Precious Pretzels

We LOVE Pretzel Day!!  Our Odyssey of the Mind Club is raising money for their competition this year by selling fresh soft pretzels thanks to Mr. and Mrs. Smith.  There is absolutely NOTHING more scrumptious that a warm, soft pretzel with a little bit of mustard...  hmmmmmmmm good!

Hands On Happiness

Recent activities in various classrooms clearly demonstrate that our students are using all their senses while learning math, language arts, science and social studies concepts. In kindergarten and first grade we have future bankers and architects, during recess our fourth graders demonstrate eye-hand coordination skill in a game of  table football, our third graders are learning about fractions with apple slices, and second graders are testing their skill with flying paper helicopters in social studies class! Our fourth and fifth  graders were treated to Diamond Del's Mobile Educational Gem Mining to enhance the study of rocks and minerals.                    

Holiday Happenings

The holiday spirit is alive and well at American Renaissance Elementary! Our students are creating festive decorations to display across our building and making holiday hats to wear in Mrs. Munday's traditional Hat Parade! We are especially proud of two important projects that will enhance the lives of folks in need in our community and across the world. Our Mitten Tree project is collecting mittens and gloves for needy children and our Renaissance Adventure Holiday Crafts Shop for Heifer International has already exceeded last year's collection of funds. Two of our students have taken it upon themselves to collect gently used and new toys for needy children - Lexi and Megan you are amazing! Our first graders took a trip to a tree farm last week and got an unexpected treat - a wagon ride through the Christmas Tree fields. Fifth graders attended a special showing of the new film, A Christmas Carol last week as well. Raine was happy to model the 3-D glasses movie goers wore for a more realistic experience!

National Boards

We are so proud of several of our teachers who are stretching their professional dedication this year by working toward National Board Teacher Certification.  Mrs. Duncan, Ms. Spence, and Mrs. Hardig are all starting this very rigorous process that will further excellence in their individual teaching.  Part of this year long preparation for evaluation by a national board of teaching experts is video taping lessons and then assessing them them as they meet certain criteria.  Ms. Duncan has completed two of her video tapes so far!