December 3
Muskrat News
Upcoming events:
December 6 Last SCRIP order deadline before winter break
December 8 PTO Meeting 8:30am
December 13 OSU Wave Lab Field Trip 4/5 Class 1pm
December 15 Student Stewardship Project Field Trip 4/5 Class
December 16 ICP Board Meeting (all welcome) 7pm
December 17 Winter Read-a-Thon 9-9:45am
December 20-31 Winter Break, NO SCHOOL
From our Executive Director
Our students were great with this week’s LIFESKILL – curiosity. We go over the LIFESKILL each week during our community meeting in the gym. I asked them what they were curious about. I was amazed at how deep and thoughtful some of the answers were. One was curious about time – being able to anticipate what is to come. Another was curious about water – what was in it. Another was how Legos are made so that you can build so many different things. I was impressed. Next week’s LIFESKILL will be Effort – to do your best.
The staff here at school would like to thank our PTO for their gift of $100 to each classroom. You might find it interesting that at least two of the teachers have said they need to order more adult-like dictionaries for the classroom. They said that students are using bigger and more sophisticated words that are not in the usual student dictionary. Although I missed it, from what I hear everybody had a good time at the Giving Thanks gathering two weeks ago and $500 was raised that will help the school in some way. Currently we are working on building a running surface around our big play field, being sure our music program is funded all the way to the end of the year, and continuing to supply more books for our school library.
-Dan
If MCCS is good for your family, then please help to support your school. Give according to your resources, but please give. Your gift is tax deductible. We need to raise about $90 per student, which works out to $10/month over the year. Pledge with a check or cash. Your contribution really makes a difference. Ask Cedar for a pledge form. Thank you!
Classroom News
Room 1 – Our math group has begun learning about penguins and measuring. Today Ms. Gorman’s class came and saw our buildings that we built. – Miss Bridget
Room 2 –If you were to come into our classroom in the afternoon, you would see students busily gluing together cardboard, craft sticks, waxed paper and foil into strong little houses. The line at the cash register is always long as students wait to pay for their materials out of a $7 budget. We are hoping to test the houses against rain, snow and wind on Monday December 6. – Ms. Gorman
Kindergarten – We started our theme, Traditions Around the World, this Wednesday. On the first day of Hanukkah, the Kinders experienced a full morning of learning about the history, games and food that are part of the Jewish tradition. Sharon Thormahlen, a local harpist and good friend, came to the class to share her harp music and childhood Hanukkah experiences with us. We made paper menorahs, sang Hanukkah songs, played the harp, learned to spin the dreidel, and tried to dance the hora. After making potato latkes and applesauce, we all sat down to eat a well earned snack. We also read one of my favorite silly stories, The Chanukkah Guest, which is about Bubba Brayna who thinks that a very hungry bear is the rabbi. – Miss Jenny
Room 4 – Parents of 4th/5th graders, please check your email for regular updates from me. Breaking News from the 4/5 classroom. We built a space ship/capsule/satellite out of cardstock. The students had to follow detailed instructions in order to complete it. We did several science experiments this week and worked on our school recycling project. -Mr. Day
Winter Read-a-Thon
We will be having the first Read-a-Thon of the year on Friday, December 17th, from 9 to 9:45am. This is a community event to encourage love of reading and to celebrate the winter season. Staff and volunteers each choose a children’s book to share with students. They also each select a craft that connects to the book and bring materials to do the craft with a small group of 4-7 students. If you would like to volunteer and join the fun, please contact Leah Gorman by Friday, Dec. 10.
PTO Meeting
Wednesday, December 8th, at 8:30am. Dan Hays will be our special guest to talk about the literacy program at MCCS and answer any parent questions. Bagels and coffee provided. Everyone is welcome!
Pie Auction A Success
Thanks for all the pies donated and auction participants. We made over $500 – way to go! If you “bought” a pie with an IOU, please pay at the office and just mention it’s for the pie.
From the Board
The homework policy committee will begin their work this month. If you have any input, please pass it along to kriste.york@gmail.com.
Tasting Table Prep Volunteers Needed
This month, the tasting table prep day will be on Tuesday, Dec. 7th at 10 a.m. at the central kitchen (located at CHS). This month, they will be slicing and frying 38 lbs of fresh White Elm mushrooms. If you would like to help please contact Sara McCune at (541) 753-9211 or ecifarmtoschool@gmail.com. For more info go to www.corvallisenvironmentalcenter.org.
SCRIP
Thank you to those of you that have helped the school by using Scrip! We are seeing more and more people using it each order, so I’m glad the word is getting out about how easy it is to use! Monday, December 6th is the last day to be able to order Scrip before the holiday break, so please consider using it for gift cards, as gifts, or to use for your holiday shopping. Have your orders in to the school by 3pm and they will be ready to pick up the following week. Our current goal for use of the proceeds from Scrip is a running track around the field.
ESCRIP
Safeway’s 10% Goes Back to Schools Program is coming back! MCCS can earn 10% of your purchase amounts on thousands of participating products from January 2nd through January 25th, 2011. Sign up and enter your Safeway and debit cards at www.escrip.com. Our Group Name is Muddy Creek Charter School and our Group ID Number is 500020320. If you don’t have your card on file or don’t have a card, you can also enter in your receipts from January 2nd – 25th at www.escrip.com or give them to Cedar in the office and we can do it for you. Thanks ahead of time!
Muddy Creek Scratch Club
Would you and/or your child like to learn to make videogames? Join the Scratch Club! We will be meeting at Muddy Creek once a week, right after school, to create games, learn programming, animation, art and more.
My name is Bill Pfeil (Casey’s dad). I’m a full-time programmer and part-time video game designer, and I’ll be helping everyone learn how to use Scratch. If you’re interested in the Scratch Club, please contact me directly: bill@dropdstudios.com .
New to Scratch? Download Scratch for free and give it a spin: http://scratch.mit.edu
Weaving Play Into The Day
The Zip-Up
The central meridian runs up the midline, starting at the pubic bone, and connects to the governing meridian in the back of the throat. This meridian directly affects the overall energetic integrity of a body and is easily influenced by the subtle mental and emotional field- other people’s thoughts and feelings. Tracing the flow of this meridian allows one to stay more centered and focused and is especially good for people who experience hurt feelings easily or are uncomfortable in crowds. Hunched shoulders and a tendency to look down are also indicators that there may be a weakness or blockage in the central meridian.
Integrating the Zip Up into a child’s morning is a sound start to addressing school anxiety, low-esteem, social hiccups and scattered focus. Tracing the flow of this meridian is as simple as a child running their hand from their pubic bone up to their bottom lip— easy to introduce when zipping up a jacket or buttoning up a sweater. Repeat the tracing exercise three times, from pubic bone to bottom lip. For added benefit, ask children what they desire for their day or to think of a moment that made them feel good and then to place this on their stomach and zip over it— lock it into their body for the day.
-Brittany Legacy
Cafeteria Reminder:
Please remember to put silverware in your child’s lunchbox if their lunch requires it. We have plastic silverware if they forget, but we are running low and need your help to reduce the waste and expense that comes with plastic silverware. Thank you!
Box Tops
If you are doing your holiday shopping online please consider going through www.btfe.com/marketplace for purchases you make at over 100 popular retailers (such as Target, Best Buy and Lands’ End). You will earn box tops for your school. Go to www.btfe.com to become a member and start earning box tops for Muddy Creek.
A Big Thanks To:
Kathy Brewer for getting our school an HP monitor through the HP employee donation program.
The Institute for Applied Ecology who applied for a Greenworks Pollinator Grant for materials to use in our RESTORE area. We appreciate your time and support!
The PTO for organizing the Giving Thanks Celebration and the art table specifically. The kids had a lot of fun making turkeys and potato art.
Wish Lists
There has been a request for donations of books about Faeries for our library.