Peninsula Weekly News Thursday, October 6th, 2016

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FamilySupportMeetingsatPeninsulaSchoolBeginning in October, Peninsula School will be hosting Family

Support Meetings on the second Saturday of each month.

Every meeting will focus on a different topic related to skill building,

problem solving and creating healthy habits.

FIRST WEEK

TIME: This Saturday! OCTOBER 8th , 9am – 12pm

TOPIC: Get your food handlers card for only $10!

Scholarships are available if needed.

BENEFITS: Having a food handlers cards builds your

resume and with it you can bring homemade

cupcakes to your students class!

Childcare will be provided weekly, so bring your children!

Enter a drawing for a free cookbook full of low cost healthy

recipes.

ContactourschoolcounselorHannaAllenformoreinformation.Hallen@pps.netor503-916-6275option6.

FREE/REDUCED PRIOR YEAR

EXPIRATION DATE IS QUICKLY APPROACHING Students who were receiving free or reduced-price meal benefits last school year must fill out a NEW meal application for the 2016-17 school year. If benefits are denied or reduced when the NEW application is approved, families will have ten days before the change in eligibility takes effect.

Students who have NOT submitted a NEW application will be required to pay full price for school meals starting Tuesday, October 11, 2016.

Apply online www.pps.net/departments/nutrition

*Monday,Oct.10th8:30-9:15AMKinderKonzertsforK-2

*Thursday,Oct.13th5:00-7:00PMKinderFamilyCelebration

*Friday,Oct.14thIn-service.Noclasses.

*Wednesday,Oct.19th9:45AM–Breakfast2hourlateopen

*Wednesday,Oct.19th10:30AM-1:30PMKinderfieldtriptoPumpkinPatch*Wednesday,Oct.19th

9am-12pmMs.Schneider’sclassFieldtriptoSmith&Bybee*Wednesday,Oct.19th6:00-7:30PMPTAMeeting*Thursday,Oct.20th9am–12pmMr.Cassella’sClassFieldtriptoSmith&Bybee

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Specialist

Corner

Jonathan

Tharp

STEAM

STEAM Connection:

Hexbugs, and Robots, and Boats, Oh My!

This year has gotten off to an amazing start, and I can’t tell you how excited I am about the reception I have received from parents and students alike. For those of you that are still unsure, STEAM stands for Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, and Math. It is a hands-on, student driven class that encourages creativity, problem solving, innovation, and invention by proposing real world problems and having them work together to solve them.

Here is a quick look at what we have done so far:

Kindergarten – We built, tested, and redesigned sailboats out of recycled materials. We made “balance-bots” out of cardstock and pennies. And we are currently thinking about how to make paper baskets that are strong enough to hold a rock collection.

1st Grade – We have been creating mazes for our Hexbugs (which the students named and made habitats for) that must follow 3 criteria: the hexbug must be able to get out, it must turn at least twice, and it must make a sound of some kind. There has been some amazing creativity and teamwork that has come out of this project!

2nd Grade – The second grade students were tasked with “rescuing” a stuffed animal that had fallen down a “well” (a recycling bin). They had to draw their designs and make a list of materials that they need to construct their devices. They were limited to what I had on hand (mostly cups, bowls, straws, and popsicle sticks) and were forced to test, redesign, and test over and over.

Grades 3-5 – The older grades are working in the technology lab and are learning to use Chromebooks, create documents, and add pictures and links to an “About Me” poster. These posters will be up during conferences and will have an Augmented Reality aspect to them that you won’t want to miss!

Whew! It has been a lot of crazy awesomeness and we are just getting started! The last thing I want to mention is a DonorsChoose* page that I have set up. I am trying to get funding for a set of Ozobots which are amazing tools for teaching coding and robotics to all ages! You can find the link to the page here: Robotics for Everyone! *

Thank you for all of the support!

Mr. Tharp

*https://www.donorschoose.org/we-teach/2517284/?active=true