Sept. 24
Muskrat News
Upcoming events:
September 27 & 29 CPR/First Aid Classes
October 1 Picture Day
October 1 Bookmobile 2-3:15pm
October 1 Muddy Creek 3rd Annual Fall Camp Out 6pm
October 6 Board Meeting 7:30pm
October 7 & 8 No School
October 14 Curriculum Night
October 23 Next Wildlife Steward Workshop
From our Executive Director
The school year is going forward very well. Most of our individualized assessment is done so that teachers can place students in the groups that will work best for the student to learn and grow. Each student was assessed by our assistants or Pat Starker to determine skill development in reading. The teachers do the math assessments. The assistants will now be in the classroom each morning supporting the teachers with both math and literacy.
We found the yellow jacket nest that caused us so much grief. The man that can extricate them from their underground nest will be here today to eliminate the problem. We will check the field carefully, hoping to find any other problems that might be waiting. Of course, our intent is to have the area safe for the students during the day, but also safe for the overnight campout next Friday. This time of year it is very important to be on the lookout for activity in and out of a hole in the ground. This one is a mouse hole – or it was.
Music seems to have gone well this week. Our music teacher wants to stay after school for a few minutes on Thursdays in case any parent wishes to meet her or talk with her. Our library schedule was slow in developing and will start for all classes next week. Our PE teacher (Marcy Brown) is doing a great job of giving our students a good work out – and physical education.
Parking lot safety – be alert to ways you can help the drop off and pick up of students be safe and efficient. If it will take some time to gather children, it would be best to find a spot to park, and then gather children.
The Muddy Creek staff is coming together very well. We are having a good time working with your children, and being a team. We hope you are finding your child(ren) enjoying school and starting to learn new things.
dan
Classroom News
Room 1 – We have been working hard to learn about our school and each other. We’ve been making comparisons between our schools and schools in other countries. This week we have been learning about truthfulness and how sometimes it is hard to be truthful. –Miss Bridget
Hamster Happenings – “Hi Kids, I was reading some of your stories last night. They were really great, Natalie’s apple story made me hungry. Josie’s egg paper was very informative, and I can’t wait to hear more about J.J.’s horses. Got any stories about hamsters?” -Sam
Room 2 – The children loved having music this week. We’ve also started global studies and generated a list of countries the children want to learn about. We are starting with Egypt, learning about life in Egypt today and in ancient times. Our class fish tank is set up, and we are waiting for 3 days for the water to be ready for fish. Even watching the aquatic plants and the light reflected through the tank has been interesting. -Ms. Gorman
Kindergarten – I would like to thank Christine Horning and Angela Baker for helping deliver and serve our first Tasting Table offering today. The children loved the corn which came from the Peoria Market Farm. Each month the children will have the opportunity to taste a food that is grown locally. This is a program that is sponsored by The Corvallis Environmental Center.
Room 4 – The 4th/5th graders started music and library this week and loved it! We are learning about tidal waves and our goal is to get to the OSU research center to build houses and see if they hold up. Parents of 4th/5th graders, please check your email for regular updates from me – Thanks, Mr. Day
Reminder – School Supply Fund
We want to remind people that if they have not yet paid their school supply $25 fee to please do so or talk to Cedar about a payment plan. The fund allows teachers to buy items such as notebooks, pencils, erasers and lined paper for the classrooms.
School Picture Day
Thistledown Photography will be at the school on Friday, 10/1, to take pictures of the students and staff of the Muddy Creek Charter School. Make sure to wear your favorite outfit, don’t forget to comb that hair and start working on those smiles!:)
Movin’ Muskrats
We will check the field very carefully and if we deem it safe our Thursday running club will be back up and running this week.
CPR/First Aid Classes
We have scheduled Todd Washington with CPR Works to come to our school Sept. 27th and 29th from 4-6/6:30pm for CPR and First Aid training. The cost is $30 for both classes and if you can only attend one, you can attend the second one at another time (he holds these trainings monthly at different places in the area). The cost is normally $40 per person, but if we have over 8 people interested we can get the $30 deal. Please let Cedar know if you are interested.
PTO NEWS
Fall Campout Friday October 1
Set up 5:00pm / Potluck Dinner at 6:00pm
Please sign up to volunteer on the bulletin board sheet across from the office and leave your RSVP in the pink box under the mailboxes. The Fall Campout RSVP is attached to this email!
We need several camping stoves and some breakfast cooks for our pancake breakfast on Saturday. Please respond to Terina at 8gr8kids@gmail.com.
(In case of rain we will sleep in the gym or tough it out in true Oregonian style).
PTO Meeting Time – Please let us know your preferred time for our regular monthly PTO meeting… Mornings at 8:30am or Weeknights at 6:30pm with child care… Or Friday nights from 6:30-7:30 with family/kids activity included (i.e. game night, pizza & movie, dance, etc…)
Muddy Creek PTO YAHOO Group – We have a yahoo group specifically for the Muddy Creek PTO. This is a listserv that allows us to post information, have discussions and store documents. Send an email to sign up to muddycreek_pto-subscribe@yahoogroups.com . You will receive a message to confirm your request. You can visit our group website at
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/muddycreek_pto/ .
If you have any questions, suggestions or would like to volunteer please contact Kerry Pfeil kerrypfeil@gmail.com /541-207-3562 or Terina McLachlain 8gr8kids@gmail.com /541-829-9847
Volunteering
All parents who would like to volunteer need to fill out a background check form, even if you filled one out last year. Please see Cedar in the office to get your form or email her at cedar.dunn@muddycreekcharterschool.org to let her know if your want one put in your box.
ICP Board
At the next ICP Board meeting (10/6 at 7:30pm) we will be prioritizing our goals and projects for the year. The board would love to hear from parents about what is important to you and what we should focus on. Please feel free to come to this meeting or talk to Dan or Cedar.
Brain Gym
This year Muddy Creek is implementing Brain Gym and similar disciplines into the school day experience. Brain Gym is a modality stemming from Educational Kinesiology and aligning with concepts and principles of Energy Medicine. Kinesiology is a study of movement as it relates to human body mechanics, function and performance. Educational Kinesiology applies this study to learning environments with a focus on improving physiological processing in a way that supports fun and easy learning. Energy Medicine expands upon Educational Kinesiology through a functional understanding of subtle magnetic and electrical human energy fields and how they impact all aspects of life including health and education.
Brittany Legacy is a Muddy Creek parent introducing Educational Kinesiology at Muddy Creek. She is a Wellness Guide with a background in massage therapy, Neuromuscular Integrative Action, Reiki and sustainability consulting. She is currently completing her training in Eden Energy Medicine, which is a program created from international medicinal systems and healing traditions. Her goal is to support an understanding of the impact of energy on life experience and teach children to dissolve the negative effects of our current cultural stresses on their own bodies. The proposal is that Muddy Creek students will experience improved physical, mental, emotional and spiritual well being.
Brittany is seeking student volunteers for an Educational Kinesiology/Energy Medicine club and pilot study. This group of children will receive in depth instruction in a group setting on techniques and philosophies that expand health and healing. They will be mentors to themselves and teachers to their peers. They will become more aware of their own “body messages” and kinesthetic experience while also learning how to discern what is occurring in the body and environment around them and beneficial ways to respond to these cues. Group instruction draws from traditions around the world. It is non-denominational and not affiliated with any specific religious group. The anticipated schedule is thirty minutes, three days a week, but will be finalized based on group and volunteer availability. Brittany welcomes any questions about the pilot study group or Educational Kinesiology in general via email or phone. BeLegacy@CleanerConscience.com 541-543-1549
Carpooling
Curt Tyler (Lazlo’s dad) has put together a google map of the parents looking to coordinate carpooling, and he is reaching out and connecting people. If you want to be a part of this carpooling effort please email him at curt_tyler@yahoo.com .
SCRIP Update
SCRIP (not to be confused with eScrip) will be available at our school in the very near future! SCRIP is a great way for schools to raise money and it’s easy to do. Parents, family, and friends purchase gift cards at face value, our school pays a discounted price (varies between merchants), and this saved money goes to our school as a donation. Just purchase cards ahead of time and use them instead of debit cards or cash or checks. It’s a great budgeting tool by helping you plan out your expenses. Please see the website at http://www.glscrip.com/ for more information and a list of participating merchants. There are many local merchants not on that list that participate as well. Carla Callahan is looking for a few volunteers interested in helping to man a table handling SCRIP orders and answering questions once a week, probably on Fridays, before and after school. Please call her at 541-929-5784 or email her at cdcallahanz@gmail.com if you are interested in lending a hand.
Money For Our School With Just Your Safeway Receipt!!!
Safeway, in conjunction with eScrip, is offering 10% to the school of your choice with purchases you make there. All you need to do is enter in a number that is printed at the bottom of your receipt where it says “10% Back-To-Schools.” It’s like free money for our school! After the number is entered in once, that is all you need to do… at the end of the program, 10% of money you spent at Safeway between September 18 – October 13 will go to MCCS! The program runs through October 13, so I would like to get as many numbers entered in as possible. You can enter your number in yourself at http://backtoschools.escrip.com/ (type in Muddy Creek Charter School and select our school), you can give them to me, Carla Callahan (Aidan’s mom), or you can bring the bottom part with the number to the office and I can collect them and enter them in myself before October 13. I can’t stress how easy this is! The key is getting the word out so please tell all your friends and relatives, ask for their redemptions, shop at Safeway, spread the word! Contact Carla at (541) 929-5784 or cdcallahanz@gmail.com with any questions or visit the website at http://backtoschools.escrip.com/.
Items Needed
Ms. Gorman’s and Miss Bridget’s classrooms need a few items to help them with their outdoor activities. They are looking for donations of rakes, shovels, a wheelbarrow, kid-sized gloves, seeds, extra garden tools in general and fall bulbs (tulips, daffodils, crocuses, etc.). Anything you can spare would be greatly appreciated.
Schmidt’s Garden Center has a coupon this weekend (through Monday) for free crocus bulbs. You have to sign up for their email list and they will send you the coupon to print out. Thanks to Anne Yemaya (Mehalia’s mom) for bring this to our attention!
Special thanks to:
Kelly B for laminating our cubby doors.
Elisa Fairbanks and the Running Club for being brave during the wasp incident last week.
Strengthening Rural Families
is sponsoring two ten week courses for parents of toddlers. One will be held Thursday mornings September 30 – December 9 at the Alpine Community Center. The second will be held Tuesday mornings September 28 – December 7 at Philomath Middle School. To register contact the SRF office: (541) 929-2535 or the website: www.ruralfamilies.org.
Celebrate National Public Lands Day this Saturday, September 25th
This event celebrates service and recreation at public lands across the country. It is the largest hands-on volunteer effort to improve and enhance lands owned by American taxpayers. Help your local public lands at Ankeny National Wildlife Refuge! Staff and volunteers will be meeting at Egret Marsh parking lot on the north side of Wintel Road. Help conserve your public lands by removing invasive ivy from 10am until 1pm.
National Wildlife Refuge Week is also just around the corner
The week-long celebration runs from October 11th through the 17th. Established in 1903 when President Theodore Roosevelt designated the three-acre Pelican Island in Florida as the nation’s first Wildlife Refuge, the National Wildlife Refuge System, managed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, today encompasses over 550 National Wildlife Refuges and more than 3,000 waterfowl production areas spanning nearly 100 million acres. National Wildlife Refuges are located in every state and within an hour’s drive of most major metropolitan areas. Refuges are first and foremost a place for wildlife. But many are also open for public recreation, including some of the best wildlife watching in the country! Celebrate National Wildlife Refuge Week at Finley NWR on October 10th and help the Finley Flyers count and identify birds throughout the day in an event called the Big Sit!