The Panda News Wow, we are over half way through the 2015-2016 school year already…the year seems to be flying by. Our students continue to work hard on their classroom work and participate in our school activities. I am truly impressed by all of our students’ positive attitudes and behaviors and their happy, smiling faces each day. We enjoy teaching your kids and always strive to en-courage and motivate them to do their very best.

We have a busy spring calendar ahead. A few of the highlights are:

3rd and 4th Grade Concert: February 25, 2016

Career Fair (3rd – 5th grade): March 1, 2016

Pacific Northwest FIRST Robotics Competition at West Valley HS: March 3-5, 2016

- All of our 5th grade students will visit the competition on March 4th

Spring Conferences: March 9-11, 2016

Spring Break: April 4-8, 2016

I would like to update you on a few of our building wide initiatives:

Our Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (PBIS) program is going very well. We continue to see positive growth in all of our students academic and social behav-iors. We remain focused on teaching and reinforcing positive behaviors in the class-room and throughout our school. In is always rewarding for us to recognize our stu-dents, in various ways, for their positive behaviors and contributions to improving our school climate.

Several of our staff will attend Project Lead the Way (PLTW) Science, Technology, Engi-neering, and Math (STEM) training in the next few weeks. Increasing STEM education opportunities for all of our students is one of our School Improvement initiatives for the year. We will focus on increasing STEM education as a part of our school day, and through extra-curricular activities during the spring and summer months ahead.

Our PTO continues to be busy. They have been actively involved supporting our students and families with several events and fundraisers. I am so impressed with the number of parent volunteers in the building on a daily basis. We have a great school community and I am al-ways thankful for the support demonstrated by all of you who have participated in various ways. A few of the highlights * Clothing for a Cause * Book Bingo * Roller Valley Skate Night * Monthly Papa Murphy’s and Chuck E Cheese nights. If you are interested in becoming in-volved with our PTO, please join us at our monthly meeting (2nd Monday of each month).

Our weather can vary widely during the day during the transition from winter to spring. It is important that your kids are dressed appropriately for outdoor activities. They are outside in the morning before school starts and during recess (we have two fifteen minute recesses dur-ing the day). Outdoor activities, including recess, are important parts of our academic day and we want them to be dressed appropriately. It is helpful if they have long pants available to them for those days when the temperatures drop in the morning and do not warm up until later in the day.

Our school web page continues to grow with new content. Announcements and upcoming events are highlighted and we encourage you to visit the site on a frequent basis.

Brad J. Liberg, Principal

Upcoming Events

Feb. 12 - Snow Day - No School

Feb. 15 - Presidents Day - No School

Feb 18 - Chuck E Cheese Night 3pm - 9pm

Feb 23 - 2nd Grade Field Trip - McMillan / 4th Grade Field Trip - Sobosky & Spilker / 5th Grade HIV/ AIDS Parent Meeting - CMS @ 6:30 pm

Feb 24 - Late Start / Stu-dent of the Month Assem-bly / Papa Murphy’s Fund-raiser

Feb 25 - 3rd & 4th Grade Concert @ 6:30 pm

March 1 - Career Fair (Grades 3 - 5)

March 2 - Late Start

March 7 - 1st Grade Field Trip - Mrs. Myers

March 9-11 - Spring Con-ferences. Early Dismissal on 9th @ 12:15 & No School the 10th & 11th

In This Issue A Note From the Principal

Students of the Week Change For Giving

Students of the Month Nurse’s Notes

Silverwood Reading Minutes School Calendar Update

Career Fair Book Cover Contest Winners

Counselor’s Corner

February 2016

A Note From The Principal

January 8, 2016

Ryan Ballinger Maggie Mortensen Judson Focht Jayd Blize Nivaaj Dhillon Natalie Wright Zeindeen Chreiki Maci Wittren Aliyah Smith Brandon Spunich Karma Fredericksen Peyton Cooley Maliya Olson Thomas Price Allyson Standiford Lucian Thompson *Abigail Sicilia Spirit Award: Mrs. Fennen’s Class

January 15, 2016

Sage Helling Rowan Bean Austin Issler Brendon Higgins Campbell Ball Cody Clary Lynette Lopachuk Taylor Gordon Max Clocherty Natalie Lohstroh Ava Petersen Piper Helling Marley Matson Aidan Abghari Madelyn Greger Trevor Watkins *Kimberly Wayne Spirit Award: Mrs. Fennen’s Class

January 22, 2016

Jay’Mauri White Noah Swanson Livia Krietzman Elsie Bennett Parker Donneaud Elijah Helling Livia Olson Kyia Silva Ethan Holden Kaedince Ramos Ava Petersen Craig Reid Ashlynn Cox Alessandra Gippetti John Aley Martin Massie *Madelyn Greger

January 29, 2016

Devin Shelton Michelle Grigoryan Jackson Christiansen Nikita Bakhtin Preston Le Breanna Post Taylor Norman Luke Chrisman Nevaeh Vining Isabella Dice Marie Smith Ella Villarreal Maliya Olson Carlie Knapp Toulin Kusaibati Trevor Watkins *Savannah Brooks

*Denotes Pledge Leader

Change For Giving Ms. Kennedy and 3 of her students raised about $650 for charity! The students chose to give a portion of the funds to Toys for Tots, and then donated 200 pairs of socks and 50

pairs of mittens to the homeless.

The students presented 2 representatives with a check at an assembly on December 18th.

Students from Left to Right: Caidan Pryor, Eric Jump, Jessica Murray

Haylee Kelly

Students of the Month

January Character Trait: Fairness

Hunter Jones Itzayana Grageda Behr Blumenauer Levi Lopachuk

Ashlyn Cheroke

Anna Shcherbinin

Arfan Bitar

Ayden Rodgers

Oryona Robinson Erik Lemeza Jase Bercier Benjamin Sartell Krystal Clary Lucas Cratty

Zeke Sanders

Lilyanna Davydenko

Michail Lemeza

Livia Olson

Devin Batke

Canon Knauss Tyler Henry

Hunter Holdway Nicholas Barnhart Noelle Chan

Kennan Dunfield

Verity McBlair

Amelia Childers

Neena McManigal

Jaedyn Green

Students of the Month

January Character Trait: Fairness

Claire Blumenauer

Olivia Way Grace Randall Shirley Lin

Isabel Hilsabeck

Logan Donato-Healy

Cheyenne Gramlow

Pasadena Park is taking part in the Reading is the Ticket Countdown Club.

This program is designed to get your child

reading for fun! Every Student who completes 10 hours or 600 minutes of recrea-

tional reading between January 29th and March 13th will earn a ticket good for one free admission to Silverwood Theme Park.

A form for tracking minutes was sent home. Forms must be completed, signed and re-

turned by Monday March 14, 2016.

Happy Reading!

The wind storm in November that resulted in the cancellation of school was severe enough that the Governor declared it a state of emergency. West Valley School Dis-trict applied for and received a make-up waiver. The snow days on the calendar for February 12 and May 27 are still non-school days, as long as there are no school clo-sures between now and those dates.

School Calendar Update

Silverwood Reading Minutes

Flu Guide: How can I protect my child against the flu?

To protect against the flu, the first and most important thing you can do is to get a flu vac-cine for yourself and your child.

Vaccination is recommended for everyone 6 months and older.

It’s especially important that young children and children with long term health condi-tions get vaccinated.

Caregivers of children with health condi-tions or of children younger than 6 months old should get vaccinated. (Babies younger than 6 months are too young to be vac-cinated themselves.)

Another way to protect babies is to vac-cinate pregnant women. Research shows that flu vaccination gives some protection to the baby both while the woman is preg-nant and for up to 6 months after the baby is born.

Flu vaccine is updated annually to protect against the flu viruses that research indicates are most likely to cause illness during the up-coming flu season. Flu vaccines are made using strict safety and production measures. Over the years, millions of flu vaccines have been given in the United States with a very good safety record.

What if my child gets sick or has the flu?

Can my child go to school, day care or camp if he or she is sick? No. Your child should stay home to rest and to avoid giving the flu to other children or caregiv-ers.

When can my child go back to school after having the flu? Keep your child home from school, day care or camp for at least 24 hours after their fever is gone. (The fever should be gone without the use of a fever-reducing medicine.) A fever is defined as 100°F (37.8°C) or higher.

Nurse’s Notes

Book Cover Contest Winners

March 1, 2016 9:00 am - 11:30 am

Grades 3 through 5 will be participating in a Career Fair during school on March 1, 2016. During technology time, students have been working on a new program called Career Cruising. The goal of the program and the Career Fair is to broaden students horizons and teach them about ca-reers they may never have thought about before. We are shooting for approximately 20 guest speakers, representing an array of careers. Students will have the opportunity to walk around and ask questions to presenters, and learn information about particular careers of interest. So far we have representatives from the following industries:

Veterinarians Dentists Fire Department Engineers Graphic Design / Game Apps Department of Transportation Progressive Insurance Avista Utilities

With the exciting line-up it means that on March 1st there will be emergency vehicles in our parking lot. We want parents and community members to know that these departments will

be onsite as apart of the Career Fair and not due to an emergency.

Upcoming Career Fair Grades 3 - 5

Below are the winners of Mrs. Greule’s Book Cover Contest. Their artwork will be printed and displayed in the Library.

Kindergarten: Dimitry Davydenko

First Grade: Brielle White

Second Grade: Lynette Lopachuk

Third Grade: Kenedi Magana

Fourth Grade: Preston Engeland

Fifth Grade: Cheyenne Gramlow

The Character Trait for the month of January was Fairness. In our Panda Pride weekly lessons, we talked about appreciating differences, the idea of equal opportunity, and Martin Luther King’s dream for a better future. “I say to you today, my friends, even though we face the difficulties of today and tomorrow, I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream. I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up, live out the true meaning of its creed.” The Character Trait for the month of February is Honesty. Honesty means a sincere com-mitment to the truth. First Lady Michelle Obama said that growing up, “We learned about honesty and integrity – that the truth matters, that you don't take shortcuts or play by your own set of rules, and success doesn't count unless you earn it fair and square.” Students in grades 3 through 5 also learned about how to manage strong emotions dur-ing Panda Pride lessons. They learned that you need to stop, name your feeling, and calm down. They practiced ways to calm down, including counting, deep breathing, and positive self-talk. Talk to your child about the importance of managing strong emotions and share with them about the ways you relax and calm down. During the month of January, students participated in the Pennies for Patients Fundrais-er to benefit the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. Students collected a total of $361.77 of loose change! And we collected another $200 in bills (that was easier to count than the change). Thank you for supporting this important cause to find new treatments – and hopefully one day a cure – for blood cancers which affect so many Americans. It continues to be a privilege to work at such a wonderful school. We appreciate all the parent support! Please feel free to contact us with any questions or concerns. We hope your 2016 is off to a great start! Jody Shapiro and Sue Shipton

Counselor’s Corner