Another Great Week in Otterville!

This week I encouraged the students to write an essay about their favorite teacher. Barnes and Noble is having an essay contest and I sure would like to see one of our teachers win this contest. So encourage your child to write about a favorite teacher they have at SSES and submit it to me soon!

Check out this great artwork from our students. Vickie Libby volunteers here time. We are so lucky to have her.

Including Mrs. Retzers 5th grade class, I also volunteer to instruct Art Attack lessons for Miss Kautz 4th grade. Mrs. Kindred 6th grade, and Mrs.Hill 6th grade. I volunteered when my daughter was in Mrs. Retzers 5th grade class 4 years ago.      And have since Volunteered for 3 more Teachers classes. I really enjoy it. The students are wonderful and are always excited on Art day once a month. I have branched out, adding other Art this year from famous Artists such as: Mary Blair who worked on art for Walt Disney. Next month (Feb): "Heart Art" from the Artist Jim Dine. And in the spring: Enlarged water colored Flowers from the Art of: Georgia O'Keefe. If someday I could be hired for a job such as this, it would be a dream come true. For now, I am happy to volunteer to share Art with the wonderful students of these 4 really great teachers at Spanish Springs Elementary School. Sincerely, Vickie Libby.

I hope my SSES Families have a wonderful weekend. Thanks to all of you that make this an Otteriffic place to be!

One of my fabulous teachers wrote this after our big scare on Friday afternoon. We were all proud of how the community came together to help this family:

Dear Parents,

I just wanted to write a follow up to the Connect Ed phone call that you received tonight regarding the missing child. The child was my good friend's son. He was found safe and is at home now. The reason I am writing this email is because I want you all to know how much we all appreciate how the community came together to find him.

Teachers returned to school to help look for this child. Parents, students, friends and family all canvassed the neighborhood looking for him. Complete strangers came out to look for a child they never even met. School police came and knocked on doors looking for him. It really was amazing how quickly everyone got together and started helping this family. I know that my children are safe at Spanish Springs.

I am humbled by the response from the community for this emergency. We are so thankful that the child was found and this story has such a happy ending.

Thank you for your time.

Carrie McDonald

Doing Something Out of the Kindness of his Heart!

I enjoyed this story from my librarian today and it made my heart happy knowing that young ones DO do things because it feels good! Here is her story:

How refreshing it is to have a student help when asked and not expect to be rewarded. That’s exactly what happened when I began reading one of the nominated Nevada Young Reader Award books. Interrupting Chicken is best read using two voices. When Mrs. Retzer’s class visited library on Monday, I asked Ricky Dawson if he would consider reading with me to his class. He agreed to read with me and did a great job. I gave Ricky a Green Otter Shell as a thank you. In fact he did such a good job, I asked him to come back and read with me again to first grade and kindergarten. When finished, I again offered a green Otter Shell or a fancy pencil. Ricky said, “No thank you, I don’t need anything. I did this because I  enjoy it.”

WOW! What a wonderful student to have here at SSES.

Starting the New Year Off Right!

We are back to the grind at SSES. Students and teachers are getting ready for what we call the "Testing Season! All classes will begin their Map testing; this test helps teachers monitor where their students are in learning the grade level standards. Then there is the 5th grade Writing Test coming up at the end of the month. This tests to see if students are coherent writers. Then, coming in April, we will begin CRT testing; this test the students to see if they have learned the grade level standards. This last test is important because we are graded by the district, the state, and the federal govt. This is where our AYP accountability comes from. Well, enough about testing, let's talk about something more exciting!

Mrs. Charles had her 6th grade class submit their poems to READ magazine for a contest. The great news is that one of our 6th grade students won the contest! She will be given some prize money, but more importantly, her work will be published in the READ magazine! We are so proud of I.D. and I am thankful for Mrs. Charles for encouraging her students to enter the contest. ;0)