Oak Ridge Elementary School www.oakridge.leon.k12.fl.us January 13, 2006 Volume 8 Number 8 School Hours: Office Hours 7:30 - 3:30 Student Hours 7:40-2:00 Administrative Staff: Hodgetta A. Huckaby, Principal Kimberly McFarland, Assistant Principal 4530 Shelfer Road, Tallahassee, Florida 32310 Telephone: (850) 488-3124 FAX: (850) 922-7145 Web Page: http://www.oakridge.leon.k12.fl.us Listserv: http://listserv.leon.k12.fl.us/archives/oes-parents.html Mascot: Eagle - Colors: Royal Blue and White Positiv e Action Word of the Month January: Goal Setting Dear Parents/Guardians, As I reflect and take a glimpse of what is ahead in 2006, I see exciting possibilities, all inclusive opportunities, and new academic challenges for our students. During the upcoming weeks, we will be involved in intensive instruction focusing on meeting stringent promotional requirements and extensive preparation to score high on the FCAT and SAT10 assessments. In order for each student to maximize his/her potential, we continuously solicit and need your help and support. Please insist that your child/ren come to school each day and arrive on time ready to learn, respect all adults, put forth their best effort, take responsibility for his/her actions, set goals, read daily, and follow the school’s dress code guidelines. Remember, we are a T.E.A.M. (Together Everyone Achieves More). Our success as a school is largely dependant upon the degree of your active participation in the teaching and learning process. I highly encourage you to get involved TODAY!! Sincerely, Hodgetta A. Huckaby, Principal Presenting Oak Ridge’s Teacher of the Year for 2005 - 2006 Ms. Reggenia W. Baskin Reggenia W. Baskin is a native of Montgomery, Alabama. She has been relishing her passion for teaching young children for twenty-five years. Ms. Baskin donned her wings and became an Oak Ridge Eagle in 1992. She has taught kindergarten, first grade, a second and third grade multi-age class and is currently teaching and learning from her second grade kings and queens. She is convinced that teaching is her divine destiny and she attributes her success in the classroom to God’s strength and favor coupled with her love for children. Ms. Baskin further attributes her accomplishments to the love and support of Mr. and Mrs. Paul Watson whom she upholds as the best parents in any world. Her philosophy for life is, “If there is any good I can do, let me do it now for I will not pass this way again.” She is truly humbled and honored to receive the nomination for Oak Ridge’s Teacher of the Year. January Happenings • January 16: Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Holiday • January 17: Final Parenting Pow Wow with Judge Hawkins • January 18: Oak Ridge’s Writes Upon Request • January 19: Business Partner Meeting at 9:00 AM • January 19: General PTO Meeting @ 6:00 PM • January 20: E” Citizen Awards for 2nd Nine Weeks • January 25: Honor Roll and Perfect Attendance Assembly Please Remember January 16th is: Martin Luther King, Jr. Holiday NO SCHOOL for Students D.A.R.E. Graduation 2005! On December 16, 2005, the fifth graders at Oak Ridge Elementary participated in D.A.R.E. Graduation. The D.A.R.E. (Drug Abuse Resistance Education),program is designed to help teach our young children about ways to say NO! to drugs and violence. Officer Carlson, of the Tallahassee Police Department, instructed each fifth grade class using hands on and interactive methods. As a concluding activity, the children had to write and present an essay telling their peers what they learned, and how they will go on to live a drug and violence free life. Our essay winners read their winning speeches at the graduation ceremony. These outstanding Eagles were; Keyonna Abdul, Mary Jo Dessalines, Kristopher Gaines, Kevin Goldsmith and Devine Ojah. Congratulations! After the uplifting ceremony, parents came back to the classrooms for refreshments and celebration. We pray that our children will continue throughout their lives to uphold the values and oath that they took to stay drug and violence free. ~Best of luck! Ms. Burleson , Mrs. Atkins, Mrs. Patel, Ms. Terry Fifth Grade Teachers Visit W.I.N.G.S. On the Web Thanks to Ms. Foggy, the Activities Leader for our WINGS 21st Century program and a budding graphic design artist, the WINGS website is ready for you to view! Just go to http://ore17745-01.k12.fsu.edu/ , or navigate your way from the Oak Ridge homepage using the address on the front page of this newsletter. The site is still being developed and refined, but contains basic information about our program. Check back often for updates and improvements! FCAT Explorer.com There's good news for all students taking the FCAT this year: You can get free reading and math practice on the FCAT Explorer. That's right: free practice for the FCAT at www.fcatexplorer.com. The FCAT Explorer is an on-line practice program made for Florida's public school students by the Florida Department of Education: • The Galactic Library provides comprehensive practice with the reading benchmarks tested on the 3rd grade FCAT. Reading Odyssey provides the same type of program for the 4th grade FCAT. Both reading programs are adaptive, changing the amount of support students receive based upon their performance within the program. In addition, they include vocabulary building activities and games, passage-based incorrect feedback, and animated pleasure readings •The Math Station provides comprehensive practice with the math benchmarks tested on the 5th grade FCAT. With a colorful, appealing interface, the Math Station includes over 150 context-rich practice problems and five benchmark-based math games. In addition, the Math Station offers hints for incorrect answer choices and detailed correct answer explanations Best of all, the FCAT Explorer is on-line, which means you can use it on any computer connected to the Internet: at school, at the library, even at home. Your performance on the test can benefit from the extra time you spend studying math and reading on the FCAT Explorer. To get your free FCAT Explorer sign-in name and password, see your teacher. Log on today! Beautifying Oak Ridge The flower beds along the 5th grade wing were recently rejuvenated by Mr. Robshaw's School Yard Ecology, WINGS class. Students removed debris and sand from the beds and replaced it with rich soil, called compost. Drought tolerant plants such as rosemary and lavender were then selected because of the dry nature of these beds. You can show pride and respect for our school by keeping them free of trash and not stepping in them. Students and parents will be invited to come out for a Saturday work day in March to help put in a new courtyard garden. If your interested in helping or would like your class to be involved with the garden, see Mr. Robshaw Our thanks go to the students of Mr. Robshaw's class, and our partners in this project, WFSU and The Damayan Garden Project. By Mr. Robshaw Cultures, Customs, and Traditions Ms. Ruth Ojah volunteered in our classroom. She did a wonderful presentation about her culture and country Nigeria! The students learned so much from her presentation! Ms. Ojah made this such a real life experience by sharing such items as jewelry, clothes, magazines, money, and food. This photo shows her dressing her daughter Melody Ojah in such wonderful African attire! We appreciate Ms. Ojah so much! She is Mrs. Ware’s Parent of the Month for December. Mrs. Ware’s Third Grade Class Fourth Grade News Our fourth grade team is happy to introduce a new pre-service teacher, Miss Sherece Bennett. Miss Bennett attends Florida A & M University and comes to us from the state of Maryland. She is very excited to be here at Oak Ridge and we are thrilled to have her! Fourth graders are hard at work in all academic areas. We attended the Larger than Life Rally with Mr. Ron Large where we celebrated our successes in Math. We are working to become members of the “4 and Up” club, denoting our writing scores. We continue to work on Reading and Math skills throughout the day and after school since our teachers have volunteered to stay after to help. Congratulations to our First Place Speech winners: Derian English from Ms Rodriguez’s class, Wanda Booth from Ms. Teague’s class, Shannon Sterling from Ms. Hartman’s class, and Ashlie Broome from Miss Lirette’s class. Last but not least, January continues to be a busy month for fourth grade. We will be going on a field trip to the Goodwood Museum and the Riley House January 27th! Mrs. S. Rodriguez, Mrs. Willis, Mrs. Hartman and Ms. Lirette, Fourth Grade Teachers Cut and Return to Your Child’s Teacher: Your Feedback is Needed! Would you be interested in Oak Ridge establishing an After School Child Care Program for a minimal cost? ______ Yes ______No Parent Name___________________________________________ Telephone Number ______________________ How many students? ________________ Project SMART We are getting “SMART”er everyday. These photos of Mrs. Wacksman’s class depict some of the many readiness training activities that have been proven (researched-based) to develop physiological and neurological readiness skills that are essential for success in school. A select group of School Readiness, Kindergarten, and other students ranging in ages from 3-9 years old are taking advantage of this program. Mrs. Wacksman has already reported that the benefits are shown in her children’s fine motor and letter recognition skills. Ms. Gewanter reports that her children are showing growth in all areas of their school activities from the ability to stay focused on their assignments to letter/sound fluency and much more. In addition, Mrs. Piper notes that her students seem to be learning their colors and numbers more easily than in the past! Most importantly, the students LOVE the SMART activities! Mrs. Wacksman, School Readiness Teacher Cut here and return the bottom portion to school You are cordially invited to the Last Parenting PowWow with Judge Hawkins Tuesday, January 17, 2006 Dinner is served: 5:00 - 6:00 PM Session is: 6:00 - 7:30 PM Child Care is provided All Parents participating will receive a special gift. RSVP to Last Parenting Pow Wow with Judge Hawkins Name: ______________________________________________________ ______________________ Children: ______________________________________________________ ____________________ Telephone: ______________________________ Number attending: ______________________________