January's Jumpin

Happy Martin Luther King Day everyone (OK this is the day before I am sending this, but you will read it Monday no doubt). We will be looking at MLK this week and discussing events around Civil Rights as we do each year in the lead up to Black history month.
Tuesday at second recess we will have our second full practice for School of Rock 5. This year the theme is ROCK in the USA. It will be the most rocking concert yet no doubt. Ask if your child is attending. We will accept new rockers for a few weeks still. Send in your ideas for American rock songs as we are still soliciting new ideas for the show. We will also be looking for students to share design ideas for the tshirt. Is there anyone out there with a graphic design background who would be able to take the ideas and create a design image for the tshirt and dvd? Dave Fortier has done this for years, but I don't want to dump anything extra on him right now with the alternative review coming through, and, anyhow, we need to spread these jobs around. If you have any background in this kind of work please get in touch with me.
I am also looking for volunteers who will be able to help out with the concert, prep for the show, etc. Get in touch if you will be able to help out in some capacity (the tshirt crew will need a body or two I think).
This Friday we skate at Dulude again. We will also be sending home permission forms in the coming days for our annual school skate on the canal. We will be looking for volunteers to skate, and also to prepare hot chocolate for after the skate. The school is going to follow the lead of Room 308, and plan for hot chocolate for everyone at the canal, so we will likely need people to help on the chocolate team.
The article reading responses were a big hit. Everyone did a smashing good job on them. This week it will be a regular reading response that is expected back. I hope everyone can keep up the level of effort they put into the last one.
Finally, I guess the word has trickled out to some, but I thought I would share with all. I told the class a week ago that Jenny and I are expecting. We took some time and checked out the ultra sound pics on the computer. I told them about all the scans and measurements they were able to do with the ultrasound machine. They were really interested and excited. Anyhow, I have known this bit of info for a while now, and it is part of the reason that I have been a bit less...focused this past term than in previous years. It will be an exciting spring, for sure. She is due in early June. I am hoping to schedule our crazy June events around it, but undoubtedly a day will come in the spring where I will have to cancel something because I am taking a few days off. We will see what happens. Thanks to everyone who has already approached me to offer congratulations and the endless words of advice. It is nice to have all the support that comes from the Churchill community.
Take care, Ray
check out the links to this posthttp://www.mlkday.gov/for Martin Luther King info, speeches, and videoshttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PbUtL_0vAJk
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o0FiCxZKuv8