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First Week of the New Year!

As I look ahead to our first week of 2010, it looks like calm–a great way to help everyone ease back into the early morning wake up’s and full days of learning.   If your family life was anything like mine over the holidays, all of our schedules were disrupted:  sleep, eating, playing and traveling.

Getting back into “normal” routines and schedules for school can create anxiety for some children–and relief for others.  If your child is nervous about going back because of early bed times and anticipating the upcoming work load, ease the worries by explaining that other children and even teachers are feeling this way.

Do the best you can to get everyone back on more normal sleep and eating schedules as soon as possible.  Also, be sure to send healthy snacks to school so that teachers can make sure that everyone has a morning break to hydrate and refuel.

Finally, the beautiful snowy weather has created a winter wonderland on our playground.  Please make sure that your child has all necessary winter clothing so that recess time can be comfortable and fun!

Here’s to a great start to the New Year!

Blog Jan 4

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Tracking Santa’s Journey

If you would like to track Santa’s travels around the world on Christmas Eve, visit NORADSanta.org beginning 2 am on December 24.  Santa’s advanced skills in technology allow him to make this kind of tracking  device available to all of us.    If you would like to find out more about how the North Pole uses google, check out  Google LatLong Blog.   Thanks to Free Technology for Teachers, I am also able to share the tracking video from last year!

While waiting for Santa’s arrival, you can watch videos of our stupendous holiday program!

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Thanksgiving Week Ahead

We have a very short week with school on Monday and Tuesday.  The remainder of the week is devoted to the Thanksgiving holiday.

Week nov 23

For those who follow our blog outside the United States, visit this excellent History.com post about the history of Thanksgiving. And, for those of you who have not had a refresher course on this holiday,  you might find yourself learning some new facts to share around the Thanksgiving table later this week.  For those who think they know everything, test your turkey knowledge with this quiz.

If you find your family members are bored and in need of something to do, show them our blogs.  I added a new feature (the revolving globe to the right) that shows your location on the map as well as visitors from around the world.

And, to really spice up the family gathering, take your family on the BLOG SCAVENGER HUNT. This month we are sharing silly stories about silly things we have done in our lives.   Everyone is a winner in this contest.  Students will be entered in the Reading Counts drawing just for participating.  Other prizes will be offered too.

Have a wonderful Thanksgiving with your family and friends.  Drive safely, eat well and savor the special moments.

Mrs. Reagan

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SOME NEWS FROM THE OFFICE

Good afternoon Georgetown parents!

I have a few things to send out from the office.  A couple are activities from Community Ed and the others are notes from the office.

PE CARES FOOD DRIVE

The P.E. C.A.R.E.S. Food drive will be ending on Wednesday, November 18.  The food this year will be going to the Water of Life Church for their food pantry.  Thanks for all your help in this cause so far and remember to bring in your canned goods by Wednesday.  Also if you know a family that could benefit from the food drive, please call Nicole Poolman, from Water of Life Church at 667-9348.

BOOK FAIR

Our wonderful volunteers from the book fair just wanted to make you aware that if your child ordered a book that was on back order they should receive these orders by the end of the week.  There was a communication error with Scholastic so the orders are coming in a little later than anticipated.  Sorry for any inconvenience this may have caused.

BUS LOOP–PLEASE READ

Parents please make sure you read this message.  It was brought  to our attention from the bus drivers that parents are dropping students off in the back parking lot that adjoins to the Baldwin Street Middle School.  On behalf of the bus drivers and our staff here at Georgetown we ask that any students being dropped off at school be let off in the front loop  by the main entrance to the school.  From here students may walk around the building using the sidewalks to get to their playground.  The bus drivers are especially concerned with the students’ safety as they witnessed a child almost being hit by another car in the parking lot and occasionally the students cut through the bus loop and they are concerned that a student may be hit by a car or a bus.  Thanks for helping us out with this safety issue!

COMMUNITY ED ACTIVITIES

SNOWMOBILE SAFETY

Snowmobile safety is being offered through Community Ed.  This class is for students between the ages of 12 and 16 and those 11 years of age who will be 12 by March 1, 2010.  This class is being held on Saturday, December 12 from 9a to 1p.  If you have any questions you may call the Community Ed office at 669-7747 or visit the website at hudsonvillepublicschools.org.  There is also an attached flyer that you may print off  to register your child and has more information regarding this class.

2009SnowmobileSafetyClass

WINTER BASKETBALL FOR GIRLS

Hudsonville Hoops is an AAU club that is offering basketball for girls in 5th through 8th grade.  Registration deadline is November 21 and must be done online at http://eteamz.com/hudsonvillehoops.  If you have any questions regarding this you may also contact Jeff Wood at 307-5055 or email hudsonvillehoops@hotmail.com.

Have a great afternoon!

Mrs. Nurenberg  : )

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Silly Scavenger Hunt

Ever wonder what teachers do to be silly?  I have!  To help us all find out, I invited the teachers to all write posts this month about something silly they did over the summer.  You can visit their blogs to find out what it is they consider silly.  If you don’t see the post on the front section of the blog, simply type the word silly into the blog search area.

My silliness usually shows up when I am around really young children and dogs.  My dog, Cooper, brings out some of my silliest behavior, which I think he likes a lot.Silly

This summer, I decided it would be fun to teach Cooper how to be a “SURFIN’ DOG.”  Because he only weighs 12 pounds, I used a small kick board.  It was easy to teach him how to walk onto the board, but he had absolutely no intention of being pushed across the pool.  His idea of surfing was to cozy up to me and be gently rocked back and forth.  It was a silly idea…but it made for a great picture!

HAPPY HUNTING!


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First Grade ROCKS!

Can I just say this, “THE FIRST GRADERS AT GEORGETOWN ROCK!” I am the luckiest principal in the world because I get to listen to first graders read every week.   For those of you who have forgotten how much brain power it takes to read, try to read to the principal after lunch!

This past week, I had the honor of spending an hour PLUS a few extra minutes teaching Mrs. Stadt’s first grade class. They won the prize for the October Blog Scavenger Hunt. As winners of this most sought after prize, Mrs. Stadt got to work on “teacher stuff” and I got to teach the first graders “principal stuff.”

I picked up Mrs. Stadt’s class after lunch, and while she was looking the other way, we disappeared into a secret location. (My contract does not allow me to disclose this information on the blog.  To find out, you must interview a first grade student from Room 106.)

Once we landed back in the classroom, we got down to very serious work.  We reviewed the principal’s job description which includes (but is not limited to) the following:

  1. Making announcements
  2. Helping kids who are sick
  3. Helping kids who are hurt
  4. Making sure kids are nice (and teacher’s too)
  5. Keeping the building safe
  6. Heating and cooling the school
  7. Buying food for kids to eat
  8. Helping teachers teach
  9. Buying crayons and post it notes
  10. Making calls on the 2-way radio

Once this was done, I demonstrated how the 2-way works -assisted by Mrs. VandenBerg who was in the office.  Each student then received the BEST EVER principal supply kit:  a notepad for lists (principal must have), small post-it notes (memory keepers), washable marker (for the principal who always writes notes on her hand) and a very cool paper clip.

NEXT, each first grader wrote in their very best first grade spelling “IF I WERE THE PRINCIPAL, I WOULD….” I expected responses like “give extra recesses to all the kids”  or  “make no homework the rule”  but instead, these first graders wrote about wanting to BE NICE to others, make sure everyone had food for lunch, and help kids make friends on the playground.  Each one of these students can feel free to list me on their resumes when they apply for their first principal job!

We took our very special writing projects down to the copy room where each child made two copies—one for me and one for them–on our GINORMOUS copy machine. Following this, we headed over to the conference room for an important meeting (see the principal thinking faces below), toured the principal’s office (where we picked up a special snack) and then headed to Art Class…a wee bit late.

After Art Class, I took the principal’s in training for a WELL DESERVED break in the teacher’s lounge. I delivered the first graders back to the classroom in time for them to complete agendas and pack up for the day.

Enjoy these photos…and THANK YOU MRS. STADT’s CLASS FOR WINNING THE SCAVENGER HUNT!

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Swine Flu IQ

There are many rumors circulating about the H1N1 influenza virus.  Because of this, I appreciate news coverage that works to sort out fact from fiction.  Morning Edition brought together specialists to answer common questions about this flu virus that is helpful to read.purel

My daughter is home recovering from the H1N1 virus.  She has been very ill and as the article explains, children and young adults are being hit the hardest.  If your child has flu like symptoms it is the swine flu because this is the only flu around right now.   The “normal” flu season has not yet begun—which means we will continue to focus on PREVENTION at school this fall and winter.

Please make sure that you keep your child home from school if there is a fever and/or sore throat, and chronic dry cough.  If your child develops a fever at school, we will call and ask that you pick up your child up as soon as possible.

Thank you for help as we all work hard to keep our kids healthy.

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The PULL comes to Georgetown!

pullThis fall we are fortunate to host two student teachers:  Miss Ashley Barbieri from Hope College is teaching with Mrs. Reifschneider and Miss Stacey Bouwkamp is from Calvin College, teaching with Mrs. Kuieck.  We have several veteran staff who are graduates of Hope or Calvin—and because my husband is a professor at Hope, I have been accused of Flying Dutchman favoritism.   To prove that I do not have a favored school when it comes to student teachers, we will host a friendly PULL competition on Friday.

HopeHope and Calvin hosts their own “pulls”–and we will set this up as a mud-free, student friendly event.  Mr. Kooiker (our Calvinintrepid teacher assistant, football recess coach, playground supervisor, and overall morale booster) will ‘ref the event.

This is also our first popcorn day and our team building recess day for  grades 3,4, and 5.

We invite all  students to wear either HOPE Flying Dutchman colors (blue/orange) or Calvin Knight colors (maroon/gold) to support a team.  Students who are best dressed will be selected to help with the pull.

Of course, we will have video of the event to share after the event!  Go Dutch!  Go Knights!

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Recess Games = Team Building

During the second week of school, we continued to focus on climate (BE NICE) in the classroom, hallways, lunchroom and playground.  To help students learn games for the playground, we paired upper el students with lower el students focused on fun, trouble free games.

Mrs. Jurewicz and a team of teachers led outside recess game training on September 18th.  You can view photos from this day on Mrs. Quigley’s blog. We will hold another day of training for grades 3,4 and 5 — and this training will culminate in a PULL (tug-o-war) to determine which local college is tops (Hope or Calvin).  This will be held on September 25 which is also our first popcorn day.  Details coming about how to pick your team in a post later this week.

We also created a video tutorial for inside recess games during rainy or very cold Michigan days.  Actors featured are from Mrs. Boersma, Mr. Gort, Mrs. Jurewicz, and Mrs. Bouwen’s classes.   These are games that can be played at home, too.

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Community News Announcement

Announcing a new pre-professional dance academy coming to our area!  Turning Pointe School of Dance is a non-profit 501(c) 3 organization committed to providing students with quality dance training while maintaining a family friendly environment.  In operation for ten years in Holland, this dance school is now  opening a studio in Hudsonville — complete with a new sprung dance floor as well as full mirrors and barres.  The Hudsonville studio is located in the Creative Kids Learning Center building near the intersection of Chicago Drive and Balsam, serving the entire Hudsonville, Jenison, Grandville area and surrounding communities with classes for students ages four and up.  For more information please visit their website or call the studio: 616.394.7109.