News From Mr. French

End-of-the-Year Awards Assembly

One of my favorite activities from last year is coming up next week on Thursday, May 31.  We will be having our End-of-the-Year Awards Assembly from 9:30 - 10:15.  I remember how wonderful it was last year to recognize all the achievements our students made by helping with community service projects, being Citizens-of-the-Month, serving as a Safety Patrol, earning the Presidential Award for Academic Excellence, and other special honors and recognitions.  You are welcome to join us next week to celebrate the accomplishments and achievements of the wonderful, fantastic Rice Lake students!

District #279 Foundation

The District #279 Foundation works to engage business and community leaders in the activities of our schools and school district.  One of the ways that the Foundation supports Rice Lake is through the RIF book giveaways that happened at all of our elementary schools this year.  Each student got to select three books of their very own this past year.  The Foundation is able to support this program and other school and classroom grants through generous donations and support from employees, businesses, and community leaders.  The Foundation sponsors a very special event each year that I look forward to attending.  This year's Investment in Youth Gala Celebration will be held on Sunday, May 6th at Park Center Senior High School.  This event is held to honor and recognize individuals who have made a significant investment in the betterment of education for themselves and/or others.  Each district site selects two individuals to honor, one of which must be a student.  I am pleased that Rice Lake is recognizing fourth grade student Jonathan Loi and parent volunteer Brenda Burdick-Levang.  Jonathan was nominated for investing in his own learning.  He is an ELL student who works extremely hard to improve his own learning and language skills.  Brenda initiated the Art Adventures Program this year at Rice Lake by gathering the information, coordinating training for other parent volunteers, and even presented some of the classroom lessons.  I am pleased to recognize these outstanding contributors and know there are many deserving individuals in the Rice Lake community who make investments in our youth each and every day.  Thank you for what you do to support Rice Lake and our students. 

Batter Up!

Join the Rice Lake community at a Minnesota Twins game.  Last year about 75 people enjoyed an outing to a Twins game and this year's event is planned for Saturday, May 5th at 6:10 p.m.  The Twins play the Boston Red Sox and Rice Lake community members can order discounted tickets and concession coupons.  If you are interested in attending the game, fill out the form that was sent home in the April 11 Wednesday envelope and return it to school.  If you need additional forms, you may pick those up in the Rice Lake office.  Tickets and coupons will be sent home the week before the game so think about joining the Rice Lake community in cheering on the Twins!

Planning for Next Year

Spring is probably my favorite time of the year.  It seems to be a time of new beginnings, change, and anticipation.  This applies to the planning that happens in schools during the Spring as well.  Even though there are still nine weeks of learning and school activities, we also start to pay attention to planning for the next school year.  We have already sent out optional request forms to allow families to provide input on class placements for next year, our district is in the process of engaging in the staffing process for 2007-2008, and we are thinking about our building facilities and spaces for the next school year.  We don't expect to see a lot of programming changes for next year but we do have some shifts in the number of classes at certain grade levels.  Next year we are planning on 5 sections of Kindergarten, 4 sections of 1st grade, 4 sections of 2nd grade, 4 sections of 3rd grade, 2 sections of 4th grade, 3 sections of 5th grade, and 2 sections of 6th grade.  We will also continue to have the ELL Kindergarten Program, the DCD/Skills and Autism/Connect special education classrooms, Kidstop, and support from our music, physical education, social work, cultural liaison, full-service special education, counseling, behavior intervention, media, occupational therapy, English language learner, and speech specialists.  Enjoy your Spring and please know that as we are continuing to help student achieve their best still this year that we are already thinking about ways to improve for next school year!

Testing

We are coming up on one of the most important times of the school year for our school - administering the MCA IIs.  This stands for the Minnesota Comprehensive Assessments, tests given to students in grades 3 - 6 in reading and mathematics and in grade 6 for writing.  These tests are scheduled here at Rice Lake from Monday, April 16 through Friday, April 27.  The tests are important for us because it gives us good information about how students are learning. I received an informational handout that gives some test taking tips for students and families.  Families can help by making sure students get plenty of rest, eat a good breakfast, are on time for school, and avoid scheduling vacations and appointments during the testing period.  It is also a good idea to talk about the tests, let students know that there may be some items they don't know and that's okay and that we all just expect them to do their best.  Making these tests important but not stressful helps students pay close attention and realize their importance.  Thank you for what you can do to support Rice Lake students during this MCA II testing period. 

Empty Bowls Project

I was invited to visit the second grade classrooms last Friday where the sixth graders were working with their buddy classrooms to create some wonderful, unique bowls.  These bowls will be fired, glazed, and donated to the Empty Bowls Project, a fund raising event to support the CROSS food shelf.  This program is co-sponosred by CROSS and the District 279n Community Education and Art Departments.  Mrs. Erickson learned about this project through serving on the District's Art Curriulum Committee.  Mrs. Jeanette Barreiro, artist and parent volunteer, came in and taught the sixth graders how to make two different types of bowls.  The sixth graders then worked with their second grade buddies on their special bowls.  Guests are welcome to attend the Empty Bowls event on Thursday, March 22 from 3:00-7:00 at Osseo Senior High, make a donation, eat a simple meal, and select a piece of hand-thrown pottery. This was another opportunity for me to see how the skills and talents of Rice Lake students are used to help others.

We have TICTS!

We have TICTS at Rice Lake.  Not the kind you find outside in wooded areas (ticks), but the kind that incorporate technology into their teaching practices and instruction.  The TICT (Technology Integration Collaborative Teachers) Initiative is in response to the District 279 Technology Plan.  The Initiative provides equipment, support, and teacher training to assist a cadre of teachers with technology integration in their classrooms.  We have five teachers here at Rice who are part of this cadre:  Mrs. Berg, Mrs. Lukasewycz, Ms. Green, Mrs. Fischer, and Mrs. Erickson.  The TICT Initiative's mission is to empower teachers to seamlessly integrate technology within District 279 curriculum to create a more interactive, student-centered, and visually-engaging classroom to ensure learner success.  If you visit these classrooms, you will see teachers using a LCD projector to display whatever is on a computer screen.  They show and demonstrate word documents, spreadsheets, video, the United Streaming website, and Internet resources.  They move around their classroom having students participate in the lesson using a wireless keyboard and mouse.  The TICTS also can use an interactive white board that teachers and students can touch and manipulate.  I have seen students engaged in these TICT classrooms in interactive spelling games, watching a video about dividing fractions, and brainstorming and listing topics for a creative writing assignment.  It is wonderful seeing technology being used to engage students and enhance learning...way to go, TICTS!

Congratulations Derek Brown

In an earlier blog I described a project that Rice Lake is joining with four other district elementary schools.  Our five schools will each be conducting a school supply fund drive to support an adopted school in Sasabe, Sonora, Mexico.  Five fifth grade students (one form each of the schools), along with myself and a parent, will travel to Tucson and across the Arizona/Mexican border to deliver the supplies and meet the students.  Nine outstanding fifth graders submitted essays to be considered as the Rice Lake representative.  Those students were: Derek Brown, Corey Baesler, Kelsey Saladin, Daniel McGreavey, Lori Lutzke, Alison Bodensteiner, Haley Burns, Natalie Engel, and Mory Joberian.  The student that was selected was Derek Brown.  I do have to share what I witnessed when I met with all nine students to announce who was selected.  All of the other students were gracious, respectful, and congratulatory to Derek.  It warmed my heart and all nine families should be proud of how your fifth graders conducted themselves.  Derek will lead the way in conducting the Rice Lake supply drive March 12-16 so look for information about how you can help.  Derek and I will also share our experiences here and in other venues when we return.  The students and I will take this trip April 25 - 29.

Some Pig!

I want to congratulate Rice Lake's second graders, their families, and their teachers for practicing our PRIDE Theme - Practicing Respect In Daily Events - for something they accomplished right before winter break.  After listening to the book Charlotte’s Web, they decided to raise money to donate a pig to a country in Africa. In three weeks, they raised 195 dollars (just enough to purchase a pig in their name) by bringing in change from home.  Second graders earned their donations through service projects at home and in the community and by bringing in funds from their own piggy banks!  The pig arrived in Africa in time for the holidays and will certainly make a positive difference for whoever receive it.  This is a fine example of second graders demonstrating Rice Lake PRIDE by making a difference for others.

New Controlled Entrance

Earlier this year I wrote about safety and security and efforts our school and district have taken (and are taking) to provide for safe learning environments.  Thank you to the School Board and District Administration for providing the leadership and support for these efforts.  Rice Lake will undergo some construction this summer and will receive a new controlled entrance for our school.  This entrance will channel all visitors to our school through the office to be greeted, welcomed, and directed.  These entrances already exist at several of our district buildings but this summer eight more school sites will receive controlled entrances as part of a three year plan that will enhance all of our district's buildings.  This is yet one more way that we work to provide safe, welcoming, and comfortable learning environments for our students.