Mery Christmas

Well the 6th Grade students pulled off a great Winter Program on very short notice. We learned a new song two days before the program. Our final performance was also our first dress rehearsal.

Some of our girls sang "Where Are You Christmas" and nailed it. The group K-4 (made up of 5 of our 6th grade boys) Did a great job and helped make it a great day.

Also the students of Area 13 were very generous, many thanks for the candy, cookies, mugs and gift cards.

I hope everyone had a great Holiday and is enjoying the break. Keep checking back for updates.

MOMS are everywhere

In order to help with our overall organization and homework we have recruited some MOMs. MOM stands for Motivational Organizational Managers. Students who are struggling to get their homework turned in or they are having difficulty managing their papers once they are returned will be assigned a MOM. So far we have two MOMs that have stepped up to make sure that everyone has what they need. MOMs will check their charges backpack to make sure that they have all that they need at the end of the day. They will also turn their homework in to their MOM in the morning and their MOM will make sure that they receive credit for it. Once a student has completed an entire week's work of homework and all papers are in place they will only have to check in with MOM twice a week. At that time they will regain their independence.

Star Gazing

Well it's hard to believe that we have been back from Outdoor Ed and trying to get back to normal routines. That part has been a little difficult. It didn't help that we came back to a week of minimum days for parent conferences.

We have had to put some of our fall themes aside :( for a while.

Thursday night Cerro Villa sponsored a "Star Gazing" night and it was a lot of fun. It was great to see so many former students doing well at the next level. Keep up the good work. I miss you guys.

Thursday at Outdoor Ed

Today the students were able to finish hiking so that every student has hiked every trail. Almost every student has had a bird eat out of their hand over the past few days. The hoe-down was hilarious and everyone, including Mr. K and Miss Leon had a great time. Tonight is skit night and we can't wait to see the skits that all of the students put together.

This is our last post from up in the mountains. Tomorrow, beginning around 11 a.m., you can check the hotline ((714) 721-9537)for updates on when we will be arriving at Olive school. It's been a great week and we look forward to seeing you tomorrow!

Wednesday afternoon

This afternoon, students were able to hike a trail of their choice (the trails had different levels of difficulty). While on the hikes, students made hieroglyphics on rocks (boulder painting), trail art, and necklaces. We also painted each others faces (I made a great ladybug on Olivia D's face, and she put whiskers on me). The students also made friendship bracelets.

Everyone is doing well.

Tuesday at Outdoor Ed

This morning, the students were divided into three different hiking groups. One group hiked the ecology trail, one group hiked the wildlife trail (taught by Mr. K), and one group hiked the geology trail (taught by Miss Leon). It's great when the classroom is outdoors. There are so many opportunities for hands on learning on these trails.

The (hugely popular) afternoon activities were: studying flight (by testing paper airplanes and homemade rockets), art projects, and survival tips. Your child participated in one of these three activities this afternoon.

Tonight will be round 2 of astronomy, and we will have the opportunity to do a night hike.

Everyone is doing really well!

Check back tomorrow..

p.s. Cell service is very inconsistent. We update the cell phone message when we can. The last update was today (Tues) around 4:45 p.m.

Outdoor Ed Update

We arrived safely, got the students assigned to their cabins, had our first meal and our first fire drill (standard safety procedure). The students have already been out on the trail and everyone is doing great! We are well on our way to an awesome adventure of a week.

Stay tuned...