Congratulations to the Walker community on our "Kids Heart Challenge" event this year. Formerly called "Jump Rope For Heart". We met our goal for having 50% of our children go Online and register to do a heart healthy behavior. Heart healthy choices were: drink water, exercise each day or do a kind act for someone each day. We also raised $3,865.00 to fund research and educate the community on how to prevent heart problems. Oh AND by meeting our goal we won $500.00 to purchase fun new PE equipment for the children at school. FANTASTIC!! WALKER ELEMENTARY ROCKS!! During February we celebrated and learned about Kindness for National Kindness Week and National Random Acts of Kindness Day. Students reflected on what it means to be kind, because kindness can be a big grand gesture or as simple as smiling and saying hello to someone. Students also reflected on the power an act of kindness holds and how it can create a "boomerang" effect. Students participated in kindness activities including a coloring contest and pledge wall as well as our acts of kindness scavenger hunt for random acts of kindness that could be found around the school. Check out our Flipgrid to see student response videos for acts of kindness they could perform! Feel free to record your own video of how you have done an act of kindness! Click on links below: https://flipgrid.com/568dd9e3 Kindness boomerang video Team Respect has been enjoying learning about other classrooms around the country through a Valentine exchange. They sent 20 Valentines, along with a letter about our school and city to classrooms around the country. Each day they have been receiving replies. They have received some from as far away as Las Vegas. Other places they have learned about are Texas and Illinois. They enjoy reading about other schools, what they like to do at recess, and finding their city on a map.
Team Integrity and Team Diversity had a book tasting! 1st, 2nd, and 3rd graders invited their families in to sample multiple book series. After exploring each series, students talked about their likes and dislikes of different authors. It was a great afternoon of reading :) Team Persistence finished our Force and Motion unit! Students worked in teams to find a way to move rocks out of someone's backyard to make room for a play set. Students showed grit and great problem-solving skills. Mr. Siwula, a geotechnical engineer, also visited to talk about the design process! Team Persistence celebrated the 100th Day of School and Valentine's Day with lots of fun activities. On Monday, February 25 the students in Team Diversity were challenged to demonstrate grit. They worked together in teams to create models of the Washington Monument and the Lincoln Memorial out of play dough and noodles. Lots of smiles and candy were passed out and shared in on February 14 in Team Diversity when we celebrated the day of LOVE with a party. We handed out valentine's, ate some yummy treats and of course spread some cheer by celebrating our relationships. Excellence West students worked to beat the "winter blues" by traveling to different ecosystems through the use of technology. Students worked in collaborative groups to compile their research. Check out what we learned by clicking on the links below. https://prezi.com/view/xUookInufvKQa3itww74/ https://prezi.com/view/m3rpYkTJq1iykpakqE3T/ https://desertecosystem2019.weebly.com/ https://tundraecosystemew.weebly.com/ https://ewdesert2.weebly.com/ Excellence West also worked to "beat" the winter blues by incorporating "Drum Fit" exercises into our indoor recess time. Equipped with an exercise ball, gallon bucket and rhythm sticks, students worked to drum along with the music. Excellence East had a busy February. Students worked with Excellence West to celebrate Valentine’s Day in a different way this year. Students chose one of the following service project areas; Humane Society-where they made blankets and toys for the animals, Nursing Home residents-where we made placemats and cards, or Street Angels-where students made peanut butter and jelly sandwiches to give to the homeless. The Walker Lego Robotics team is working hard to get ready for the District Robotics competition. While we continue to program our robot we have also begun working on our project. The focus this year was finding a way to help astronauts who are out in space for long periods of time. Through discussion and multiple revisions, we have decided that we want to focus on teaching them how to use mindfulness to help them stay "grounded" while in space. We will call our project Operation: Peach Corner! |