School Zone
May 25, 2016
A mont hly newslet t er cover ing ar ea schools
What's happening in South Lane — school by school
Bohemia
Elementary –
Heather Bridgens,
Principal
Bohemia’s CATCH fam-
ily night was reportedly a huge
success with about 300 at-
tendees. Students and families
were provided a passport to be
stamped as they completed their
stations. There were eight sta-
tions offered, including yoga, a
GO snack, circuit training with
a PE teacher and Go Noodle
sessions.
Jog-a-thon: We are so proud
of our hard working Bohemia
students. In its second year, our
jog-a-thon was another huge
success. Students ran 4,627
laps altogether. The student
with the most laps ran 21 laps
in 30 minutes. That is 5 miles!
Students are still bringing in
money, but so far we have raised
over $16,000 for our PTC. This
money is used to fund our spe-
cials, fi eld trips and teacher
wishes. Teachers and students
supported each other through-
out the day. Even Hampton,
Bohemia’s therapy pig, came
out to support our runners.
Kinder Registration: Kin-
dergarten registration welcomed
many new Bohemia families
into the school community. In-
coming kinder students partici-
pated in classroom activities in
while parents listened to kinder
teachers talk about the full day
kindergarten experience.
Intellicast:
Fifth-grade
students have been tracking
weather from around the world.
Students used data collected for
a specifi c town of their choice
using the website Intellicast. In
the end, students took their data
and created a forcast for their
city.
Dorena
Elementary
Dorena Egg Drop
Mr. Sadiq’s class has been
studying engineering in Sci-
ence. Their objective was to
engineer a protective case for
an egg that would allow the egg
to withstand a drop of 20 feet!
Students enjoyed this exercise
in collaboration and science.
Dorena Welcomes Linda
Pabst! –
Next year, Dorena will wel-
come Linda Pabst as its new
principal. Pabst has more than
35 years’ experience in edu-
cation. She worked for many
years in California as the Dis-
trict Program Director for over
20 preschools. Since Dorena
will have a new preschool pro-
gram next year, her experience
will be very valuable.
Pabst came to South Lane
School District in 2007 as an in-
structional coach. She worked
on special assignment as a coach
for four years before budget cuts
required her to move back into
the classroom. She currently
teaches kindergarten at Latham;
however, she has taught pre-
school through fourth grade.
Pabst brings with her oodles of
experience with technology and
grant writing in addition to her
instructional and administrative
experience.
Mrs. Scrima, with a heavy
heart, will be leaving Dorena to
take a position as the assistant
principal at Cottage Grove High
School.
Tsunami simulation
The fi fth-grade students joined
Mr. Ghelfi ’s middle school stu-
dents in a lesson on Tsunami.
After studying about them, they
spent some time researching
ways to make structurally sound
facilities that will endure the
damage. They created buildings,
and at the simulation, they test-
ed how strong their structures
were. Three waves crashed over
the creations, and not a one re-
mained standing.
Harrison
Elementary – Ali
Nice, Principal
Smarter Balanced Assess-
ment has begun: Harrison has
closed its computer lab for the
month of April and May as it be-
gins state testing. Students are
Side of the Mountain” by Jean
Craighead George. As we did in
November, we will be reading
the book as a school community,
answering trivia questions, and
discussing the book in classes.
Each student is provided a book
and nightly reading schedule to
take home and read with their
family.
Heidi Brown will be
welcomed by the Har-
rison Parent Club as the
school's new principal
next week.
working hard to demonstrate all
they know in reading and math.
These tests are scheduled to
take three to fi ve days per con-
tent area.
Parent Club sets up a meet
and greet for the incoming prin-
cipal: The Harrison parent club
has arranged for an informal
evening ice cream social to meet
its new principal, Heidi Brown.
Guests are welcome on Thurs-
day, June 2 from 6-7 p.m. for
this fun event!
Students headed to Outdoor
School on May 24: Fifth-grad-
ers (and fourth graders in the
blended classroom) have been
fundraising all year to support
their outdoor school experi-
ence. They raised over $13,000
through candy sales, bowl-a-
thon and a Bingo/Silent Auction
to pay for their week at Camp
Tadmore. They are ready for
some great learning experiences
in the woods!
Latham
Elementary —
Anne Fisk,
Principal
Latham Afterschool Clubs
For May, Latham offered fi ve
different clubs (to which par-
ents, teachers, and community
members generously donated
their time):
Beading
Crafts
Chess
Zumba
Mask Creation
Famous people came to life
for the students in Ms. McGin-
ley’s second-grade class
Each student chose an impor-
tant person to study. They wrote
biographies, illustrated each fa-
mous person on a backdrop and
practiced presenting the infor-
mation they learned. The cul-
minating project was a “living
museum” in which each student
dressed up like his/her famous
person and shared the informa-
tion with visitors who pushed
their button to hear them talk at
the museum. Everyone enjoyed
the experience and the students
practiced newly acquired aca-
demic skills!
London School
– Bill Bechen,
Principal
courtesy photo
Linda Pabst will take over duties as Dorena's new prin-
cipal next year. Kim Scrima will become assisant princi-
pal at CGHS.
One School, One Book, part
2— April 25 was day one of
London’s One School, One
Book program featuring “My
O.H. Hinsdale Wave Re-
search Laboratory at Oregon
State University— Mr. Flagg’s
6-8 classroom visited Oregon
State to test its building designs
and get a tour of the facility.
Students have worked in teams
to design and build structures
that they believe will withstand
tsunami-scale waves and protect
their ping pong ball occupant.
Lincoln Middle
School – Jeremy
Smith, Principal
Testing Season – About two
months ago, Assistant Princi-
pal Emily Wren put together a
team of people to try to come
up with a new schedule for the
SBAC testing. So often these
tests can be long, arduous, and a
prolonged disruption to the nor-
mal schedule and learning. Em-
ily and her team put together a
schedule modeled after CGHS.
Each grade has one week of test-
ing and then they are done. Dur-
ing that week they have an alter-
native schedule where they test
for half the day and get a “Brain
Break” for the other half.
Recognizing Grit – We re-
mind the kids often that “At
Lincoln We Never Stop Learn-
ing” and this week we are show-
ing them examples of that. From
fi rst to second trimester we had
a handful of students who did
an amazing job bringing up
their grades. We are announcing
a few of these names each day
and recognizing the students
with certifi cates and prizes. We
post these names in the main
hallway to remind students that
hard work does pay off!
Schedule Update – Now that
we have a solid idea of how our
schedule will be structured next
year we are working on fi lling
in the slots. We have fi nished
surveying the students to fi nd
the electives they most like and
are now working on assigning
teachers to those classes. We are
also fi nding other ways to adjust
and possibly improve the over-
all day as well, even considering
a shift to fewer lunches – which
would maximize staff time for
instructional purposes.
Music Kudos – Joanna New-
ton is now in her second year
as our music instructor and this
past weekend she really got to
show off some Lincoln pride.
Cottage Grove
High School
– Iton Udosenata,
Principal
Senior Boards: Seniors will
move one step closer to gradua-
tion when they present their se-
nior boards on May 27. Seniors
have worked all year on their
boards, which are required for
graduation. Last year all seniors
passed the senior board.
Kennedy
Alternative High
School – Mike
Ingman, Principal
At Kennedy we are simulta-
neously working in the present
and looking to the future. Our
hearts are with the students that
are attending Kennedy today,
but we allow our minds to slip
into creating the best school that
Kennedy can be. While the fu-
ture is not far away, our primary
focus right now is graduation
day coming on June 11t
We have been working hard
with our seniors that are work-
ing to earn their diplomas. The
staff is spending energy trying
to make sure that all of the stu-
dents have all of the credits that
they need as well as meeting the
standards for essential skills.
While credit calculations have
been completed, we still need to
make sure that all students are
attending and completing work
to stay on track. The harder tar-
get is making sure that all stu-
dents make essential skills. This
has meant that we are simulta-
neously doing state testing and
work samples for students in
reading, writing, and math. With
limited computer lab resources,
we fi nd ourselves stretched thin.
The reaction passing a work
sample or a state test makes all
of the stress and hard work.
P-20 Coordinator
Jackie Lester
Preschool STEM – The
SLSD Preschool ESL Program
has kicked off a spring garden
discovery project. Preschool-
ers and their parents are learn-
ing targeted vocabulary along
with plant science. This is a
great foundation for a Spanish
version of the Seeds To Supper
Program, recently funded by a
grant written by our Farm-To-
School Coordinator Melissa
Fery.
KITS (Kids In Transition to
School) Program – Recruiting
of kids and parents for the KITS
program is actively in progress.
We expect to fi ll all 80 slots with
eager incoming kindergarteners
and their parents. We will be
interviewing for staff positions
beginning the fi rst week in May.
Many SLSD staff members, as
well as staff from other commu-
nity programs have applied for
the positions.
Summer Literacy Col-
laboration – Planning is in the
works for the fi rst ever SLSD
Family Resource Center and
CG Public Library collabora-
tion on a Community Summer
Reading Program for children
ages 0-18. This fun fi lled lit-
eracy extravaganza includes
LOTS of reading, as well as a
variety of high interest activities
& fi eld trips. All kids will also
have the opportunity to receive
FREE BOOKS from the United
Way sponsored Summer Read-
ing Spot at Bohemia School
and will receive raffl e tickets
for their participation in the
Summer Reading Program with
prizes being given throughout
the summer.
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