Our Room 15 kids picked up more than 21 pounds of trash on Hopkins Street last Thursday. This is the beginning of our fifth year participating in the Adopt-a-Street Clean-up, and while trash duty may seem lowly and dirty, it never gets old. The kids compete as table group to see who can collect the most. When they return to class, they estimate the weight of their haul and then use scales to arrive at the actual measurement. Congrats to the “Werewolves,” the winner if this competition, but kudos to all the kids along with Mrs. Bender, Mrs. Bugarin, and Mrs. McCarty for doing such a great job on this important community-service event.

The kids concluded the week with the annual Harvest Fair, our only Halloween-oriented activity of the year. Special thanks to Mrs. Kilbane, Mrs. Bender, Mrs. Foster, Miss Dumore, and Mrs, Qualls for supervising our booth.

In class this week we’re wrapping up our Roadl Dahl Book Clubs, practicing our new plays, and learning about the variety of explorers who came before and after Columbus. (Ever wonder why we’re not living in North Columbia?  Ask your child later this week.) In math class we’ll be having a test on Friday of this week. Here’s the math homework: Monday, Oct. 20th; Tuesday, Oct. 21st; Wednesday, Oct. 22nd; Thursday, Oct. 23rd.

Finally, the 40th annual Sams Valley Mini-Marathon is scheduled for Friday, Oct. 31st (Halloween). This is a part of the District’s elementary physical education program, so all students are expected to participate. This year, thanks to the support of Dr. Ravissipour and the people at Oregon Smiles, there’s no cost to participate. For more information about the Mini-Marathon, click here. To see pictures from previous marathons, click on the links at right under “Special Events.”