Good evening!
Today has been a great day! I cannot express to you in words how proud I am Brianna Flecknoe and Kyleigh Wood! These young ladies are two of our very own Columbia Elementary Tigers! They took the results of their idea to Nationwide Children's Hospital today. These young ladies wanted to simply help others in the hospital. For this reason, we were able to collect donations and make care packages for cancer patients at Nationwide Children’s Hospital in Columbus, Ohio. This project was such an amazing experience for our students to participate in as they get the opportunity to “pay forward” to others in need.
As you may recall, each classroom was asked to send in specific gift bag items. Once all donations had been collected and placed into bags, they were ready to be delivered to Children’s Hospital. Our goal as a building was to collect enough items to make 100 gift bags. The students were told that if we reach this goal of collecting enough items for 100 gift bags, then I would kiss a pig. We made good on that promise on this promise on May 18th. Everyone but "Elvis the Pig" was laughing.
Today, we had the opportunity to drop off all 100 gift bags to Nationwide Children's Hospital. As a result of these two students wanting to “pay it forward” to others, the students at Columbia Elementary are making a difference in 100 cancer patient’s lives at Nationwide Children’s Hospital. The entire staff at Columbia Elementary cannot be prouder of their best and brightest, their students. Stay tuned to NBC 4 News for this story to air soon. Our desire is to continue with this project every school year.
Please see your weekly updates below:
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Tiger Up-Planning for College/Advance Training
After High School
Parental involvement and Financial Planning
I want to thank all of the parents that attended our First Annual Financial Planning Meeting on Thursday night. We spent a 30-45 minutes going over financial planning options for parents to begin planning for their children to go to college. Mr. Todd Hawkins from First-Knox National Bank continues to be a great asset to our school as he worked with parents to provide them with good information and answer any questions that they might have about financial planning for their children's college education. Thank you to all that attended!
My hope is to continue this information session each year. All of our students have the ability to go to college! I do not want money to be a barrier in allowing them to achieve this goal. There are many opportunities for our students to be eligible for scholarships and loans no matter their economic status. I feel strongly that we need to start planning now while their in elementary school. I will be sending some information home with our 5th Graders this week for families to have and begin this thought process. This is not at all a sales pitch just simply information for our parents.
Tiger Up Friday-Planning for College/Advanced Training after High School
Following our discussions in our mentor groups, we were blessed by Mount Vernon Nazarene University, Kenyon College, and COTC coming to our school and speaking with our students about college.This energetic presentation was well received by our students and added to their views about the opportunity for them to go to college after they graduate High School. I was very impressed by how well these three institutions worked with our students!
5th Graders Experiencing College and Advanced Training
As a part of our Tiger Up Program and an extension of our 5th Graders Capstone Project, our 5th Graders had the opportunity to visit MVNU, Knox County Career Center, and Kenyon College last Monday. We wanted them to experience college and career technical training for a day and to understand that all of this will be available to them at some point in their lives. Words cannot properly express to Knox County Career Center, MVNU, and Kenyon College our gratitude for allowing our students to experience their campuses for a day. Thank you!
Following this trip, the students, teachers, and I had an opportunity to debrief together. I feel like the students have an overall positive experience on this educational trip and we will plan to do it again. I strongly believe that it is important to have an image in your mind to go along with your goals. This image allows our goals to come to life... As you know, our students are the brightest and they deserve the very best!
MVHS Senior Clap Out
Along the same lines of wanting our students to have an image in their minds of what they are aiming for in life, we wanted to give them the opportunity to see our MVHS Seniors in their Caps and Gowns. We also wanted to show our MVHS Seniors how proud we are of their success! At the end of our lunch and recess on Friday, we lined up our students in our hallways and clapped our MVHS Seniors out. These same Seniors also once attended Columbia Elementary. It was AWESOME and rewarding from all perspectives!!! Congrats to The Class of 2016!
4th Nine Weeks Reward-Dance Parties:
Since our students achieved their 4th Nine Weeks Goals in Reading and Math, we brought a DJ in on Friday afternoon for them to celebrate their success. We had a BLAST!!!
Ariel Foundation-Columbia Elementary 5K/ 1 Mile Run or Walk
We are really thankful for the nearly 170 people that came out Friday evening to Ariel Foundation Park to participate in our 5K and 1 mile Fun Run/Walk ! A special thank you to Ariel Foundation for our partnership and everyone else that help supported this event through either your participation or your sponsorship. Your support provides the students at Columbia Elementary additional resources that help them improve their overall educational experiences.
We are not done yet!
5/23-Grades 3-5 Talent Show at 2pm -Parents of performers are welcome!
5/24-Volunteer Breakfast-8am in the Library
5/24-Field Day-AM
5/24-Water Day-PM
5/25-LAST DAY FOR STUDENTS:
K-2 Awards at 9:30am-Parents you are invited:)
Grades 3-5 Awards at 10:15-Parents you are invited:)
5th Grade Graduation at 11am-Parents you are invited:)
5/25-Grade Cards Go Home.
6/16-8/4- K-5 Summer Reading and Math Program (11am to Noon-Lunch Provided)
8/16-Back to School Night from 6-7pm-Parents and Students are Invited:)
Thank you for your continued support of our students!
Tiger Up!
Matt
