It may be wet right now, but it’s supposed to dry up on Tuesday–just in time for our first Adopt-a-Street Clean-up of the year. Room 15 kids will be donning the orange vests and blue gloves to clean-up Hopkins Street. It’s part of our community service commitment to the City of Central Point and a great way to teach kids to appreciate and care for the neighborhoods in which they live. And, believe it or not, it’s a fun trip…kind of like an Easter egg hunt. Parents are encouraged to join us. We’ll be heading out around 8:45 a.m. in Tuesday morning, October 18th.

Congrats to our 700 Club Members for October. These students all read and recorded on the assignment calendars 700 or more minutes of homework reading during the first five weeks of the year: Jimmy, Jonathan, Jacob, Kira, Skylar, and Abby S.  They’ll be receiving a special reward in class this week.

The CPE Halloween Carnival is scheduled for this Saturday, October 22nd. Room 15 kids will be volunteering to run our booth, which means they’ll need a parent to supervise. Kids will be pleading their case at home over the next couple of days.

The Sams Valley Mini Marathon is scheduled for Halloween. If you’ve never been to one, this is the year you should attend. Over 750 fourth and fifth graders representing all five of District 6’s elementary schools will be charging up the hill and into the Sams Valley countryside. It’s a 5,000 meter walk/run designed to encourage physical fitness on the biggest “candy day” of the year. The race starts at 9:30. (Arrive early for better parking.) Thanks to the generosity of community sponsors, this year’s event is free of charge. CPE’s sponsor is Storage Emporium.

Goal-setting conferences are scheduled for Oct. 26th and 27th. This is an important opportunity to assess how your child is doing and what we can do to help him or her succeed. Please click on the “Fall Conferences” tab above to schedule and to verify your agreed-upon time. Thanks!

Fall “goal setting” conferences are scheduled for October 26th through 28th. Click on the “Fall Conferences” tab (above) to get signed-up. Also, don’t forget that Friday, Oct. 14th is a “holiday,” which means there is no school (this is the old Columbus Day federal holiday). Tthe Sams Valley Mini-Marathon is scheduled for Monday, October. 31st. This is a fantastic, “not-to-be-missed” event. Finally, if you paid the $3 for our cancelled Crater Lake trip, those funds will be applied toward our next trip, which is in December. Thanks!

Congrats to all our elementary graduates! Our friendly tarantula, Nightmare, has also graduated from CPE. She passed her final exam and, so it turns out, is soooo smart, they advanced her right to high school. That’s right. Nightmare will now be attending Crater High School. When you finally get there, perhaps you’ll see her prowling the rooms of the Science building. Good luck, Nightmare!

It’s with a melancholy spirit I send this lovely class off to new adventures in middle school, but it must be done! The 2016 Year-in-Review and Baby Picture Program is a nice way to do it.

Cheers to the award winners from Room 15:

Student-of-the-Month for May: Stephanie C.

Students of the Month for June: all the Room 15 Rotters

Fitness Medalists: Haylee B., Hailee H., Josiah B., Jaden F. (class champion with over 265 miles!), Luis C., and Braydan C.All together, Room 15 kids ran approximately 5500 miles this year.

Presidential Scholars: Alyssa K., Sophie Q., McKenna D., Abigail F., Amelia T., and Yuri G.

Rotary Student-of-the Year finalists: Sophie Q., Abigail F., and Yuri G.

SOU Academy nominees: Rayden G., McKenna D., Sidney L., Abigail F., Amelia T., Alyssa K., Yuri G., and Sophie Q.

Special thanks to all the parents who worked so hard on the 5th grade party and who volunteered for duty on Roadrunner Day. Thanks, too, to all the folks who accompanied us on all those field trips this year. And a heartfelt thanks to all the families who sent in year-end gifts, cards, warm thoughts, and especially prayers during our recent medical crisis. Also, thank you for doing such a great job with your children. What a blessing it is to teach kids who want to be here, who want to learn, and who want to be good citizens. Finally, and most importantly, thanks to all my wonderful Room 15 Rotters who made an otherwise challenging year not just bearable, but enjoyable. I already miss you.

A big thank you to everyone who attended the coast trip! The kids had a fantastic time and, I think, have walked away with a ton of knowledge.

Although we have just a couple weeks remaining of the school year, there are still a number of significant events planned:

> Kids have to complete a “math performance task,” the date of which is yet to be determined.

> On Tuesday, I’ll be taking pictures of all the 5th graders for the year-end baby picture program.

> On Thursday, all 5th graders visit Scenic Middle School.

> Friday is DARE Day. Kids need to wear their DARE shirts and bring a sack lunch.

> Friday, May 10th is the 5th Grade Party. It takes place in the courtyard after school. Special thanks to everyone who has donated to our volunteered to assist with it.

> Monday, May 13th is Roadrunner Day and the student-vs-staff softball game.

> Tuesday, May 14th is the year-end awards assembly and baby picture program.

Students will be receiving more information about all of these events over the coming days.

Our Brer Rabbit musical, which is scheduled for 6:30 Thursday night, is coming along nicely. The kids participating in it are clearly working hard at memorizing their scripts and putting personality into their parts. Thank you for supporting them.

Mrs. Quackenbush is helping us develop costumes, but anything you can do to help your child create a “hillbilly” appearance is much appreciated.

We will need help on Thursday night with face painting. If you’re handy with a paintbrush, please consider coming in to help craft Brer Coon’s bandit mask or Brer Mouse’s whiskers.  We’d like to tackle this at 5:30.

Also, I’ll be sending home a notice tomorrow about after-school practice sessions next week…Monday and Wednesday, I suspect.

Thanks again for supporting this event. Unlike our simple (though important) classroom plays, the Brer Rabbit Musical is a big event. Your kids will remember it for many, many years to come.

Congratulations to Students-of-the-Month for September, Abigail F. and Sophie Q., both of whom set a high standard in our class. Kudos to Students-of-the-Month for October, Haylee B.–who established a tough goal of winning the Mini Marathon and then went out and conquered it, and Courtney W., who has survived being “the new kid” with a smile and a great attitude. Congrats also to Students-of-the-Month for November/December Vane’ B., who daily brings grace and joy to my life, and Jaden R., whose hard work and resilience has brought about tremendous growth. We’re impressed by and proud of each of you! Also, welcome back, Peyton!

Thank you to all of you who sent in gifts, cards, and kind sentiments for the holiday. Your kindness and support is important to me!  Thanks, too, to everyone who sent in treats for the holiday party. We had an abundance.

Students transition to new language arts groups and new math groups this week. In math the kids will be studying fractions–which are easy if one knows one’s math facts, but difficult otherwise. Upcoming big events: ScienceWorks field trip on Jan. 19th, Jo County Tree Plant on Feb. 4th, and an Adopt-a-Street Clean-up (Date TBA). We need chaperones for all of these.

A hardy thanks to all the folks who took the time to come down to the school for parent-teacher conferences. I hope you found them informative and helpful. If you’ve ever wondered what it is we really do in class, know that you’re always welcome to come and hang out with us. No advance notice necessary!

The Cafeteria Elves are up. If you haven’t seen them, please stop by Verna’s Cafe by next Friday.

Upcoming events include the following:  Lockdown Drill, Monday, Dec. 14th; walking field trip to the Nutcracker (at Crater HS), Tuesday, Dec. 15th at 10 a.m.; Awards Assembly, Thursday, Dec. 17th, 8:45 a.m..  We’ll also be having a holiday movie and PJ party on the afternoon of Dec. 18th. A small group of kids will be organizing this party (including the process of requesting supplies from home). Finally, mark you calendar now for two upcoming field trips: on Jan. 19th we’re heading to ScienceWorks, and on Feb. 4th we’re planting trees at the annual Jo County Tree Plant (a FANTASTIC trip into the woods outside of GP). We’ll need numerous chaperones for both, so please plan on joining us. (Don’t forget, to serve as a chaperone, a volunteer application must be on file in the school office). Happy Holidays!