School Bells

All Saints

All Saints past and present students recently showcased their talents. Alumni Kathryn Pickens had the 19th highest score in Oklahoma on her National Merit Semifinalist exam. She currently attends Mount St. Mary High School.

ASCS sixth-grader Jacob Meyer auditioned last spring and was accepted to play trumpet in the Oklahoma Youth Philharmonia. The group will have four performances through the year, two of which will be at Norman North High School. He is the only sixth grader in the group. Congratulations also to Parker Rice, Sarah Hake, Ashley Robinson, Hannah Robinson, Sola Somade, Anne Yoon and Rachel Strouhal for their State Fair entries.

All Saints students are not resting on past accomplishments. The 4-H Clubs will partner with St. Vincent DePaul Society to collect coats, gloves, blankets and new hats for the needy. Collection boxes will be in the atrium beginning Oct. 1. The community is invited to help share the warmth this winter.

The University of Oklahoma ballroom will be the setting for this year's Roman Holiday Feb. 17, 2007. There will be great auction items, food and entertainment. Auctions items can be viewed soon at www.cmarket.com and bidding begins in January



McKinley

McKinley PTA has been busy. Before school even began in August, the PTA welcomed more than 27 new families with an orientation. Families dined on pizza, met members of the PTA , learned the inside scoop on what to expect during their upcoming year, and were given tours. The PTA's dedication to its patrons continued last week as they hosted the Second Annual Back-to-School cookout.

Important dates: Tuesday, first grade classic readers, 2:45 p.m.; and chorus party, 4 - 5:30 p.m.; Wednesday, tornado drill, 8:05 a.m.; and Friday, McKinley Maverick of the Month Assembly, 8 a.m.



Truman

It's Truman after hours as the school will open its doors 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. Thursday for "Good Evening Truman." The Trailblazers will supply the entertainment and families are invited to spend the evening enjoying a picnic on campus. Meals may be purchased Thursday or families can bring their own.

As Truman prepares for an exciting evening event, it appears there is plenty of fun going on during the school day. The new Science series is proving to be popular with students. The kindergarten discovered 'solids' and the second grade investigated soil samples with sand, clay and humus. Third graders took a trip with 'sound' as they learned about sound waves and pitch. They mixed their own cacophony by making sounds with nails and rulers. Archimedes would have been proud of the fifth grade. They tested the buoyancy of several objects.

Third-graders will not be confined to the classroom. They will visit Norman Regional Hospital Oct. 4. The hospital offers a special activity entitled "Kids are Special People" in which the students tour part of?the hospital and participate in sessions focusing on hand washing, germ, nutrition and fire safety.

Science and healthy lessons aren't the only resources avaiable to students. Many grade levels have made use of the wide variety of Guided Reading book sets?available in the library. Karen Boyer led a group of teachers this summer and placed all of the book sets in boxes which made check-out easy and efficient.

Parents also have made contributions to their children's success at home and in the classroom. They continue to help students with homework in Everyday Math. The work represents and reinforces classroom skills. Teachers have said they are proud of the hard work. Parents also assisted teachers by sorting?and filing papers, copying, cutting and laminate. These parents saved teachers a tremendous amount of time that can be spent on planning and teaching?the children.



Cleveland

Tuesday is picture day and parents are asked to remember the forms and to make checks payable to Tom Jackson Photography. The second grade will be off to the Oklahoma City Zoo for close encounters of the animal kind.

Second-graders will apply their classroom knowledge by tagging Monarch butterflies. They have studied the life cycle of the butterfly and have a few future butterflies in their rooms. Parents are reminded to send a sack lunch that day.

The third grade also will be busy. They are preparing for the upcoming music program "Motown Magic". T-shirt orders are being ordered for $8 and will be the show's costume. Orders are due Monday, Oct. 2.

All students have been challenged by the Library Media Center's Reading Race. Students, who?complete 25 Books Super Reader lists, will receive a prize from the treasure box. The grade levels are competing in a Speedway Race posted on the bulletin board outside the library. At the end of the year, students will receive a certificate from the State Department of Education.

In other library news, volunteers are needed to work an hour in the morning or afternoon. Parents are needed to shelf books, checkout and check-in books and display bulletin boards.

Students will need to put down their books into time for Thursday's Family Fun Night 5:30-7:30 p.m. Food will be available for purchase. A dunk booth with members of the OU Men's Gymnastics Team also will be present. After a fun-filled night, the real work begins with the Jog-a-Thon Friday. Everyone is asked to wear their Jog-a-Thon T-shirts Friday. Members of the OU Football and Men's Gymnastics team will run with the students.

Students recenty showed their appreciation of their OU volunteers with an assembly for gymnast Jonathan Horton. More than 100 students, teachers and parents were on hand to congratulate Horton on making the U.S. World Championship squad and to give him a warm send off for the event, which will be held Oct. 14-22 in Aarhus, Denmark. "The kids are starting to figure out that in two years we could be cheering for someone we know in the 2008 Olympics," said Cleveland teacher Regina Bell.

After watching highlights of his performance at the 2006 Visa U.S. Championships, Bell presented Horton with a basket full of cards made by the students.

"Hundreds of cards were brought to my room this week to give to Jonathan. They were just wonderful and made from the heart. The kids were drawing his 'muscles' and his future gold medals. I'm sure they will find a very special place among Jonathan's medals, trophies and photos," Bell said.

The 2006 NCAA all-around champion spoke about his experiences in making the U.S. Senior National Team and qualifying for the World Championships. He also related to the students the importance of setting goals and thanked them for their tremendous support of the OU team.

"I love the kids at Cleveland," Horton said. "They're always there to support you and cheer you on. When you've got a bunch of kids show up at a meet, making posters and cheering for you, it's a special feeling and a lot of fun."



Jackson

A thank you goes to Cookies-n-Cards, 754 Asp Ave., for the two cookie pizzas and Homeland on West Lindsey Street for the cookie tray. Both stores donated food for the September Jackson PTA Meeting.?

Jackson's pre-k has been selected to participate in the Raising a Reader Program. Jackson is one of only six schools in Norman selected. Parent Orientation is scheduled for Tuesday at 9:45 a.m. for morning pre-k parents and 2 p.m. for the afternoon pre-k parents. It is being held in the Jackson Library. Parents will be finished in plenty of time to pick up their child from class. For those who cannot attend, an informational video will be sent home with their child.

It is time for Top Tiger Readers. Participating students need to read the amount listed below, write down the books or number of pages read on the reading list or any sheet of paper, and turn in the list to their teacher. They will then be recognized at the next Terrific Kids assembly where they will receive a certificate and get to dedicate a book in their name to the Jackson Library. Pre-k and kindergarten students may count books read to them by their parents. The amount to read is as follows: pre-k and kindergarten reads 200 books, first grade reads 250 books, second grade reads 3,000 minutes, third grade reads 4,000 minutes, fourth grade reads 5,000 minutes, and fifth grade reads 6,000 minutes.

Student Council representatives have been elected by their classmates from each third-fifth grade class and they are gearing up for the upcoming schoolwide election of officers. They are the following: for fifth grade in Ms. Dansby's class is Andrew Robertson, in Ms. Gray's class are Jerika Hendrickson and Blake Hardman, and in Mr. Talley's class are Hannah Connery and Coleman Viddaurri; fourth grade in Ms. Conklin's class are Sheila Seat and Trenton McKenzie, in Ms. Lundgren's class are Lexi Jones and Peyton Barrett, and in Ms. Toney's class are Anna Goree and Trace Magee; and for third grade in Ms. Conway's class are Sarah Royse and Clayton Seleznoff, in Ms. Leader's class are Joeli Cargal and Jacob Landry, and in Ms. Turner's class are Kathryn Schmitt and Andy Kim.

Wednesday is individual picture day at Jackson. Send the form that was sent in Thursday's folder and money for pictures to school this day. Pictures will be taken throughout the day.

The Jackson Jog-a-Thon Family Picnic is 6-8 p.m. Thursday, and six members of the OU track team will be attending. The Jog-a-Thon is Friday. Parents can join their child in the race or cheer them on from the sidelines. The schedule of times was sent home in last Thursday's folder or is on the Jackson PTA web site at www.geocities.com/jackson_pta/. Participating students should were comfortable clothes and tennis shoes. Refreshments will be provided for the runners but there will be an optional snack bar for the extras. Water bottles are welcome.

?

Eisenhower

Upcoming events:

Monday -- Last day for fundraiser

Tuesday -- Fall Family Picnic, 5:30-7:30; Afterschool games and strategies, 2:45-4:00

Wednesday -- Math timed tests

Thursday -- Class meetings

Friday -- Cougar Pride Day

Second grade would like to welcome back Mrs. Hazel McClure. Mrs. McClure has been listening to students read and helping with Accelerated Reader testing for more than four years.

Third graders have been hearing all about exaggerations this week as they read about Mike Fink and other Tall Tales. In math?they are working with money. Kids are totaling prices for items and using a calculator to figure out the change to give back.

Fourth graders have started their landform unit in Social Studies. Soon they will be experts in being able to tell the difference between a plateau and a mesa. They are discovering how much force will make our experimental cars move in science and smoothing out our reading and writer's workshop.

Fifth-graders are working with Mrs. Miller in the library on literary elements. They are building skill books which will be useful the whole year.

School-wide math timed tests will be Wednesday.

Families are invited to Eisenhower's "Rockin" Fall Picnic 5:30-7:30 p.m. Tuesday. There will be free hot dogs, chips and drinks. The picnic will feature rockin' gym games, Bob's famous party music, karaoke, an autograph hunt, a free giant slide, free cotton candy, and much more.



General Information

Olive Garden is asking students in first through 12th grade: "If you could create a new holiday, what would you name it and how would it be celebrated?" Answers could be worth a trip to New York and a $2,500 savings bond, as part of Olive Garden's 11th annual Pasta Tales writing contest.

From Oct. 2 through Dec. 1, Olive Garden will accept essays of 50 to 250 words from students in the U.S. and Canada. Entry forms and complete rules will be available beginning Oct. 2 at local Olive Garden restaurants or by logging on to www.olivegarden.com/company/community/pasta_tales.asp.

The grand prize is a trip to New York, dinner at the Olive Garden in Times Square and a $2,500 savings bond. A winner also will be chosen in each grade category and will receive a $500 savings bond and dinner with their family at their local Olive Garden.

Entries must include the writer's name, complete address, phone number with area code, grade, date of birth including year, and a statement that the work is their own. Entries must be submitted either online or postmarked by Dec. 1 and sent to Pasta Tales, PMB 2000, 6278 N. Federal Hwy., Fort Lauderdale, FL, 33308-1916.

Submissions are judged based on creativity, adherence to theme, organization, grammar, punctuation and spelling by the Quill and Scroll Society of the College of Journalism and Communications at the University of Iowa with finalists selected by Olive Garden.

For more information about Pasta Tales, call (954) 776-1999 between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. EST.

The Norman Adult Learning Center is offering a variety of classes this semester. They include adult classes for improving basic skills, classes for students pursuing their GED, and English Language Learning classes for non-English speaking adults.

An orientation meeting will be held 6 p.m. Oct. 10 at the Curriculum Center, 131 S. Flood Ave. Students wishing to enroll in one of the classes listed above must attend the orientation meeting. Call the Norman Adult Learning Center at 366-5811 for more information.

The Oklahoma Institute for Child Advocacy's (OICA) Annual Fall Legislative Forum is Oct. 10-11 at the University of Central Oklahoma in the George Nigh center in Edmond. Themed "Celebrating the Past, and Launching the Future" Child advocates from across Oklahoma will join together to create the 2007 Children's Legislative Agenda.

Featured speakers for this year's forum are demographer Dr. Harold Hodgkinson from the Institute for Education Leadership, Kathy Gebhardt, Director of Children's Voices in Colorado and Captain John Herrington, the first Native American to fly and walk in space and an enrolled member of the Chickasaw Nation of Oklahoma.

Dr. Hodgkinson will kick off the conference on Tuesday morning by discussing how population trends will affect health care and education policies in Oklahoma's next hundred years. Ms. Gebhardt will share her perspective on the Tax-Payer's Bill of Rights (TABOR) in Colorado at the Oct. 10 luncheon and Herrington will talk about Launching the Future during the Oct. 11 luncheon.

To register online, go to www.oica.org. Oct. 2 is the deadline for Early Bird Registration. For more information call 236-4377 ext 100.

Bryan Nance, Assistant Director of Admissions for the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), will hold a regional recruitment meeting in Oklahoma City on at 7 p.m. Monday to present information about MIT's academic programs, campus life, the admissions process and financial aid, and to answer questions for prospective students and their parents.

The meeting will be held in the Kirkpatrick Auditorium of the Oklahoma School of Science and Mathematics' classroom building, the Edna McDuffie Manning Academic Center. OSSM is located on Lincoln Boulevard between 10th and 13th Streets, across from the Oklahoma Health Center. Access to the school parking lot is from 10th Street on the south side of the campus, and Lincoln School is the building on the east side of the campus. All visitors must enter the campus through the Senator Bernice Shedrick Library which faces the main entrance at 10th Street.

To RSVP, or for more information, call OSSM's college counselor, Mr. Gary Salwierak, at 522-7830 or e-mail gsalwier@ossm.edu

Oklahoma teachers can apply through Oct. 31 for professional development scholarships administered by the Oklahoma Foundation for Excellence, a nonprofit organization that recognizes and encourages academic excellence in Oklahoma's public schools.

Teacher Scholarships for Professional Development are designed to enhance educational opportunities for students by allowing teachers to attend top-quality regional, national and international workshops and institutes in their chosen fields. The scholarships help cover the costs of tuition, transportation, lodging and, if necessary, the expense of hiring a substitute teacher.

Scholarships will be awarded this December for teacher conferences and institutes scheduled in the spring semester or summer of 2007. Applications are available on the Foundation for Excellence Web site at www.ofe.org or by contacting the foundation office at 236-0006. Applications must be postmarked by Oct. 31.

"Researchers have found that teacher ability is a stronger determinant of student achievement than a student's economic standing, race or parents' educational attainment," said Emily Stratton, executive director of the Oklahoma Foundation for Excellence. "Providing quality professional development opportunities to Oklahoma's teachers is critical to the success of Oklahoma's students."

The Foundation for Excellence launched its Teacher Scholarships for Professional Development in spring 2003. Since then, 111 scholarship recipients throughout Oklahoma have attended professional development offerings in such areas as reading, fine arts, English, mathematics, science and special education.

Scholarship applicants must be employed as an elementary or secondary teacher in an Oklahoma public school. They must also have at least two years of teaching experience in Oklahoma prior to the conference or meeting for which the scholarship will be used. Each application requires a statement of support from the applicant's principal or superintendent.

Applicants may apply for scholarships in one of five categories: the Audre' L. Henry Scholarship for Special Education Teachers; Kenneth R. -- Juliette Woodward Scholarships for teachers in Duncan or Stephens County; Boeing Math and Science Scholarships for teachers in the greater Oklahoma City area; Community Foundation of Ardmore Scholarships for teachers in Carter County; and scholarships for teachers in Tulsa County.

The Oklahoma Foundation for Excellence administers a memorial and honorary gifts program benefiting its Teacher Scholarship Fund. For more information or to learn about giving opportunities to the Teacher Scholarship Fund, contact the Oklahoma Foundation for Excellence at 236-0006 or visit the foundation's Web site at www.ofe.org

The Oklahoma Humanities Council (OHC) is announces its partnership with the Oklahoma Arts Council in sponsoring the state Poetry Out Loud: National Recitation Contest. Created by the National Endowment for the Arts and the Poetry Foundation, Poetry Out Loud encourages high school students to learn about poetry through memorization and recitation.?

The state contest began last year as a pilot program in the Oklahoma City metro area. The finals competition was an extraordinary event that showcased our state's talented youth. Ali Ward, a senior from Putnam City West High School, advanced to represent Oklahoma at the National Finals.

In addition to studying the works of great poets, competitions help students master public speaking skills, build self-confidence, and learn about our literary heritage. Starting at the classroom level, students advance to regional and then state finals competitions. The winning student will be awarded $200 and an all-expense-paid trip to Washington, D.C., to participate in the National Finals in April 2007. The state winner's school will receive a $500 stipend for the purchase of poetry books. One runner-up will receive $100, with $200 for his or her school library. More than 200,000 students across the nation are expected to participate in Poetry Out Loud, and a total of $50,000 in scholarships and school stipends will be awarded to winners at the National Finals.

This year, OHC will expand the competition to include high schools in Tulsa and Northeast Oklahoma. Classroom competitions will begin this fall to prepare for the state regionals, which are scheduled in Tulsa and Oklahoma City Feb. 7, 2007. Winners from those competitions will advance to the state finals to be held in Oklahoma City March 7, 2007.

For information on the program, visit www.poetryoutloud.org. To find out how your school can participate, call OHC Grants Administrator Linda Simms at 235-0280 or e-mail linda@okhumanitiescouncil.org.?

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