect, and revisit the service and sacrifices of the brave men and women who have before, who are today, and who will tomorrow give unselfishly of themselves on behalf of our freedom and liberty in the United States of America!  Here’s hoping we each stop today (and everyday) to thank a Veteran!

Note:  GREAT job, 5th grade learners and classroom leaders; barely a dry eye left in the room at the end!  🙂 

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Field of Readers on November 12th!

t-fieldofreaders3.jpgMidlothian families are encouraged to bring books and blankets on the field at the MISD Multi-Purpose Stadium on Tuesday, November 12 from 6:00-7:30 p.m.  The annual MISD Field of Readers Event includes activities on the field, stories on the 50-yardline, face painting, Jumbotron messages, book walks, and a Scholastic Book Fair.  Read more [PDF]

Special thanks to our MISD Library Media Services Department for their vision and execution of this annual fun family outing!  Here’s hoping we see you on the field!  🙂

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Book Buddies are a hoot!

Mrs. Hoover’s second grade class and Mrs. Spradley’s bb1Kinder friends are Book Buddies this year.  They spend time together each week learning new material, sharing favorite books, reading their own stories to each other, and so much more.  A particular lesson involved sharing a culminating activity on nocturnal animals.  Kinder friends have been studying the habitats and habits of nocturnal creatures; second grade friends were reviewing previous knowledge on the same subject.  They compared their notes and work by designing a wonderful thinking map in the form of an owl tree.  Each child did a hand print and decorated it to look like an owl then wrote a fact to share about these important nocturnal animals in our world.  As one little friend noted, “Working with my book buddy is always a real hoot!”  🙂  EnJOY!

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STAND UP for the hungry!

Our Student Honor Council and their special guest, Kayleigh, spoke to us during Miller Rally today about our 6th Annual LME Food Drive.  Traditionally, we spend the month of November StuCo13-14collecting non-perishable food items to share with our local Manna House, a MISD community problem solving project started by 8th graders many years ago.  Kayleigh is assisting us this year specifically because one of her passions is making certain no one goes hungry in our community.

We encourage everyone to round up your canned and boxed food items all next week (Nov. 4 – 8) and bring them to your homeroom class.  Mrs. Stanley, LME counselor, reminds everyone to, “please check the expiration dates on your food products.”  Additionally, StuCo is challenging classes by offering a special “Scooby Doo and Popcorn Too” incentive for the six top classes, one from each grade level.  Let’s all do our part to STAND UP for the hungry in our own community!

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We got this!

IMG_3286Double, double, toil and trouble…it was not one, but two pairs of princiPALs on the scene today at LME!  It’s a great thing too because Party Day always brings interesting situations to address.  🙂

First grade teachers Katie Bergvall and Stephanie Daniell IMG_3281(both MISD alums) accepted the challenge of being Mrs. Van and Mrs. Bass (in costume at least) for the day.  Ms. Daniell found Mrs. Bass’ bullhorn to use (hhmmm…no one usually gets to use the bullhorn but Mrs. Bass), and Ms. Bergvall talked on the walkies (remarkably, just like me).  🙂

Thanks to our wonderfully supportive parents and entire learning community for coming out to celebrate a fun school day with us.  As our twins noted today, “We got this; y’all be safe out there tonight!”

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Carved and ready!

Are your pumpkins carved and ready for the big day?

photoOur Head Start friends never let a rainy day get them down.  During recess, they took the opportunity to clean out pumpkins, count and clean seeds, and carve (with assistance) photo 02some funny faces to share.  The room was abuzz with excitement and orange goo! 🙂

Other classrooms and our own Nurse Sullivan talked about Halloween safety in anticipation of several events tomorrow.  Here are a few important tips to remember (based on advise from our learners):

  • Never trick-or-treat alone; go in groups and with a trusted adult.
  • Use reflective tape on costumes and treat bags to help drivers see you.
  • Examine all treats for choking hazards and tampering before eating them.
  • Hold a flashlight while trick-or-treating to help you see others and others to see you.
  • Wear well-fitting costumes, masks, and shoes to avoid blocked vision and possible falls.
  • Only visit well-lit homes.

Autumn holidays like Halloween are fun times for everyone involved.  Most importantly, be safe out there as you get those pumpkins carved and ready!

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Dreaming BIG pumpkin dreams…

I adore reading and sharing in classrooms; it reminds me why I chose to answer the call of teaching in the first place.  Today, I had the honor of visiting with some of our older readers who chose a book for me “because of the really BIG words, Mrs. Van.”  🙂  Little did I know the really BIG words were synonyms of the actual word BIG in How BIG Could Your Pumpkin Grow?

In his delightful story about all the places a giant imagespumpkin could be, award-winning artist, Wendell Minor does just as he imagines with LARGER-THAN-LIFE pumpkins decorating some of America’s favorite places.  From the highest lighthouse in Cape Hatteras, North Carolina, to the Capitol dome in Washington, D.C., to Mt. Rushmore in South Dakota, to Yosemite Falls in California, giant pumpkins abound in colossal ways!  Mr. Minor’s celebration of famous American landmarks and landscapes plays with the concepts of size and scale in fun, factual ways to inspire reader imagination.

Just imagine the places of travel in our beautiful country and whether an enormous pumpkin could fill the area.  “Perhaps your MIGHTY pumpkin could grow up to be president…Hail to the chief!”  So, to young pumpkin lovers and readers who dream BIG, never give up on your dreams!

Note:  A Van Am Gram party note went home today (or tomorrow for some) reminding you about class parties, parking (in the rain and mud), and morning car line in the bus lane.  Be safe out there! 

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Silly socks…

photoSilly socks…not just for kids anymore!  Our building was full of silly socks today as a focus on the first day of Red Ribbon Week.  “Seriously, don’t do drugs!” challenged us all to take the message of being drug-free seriously, but not ourselves too seriously.  As students reflected on the silly things we do in life, they also talked about the serious side effects of harsh drug, tobacco, and alcohol use on the body.  StuCo members shared startling statistics about drug abuse during the morning message…sobering facts to ponder in these formative years of growing and learning.  Here’s hoping the message throughout the entire week causes you and your child to have frank conversations about drugs, alcohol, and tobacco use.  Let’s all STAND UP together!

Note:  Tuesday’s theme is STAND UP For Your Friends!