NO SCHOOL

February 12 – Abraham Lincoln’s Birthday

February 29 – School Improvement Day

March 3 - Casimir Pulaski Day

March 21- 28 - Spring Break

FYI Important Dates

Feb 21 -Spring Concert 2^nd& 3^rd grades 6:00 & 7:15 pm

Feb 29 – End of Trimester

March 4-13 - ISAT Testing (3^rd, 4^th, 5^th  grades)

SAT 10 Testing (1^st – 2^nd grade)

March 7 - Report cards sent home

GEOGRAPHY  & SPELLING BEES

The Geography Bee winner was Owen in 4G and the runner-up was  Aashay from 5B.

The winner of the Colene Hoose Spelling Bee was Shreyas from 5G, and Carolyn from 5S was the runner-up.   Congratulations to ALL who participated!

2008 Young Authors Competition!

It’s time for Hoose’s Young Authors to get writing! By now students should have brought information home from their teacher about the annual Young Authors program. Included with that letter are 10 Tips for Young Authors. The Young Authors program gives young writers the opportunity to use the writing skills they are learning at school to create an original piece of writing. Students are challenged to choose a familiar topic and use their creativity to write text and add illustrations. Stories will be judged on originality, interest to children, creativity and overall quality. Four entries will be selected to represent Hoose at the district level. Several entries from Unit 5 schools will be chosen for the State Young Authors conference.   Finally, on April 18^th, all students who submit an entry will attend a Young Authors celebration here at school!  Visit the website at  http://www.unit5.org/youngauthors/ .

PTO MEETING DATES

Colene Hoose PTO meetings are held monthly on Monday evenings at 7:00 p.m. The dates are 2/18, 3/17, 4/21 and 5/19.  Parents are invited to attend.

  STUDENT ATTENDANCE

The number for the Attendance Line is 862-3525. We ask parents to call this number before 9:00 AM if their child will be absent any time during the school year. If you would like homework sent home for your child, you may leave that message as well (homework may be picked up after 3:15). In the event that a call is not received, the school will contact parents at home or work. We ask that parents send any notification concerning leaving early for an appointment, a change in the after school routine/departure, vacation plans, etc. directly to                their child’s teacher.

·          Students arriving late need to get an “Admit to Class” slip from the office.  This insures that if they have already been marked absent by the teacher, the office is aware they are actually here and not counted as absent.

·          Students leaving for an appointment, lunch, etc. must sign out and back in at the office.  Any student not signed back in will be counted absent.

·          Students absent for more than 55 minutes during the day (not including lunch) are considered absent for ½ day.

·          Please call each day your child is absent if not pre-arranged.  If your child has Chicken Pox, Strep Throat or Pinkeye, please indicate this on the message as others may need to be notified.

Please send a note to the teacher for any pre-arranged absences. 

STUDENT COUNCIL ACTIVITIES

Feb. 18 - March 14  Box Tops Drive ...The class that collects the most tops wins a pizza party so start saving!

Feb. 1 – March 20 Adopt-A-Soldier collection drive    Our students will be collecting items to send care packages to our troops deployed overseas.  Suggested items for donation include: white athletic type socks; travel games, puzzles, playing cards & books; DVD’s & CD’s; sunscreen; travel size toiletries; pre-paid phone cards; disposable cameras; food from the good ole USA brings a taste of home to them (Girl Scout cookie season is coming up!); hard candy (no chocolate, it melts); batteries; individual drink mix packets; letters and cards of encouragement and thanks for their service and sacrifice.  The class with the most items donated will win a Dilly Bar party!

Feb. 1 –  Football Day

Feb. 7 – 14  Cupcake Auction...The class that brings in the most change will get 1^st choice of cupcakes!

March 20 –  Beach Day!

LIBRARY NEWS

Cook Up Some Fun With Books!

Our annual winter reading program continues.  Students should be at the halfway point of their reading goal on Friday, February 1^st (300 minutes).  Students completing the 600 minutes will travel by school bus to the Normal Theater on Wednesday, March 19^th for a special showing of the movie “Ratatouille.” 

Book Donations

Thanks to the following students who recently donated books to our library:  Matt -Snakehead, Brenna -One Grain of Sand, Caroline -Meet Julie, and Brice & Dani and the Sandy and Alvis families for a number of their favorite books.

Carnival Bookwalk

As you clean your bookshelves, please send donations of gently used books to the library for our popular Bookwalk at the carnival in April.

TRAFFIC CONGESTION

The number of students being dropped off on the north side of the building (Vernon Ave) creates traffic congestion and some students potentially being late for class.

All parents are encouraged to drop their children off at the first available point along the entrance where they can safely release the children and then proceed carefully out of the driveway.  Parents may also drop off students on Grandview Dr.  There is a sidewalk from the street directly to the doors of the school.  Please do not use the south bus lane/driveway .

FUNDRAISING PROGRAMS

It really pays to save those box tops!  We have received a check from General Mills Box Tops for Education in the amount of $1,205 for this school year!  The Target Take Charge of Education program sent us a check for $195.77 and we received $33 from Current. We received from Office Depot 5% Back to Schools, a  merchandise credit in the amount of $130. Mrs. Harper sends boxes of used toner cartridges in for approximately $100 per box.  Thanks for all of your continued support of these programs.  With your help we can do good things for our school!

WELLNESS CORNER

DID YOU KNOW …In a year, the average child spends 900 hours in school and nearly 1,023 hours in front of the TV.

Children’s TV time should be limited each day to ensure that they spend plenty of time participating in physical activities.  Try to limit time spent in front of the TV to two hours per day or less by having the children pick out a couple favorite shows.  They can spend the rest of their time participating in physical activity! It may be helpful to make a schedule each week indicating TV time and physical activity time. 

DID YOU KNOW...The human body is made up of 50-75% water, or about 10 to 12 gallons, so replenishing your body's water supply is crucial for proper function.  

Make sure that your kids drink plenty of fluids, but few calories:

>Drink skim milk with meals ~ If your children are not used to skim milk try gradually working them down to 1% low fat milk.

>Drink sweet beverages only once or twice each day ~ Make it 100% Fruit Juice.

>Drink water frequently. 

When possible, choose home-cooked and fresh foods over commercially prepared foods.  As parents, you can control what ingredients go into a home-cooked meal.  However, preparing home-cooked meals may not always be possible with busy schedules. If there is no time and commercially prepared foods are the only option, here are some things you can do to improve the nutrient content:

>Add a bag of frozen vegetables to a frozen stir-fry or soup.

>Add extra beans to a prepared chili. 

>Compare different products nutrition labels and find the best choice for you family.    

>Try making home-cooked meals on the weekend when you have more time and freeze them to be used later in the week.

Mrs. Barbour’s 5th grade class is taking a healthy challenge offered by The Pantagraph.  They have eliminated all candy and pop from their classroom and are now replacing this with healthy snacks. 

The students have also agreed to bring healthy birthday treats for the rest of the year.  They are making an effort to take time each day to exercise. 

The Pantagraph will be following the progress of this class throughout the rest of the school year. Watch for 5B in the newspaper!  Here is the picture and caption from the  Pantagraph article on 1/13/08:

Colene Hoose Elementary's fifth grade teacher Leisa Barbour redirects her students around the puddle during their walk around the school building Tuesday afternoon (January 8, 2008) in Normal, Illinois. Barbour's class have agreed to take the challenge in becoming more healthy in the new year by taking walks around the building, small exercises in the classroom, and eating healthy snack food in the classroom. (Pantagraph/B Mosher)