Bad language

The other day during lunch, a kindergartener came up to me in the front of the cafeteria. He was very serious, and needed to talk to me immediately. I leaned down so he could report some serious wrong doing that had been perpetrated in the boys' room. "Mr. Mayers, when I was in the bathroom, I heard someone use a bad word." he reported. "Someone used the really bad 'E' word."

Still trying to figure that one out...

Snow?

Last night I was a little worried about the storm that had descended upon us. Dr. Keiter is at a conference in Sacramento, and so the job of calling a snow delay, which is normally his call, had now fallen on my shoulders. I wasn't too worried about it until I began to see lots of chatter at about 8:00 about snow on Facebook from students who live not far from school. Uh oh. Immediately my mind races to my snow tires which are still stacked neatly in the corner of the garage, where they have been since April. Hmm, this is a potential issue, as I remember trying to get through snow last year with my regular tires on. All four wheels spinning, and the truck traveling ninety degrees to the direction it was facing. Regardless to say, this morning I was a little relieved to see a very slight dusting of snow in the trees, and none on the ground. Guess who's changing to snow tires this weekend?

Halloween!

This morning we have a flock of fairies and horde of zombies wandering about on campus! Halloween, a school teacher's greatest nightmare! Get the kids hyped up on sugar and expectations of even more sugar tonight, and then let them put on masks! Fortunately, today is a minimum day (I've heard one of the neighboring schools is taking tomorrow off. Mental note to check out that idea for next year!). Also today, we have our talent show at the middle school, and then our parade starting at 12:00 (ending by 12:04). I think I'm letting my bias show through here a bit. Bah humbug!

Meetings! Yikes!

Two weeks ago I opened up my calendar and saw that I was jammed packed with IEP (Individual Educational Plan) meetings for two weeks straight. Most days had two meetings, and some had three! Yikes! As I looked at them, I saw that most of these were speech IEP, which make sense, as we have 60 days to complete the assessments for an initial IEP, and most all of these were kindergartners who had issues during their speech screening in the first few weeks of school. I'm now plowing through these IEP meetings, and am thankful that there is a great staff on board so as I'm holed up in meetings for what seems like all day, everything functions smoothly. Where would I be without Brenda and Kathy running this place?

Wednesday

Well, needed to update the blog to stay in the habit of doing so. Last week our Kindergartners went to play with the firemen, and they got to spray the hoses on the fire engines. That is always a fun adventure for our little ones.

We are close to wrapping up our fun run collection period. Last year we collected over $10,000, but so far this year, we are at about $4,000. Certainly seems like the sour economy has taken a bite out of our fundraising campaigns.

Mrs. Reed, our Title I teacher at Black Oak, has left for her maternity leave. We are hugely fortunate to have been able to convince Helen Birtwhistle to come back and fill her old position for the remainder of the calendar year here. It is great to have such a great, caring teacher come back to us!

Fun run

Shoot, I'm thought I had posted this last week, but I see I put it in "drafts", as opposed to "post." Here's what I had meant to post last week...

Well today we held both the Black Oak and Twain Harte Middle School fun runs. We had originally scheduled Black Oak's yesterday, but due to the rain, we had to move Black Oaks to right before Twain Harte Middle Schools. On paper it was a good idea, but for those of us (me, mainly) who wanted to run in both of them, it was maybe not the best idea! Anyway, it was a beautiful day, and the kids had a great time running in circles. The 8th graders did a great job helping the littler kids during their fun run, and then the 4th graders had to step up and help when the middle school had their run. All in all it was a successful day, and thanks to all the parents who came to participate and cheer on their runners. Also thanks to the staff who came out to help support, and to Sonny for lending us his sound system.

Parents, remember that students can continue to collect their pledges for their fun run until Friday, October 21st to be eligible for the prizes!

Rain and the "Supe"

So today we are supposed to hold our fun run for Black Oak, and I'm looking out my window at a soggy mess. I think I am postponing Black Oak's fun run until tomorrow, when they will run just before the Twain Harte Middle School kids. I was holding out hope that it would be clear today, but it is just too soggy.

The plus side to the rain, is we finally got to see how the new blacktop drained, which was a question we've had since it was complete. All of the water on the blacktop now sheets across and runs down to the southwest corner where there are a couple of large storm drains. The paving drains well, with just a few minor "birth baths" where we get some slight puddling. The 4th grade boys are happy about the puddles...

Today we're having a visit by Joe Silva, County Superintendent of Schools, and Margie Bulkin, Assistant Superintendent. This is the first time since I've been here that they have come to visit. It'll be nice to walk them around and give them the nickle tour of our school, and show off all the great things we've got going on here..

V.I.P.

Today is our first V.I.P. assembly for Black Oak and Virtue Assembly for THMS. These assemblies are where we get together and recognize the students who have been living up to our virtues of the month. I always look forward to these assemblies as it is a chance to highlight the most important things that our students will need as they grow up and become adults. Namely, good character and strong morals. Plus, it's always fun to hear whatever song Mrs. Randall will have our class for the month (this month is the 4th graders) sing.

Art

This year we had an extra classroom in the middle school due to the retirement of Mrs. Anderson. We've been able to bring back her brother-in-law, Glen Anderson to teach art this year to all students in Black Oak and THMS, and have been able to give him the extra classroom. It is great to see all the art posters including the Mona Lisa, Monet's Water Lilies, and Van Gogh's Starry Night that decorate the walls and to see how Mr. Anderson uses the classics to discuss art, and begin to give the kids the vocabulary to discuss what makes these pieces so iconic. He then has kids do their own art, and hangs that on the walls next to the "old" masterpieces. It is great to expose kids to art, and to help encourage some of our budding Michelangelos.

Girls' Basketball

Our girls' basketball teams are undefeated so far this season! Last week they took on Columbia and Belleview and this Tuesday was Jamestown. We have an 8th grade team and a combination 6 & 7 grade team due to our small numbers of girls, and they have really come together well. If you are looking for something to do, we have a game today here at Twain Harte versus Tenaya. Go Braves!

L.A.I.R.

Last Thursday night I went up to visit our 8th graders who were at Sierra Outdoor School for their three-day excursion called L.A.I.R. I am proud to say that after three years of visiting our 8th grade classes, I've finally figured out what L.A.I.R. stands for (Life's Activities Involving Risk)! This is a fantastic experience for our "big kids" to go out and push themselves individually, and come together as a group. There is a host of activities that the kids do, including leadership and problem-solving games, orienteering, star gazing, night hikes, kayaking across Pinecrest Lake, and a high ropes course with a zip line. Additionally, Mrs. Bickley and Mrs. Reed challenge the kids to look at each other differently. When I was there, we did an activity called "If you really knew me..." that can become very emotional as everyone who wants to lowers their defenses and shares something that no one else knows about them. It is a powerful bonding experience for the kids (and the adults) to be able to see each other with hopes, fears and struggles, and how alike we all really are. Kudos to Mrs. Bickley and Mrs. Ballard and our parent chaperones who really put themselves out there for the students.

Fun with Kindergartners

The other day I was walking across the blacktop, and the kindergartners in Mrs. Gold's class had their tricycles out, and were racing about. I started talking to Jack, a very bright boy who had been pretty nervous the first few days of kindergarten, as he was zipping around on his trike. I told him he needed to get a leather jacket and some chains to complete his outfit, and he told me, very seriously, that when he grows up, he wants to be a biker. He's got to start somewhere, I guess.

Back to School Night

Thank you to everyone who came to our Back to School Night last Thursday. It is crucial to a child's success in school to have a good line of communication between home and school, and by coming last week, you strengthened that bond.

New year!

Well, after several pokes and prods from a couple of parents (and my mom), I've decided to restart this blog for the new school year. For those of you who are new to this blog, this is a chance for me to chat about what is going on around campus in an informal way, and to share some of the goings on at Twain Harte Schools.

We've gotten off to a great start this year, and if you haven't seen it yet, the new blacktop looks great. We now have a fence that divides the play area from the bus turn around area.

I'll update more later, but just wanted to dust off this blog for this year!

We're back!

Well, after a relaxing two week break, I'm glad to be back at it. It was great to see everyone this morning with some recharged batteries. A lot of the kids (and teachers) are showing off their new clothes, and when I did my quick walk through the classrooms today, everyone was working hard right off the bat. It's good to be back!