Truman

Thanks to Norman Regional Hospital and Norman Public Schools, third-grade students were able to participate in the "Kids Are Special People" program. The children learned about the hospital and how it is run. They also received a number of hand-outs such as caps, doctor masks and health items.

While the older kids were prepped for the hospital, Danna Primm's kindergarten class took the temperature of their apple crisp. It was Johnny Appleseed's brithday and Primm's brood honored him with a "class-made" apple treat. Carol Burn's students also had apples on their minds. Her class worked on "What to Do with an Apple?" The students painted with apple slices and made apple pancakes. Stephanie Atkinson's students wrote their first names and worked on recognizing rhyming works. The students also learned about capital and lower case letters.

Lena Dzialo's first grade also picked up some knowledge about Mr. Appleseed. When they found time to leave the orchard, the class worked with the librarian about author Leo Lionni.

Truman's librarian seems to be busy. The book-minder treated the second-graders with a study session on author Tomie De Paolo. They listened to De Paolo's books, created art work and found a variety of books in the library.

Fine Arts projects also are found among the third and fifth grade classes. The third-graders practiced in music classes for their music program Oct. 17. The fifth grade turned Truman's halls into an art gallery with their art work and writings.



McKinley

October is shaping up to be an eventful month for McKinley. Mrs. Schornick's kindergarten class will take a?walking tour of the University of Oklahoma Monday. Tuesday, Ident-a-Kid will be on campus and?several second, third and fifth-graders will participatein the Oklahoma Writing Project.

The third grade will have Classic Readers at 2:45 p.m. Thursday. And finally on Friday, the chess club meets at noon, Mrs. Ward's kindergarten class and Mrs. Palmer's fourth-graders will take a walking tour of OU in the afternoon; and it will be the fourth graders' turn with Classic Readers at 2:45 p.m.

McKinley also has many great students and several recently were recognized. Receiving a Mayor's Citizenship Award were: Chance Painter, Lauren McDonald, Katie Gay, Ben Parker, Madison Bell, Grace Ripperger, Reed Shafer-Ray, Christopher Brooks, Erin Eckart, Pablo Fisher, Hayden Jones, Montana Minnis, Zach Terry, and Elizabeth Waters.

McKinley also honored the following students for their outstanding math accomplishments: Zach Terry, Melia Hawk, Briar White,?Grace Ripperger, Katie Gay, Keeley Bishop, Brennan Cannon, Turner Howe, Courtney Jones,?Sam York, Colton Hare, Suzanne Houser, Nicky Halterman, Josilyn Horwitz, J.J. Simcsuk, Danny Bays, Hank Streetman, Calum McFetridge, Alec McDonald, Chase Anderson, Eli Braver, Jonathan Kyncl, Keeli Kim, Annemarie Cuccia, Ansel Pendley-Griffin, Theo Cohen, Sami Barker, Breanna Vache, Hunter Grimes, Olivia Robertson, Isaac Braver and Daryn Whisman.

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Lakeview

Lakeview welcomes new staff members, Marie Barrett, pre-k, and Patty Cjeda, fourth grade and student teacher Mr. Fergussen, fourth grade. Other changes are Rebecca Vanover in the kindergarten area and Michelle Wilson, the new special education teacher.

There are other additions to Lakeview. Thanks to a strong community effort during last year's fundraiser, the music department purchased a complete set of African marimbas. The instruments will be used in all music classes as well as a World Music Ensemble. Ensemble rehearsals are 7:30 to 7:55 p.m. every Tuesday and Thursday.

Music isn't the only after school activity as Lakeview recently rolled into Skateland Night for its first skate. Future skate night details can be found in the school newsletter and School Bells.

For more information on upcoming events, call the school at 366-5899 and join the PTA. Organizers report they could use creativity and support with the two main fundraisers: the Fall Festival and Spring Jog-A-Thon.

Important reminders for Lakeview parents and students:

Students may purchase a $4 snack card from Student Council. Parents are asked to send the money to their child's teacher.

Oct. 13 -- Fourth-graders, 10 a.m. visit to the Fred Jones Art Museum.

Oct. 19 -- Professional Day, no school.

Oct. 20 -- Fall Break, no school.

Oct. 23-27 -- Red Ribbon Week.

Oct. 24 -- Healthy Youth screening.

Oct. 27?? Fall Festival 6-8 p.m.

Oct. 29 -- Daylight savings time ends.

Oct. 31 -- Halloween parties 2 p.m.



Jackson

Mrs. Gray's class had the best attendance at Jackson's family night at Boomerang Grille Sept. 19. The date of their catered lunch by Boomerang Grille will be announced soon. The fourth grade will have their turn Oct. 17.

The fifth-graders weren't alone in their contributions to Jackson. It took a community-wide effort of parents, families and friends of Jackson to pull together this year's Jog-a-Thon. The school also had the support of the University of Oklahoma as several track team members and coaches showed their support. Jackson thanked and expressed their appreciation for the hard work. There will be a Jog-A-Thon awards assembly 8 a.m. Monday. Parents and families members are encouraged to come watch.

Important Jackson dates:

Monday -- Jog-a-Thon Awards Assembly, 8 a.m. in the gym.

Wednesday -- Forth and fifth grades limo ride and Sooner Legends party, during lunch

Thursday -- first through third grade Skateland and pizza party, 11:15 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.

Friday -- Pre-k and kindergarten moonbounce and pizza party, 11 a.m. to noon.

Oct. 19-20 ? No school.

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Eisenhower

Tuesday -- Accelerated reader treats

Friday -- Kindergarten classes to T.G. Farms Pumpkin Patch

Oct. 17 -- Healthy youth screening; third grade goes to OKC Zoo

From apples to pumpkins, Eisenhower's kindergarten just may learn about every fruit possible. The kids recently finished a unit about apples and enjoyed a visit from Johnny Appleseed. Just as Johnny left, they dove into the pumpkin patch with the gusto of Linus searching for the Great Pumpkin. Their hard work will pay off as they prepare for the fall and a special trip to the pumpkin patch Friday.

The first grade will take a trip of its own Nov. 1 to the Orr Family Farm. Everyone will pick out a pumpkin to complement their class study of pumpkins. Students also have a math fact test Oct. 25.

The second grade also is involved with new exciting adventures. They began 1:50-2:30 p.m. daily rotations of science, social studies and art. Parents are asked to schedule appointments after school so students don't miss these positive learning opportunities.

While the second grade works its way throught multiple subjects the third grade has briefly settled on poetry. They have heard different types of poetry and will try their hand at writing some original works. Students also are learning two new methods for adding and subtracting are partial sums method and trade first method.?

The students in Mrs. Weichbrodt's class also adopted new methods to enhance their learning. They worked on the use of figurative language to spice up writing. Fifth grade also explored art forms and began their art projects that represent the homes, geography, food, clothing and traditions of North American Indians.

Cougar Pride winners for September: Blake Duran, Karaline Phariss, Elizabeth Escobar, Alexander Laizure, Brady Pearce, Brendan Umphrey, Kaylei Skinner, Elijah Watkins, Riley Fullbright, Tracee Hernandez, Joana Figueroa, Carson Walker, Alex Dawson, Jordan Bushore, Saejin Cook, Justice Gage, Grace Creech, Zachary McDonald, Rachel Farmer, Spencer Hanson, Sydney Johnson, Patrick Kordeliski, Lauren Brandon, Dylan Cullifer, Fernando Reyes, Cheyanne Scott, Bron McMillan, Grace Touchstone, Zane Blankenship, Madison Hawley, Isaac Medders, Brooklyn Taylor, Kenneth Miller, Sarah Nesbitt, Mackenzie Drozd, Blaine Rue, Scott Crandall, Quincy Rapp, Shania Autry, Brandon Jackson, Cameron Anderson, Tristan Back, Samantha Byers, Cayden Balcom, Lindsey Burbridge, Alex Lauer, Nicole Miller, Adrian Parish, Lauren Daffer, Justen Doyle, Hayley Reed, Alex Boydston and Kaitlyn Sager.?



Cleveland

Cleveland's annual Jog-A-Thon featured University of Oklahoma student athletes: the entire men's gymnastics team and coach Mark Williams, who was in the dunk tank; football players Marcus Walker, Joe Jon Finley, Calvin Thibodeaux, Joey Halzle, Zach Latimer, Jacob Gutierrez and Brett Bowers. Cleveland thanked the PTA and event sponsors for their efforts and especially Ronda Smiles. Money raised from the Jog-A-Thon is due Friday.

Also Friday, Miss Oklahoma 2006 Lauren Nelson will visit Cleveland. She will sing and conduct small group discussions with the fourth and fifth grades about Internet safety. Nelson will represent the state in the Miss America pageant later this year. Parent and former Miss Oklahoma Mignon Ball will host Nelson during her trip.

Parents need to schedule a time for upcoming parent/teacher conference with their child's teacher.

Dates to remember:

Wednesday ? PTA meeting noon.

Oct. 18 ? Red Ribbon Week kick off event.

Oct. 19-20 ? Fall Break.

Oct. 23-27 ? Red Ribbon Week.

Oct. 26 ? Third grade program Motown Magic, 7 p.m.

Oct. 26-27 Art Show presented by OU gymnast Jamie Henderson.



Longfellow Middle School

Longfellow Middle School's?sixth grade vocal music and drama classes will present "Dig It," a musical about an archeological discovery, 7 p.m. Thursday. The presentation coincides with their interdisciplinary unit on archeology. Longfellow's Most Valuable Parent night will follow the musical. Information will be available on "How To Be a Successful Middle School Student."



?Norman High School

The Norman High School speech and debate team recently at the Edmond North Iditarod speech tournament and returned home with 10 regional qualifiers and second in sweepstakes. Among the Tigers recognized for their efforts were: Novice LD, Alexander Mann, double octos, and Amanda Cavola, octos; Qualifying LD, Gwen Paul, quarterfinals, and Andy Halterman, third; Standard Oratory, Sarah Chilson, finals, Laurel Elliot-Olkinetzky, finals, Micah Smith, first; Dramatic Interp, Caitlin Campbell, finals, Leslie Stewart, third; Foreign Extemp, Andy Halterman, semis; Domestic Extemp, Kristiana Baez, semis, Naomi Snow, finals, John Romanishin, fourth, Connor Ferguson, second; Prose, Katie Gardner, semis, Sarah Lobban, semis, Kelsey Tidwell, semis, Sara Chilson, semis, Laurel Elliot-Oklinetzky, semis, Andrew Keeler, third, Micah Smith, first; Monologue, Dustin Patterson, semis, Stephen Ibach, semis, Alex Cerda, semis, Jeff Baum, semis, Leslie Stewart, finals, Micah Smith, second; Poetry,?Joe Howard, semis, Caitlin Campbell, semis, Alex Cerda, second and Jeff Baum, first.



Norman North High School

Norman North continued its tradition of speech and drama success at this year's opening contest, the Edmond North Iditarod speech tournament. North qualified 13 events for regional competition and went on to capture the first place in team sweepstakes.

As has become their usual habit, North's debaters started off the landslide by placing six of the top 16 qualifying Lincoln-Douglas spots. The team also thoroughly dominated the novice competition and broke all 14 first-year debaters in the top thirty-two spots in the division. Novices in out rounds included double-octa-finalists Chris Carey, Vincent Dale, Cassidy Do, Ross Johnson, Yuan Jian Liu, Morgan Ranier, Sabrina Ramsey and Sean Williams; Octa-finalists Kevin Boyd, Sarah Carp, Jonathan Chang and Drew Powell; Quarterfinalist Claire Stealey and Anika Nahreen Khan who took third place. Earning sweepstakes points for North in the qualifying division were octofinalists Mustafa Amil, Kyle Melon and Jonathan O'Hair, quarterfinalist David Malone, Rebecca Holliman, who qualified in fourth place, and tournament champion Sarah Durica.

On Saturday, fourteen students made it into the final rounds of speech and drama events with fifteen different entries. North placed four students in Foreign Extemp finals, including Mustafa Amil; third place qualifier Savannah Collins; second place qualifier Rebecca Holliman; and Sarah Durica who took top honors there as well. In Domestic Extemp David Malone claimed the first place qualifier's medal for North. North placed three out of six finalists in Standard Oratory, with finalist Royce Strider joining third place qualifier Kynsey Lira and Second Place Qualifier Meagan Barnett. Ross Johnson qualified in third place in Monologue, and joined fourth place qualifier Kirk Forthman in the finals of Poetry. North took the top two spots in Humorous Interp, with Hilary Hudson in second place and Eli Hull taking first. Hudson and her partner Sinclair Wright made it to the finals of Humorous duet, while Hull and his partner Brett Marley made off with the first place medal in that event.

History will walk and talk at Norman North next week as Dr. Doug Watson, professor of English at Oklahoma Baptist Univeristy and education coordinator for the Will Rogers Memorial, will present his Chautauqua style characterization of Will Rogers.

Watson will be on campus Friday to bring the state's favorite son to students. The program, "Will Rogers was not just a cowboy," is made possible by the Will Rogers Memorial Museum in Claremore and designed as an Oklahoma centennial enhancement event.

"Despite the endurance of Will's name and popularity many young Oklahomans, and some older ones who should know better, confuse him wih the singing cowboy 'Roy' or the children's television host 'Fred,'" Watson said. "I hope to refresh the awareness of this very influential individual from Oolahah, who was a 'cowboy' in his own right, but who was also a stage and media star, an aviation booster, a newspaper columnist, a philanthropist and an important commentator on the political and economic realities of the early 20th century and on the human condition."

The Okie-Tex Star Party recently held by the Oklahoma City Astronomy Club in the Black Mesa area was the destination for 19 NNHS students and three teachers. Each participant was a current and former Astronomy student.

The three-night event featured a scavenger hunt for celestial objects in the clear and dark far western Oklahoma Panhandle skies. Amateur and professional astronomers from across the United States, Canada and the British Isles also gathered to share their knowledge and enthusiasm for Astronomy, telescope views of the Universe with thes students.

Students were able to explore with the use of school telescopes purchased through grants from the Norman Public School Foundation and the Norman North PTA. One of the most amazing discoveries was they did not need to use flashlights as they were actually bathed in starlight. Students were in awe of the star light provided by the Milky Way.

This is the sixth year Norman North Astronomy students have participated in Okie-Tex. Students who attended includ: Negin Alamehzadeh, Brooke Allen, Ashley Arbour, Ryan Baker, Sarah Carp, Guinevere Chinn, Cody Glover, Bridey Jensen, Elisabeth Kunhart, Zac Legleiter, Robyn Mitchell, Max Moffeitt, Andrea Morris, Chelsey Palmerton, Teri Schneider, Jonathan Smith, Gracie Webb and Stephanie Zwickl. NNHS teachers who accompanied the students were Eileen Grzybowski, astronomy and pre AP biology, Kate Baugher, chemistry and zoology, and David Davisson, band and amateur astronomer.



Noble Public Schools

Each site of Noble Public Schools will conduct parent/teacher conferences 4 to 7:30 p.m. Tuesday and Thursday. Teachers at the elementary schools will schedule individual conferences at specific times with parents of their students. Teachers at Curtis Inge Middle School and Noble High School will be available in open-door sessions at the times specified above. Parents with questions are encouraged to call the appropriate school. Noble Schools will not be in session on Friday, Oct. 20.



Veritas Classical Academy

A special thanks to Todd Wedel and Magistra Petzinger for the writing and Latin workshops this past Tuesday.

The Veritas family picnic was last Saturday. Thanks to all who came and brought desserts and especially to Rebecca Wedel.?

The literature tests and projects have been completed and turned in for the fourth-graders. To celebrate the completion of "The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe," Jake Boulter, Blake Buchanan, Bryce Buchanan, JC Caldwell, Lacey Davidson, Jonathan Dile, Molly Hodgden, Bailey Hudson, Melodi Lewis, Megan Portwood, Cal Serven, Winston Smith, Jonathan Smith, Makenzi Smith, and Seth Varnell enjoyed a watch party at the Caldwell's on Thursday complete with pizza and popcorn.? A special thanks to John and Tiffany for hosting the party.

Some reminders to parents: Thursday is picture day and the end of the first quarter is Friday. Oct. 17th is parent/teacher conference day, so there will be no classes that day. Parents who have not signed up for a time slot with their child's teacher need to do so.

Leah Dile, VCA eighth grader, will have an exhibit at the Sam Noble Natural History Museum featuring her photographs from her National Geographic Galapagos Island Expedition last summer. The exhibit will be open to the public from Oct. 17-Jan 15. More information can be found at http://www.snomnh.ou.edu/exhibits/spex.html

The Veritas Board will host a quarterly Open Board Meeting 7 p.m. oct. 19 in the Music Room at Trinity Baptist Church. Veritas parents and interested community members are welcome to attend. The agenda will be posted on the web site the week before the meeting.



Trinity Lutheran School

KidTrax is coming to Trinity Lutheran SchoolThursday. The event is open to the community. KidTrax will provide a credit card sized identification card that contains vital information. Photograph, measurements, and thumbprints of each child will be taken. The card can be used to assist safety officials in the event of an emergency.?

The third through sixth grade classes at Trinity will visit the Fred Jones Museum of Art on the University of Oklahoma campus Tuesday. They will be given a studio art lesson as well as a tour of the facility.?