In the schools: Reading, writing and long division destroyers
East Grand School District Superintendent
Great Happenings in East Grand Schools the week of Nov. 8.
• The MPHS production of “Fiddler on the Roof” runs this weekend, Nov. 7-9, with shows at 7:30 p.m. each night, plus a 1 p.m. matinee on Saturday. Tickets at the door: adults $10; youth $5; EGSD students free. Hope to see you there.
• Granby Elementary Student Council is having a Hat, Glove and Mitten Drive from Nov. 6-14. Please donate new or gently used hats, gloves, and mittens for the Mountain Family Center. Their goal is to collect 200 items to earn a special hat day.
• Interventionist Laura Hester and her team of creative students created a large I SPY display full of trinkets, pictures and recycled gadgets where staff members add a weekly list of items to search for. It provides quiet, fun entertainment as well as a challenge for all who pass by and is being enjoyed by every grade at GES. • Minnesingers are singing for our veterans Monday at Snow Mountain Ranch. The second graders are doing their annual barn dance on Nov. 14 in the Granby Elementary Gym.
• Fifth grade at FVE investigated the unsolved mystery of the Lost Colony of Roanoke last week as part of their unit on settling the 13 colonies. Secret agents investigated information on the different theories and the students worked in groups to develop their own theories on what happened at Roanoke. They then synthesized their information into a storybook explaining their theories. The most popular ones were the colonists were lost at sea during a storm or they moved to Croatoan Island.
• In Mrs. Senec’s first grade class, the students started writing paragraphs about animals. One of the student’s journal writings covered hippos. He color-coded it by himself, and he was very proud.
• Over the next two weeks, GES teachers will be meeting with teachers from North Park and South Routt to work on our math curriculum implementation. All three districts use Bridges Curriculum and have a four-day school week. The goal of the meetings is to improve math instruction for our students through greater standard alignment.
• Fourth and fifth grade student council members at FVE are excited to kick off our annual food drive to benefit Mountain Family Center. With a goal of gathering at least 500 items, we are off to a great start already. If you are willing to contribute, please drop off non-perishable food items in the foyer at FVE. The drive is being held until Nov. 20.
• Fifth graders at FVE have become division destroyers this week. Although there is some intimidation when students think about conquering long division, they have put their growth mindset into gear. Students chose strong and powerful names to inspire them. Some of our scholar’s names are Elijah “The Division Dominator” Dahl, Leah “The Division Destroyer” Black, and Danity “The Division Mastermind” Tinoco.
• The full-time Winter Park skiers and snowboarders have begun their programs. After a nice kick off celebration at Head Waters Convention Center, the student athletes started their new half-day schedules and now are spending their afternoons training at Winter Park. There are 25 athletes in this program at MPHS. The disciplines are alpine, Nordic, freestyle, park and pipe, big mountain and snowboard.
• Crew has been working for several weeks on a cross-curricular project that seeks to answer the question: How do we as citizens defend and manage the use of public lands? Students have written letters to public officials, created videos, slideshows, placemats, posters and essays to defend their stance on the management of public lands.
• Our afternoons have been dedicated to culinary arts. Students have practiced creating dishes that they can cook for themselves or share with friends and family. Special thanks to Joe Lovato at the YMCA for treating students to a cooking competition and expert instruction. We would also like to thank Kate Elliot for volunteering her time to teach students about French cuisine.
• Our students are gaining experience in their intended fields of work with various internships throughout the county. We would like to thank the Grand County Animal Shelter, BW Welding, Winter Park Optical, and the Rapids Restaurant and Lodge for partnering with us to provide students with this invaluable experience. We would also like to thank the Granby Police Department for supporting our students in their internships as well as visiting our class to build positive relationships with our students. Community members can keep up with Crew happenings by following @grand_crew_mphs on Instagram.
• First hour General Survival class is mostly freshman and sophomores who have decided to start a shoe drive called “Traction Action” shoe drive. Our goal is to provide people in the community a nice pair of warm shoes by Christmas. We will have collection centers setup at Middle Park High School, Granby elementary, Fraser elementary, East Grand Middle School until winter break. The shoes/boots will be available after we come back. The family that donates the most shoes will get a gift card for $25 of their choice. Another way to win is by submitting a Tik Tok with the shoes that they are giving to the shoe drive and hash tag their Tik Tok with #TracktionActionShoeDrive. The most popular Tik Tok will also receive a $25 gift card to a place of their choice. For second place they will receive $15 gift card and third will receive a $10 gift card.
• Earlier this fall, the first graders at GES learned about some of the American symbols. Next, students were able to choose between three holidays that they would enjoy learning more about. Now, students are preparing their presentations about their new learning and will present to the entire grade level within the next couple of weeks. Students will be practicing their public speaking skills while displaying a poster they made that connects to their learning.
• In math, the first graders are learning to play Dominoes, use the strategy of counting on when adding, telling time to the hour, understanding simple fractions, and learning to solve word problems by showing their work. Students also love their new reading books, as well as all the books the teachers have been sharing with them.
• MPHS students will have digital photography on display at Where Art Thou in Grand Lake for the month of November. The show opens Saturday.
• In eighth grade social studies, students are presenting their family roots projects this week. They are tracing back their own immigrant heritage, finding out where their families are from, when they came to America, and why they decided to settle here. Posters will be on display in the middle school.
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