Horizon Elementary PTA’s News From the Eagle’s Nest Volume 1, Issue 7 Upcoming Events 10th • Thursday, April - Spirit Night at Moe's in Madison from 5-9pm. Just mention HES when ordering and 10% of receipts will be donated to PTA. •April 11 - Alabama Council for Technology in Education competition event at Calhoun Community College - 25 Horizon students will compete. •April 12 - Alabama State (Affiliate) Destination Imagination Competition. •April 14th - General PTA Meeting at 6pm with 4th grader musical performance. • April 14-18th - Space Week. Volunteers needed. See inside for more details. •April 16 - 4th grade field trip to Montgomery. •April 24 - 5th grade field trip to “Earth Day Events” at Redstone Arsenal. •April 25th – 2nd grade field trip to Panoply •May 1 – Horizon’s Chorus performance at the Bob Jones Art Festival. •May 5 – May PTA Meeting followed by Horizon’s Chorus performance, 6pm. Teacher Sonya Williams and parent Monika Heidtmann dressed in German dirndls for International Night at Horizon. April 2014 Thank you to all who helped with and attended International Night! Last month Horizon was transformed from a school into a portal that took us all around the world! Our students and their families got to explore the cultures and customs of 30 countries. They watched karate demonstrations in Japan and Samba dancing in Brazil. They also enjoyed tasty treats from near and far, including fruit smoothies in the Bahamas, grilled steak in Korea, baklava in Greece, coffee in Columbia, cheese in the Netherlands, and chai tea in India, to name a few. It was truly a world class experience here at Horizon! And every detail was made perfect thanks to the incredibly hard work and dedication of all of the teachers, staff and students at Horizon, as well as many parents, who spent weeks (or months!) preparing for the event. Intricate decorations, art and research projects adorned the school, and proved just how much our students learned about a wide variety of cultures. “The school puts on this event to showcase the diversity of Horizon's population. We have families from many different countries and what better way to learn about the world around us then with a celebration of student learning,” says teacher Mrs. Amy Williams, co-coordinator of the event. International Night has continued to grow, with each year getting bigger and better. “The success of the evening is a true testament to the fact that everyone involved believes in each individual student at Horizon and takes responsibility for their learning,” says Williams. International Night through a teacher’s eyes Third grade teacher, Ms. Sonya Williams, was excited to share her classroom’s International Night experience with us. Her country was Germany, which she chose because one of her students has parents from there. “I always try to pick a country that has a link to a sense of ownership and pride in my class,” she says. To prepare for the event, her students spent weeks researching and learning about Germany, and got to have some very unique and interesting experiences along the way. Thanks to classroom parent Monika Heidtmann, who speaks German and came in each week, the students learned many German words, including human body parts. They used their newfound knowledge to create a huge poster of a human body with the body parts written in both German and English, which they displayed in the hall for International Night. The students also learned how to sing the German version of the Head-ShouldersKnees-and-Toes song. Mrs. Heidtmann also brought the students many German treats to try, including real German chocolate and German gummy bears. Another guest speaker to the class was Timo Sandritter, a famous German soccer player now living in Alabama. He talked to the students about his life in Germany and his soccer career. The students absolutely loved his visit and peppered him with questions. Just like the other teachers preparing their students for International Night, Ms. Williams incorporated her classroom’s country into her curriculum making it into a rich learning experience for all. “They had learning from all areas,” she says about her students. “Real speakers, activities they got to do, and their own research,” she says. They also used technology, and learned how to do web searches, how to use Microsoft Word to write their reports, and how to do an image search, as well as learned how to know if an online source is credible or not. The students and many parents helped decorate the classroom for the event, with the students each making German castles. They even had authentic costumes! Mrs. Heidtmann’s son Andre wore the traditional German lederhosen, and Ms. Williams and Mrs. Heidtmann both wore beautiful dirndl dresses from Germany. (See photo, at left) Guests were able to taste German food, including bratwurst and apple strudel donated by Schnitzel Ranch Restaurant, as well as a special dessert and bread made by Mrs. Heidtmann. “It was a lot of fun this year. They loved it!” Ms. Williams says about her students “They will cherish this experience.” “My favorite part is the feeling of ownership that all of our parents from other countries get to feel, they get to see all that we did to learn about their countries. The people so appreciate it. That’s a credit to the entire faculty in Horizon – everyone has a hand. Every single person in this building had a hand in the success.” And that includes the parents. “I am thankful to all of my parents who put in countless hours and for all of their hard work.” In the Spotlight …. Horizon 4th grader John Choung, Alabama State PTA Reflections 2nd Place winner for Intermediary Musical Composition Horizon PTA is so proud of Horizon’s own John Choung, a 4th grader in Mrs. Caudle’s class, for his incredible success in the Alabama PTA Reflections Arts Competition. John entered an original song in Horizon’s PTA Reflections contest, where he won 1st place in his age group. His song then went on to win 1st place in the Madison City’s PTA Reflections competition, where it was judged against all of the winners from the other elementary schools in the city. His song then went on to the State of Alabama’s PTA Reflections contest, where he competed with the winners from every district in the whole state, and there he won 2nd place! The song John wrote was composed for the piano and was called “Stallion’s Hope.” John explains that he wrote the song “about a stallion living in a shabby old barn with a mean owner and the stallion hopes to go and live freely. One day the stallion does get free by pushing the door.” John plays the piano and flute, and says he likes music because of its beautiful sound. Of his impressive win, John says, “I felt very excited and proud of my accomplishment.” Everyone at Horizon is proud of John’s great accomplishment as well! The PTA Reflections Arts Contest takes place each fall and is open to all students. It is a creative arts competition that allows students to display their artistic talents, creativity and vision through their choice of several artistic mediums, including the written word, visual arts, music or movement. Each year a new theme is chosen and students are challenged to use their talents to communicate their own unique ideas as related to the theme. It is a voluntary program that allows students to share their talents and gifts. This year Horizon had more entries for the PTA Reflections Arts contest than ever before –218 to be exact! And our PTA is proud of every student who entered. For more information about the Reflections program, please visit our PTA website’s Reflections’ page at horizonelementarypta.org/reflections. Our Teachers and Staff have BRIGHT Ideas! Meet Horizon’s “Biggest Loser” Mrs. Chassity Smith Congratulations to Horizon’s Biggest Loser… 5th grade teacher Mrs. Chassity Smith! She was the overall winner of Horizon’s annual Biggest Loser weight loss competition for losing the biggest percentage of weight – that being 9.47% of her total weight. The contest started in January and lasted 12 weeks. Over ten faculty and staff members participated. Each person contributed $20 toward the “winning pot.” There were also weekly prizes ranging from cash, magazine subscriptions, Pure Barre classes and YMCA membership. Mrs. Smith won at least two of the weekly prizes….having the highest percentage lost for those weeks. Mrs. Smith began her weight loss journey back in December, and in those three short months has achieved her personal best weight at this time…..and she is continuing to lose each week! She has been watching what she eats and has also added exercise to her weekly routine. Way to go Mrs. Smith!! Implementing Leader in Me in 5th Grade - Modeling the Habits In 5th grade at Horizon, the students have a great understanding of the 7 Habits in the Leader in Me program and are using those Habits each and every day, thanks to the efforts of Horizon’s four 5th grade teachers. Dr. Lauren Harrison explains that each of the 5th grade teachers tries to model the Habits for their students, so as to best teach the students how the Habits can apply in real life. “That way it is easier for us to lead by example,” she explains. Her favorite Habit is Habit 5 - Seek First to Understand, Then to Be Understood. “I love this because it makes me think to never judge someone until you have walked in their shoes. 5th grade can socially be a difficult time for many students and I try to teach my kids to listen and understand someone fully before making a judgment or reacting negatively.” Mrs. Joanne Coombs’ favorite Habit is Habit 3 - Put First Things First. “I love to have fun in my classroom every day, but I know that I always have to get my work done in order to play. Get focused, get finished, and get to having fun!” she says. In Mrs. Chassity Smith’s homeroom, the class has memorized and can recite all 7 Habits. Like in the other classes, her class also does in-depth work to understand the importance of the Habits and how to incorporate them into their lives. “We have focused on one habit per week using the Leader in Me workbooks and analyzed videos from the Leader in Me website to get a deeper understanding of what each Habit means and how we can make them a part of our everyday life.” Mrs. Terrica Johnson also uses lessons from the Habits each day. “Habits 4 (Think Win-Win) and 6 (Synergize) are evident in our classroom on an every-day basis. Students synergize by taking on leadership roles within the classroom and collaborating to complete daily activities and projects,” she says. And if you pass by her classroom, and hear a bell and the sound of cheers (which happens often), it is simply the students encouraging their classmates when they are successful on AR tests. It’s a Win- Win! Get Ready as Space Week Blasts Off next week – from April 14-18! Space Week is a week-long event Horizon holds each spring, where every student gets to experience and explore the wonders of space through in-class lessons, hands on learning, and guest speakers. Spearheaded by Enrichment teacher Mrs. Elizabeth Bero, this event is always enjoyed by the students! PTA is proud to assist with the activities for the week. This year, like every year, Space Week promises to be a full of exciting and educational experiences for our students. There will be guest speakers during the week, beginning with NASA on Monday morning for our week’s kick off. Bob Jones High School students will be here on Tuesday to work with grades 4-6. We will also have special activities for students to observe during the week, including the super cool portable planetarium Mrs. Bero will set up in her room for all to visit. PTA will also provide a special activity for each grade level: Kindergarten will make film canister rockets; 1st grade will make creative constellations; 2nd grade will play UFO golf; 3rd grade will learn about Newton’s Laws through a mentos (candy) and Coca Cola activity; 4th grade will compete in a paper airplane contest run by PTA volunteers; 5th grade will be building bottle rockets with empty 2 liter bottles; and 6th grade will compete in the “Satellite Drop” by designing a protective environment to preserve a water balloon, with Huntsville Utilities sending a cherry picker on Friday to help “test drop” the creations. But this event won’t be possible without your help. So please keep reading to find out what ways you can assist. Supplies Needed Several grades need help compiling supplies. Contact PTA’s Karen Purser at karenpurser@yahoo.com if you would like to help with your child’s grade level event. Our supplies request list is as follows: • Kindergarten needs film canisters (yes, they are rare nowadays). If you have any, please send them to the office. • 5th grade will need at least 33 2-liter bottles, so please send them in to Dr. Harrison. • 6th grade needs packing materials, shoe boxes and other items. • We can also use Styrofoam, packing materials, tissue paper and other building supplies for our young scientists. Guest Speakers Needed We are also in need of guest speakers for the younger grades, so please let Mrs. Bero (ebero@madisoncity.k12.al.us) or Karen Purser (karenpurser@yahoo.com) know if you have a space related job or hobby that you would like to share. ~Student’s Corner~ Stories submitted by Horizon Students Butterfly Build Day by 5th Grader Jansyn Free The Butterfly Garden was a huge success! Two kids from each class, who won the butterfly drawing contest, came to help. I know the little kids loved it, as well as the older kids. The progress we made from 7:30 am to 2:00 pm was tremendous! We dug a walkway 4 inches deep around the whole garden. We then put newspapers down and put LOADS of gravel on the walkway. We made a fireman line and one by one we passed the gravel down. We thank all the dads for making the outline of flower beds. We want to thank all the volunteers, teachers, and students. And a special thanks to Ms. Bero and Ms. April Waltz. We are glad to say the Horizon 5 th grade EcoKids helped put this together. The Madison Weekly Newspaper came, as well as WHNT news. I hope we gave butterflies a happy place to live and a wonderful home! My Chess Club Story by 3rd Grader Riley Ott Hi! My name is Riley Ott. I’m nine years old and I’m in Chess Club at our school. We meet every Thursday in Mrs. Bero’s room after school. Our coaches are Mrs. Bero and Mr. Holland. If you don’t know how to play chess, our coaches will teach you. My favorite things about chess are the chess tournaments and winning trophies for our school! We usually have a lesson on where each piece moves but sometimes we just play each other. Our chess coach is really fun and nice. We also can meet at the YMCA on Monday nights at 6:00 for the Madison City Chess League for extra practice. Chess is a lot of fun and you can learn a lot. Horizon’s Students Know How to Compete and Win! •Congratulations to the Horizon students who competed in the Alabama State Science and Engineering Fair (ASEF) at UAH on April 4th. The students were: 6th grader Abigail League and fifth graders Adonye Belay, Grace Hannah and Grant Pethel. Grant Pethel’s “Water Lens” science project won an Honorable Mention and a $25.00 special award. •Congratulations to Horizon’s math competitors from the Madison City’s first Math-A-Palooza Math Competition on April 5th at James Clemens High School! We had 24 students from Horizon participate. Out of those students, 7 placed in the top 10 in their division! Lynne Clark – 9th place, Division 1, grade 6; Byron Headrick – 9th place, Division 2, grade 6; Matt Osadcii – 1st place, Division 2, grade 5; Chloe Kuebbing – 3rd place, Division 2, grade 5; DJ Johnson – 8th place, Division 2, grade 5; Jamie Clark – 1st place, Division 2, grade 4; and Lillian Qu – 3rd place, Division 2, grade 3. •Good luck to the 25 Horizon students grades 3-6 who are competing in the Alabama Council for Technology in Education Competition at Calhoun Community College in Decatur/Athens on April 11th! •Good luck also to the our Middle School Destination Imagination team, “Warning: Extreme Danger,” with team manager Julee Lamps, and students Emilee Lamps, Matt Osadcii, Caleb Blackmon, Kauryn Datcher, Ella Harlow, Jenny Shaver and Isabella Guerra as they participate in the Alabama State (Affiliate) Destination Imagination Competition on April 12th. HES Calendar April 2014 Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday 1 2 •Happy Birthday Mrs. Pavao 3 • School pictures 7 8 9 10 •Spirit Night at Moe's in Madison from 5-9pm 14 •PTA Meeting @ 6pm & 4th Grade Performance 15 16 •4th Grade Field Trip to Montgomery 17 4 •Alabama State Science and Engineering Fair (ASEF) at UAH 11 •6th grade Sport Spectacular @ BJHS •Alabama Council for Technology in Education competition @ Calhoun •Alabama State (Affiliate) Destination Imagination Competition (Sat. 4/12) 18 •Half Day for Students Space Week – April 14-18 21 21 23 24 • 5th Grade Field Trip to Redstone Arsenal 28 29 30 1 •Horizon’s Chorus performs @ Bob Jones Art Festival Aspire Testing – 3rd Grade 25 •2nd Grade Field Trip to Panoply Arts Festival •Happy Birthday Mrs. Clark 2 Aspire Testing – 4th Grade Just a few weeks left in our Box Tops & Labels for Education Classroom Competition! Our Box Tops and Labels for Education classroom competition ends on April 30th, so let’s let this last month of competition be the best one ever! Have a big stack of labels at home? Well now is the time to send them to your child’s teacher! Have your friends and neighbors been collecting Box Tops for you? Well, it’s time to go get them! We earn money for our school with each and every Box Top and label you send! Winners will be announced in May! And don’t forget your Papa John’s Labels! Every time you have Papa John’s for lunch or dinner, simply tear off your pizza box label (the one with the order’s total) and send it in to school. We earn 10% of every label, plus are entered into the contest to win an additional $1, 500. Every night is Papa John’s night for Horizon families! Horizon PTA has Open Board Positions for 2014/2015 For more information on these positions, contact the ASPIRE testing begins in April for grades 3-6 nominating committee, made up of Erin Cornelius, Tamara Caudle and Leigh McMillan. rd 3 grade: Monday, April 28 - Reading (8:00am-11:00am) Tuesday, April 29 - Math (8:00am-11:00am) 4th grade: Wednesday, April 30 - Reading (8:00am-11:00am) Thursday, May 1 - Math (8:00am-11:00am) 5th grade Monday, May 5 - Reading (8:00am-11:00am) Tuesday, May 6 - Math (8:00am-11:00am) 6th grade Wednesday, May 7 - Reading (8:00am-11:00am) Thursday, May 8 - Math (8:00am-11:00am) Thanks to our April newsletter sponsor, Realtor Christa Landingham