WIS newsletter January 2008

Washington Intermediate Newletter January 2008

The Washington Intermediate Parent Advisory Committee had our second meeting of the school year on Thursday, December 13. These meetings are open to all Washington Intermediate parents guardians and grandparents and our next meeting will be on Monday, March 3, 2008, in the media center. We hope you can join us!
I. Review Minutes from September 17
II. Highlights, Updates and Useful Information!
a. Technology update
i. New infrastructure approved by school board This much needed update will speed up connections between all buildings and update our phone system. Mr. Deter, Tech Coordinator, has been working on getting this project together for many months. We hope to have much in place by around spring break.
ii. Website – http://wistigers.blogspot.comEncouraged parents to visit the site as we continue to update it regularly. If parents have suggestions for the site, please feel free to contribute them.
iii. Student video projectMr. Barry has had nearly 60 students express interest in this project. Basically, students would work individually, in pairs or in groups to create a script/idea to highlight something at Washington. Students would film these videos before, during or after school and the video would be posted on the school website. This is a work in progress. J
b. After school math updateMr. Barry shared the current data with the parents present. The graphs are included on next two pages. The data given to the parents that evening did have some incorrect 4th grade data. This has been changed on the following pages. We have seen growth on each math probe (addition, subtraction, multiplication and division), but have room for improvement. It was also noted the 5th grade students get 2 less minutes to complete their 100-question probes than the 4th graders do. This is one reason the percentages are lower. There was also discussion about their being less 5th graders than 4th graders attending the after school sessions. Mr. Barry stated that to help increase the number attending he had discussed having students attended 5 of the last 6 sessions in order to be able to participate in the year end celebration/contest. Students really enjoyed the contest last year.
c. Attendance policy
i. Current ‘policy’
ii. Input needed from parents
Current attendance policy was shared with the parents and they also looked at what the middle school and high school do regarding attendance. Washington is looking at beginning sending letters out to parents of students who miss 5 or more days per quarter with a follow-up letter if the child misses 8 days. Doctor’s notes will be required for students who miss more than 5 days. The parents present felt that it would be a good idea to give parents a ‘heads-up’ when students reached a certain # of days & stress the importance of building good attendance habits for later in life.
d. Healthy choices/treats discussionMr. Barry shared an article about some districts moving to not allowing sweets to be brought to school. There is no discussion of doing that at Washington but it was a topic from last year’s parent advisory. Input was neutral.
e. BD pilot program information
Mr. Barry handed out a summary sheet about the Behavior Disorder pilot program that will be at Washington Intermediate. This is included below the math graphs. If parents have more questions, please call Mr. Barry
F. Parent ideas, concerns & questions.
The meeting adjourned at 7:30 PM.


Cars in this issue by Gage



We are excited to continue our annual food drive at Washington Intermediate. Our building goal was set for 300 food items and we hope to surpass that goal again for the 3rd straight year! Please feel free to send food items with your child or drop them off at Washington Intermediate anytime this week. The local food pantries are in dire need of food supplies. Our November and December student advisory students will help organize the food and the 5th grade advisory students delivered the food to the pantry. Mr. Barry & the Washington Intermediate Staff.

Insert to above: Way to go Washington Intermediate students! We had 572 food items donated during our food drive. This will help many families in our community during the holidays. This was a very caring and responsible thing to do for our community. I am proud of you all. Mr. Barry

The November & December student advisees will help load the food on Thursday at 1:30 PM. All student advisees will meet in by the Christmas tree at 1:30 with their coats, gloves and hats on! Once the items are loaded, the 5th grade student advisees will help Mr. Barry and Mr. Maurer take the food items to the food pantry located on the square. We will return before your holiday parties start.

Mrs. Brown is going to have a baby on Tuesday if not before. His name will be Carter Wesley Brown. Mrs. Brown will come back to school in February. Have fun over Christmas with your new little baby!

Written by Gage, Toni, & Ryan

January 2008
Dec. 24—Jan. 2 Winter Break
January 3—Classes Resume
January 8—After School Math
January 9—2 hr early dismissal
Professional Development
January 11 —2nd quarter/1st semester ends
January 30 — 2 hr early dismissal
Professional Development

Artsonia.com
Join a student’s fan club or send them a comment about their artwork through out the rest of the year, contact your relatives have them check out your child’s artwork. Artwork is on-line for students K-5

Washington Intermediate hosted the Youth Experiencing Success Kickoff this Sunday, 2-4 pm. Michele Caswell, coordinator, has organized games and activities to allow the mentors to meet the mentees and their families. We are excited to be able to host this event and look forward to continuing to partner with the Y.E.S. Program as it grows!


Wemhoff.blogspot.com
Read about the
K-4 Music Room

Try theses website over the holiday:
www.epals.com a great safe site for kids of all ages, as well as instructors.
www.e-palworld.co.uk A site located in the United Kingdom. This is where I go to find new epals. It has ads from kids to adults. May take a little supervision though. Some folks out there, do from time to time, mistake it for a dating site. Outside of that I personally have never had any trouble with it.
Hope you enjoy them !
Albert Buehler
R.O. Schools lunch van driver


Visit the website and create a snow globe and feed the hungry. Free website with lots of activities!
http://pw.pepsiworld.com/


The Red Oak Elks Club sponsored a poster contest for drug awareness for our school. Two big winners were Nick from 5-4 and Alyssa from 4-2. Nick was a district winner (including towns of Des Moines and Council Bluffs) and Alyssa was the state winner! They both won Chamber Bucks and Savings Bonds. Thank you to Dave Fields and the Elks Club for sponsoring the contest. Congratulations to the winners and good luck to Alyssa as she will be Iowa's fourth grade representative at national competition! Wow!


Tracks on the Prairie
On December 3rd, the fifth grades made animal footprints using plaster of Paris. Deb Karwal from the Anderson Conservation Area brought in rubber animal feet, fur, skulls, bathroom stuff, and other remains of animals that they leave behind. We pressed animal feet into a ring of plaster and let it harden. Now we can paint it. Thanks, Mrs. Karwal!
Written by Colton, Erin, & Bridgett

Poems and Stories from the 4th and 5th grades:

I Know Santa’s Coming
Santa’s coming but how do we know?
With sleigh bells ringing everyone will go.
Santa’s here, he’s in the sky
But he cant stay long we’ve got to say bye.
So we’ve got to say bye with out a sigh.
But don’t worry he’ll be back soon.
But you can see him leaving in the moon.
By: Cassie


STRIPES
Zebra was walking down his favorite path and he ran into Donkey.
They both said, “hey watch where you’re going.”
“You have stripes and I don’t know why that is,” said Donkey.
“Because I’m a Zebra and you’re not”, said Zebra.
“But, but I’m a zebra too!” said Donkey sadly.
“What should I do, because I want stripes like you?” asked Donkey.
“Okay, we don’t have to paint them, we can buy them.” Said Zebra.
Donkey and Zebra fixed the problem together. They became best
friends forever, and even bought each other best friends forever bracelets!
______________
Be friends with anyone.
By Paydon


LIGHTER AND THE CLOTHES
There once was a Lighter, a Cap, and a Shirt who all liked to make fires. One day Cap caught on fire and jumped in the water. The next day, Shirt caught on fire. Finally, both Shirt and Cap caught on fire again, and burned to ashes. Lighter got very sad.
_________
Don’t play with fire.
By Colby

OX, GOAT, AND RAM
Ox was eating grass in the barn, when along came Goat and Ram. Goat and Ram were holding forks in their hands. Goat and Ram decided that they would try and eat Ox, but they did not succeed. Instead, they shared a steak with each other that a farmer had thrown out.
___________
Be respectful
By Bobby

THE FRIENDS CAT AND DOG
One day Cat and Dog went for a walk.
Then, Dog yelled, “I found something!”
Cat said, “what?”
Dog replied, “I found a mouse, I think.”
“So, I’m a cat and we like mice,” said Cat.
“Well, that doesn’t mean anything to me,” said Dog.
“Yeah it does,” said Cat.
Then, the fight was over. That night Dog went to Cat’s
house to apologize to Dog for their fight.
“I’m sorry Cat,” said Dog.
“I’m sorry too,” said Cat.
“I brought the mouse to share with you,” said Dog “Lets feast!”
“Yum, that was delicious,” said Cat. “Thank you very much Dog.”
“Your welcome,” replied dog. Dog continued, “I better
go home because Mama Dog might be getting worried.”
“Bye,” said Cat.
The next day Cat and Dog went to the park and played.
__________
Share with others.
By Sydnee


THE DOG, FISH, AND MOUSE
One day Dog and Mouse went fishing. Before they went fishing dog said to mouse,
“I bet you can’t catch a fish.”
“I bet you can’t either,” said Mouse.
They both decided that it was going to be a bet, then they went fishing.
Mouse said, “I think I got a fish. Cool!”
“Let’s go home. We have been here for four hours,” said Dog.
“I can’t wait to go home and cook my fish,” said mouse. Mouse felt sorry for Dog so he invited Dog over.
_________
It is good to share.
By Brooke


THE DOG, CAT, AND ELEPHANT
One day Dog and Cat were walking through the park. They were best friends. They never played with anyone else, only one another. While they were walking they spotted a big fat Elephant. Elephant almost stepped on Dog!
“Wow, watch out Dog! You are going to get stepped on by that big fat Elephant,” said Cat.
Then Elephant stopped walking and started to cry.
“What’s wrong?” asked Dog.
“That friend of yours just called me fat!” cried Elephant.
“Well, you are!” said Dog.
“We are not going to be your friends because you are too fat and we are just the right size!” said Cat.
“I’m going to tell on you,” said Elephant.
“We are sorry!” said Cat and Dog.
Elephant forgave them and then they all became friends. Every day they went to the park together.
_____________________
Don’t judge your friend by their shape and size.
By Sydney


THE BIG FIGHT
Chicken and Pig hated each other really bad, and they ended up getting into a fight at school one day. Fish, who was a nerd, tried to break up the fight. Chicken and Pig ended up getting into trouble and they blamed each other for it. Chicken and Fish ended up being friends because Fish broke up the fight, so then Pig didn’t have any friends. Then, fish asked Pig if he wanted to be friends.
Fish replied, “Sure.”
The bad thing about this was that Fish was friends with both Chicken and Pig. Since this happened, Chicken and Pig ended up hating Fish instead of each other. The next day Chicken and Pig went to see Fish.
“Sorry,” they said to Fish. “We are sorry about turning our backs to you and walking away from you.”
Finally, Chicken, Pig, and Fish were all friends.
________
Be nice to others.
By Jesse

THE BIG BANG BOOM AHH
There once was a class who went on a field trip in the woods. When they got there, they saw a Deer and a Moose who were both missing an antler. Then, suddenly a hunter showed up and got out his twelve-gage, and started firing away.
“Boom!” went the gun.
Unfortunately, they both died. Then, two more animals came along, a Squirrel and a Bunny.
Squirrel asked, “what are you doing?”
“Oh, I am just eating a carrot,” replied Bunny.
“I am eating a nut,” said Squirrel.
Then, the hunter saw them and shot his gun.
“What was that bang?” asked Squirrel. “What ever it was, it hit Bunny right in the stomach,” continued Squirrel. Then, squirrel screamed, “Ahhhh!”
“Why was that squirrel screaming,” asked the students who were on the field trip.
Then, the students and the teacher realized why the squirrel was screaming and they all ran back to the school screaming.
________________________________________
Don’t go on a field trip in the woods during hunting season.
By Darian


DOG, CAT, AND MOUSE
One day Dog, Cat, and Mouse went swimming.
Cat said, “I am a better swimmer than both of you.”
Dog and Mouse ignored him. The next day Cat called Dog and Mouse. They went over to play with Cat’s toys. Dog and Mouse brought their own toys along as well.
Cat said, “my toys are better than yours.”
Once again, Dog and Mouse ignored him. The next day Cat called Dog and Mouse to ask them if they wanted to play tennis.
Dog and Mouse replied, “Sure.”
When they were playing tennis Cat said, “I am a
better tennis player than you.”
Dog replied, “Cat, you need to stop being mean to us.”
Cat said, “I’m sorry.”
Then, they all became best friends.
_________________
Be nice to others and they will be nice to you.
By Olivia

DOG AND CAT
While Dog and Cat were cleaning their house, they found a Mouse.
Cat said, “I’ll eat it for you.”
“No,” said Dog. “We must first find another one for me.”
“Okay,” said Cat.
Cat and Dog went to work and they moved stuff for thirty minutes. Pretty soon the house was destroyed. When they started to clean up dog yelled, “I think I know where a Mouse is!”
“Where,” asked Cat.
“In the freezer,” replied Dog.
So they checked the freezer and grabbed the Mouse. Then, they got plates and ate their mice while they watched their favorite show, “Dump Trucks.”
_________________________
Always be fair.
By Caitlyn

EYE, EAR, AND TOE
One day Eye, Ear, and Toe were at the beach looking for a treasure.
“Oh, I have sand in my eye,” said Ear.
“So what,” said Toe. “It’s just sand. It won’t kill you.” Toe went on to say, “Hey, let’s say whoever finds the chest first, gets the biggest cut.” Toe suggested this knowing where the chest was.
“Stop!” said Eye. “I think I see something.”
“Yes,” said Toe. “How about you each get two pieces and I get the rest.”
The next day Eye, Ear, and Toe entered a contest to try and win twenty trillion dollars. One hour later they announced the winners and Eye and Ear won. They cashed in the check right away, and then invited Toe over to have pepperoni pizza.
________
Always include everyone.
By Miranda


PARROT AND CROW
Once a Parrot was playing with her friends at the pet store, when they saw a Crow. They noticed that the Crow didn’t have colorful feathers. The Parrot went to the Crow and said,
“We have very colorful and pretty feathers and you don’t.”
Crow felt very bad and did not know what to do. Then, she saw a painter and he was painting some walls with colorful paint. This gave Crow an idea, she was going to paint herself. So that night she got out of her cage and went over to the paint. She grabbed a very small brush and started painting herself. The next morning she had colorful feathers.
Parrot saw Crow and said, “You are beautiful.”
Parrot never made fun of her again.
_________
Don’t make fun of others.
By Hannah

THE MOUSE AND THE BIRD
One day there was a tiny Mouse who saw a little bird. The Mouse wanted to go to Bird’s house, but his mom said no. The mouse then asked his dad if he could go outside, and he said that it would be okay. Dad also said, “Don’t go far away.”
The Mouse went outside with his soccer ball. Bird came along and asked, “Can I play with you?”
“No,” said Mouse.
“Why not?” asked Bird
“Because this is my soccer ball. You get your own,” replied Mouse.
Then, Mouse and Bird started to get in a big fight. The next day Mouse and Bird were in the park and Mouse had brought his soccer ball.
Mouse saw Bird sitting on the park bench, and went over to Bird and asked, “Would you like to play soccer with me?”
Bird replied, “Okay.”
___________
Share your stuff and be nice to others.
By Diana


THE CAT, DOG, AND LION
One day Lion, Cat, and Dog went for a walk around the park. When they were walking Lion said to Dog,
We should not be friends anymore.
Dog and Cat left Lion alone, thinking that Lion was mean for saying that to Dog.
Later, Dog and Cat went to Lions house and rang his doorbell. When Lion opened the door Cat and Dog yelled, “Sorry!”
________
Always be nice.
By Abigail


DOG, CAT, AND HORSE
Horse, Dog, and Cat went on a walk to the park. When they arrived, they all ran to the monkey bars. They all had different ways to play on the monkey bars and they were arguing about who had the best way of playing on them.
Horse said, “My way is the best.”
Cat said, “No, my way is the best.”
Dog said, “You guys, both of your ways are good.”
“Thank you,” replied Cat and Horse. Now we realize that.”
Then, Horse and Cat said sorry to each other and once again said thank you to Dog. Finally, they all went home.
_________
Always be nice.
By Lexie


MOOSE AND DEER
One day Moose and Deer were scraping their antlers against a tree. Moose started boasting about his huge antlers. Then, Moose went too far when he said,
“Your antlers are tiny compared to mine.”
Deer got his feeling hurt and he started scraping his antlers harder and harder against the tree until the tree didn’t have any bark left. A hunter then came along and pulled out his shot gun and shot at Moose, but missed, and only blasted off his antlers.
Moose was so sad that he lost his antlers, but then he realized how Deer must have felt.
________
Size doesn’t always matter.
By Dylan


DOG, CAT, AND HAMSTER
One day Dog, Cat, and Hamster were fishing and Cat caught a Fish. Cat would not share his Fish with Dog and Hamster, so they said to Cat,
“We are not going to be friends anymore if you aren’t going to share with us.”
Then, Dog went home to cook some pizza. When Dog was done eating, he went to the park to play in the sandbox.
Dog said, “Oh no, here comes Cat and Hamster.”
Cat and Hamster came over to Dog and said,
“We want to be friends again.”
“Okay,” said Dog. “Lets go play on the slide.”
Dog invited Cat and Hamster over for dinner that night to have pizza. Cat and Hamster ended up spending the night at Dog’s house. While they were at Dog’s house, they watched a movie called “Lion King” and had popcorn and ice cream. In the morning they all took a long walk to the park.
__________
Fighting can cause problems.
By Hailey

MOUSE AND ELEPHANT
One day Mouse went to the zoo, and when he got to there he found Elephant and said, “Boo!”
Elephant jumped, and then looked down and saw a Mouse and said, “hey, you don’t belong here!”
“Why don’t I,” asked Mouse.
“Get out of here!” yelled Elephant
Mouse then ran away. Elephant broke out of his cage and grabbed Mouse.
Mouse asked, “Do you want to be friends now?”
“No,” replied Elephant in an angry voice. “I am going to get my revenge now.”
“I am sorry,” said Mouse. “Can we be friends now?”
“Yes,” replied Elephant.
“Hey Elephant, do you want to come to my house for dinner?” asked Mouse.
“Yes,” replied Elephant.
Mouse and Elephant lived to be friends after all. Elephant gave Mouse a surprise birthday party when Mouse was five years old.
One day Elephant was caught on something and Mouse came and helped Elephant out. Elephant thanked Mouse and told him that he would help him if he ever needed any help.
_________
Pick on someone your own size.
By Dakota

NATURE GOES BAD
One day Squirrel was walking to school and he took a short cut through the woods. He thought that someone was following him, and then a Bear jumped out from behind a tree. Squirrel chucked a rock at Bear and knocked him out cold. Squirrel was scared to death, but he still went to school.
The next day, Squirrel did not take the shortcut through the woods, but Bear was still there on his way to school. Bear started chasing Squirrel so Squirrel tripped Bear and Bear landed right on his face.
Next, Hawk flew down and asked, “Why can’t you two be friends?”


“Because!” replied Bear.
Bear then punched Hawk’s beak in and gave him a concussion.
After this, Bear and Squirrel forgot why they were fighting.
___________
Bears and Squirrels are not good friends.
By Rob

PROBLEMS WITH FRIENDS
Leopard was cooking dinner for his friends Bird and Turtle. When they were all sitting at the dinner table Leopard said,
“Turtle, you are so weak. You should be more like me.”
“Yes, but you can’t fly from your enemies,” said Bird.
One week later Leopard, Bird, and Turtle were not talking to each other. They were all together, but they were all doing different things.
Leopard was cooking pizza for dinner, Turtle was ironing his hat, and Bird was making his favorite soup, worm soup. While Leopard, Bird, and Turtle were doing their own things, they all said, “I miss my friends.”
The next day they all went to the park and met at the park bench.
“I’m sorry,” said Bird.
“Me too,” said Leopard and Turtle.
Bird, Turtle, and Leopard all became friends again.
_____________
Always be nice.
By Maysen


DONKEY AND ZEBRA
There once was a Donkey and a Zebra who were best friends. One day Zebra said,
“Hey Donkey, you don’t have stripes like I do,”
“So,” said Donkey.
“Well, maybe I shouldn’t be friends with you anymore,” said Zebra.
“That’s not fair,” exclaimed Donkey. “Just because I don’t look like you doesn’t mean that you can’t be friends with me.”
“Wait,” said Zebra, “I have an idea.”
“What is it?” asked Donkey.
“I know a farmer who is painting his house. We could get some paint from him and paint you some stripes,” said Zebra.
“How do you know that the paint is black and white?” asked Donkey.
“Well, I have seen him paint his house before,” answered Zebra.
Zebra and Donkey then went to the farmer’s house.
When they got there, they saw a big bucket of paint. Zebra kicked the bucket of paint over and said “Get rollin, Donkey!”
“Are you sure?” asked Donkey.
“Yes, I am sure,” answered Zebra.
Donkey rolled around and around in the paint. Just then Zebra noticed that the paint wasn’t black and white. It was orange and green. Donkey looked at himself and screamed.
Then, Zebra and Donkey started laughing. They ended up being two ordinary friends with the exception of one of them being somewhat of a Donkey.
_____________
Treat your friends the way you want to be treated.
By Alexa


Christmas Eve
It was Christmas Eve and everyone was asleep.
So it was time for Santa to creep.
Down the chimney he goes.
All those presents for who knows.
The next morning we ran down stairs,
On the last three jumping through the air.
All those presents just for us.
No need to fuss.
We opened presents one by one.
Until we were done with everyone.
The kids played with their toys,
making lots of noise.
Outside they found another present.
A German Shepherd named Pheasant.
By Deborah


Christmas
Children playing in the snow,
Snowflakes falling onto piles
Of snow very low, making
Snowmen everyday.
Seeing Santa night or day,
Waiting for Christmas all the time,
While children are praying for
For Santa to come!
By Brendon

Snow
The snow is blowing away.
I’m going outside to play.
I’ll build a snowman.
As fast as I can.
Toni

Snow
There is snow on the ground
Not one makes a sound,
And you will have to scoop
the ground.
If you find a gold flake
You know what you can make.
Go sledding on your rump
and you might hit a bump.
By Kahner


Winter
As my feet touch the white, soft snow,
I don’t know which way to go,
A squirrel scurries across the street,
Looking for delicious acorns to eat,
I see an old man walking,
With his dog talking,
I wonder how snow works,
Then I look at the lake as it lurks,
As I see many cars racing down the tracks,
I look to the East and see wolves in packs,
Each snowflake falling one by one,
The Christmas joy has just begun,
I go inside, gingerbread cookies to eat,
Oh... what a treat! ,
As I go in my soft, cozy bed for night,
I look ahead...
I see a light! ,
It’s coming from outside,
It must be Santa’s flight! ,
As I spring from my bed,
I sneak downstairs,
Not a word said,
As I’m on my way I creep,
I look at the chimney,
Down comes someone with a great leap,
It’s Santa with a sack full of toys,
For lots of girls and boys,
He sees me with a twinkle in his eye,
I’ll never forget the night I spied.
By: Nikki

WINTER
I’m on a hill,
Its quiet,
I’m all alone.
I walk to the
To the top of
The hill.
I have a sled.
I run as fast as I can.
The next thing I know.
I’m zooooming,
Laughing.
I’m at the bottom,
On my back,
Laughing so hard I get a brain
freeze.
I stand up,
walk to my house,
Still,
So peacefully quiet.
BY Gage


Sledding
We were sledding down the hill
Laughing at will.
Today there is a lot of snow
And I might go sledding tomorrow.
By: Tanner


Snowflakes
See the snowflakes falling.
I think I hear mother calling.
Now there’s no sun.
So let’s have some fun.
So let’s make it last.
So let’s have a blast.
Colton