Manoa Mountaina News for May 15, 2008

The Manoa Mountains had their end-of -the-year party with pizza, fruits, chocolate cake, chocolate chip cookies, and drinks provided by our room mothers, Nicole Chung and Cindy Kaita. Everyone ate a delicious meal and really enjoyed the food. Many thanks to our room mothers for this special treat.

Our next projects will be the final Math Adventures for this year. The sharing will begin on Monday, May 19th, at 10:00 AM in our classroom.  Parents and grandparents may park at the Wilcox Circle area for this presentation. We are looking forward to some outstanding visual aids for this sharing.

Our preparations for conferences have been worked on this week and we will finish them next week. All groups will have their slide shows ready to share at the conferences. Your child will show you the slide show that his/her group worked on together. We will share all the slide shows on Tuesday, May 27th, at 10:45 AM in our classroom.

Our next week will be very busy with conferences on Thursday and Friday, a holiday on Monday for Memorial Day, and several special events. On Wednesday we will have "Flying Up Day" which is an opportunity to see what the next grade is like and to experience an activity with one of the teachers. Our class will host Mrs. LeBlanc's second graders, and our fourth graders will go to Mrs. Hoddick. Our third graders will help to welcome the new students and tell them about what it's like in third grade. We will also have the fifth-grade Leavetaking Ceremony at 10:00 AM.

On Thursday we will have a field day to celebrate the last day of school for this year. Unfortunately, I will not be here for the fun because I have a circuit court probate trial to settle my mother's estate that morning. It has been a two-year battle with my brother, and I am hoping for a judgment in my favor.

It has been a great year working with the Manoa Mountains, and I'm sure everyone is ready to move on to the next grade. I am looking forward to my retirement, which begins on June 1.  I will have more time for family, trips, and some housecleaning and relaxing.  After 41 years of teaching, it looks like an enjoyable future for me. Many thanks to all of you for making my years at Epiphany and Mid-Pacific so wonderful!

Posted at 6:10 AM| Permalink

Manoa Mountains News for May 8, 2008

The Manoa Mountains have been working very hard to prepare for the opera performances on Friday and Saturday evenings. They have had many rehearsals and feel confident that they know their parts. Their t-shirts and capes were delivered yesterday so their costumes are also ready. Everyone will change to their costumes at 5:00 PM on both evenings and they may keep their capes and t-shirts after the Saturday performance. The opera committee worked very hard to get the costumes prepared on time so we are very grateful to them for their hard work. Students need to be at school at 5:00 PM both days to get ready for the opera. Meet at the classroom to change to costumes. We will walk down to Scudder Dining Hall together. You may pick your child up at Scudder after both performances. Please let me know when you are ready to leave that you are taking your child with you on both nights. Only choir students will check out with Mrs. Koshi because they have different instructions for the performances.

The room mothers for our class, Mrs. Cindy Kaita and Mrs. Nicole Chung, will  be treating the class to a pizza lunch with fruits and drinks on Wednesday, May 14th.  This is for our end-of-the-year party to celebrate a great year together.  Many thanks to them for organizing this special treat.

Our daily work has focused on preparing the portfolios for the conferences, and many work samples have been selected to show how we have grown as learners in the second semester. Reflections explain our strengths and ways we have improved in the different areas of the curriculum.

Our final projects will be the math adventures which will be shared on May 19th at 10:00 AM. Of course, all parents and grandparents are invited to join us for this final sharing of individual projects.  We hope to have the excursion slide shows ready during the last week of school. Parents will get a preview of each child's group work at the conferences.

If you can help out on the field day on May 29th, please contact Mrs. Jenkins to volunteer. Unfortunately, I will not be here on that day because I have an appointment in circuit court on a probate matter concerning my mother's will and trust.

I look forward to seeing everyone at the final conferences.  We have much to celebrate with each student and can be proud of the work that has been accomplished.

Posted at 6:11 AM| Permalink