PAWPRINTS
A Kahoa Elementary
Home-School Communication
436-1147
DECEMBER 2009
PAWPRINTS may be viewed on the web at
OFFICE NEWS
ABBOTT ADVENTURE
Next school year, 2010-2011, Kahoa Elementary School will be undergoing an Indoor Air Quality (IAQ) renovation. The entire HVAC system will be replaced and parts of the building will be refurbished. This building project will have a significant impact for the educational setting for students and staff. Due to the scope of the construction, the entire student body will need to be re-located to another facility. Abbott Sports Complex has housed many other Lincoln Elementary Schools during their building projects and will be our home for next year. Many of your children may have played sports activities there. It is located at 7600 North 70th Street. The LPS District will provide transportation to and from Abbott.
While being off-site for a year may appear to be inconvenient, we are approaching this opportunity with a positive attitude and plan to make this a fun and exciting “adventure” for students, staff, and families! We are fortunate that many schools have gone to Abbott before us and can share their wisdom about what works best at that facility. We want every student and family to plan to join us for this journey next year. We will be packing and planning as this year proceeds.
Our first opportunity to officially hear from the district about the move will be at the PTO Meeting on Tuesday, February 16th at 7:00 pm. Bill McCoy, from the LPS transportation department, will be discussing how the district will be transporting students to and from the Abbott Complex. Also, Scott Wieskamp, LPS Director of Facilities and Maintenance, plans to be there to discuss the project. We invite you to this meeting. Please mark your calendars.
Arrival Procedures and Breakfast Program
We have seen an increase in children arriving too early before the start of the school day. As stated in the school handbook, “Students should not arrive before 8:50 a.m. because there will not be supervision until that time.” Because we are not able to provide a supervised environment it is not safe for the students to be on the grounds. The conflicts and/or disturbances that sometimes arise are disruptive to the start of the day and the educational process. We thank you for adhering to the policy.
As a reminder, breakfast is available to any student and is served from 8:30 am ��� 8:50 am. The cost of the meal is $1.00 (regular price) or $.30 (reduced). Students on free lunch will be able to receive a free breakfast. Students participating in the breakfast program should enter through the main entrance no earlier than 8:30 am. Children then remain in the MPR until they are dismissed to line up outside at 8:50 am.
Surgery
Almost four decades ago, I injured my knee playing high school sports. Back then, the doctors said that someday I would need to have a “new” knee. Well, that day has finally arrived. I am scheduled to undergo a total knee replacement surgery on December 8th. I will be out of the office for two weeks then use the winter break for rehabilitation. My plan is to return to work the week of January 4th.
In my absence, Dr. Wendy Badje, Kahoa’s Student Services Coordinator, will take over my duties. Taking Dr. Badje’s place will be Melissa Cochrane, our Speech Language Pathologist. Finally, Rachael Aguilos, currently student teaching with Mrs. Cochrane, will teach the speech and language classes. I am confident that they will all do a great job of leading the building in my absence. If you have any questions, please feel free to give me a call.
Russ Reckewey
Principal
Class Pictures
Please mark your calendars. Class pictures will be taken on Friday, February 5th, 2010. Order forms will be sent out a couple of weeks prior to the photo day.
Student Directory
Whenever a publication like The Student Directory is made, errors or omissions can occur. In PawPrints, we will attempt to correct any problems.
Please add to your directory:
Child: Hannah Ray
Parents: Beth Ray
Address: 1649 Sawyer St. PH: 310-0123
Student Census Information
Parent(s) and Guardians:
Please remember to keep the Kahoa office informed of any address and/or phone number changes during the school year. It is very important for the safety and well being of your child that we have the most current information.
LPSWeb site adds weekly student Illness Report
A new feature on the Lincoln Public Schools Web site offers a weekly Illness Report on student absences in the School District.
The Web report offers an average overall percentage of absences each week reported in the entire School District due to illness. Further, you can also find the percentage of absences for the individual elementary, middle and high schools in the School District.
LPS Health Services reports the percentage of students not in attendance due to illness every Wednesday.
Any location with more than 10 percent of the population out of school, due to illness, is reported to the Lancaster County Health Department to help them in assessing local illness.
To find the Illness Report, go the LPS Web site at www.lps.org, and click on ParentCenter from the top row of tabs.
For more information contact Judy Zabel, LPS Health Services, 436-1655.
PE
Elks “Hoop Shoot” Contest
Kahoa Elementary School will be hosting the Elks “Hoop Shoot” Contest on the evening of December 15th, 2009 from 6:00 to 7:30 p.m. in the school’s gymnasium.
The contest is open to girls and boys between the ages of 6 and 11 who attend Kahoa. Students are divided according to their age as of April 1st, 2010. Age divisions are as follows 6-7, 8-9 and 10-11 year olds.
Girls and boys 6-7 will have a choice to use a small size basketball. Girls 8-11 years old will use a 28.5 size basketball. Boys 8-9 will use a 28.5 size basketball. Boys 10-11 will use a regulation size basketball. Scores are determined by the amount of shots made out of ten (following 3 warm-up shots).
Age 6-9 year old boys and girls will shoot from a line four feet in front of the regulation foul line.
If your child is interested in taking part in the Elks “Hoop Shoot” contest, all they need to do is register on the evening of December 9th at Kahoa on the basketball court. Please enter the door on the west side of the gym (the same door the students use to go in for noon recess). Competition will take place for participants following their registration.
The winners in the 8-9 year old and 10-11 year old division will then be able to advance to the City Championship January 10th, 2010 at Lincoln East High School Gym. Trophies will be given to the top three places in each division at the Lincoln East competition, with first place eligible to go to districts on January 24th, 2010. The 6-7 year old division is only a Kahoa school competition and these students are not able to advance to the City Championship.
Mr. Vacek will need a few parent volunteers to help run the competition for the Kahoa students. If you would like to help or have any questions about the Elks ”Hoop Shoot” contest, please call or email Mr. Vacek at 436-1147 or evacek@lps.org. It’s fun!
MEDIA
Donated Books:Cameron Vollmer donated "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows" to the library. Thank you, Cameron.We have 16 new books for the library thanks to Camden Blowers. Thank you for your generosity, Camden.
Sydney Green donated 12 great new books to the library. Thanks, Sydney. These will be checked out often.Jolie and Jackson Rineker have donated 57 new and used books to the library. These are wonderful books and will add so much to our collection. Thank you for your generosity!Sydney Bishop has donated nine books to be checked out in the library. Thank you very much, Sydney. We have 33 new books in the library thanks to Max Reinert. These will be checked out often.
Library Challenge:
Tyler Ulrichson is the first student to complete the Library Challenge. He wrote a book review, read and answered questions for four Golden Sower books, completed a research project, created a bookmark, wrote a poem, added a recipe to our cookbook and spun a splate. Congratulations, Tyler.
ART
Kahoa students are working on a large scale gingerbread display for Habitat for Humanity at Gateway Mall. We have some items but we are in need of other items and any structural help that you can lend to the art room. Our gingerbread is due Wed. Nov. 25th by 4:30pm... Know any gingerbread bakers (sheets of gingerbread) or gingerbread people or animal makers?Our design is not for a contest, but for an auction where all of the proceeds go to Habitat for Humanity. The houses are created to never be eaten at any time. Our Gateway Mall display will be November 27-December 1. Auction is November 29th.We need: stripey sticks of gum(zebra gum), Multi-Colored straight Candy canesFruit roll ups...yellow for a school bus.(Or yellow fondant... anyone great with fondant???)2 bags Black licorice(thin and stringy)for bare trees with snow drifts on them.& black turning road. Necco assorted candy wafers(round)...all colors for roof tops.Sticks of gum for creating pine trees Sugar cones for tree bases. Smarties, mini candies 2 Popcorn balls(greens) for tree tops/Large 2"wide peppermint sticks for baseSuper Large Marshmallows, Medium size, and small for snow men around a pondCrushed Blue Jolly Rancher candy in zip lock baggies...to melt into a pond shape.Nerds candy for sand on the playground. 1 bag pretzel sticks yellow laffy taffyRound 2" gingerbread cookies for wheels on the bus, and for pathways...also kids and a few Kahoa cougars(3-4 large cats ) in Gingerbread/sugar cookies, etc.Battery system for the LED lights to survive a few days...on battery power..or timer...Mark your calendars: We build details on Tues Nov. 17. night and Thursday Nov.19th. 4-6pm. in the art room. Call MichelleDaberkow at Kahoa if you are attending or if you want to make some large item(six 12 x 14 panels of ginger bread) or sets of 8 windows 3 x 5" or smaller with crushed/melted jolly ranchers. I need a head count for each night for each attendee. I'll take the first 10-20 that can attend. School age children only with their guardian. Thanks. Kids will do little bits in classes, so they will get to do something on it...or something extra for Kahoa. Hope to see you at the auction!
KAHOA IS GOING GLOBAL!
Check out our new project which focuses on education, awareness and fundraising for a purpose!This year we have the opportunity at Kahoa to be the first school to team up with The Nebraska Global Orphan Project in their mission to help children living in an orphanage in Gonaive, Haiti. There are over 143 million orphans in the world. That is equal to half the population of the United States or with 500 students at Kahoa, it would take 286,000 Kahoa's to equal this amount! Haiti, the poorest country in the western hemisphere, is located only one hour from Florida by plane. In Haiti, a huge percent of their population are actually orphaned children due to natural disaster, illness and other causes. About one year ago four Lincoln families decided they needed to do something to help these children. They formed an organization called, "The Nebraska Global Orphan Project," and joined up with "The Global Orphan Project," an organization from Kansas City. "The Nebraska Global Orphan Project," decided to adopt and support the Fayeton Orphanage which houses about 250 children and is located in Gonaive, Haiti. Their mission is to help provide support so that these children will have their basic needs of food, clothing, shelter, and education met. After hearing about this amazing organization and the great needs of these children, the staff here at Kahoa decided that we needed to become involved as well.That's where your family comes in! The students here at Kahoa are going to become involved in this exciting educational humanitarian project. Not only will they be helping children their own age living in another country, but they will also be receiving an education on another culture's issues and lifestyle. Our first step in kicking off this project will be an all-school assembly which will take place on November 20th. Classroom teachers will also be placing pictures of the children we are helping support in their classrooms to give our students a constant reminder of who we are supporting. With the holidays coming up, we also have a great plan for "In Lieu of..." gift cards rather than having to purchase gifts this year for your child's teacher, you can make a donation in honor of your child's teacher, and the donation will go towards supporting these children. So hold off on purchasing your teacher a holiday gift, as they are all very excited to receive these gift cards instead! Students will also be able to purchase additional gift cards for those hard to buy for people, like Grandparents, neighbors, childcare providers, and girl scout leaders to name a few. More information on all of these upcoming events and the gift cards is soon to come, so watch your child's backpack.With our students here at Kahoa and the support of their families, we can make a huge difference in the lives of these children living in the orphanage. Becoming involved with this project will help our children see the world outside of our small community and become more aware of what's going on with children their same age around the world. For more information on the two organizations mentioned above you can check out their websites form the links below.http://thenebraskaglobalorphanproject.org/http://theglobalorphanproject.org/"Kids helping kids...can CHANGE the world!"
PTO
This year the Kahoa Yearbook will be going DIGITAL!! You can send your pictures in full quality to ochsner4@neb.rr.com OR bring in a CD of your photos in full quality and place it in the PTO box in the office addressed to "Kim Ochsner, Yearbook". Please make sure to include the grade level, and the teacher's name! This will help insure we have a variety of pictures from each classroom and grade. In order to receive our "Early Bird" discount, all photos will need to be turned in by February 1 (sorry, no exceptions). Thank you for your assistance in preserving memories for your children!