School Snippets – February 19, 2016
Published February 19, 2016
The information below is provided by each school. Schools are listed in alphabetical order according to grade level.
Elementary Schools
Bethesda Elementary
Bethesda Elementary had a very special visitor on Tuesday, February 16. Dr. Mike Looney met with Principal Steve Fisher and Vice Principal Suzanne Storey and all the teachers to talk about TNReady. Williamson County Schools will be testing from Thursday, March 10 through Wednesday, March 16. TNReady assessments as well as the TCAP achievement tests will be given this year in a paper and pencil version. In other news, Bethesda Elementary had a very important visitor on Wednesday, February 17, Corey Jones. Corey has numerous shooting records and he is also the Nation’s leader in three point shooting accuracy. Corey won a National Championship in both high school and college and was inducted into the St. Vincent-St. Mary School Hall of Fame in 2012. Corey talked to the students about making good choices and how to treat everyone around you. He also teaches students how important it is to use your manners and how to build good character skills. Students especially loved when Cory spun a ball on an ink pen, and then gave students a pen and spun the basketball on their pens.
Chapman’s Retreat Elementary
Kindergartners and their parents had a fun time hula hooping, learning to blow bubbles with bubble gum, dancing to 50’s music and writing on the graffiti wall at the Kindergarten Sock Hop.
Clovercroft Elementary
Clovercroft’s first graders will perform Bugz on Thursday, February 25 at 6 p.m. in the gym. In this musical, the Lady Bugs are in charge of proper etiquette, the Army Ants will handle security, the Fireflies are in charge of lighting and entertainment will be provided by the Bumble Bees. Looks like everything is set for a Bugz picnic. In other news, congratulations to John Thomas Atema for winning Clovercroft’s Georgraphy Bee.
College Grove Elementary
Students at College Grove Elementary were so excited about Valentine’s Day. They celebrated by having parties in their classrooms and handed out Valentine cards to each other.
Crockett Elementary
Lisa Spencer, a meteorologist with Channel 4 News, came to talk with the first graders at Crockett Elementary about weather. As part of the first grade science curriculum, students have been making and reading thermometers, and predicting the weather. Second grade students in Brooke Morel’s class have been busy making an alliteration book and writing stories this week. In addition, second grade students have been studying simple machines in science. They recently enjoyed an in-house field trip with the Science Guy. In other news, the PTO is collecting paper products for the Ronald McDonald House Charities. All types of paper products, including paper towels, toilet paper and napkins will be accepted. Students and parents can drop off their donations at school through the month of February.
Edmondson Elementary
The second graders at Edmondson Elementary enjoyed some Valentine’s Day-themed science experiments with Mr. Bond the Science Guy. Volunteers first got to feel the ‘spark’ of love by touching a conductor of static electricity. We marveled as volunteers’ hair would stand up or go in crazy directions! Afterward, Mr. Bond showed us the ‘cool’ side of science by leading us through supervised demonstrations involving liquid nitrogen. The students all agree, it was a blast!
Fairview Elementary
Fairview Elementary has had a very exciting few weeks! Last Thursday, we celebrated our 100th day of school- just a few weeks overdue. We had a great turnout and students and their parents played math games, read books and had a lot of fun! The evening concluded with Mr. Oakley kissing a pig! Our first grade students upheld their side of the bargain by reading 100 books and Mr. Oakley upheld his. Last week, the Golf House in Franklin came to visit during gym classes and students learned about the sport of golf. They had a great time hitting golf balls! Don’t forget about Chuck E Cheese night in Cool Springs on Friday, February 19 from 4 p.m. until 9 p.m. and our PTO auction at FES on February 27 from 2 p.m. until 6 p.m.
Grassland Elementary
Grassland Elementary was honored to be selected to host five teachers from Beijing on Friday. The teachers visited varioius classrooms and collaborated with educators.
Heritage Elementary
Heritage Elementary would like to congratulate the 2015-16 PTO Board as this year’s Shining Apple winner. We are so proud and thankful for all their hard work this year. The PTO will be hosting a Heritage Elementary Movie night on Friday, February 26 from 4 p.m. until 6 p.m.
Kenrose Elementary
Ms. Craig’s fourth grade class is learning about internet safety with Helen Gore. They learned about things such as online bullying, not giving away personal information, to always get a parents permission when on the computer, password protection and using a private screen name. In other news, Mrs. Whitley’s class conducted science experiments on PJ Day.
Lipscomb Elementary
Fifth grade students had a blast participating in a Sock Hop for Valentine’s Day.
Longview Elementary
Dr. Farrow’s dentist office and staff of Spring Hill paid a visit to the Longview Elementary Kindergarten classes last week. During the visit, the hygienists shared tips on brushing teeth and making good food choices! Students had fun dressing up like teeth.
Nolensville Elementary
Fifth grade students recently studied Newton’s three laws of motion. They applied what they learned by constructing cars and testing them. Some construction methods were more effective than others. Students enjoyed testing various versions of cars.
Oak View Elementary
Oak View Elementary fourth graders are working hard this week while giving their demonstration speeches
Pearre Creek Elementary
Sarah Robert’s second grade class has turned into a hospital. All her students are now medical doctors learning about the bones in the human body. They have measured their bones and are doing word surgery to form contractions. The student doctors are studying the bone structure of a variety of animals by observing X-rays and answering questions. They were all so excited to have an orthopedic surgeon, Dr. Colin Looney, visit their classroom to demonstrate how to put a cast on a broken bone. He even experimented on a few of the students.
Trinity Elementary
Parents joined Trinity Elementary on Wednesday morning for the annual Parents and Pastries. After their delicious breakfast, the families went shopping at our bookfair. In support of the book fair, students also dressed up in tie-dye t-shirts for the “Peace Love and Books” themed book fair.
Walnut Grove Elementary
February 17 was Digital Learning Day and Walnut Grove Elementary School participated! Digital Learning Day started back in 2012 and each February it showcases teachers and classrooms across the nation on how they promote technology in their classroom. Mrs. Nugent’s class has participated for the past several years, including this year. Her students used different resources such as ChatterPix, Board Builder and Educreations to create a review lesson for their class. Once their lesson is created, they will present the lesson to the class as a review for upcoming tests.
Westwood Elementary
First graders at Westwood Elementary are working on using nonstandard units of measurement (such as cubes, paper clips, paint stir sticks, etc.) to measure objects around the room. They have also been learning about why we celebrate Presidents Day, learning about our current and past presidents, and writing an “If I were President” paper.
Winstead Elementary
In social studies, our fifth grade students are learning the successes, failures, and the challenges of President Roosevelt’s New Deal policies: Social Security, Tennessee Valley Authority, and the Great Smokey Mountains National Park. Students compare and contrast different accounts of the impact of the Dust Bowl of the 1930s. In Math, students are understanding the concept of volume and recognizing volume as an attribute of solid figures. Students can determine volumes of solid figures composed of two non-overlapping right rectangular prisms and apply this technique to solve real world problems.
Middle Schools
Grassland Middle
Grassland Middle went red in support of Heart Health Week! Grassland Middle School is sponsoring our 2nd annual Girls Night Out on April 8. This event is open to all of our 6th-8th grade female students and their influential adult female. Our objective is to provide our students with a fun and meaningful experience in which they will be guided by gender specific education through the use of activities, games, guest speakers and workshops. Not only will our students have a memorable evening interacting with their peers, it is our hope that they will gain valuable information in regards to relationships, careers, communication, and education, in addition to building self-efficacy, self-esteem, and goals-setting skills. At this time, we are reaching out to our school community (parents, families, businesses) who would be willing to help us by donating their time as presenters for our GNO or by donating health and beauty items for a goody bag that will be provided to every girl present at the GNO event. Please contact Maribel Gadams at maribel.gadams@wcs.edu if you are willing to assist.
Heritage Middle
Seventh graders at Heritage Middle are learning debating skills this week. The question of the debate is: Are professional athletes paid too much?
Woodland Middle
Congratulations to our February students of the month: Emily Comstock – Cherokee, Charlie Ripley – Choctaw, Lucy Grams – Shawnee, Georgia McNamara – Chickasaw, Kelsey Blood – Iroquois, Jacqueline Boulanger – Eighth Grade and Max Roth – Eighth Grade.
High Schools
Brentwood High
Brentwood Middle School cheerleaders traveled to Disney World February 5-8 to compete at the UCA National High School Cheerleading Championship. After competing in the preliminary round Saturday morning, the Vikings made it to finals. Saturday evening they competed against the final top ten middle school teams in the nation. They performed an outstanding routine and came in third place. This group of young ladies practice several days per week year-round. Hard work has paid of for these Vikings!
Centennial High
Congratulations to the following CHS Students who qualified at the regional SKILLS/USA competition to compete at the state level: Lauren Miller in Architecture and Austin Brotzman in Technical Drafting. Don’t miss seeing one of the Centennial Administrators take the Polar Plunge on Saturday February 20 at the Westhaven Resident’s club pool. The event will be to raise money for the local Habitat for Humanity build happening this spring. Students are donating money to the Administrator they want to see take the plunge.
Page High
Congratulations to the Patriot Wrestling Team who competed in the Region III A/AA Tournament. Six individuals qualified for the TSSAA State Individual Tournament: Vincent Ha (113) fourth place, Alek Filaroski (120) fourth place, Nick Oberstaedt (126) first place and Andrew Birchett (138) first place, John Noe (170) third place and Houston Tywater (182) second place. These six individuals and Peyton Marsh will compete this Friday and Saturday at the state tournament at the Williamson County Ag. Center. The Parent information meeting for current ninth and tenth grades will be held Monday, February 22 at 6 p.m. in the Auditorium. The Parent information meeting for current eighth graders coming to Page High next year will also be held Monday, February 22 at 7 p.m. in the Auditorium. The Power Monday previously scheduled for Monday, March 14 has been cancelled and we will be on a Regular schedule. Please change your calendars. The registration deadline for students who are currently enrolled in an AP class at Page High is February 26. You may register using cash or check, or by going online and using a credit card. Please only register online if you are using a credit card.
Summit High
Special thanks to Athletic Director Chad Kirby and Summit Athletics for donating $322 to the Spring Hill local food pantry, The Well. The donation will go toward Jet Packs that go home with hungry students. A check was presented to Sully from The Well after he attended a Key Club meeting to help students understand the need for Jet Packs as well as how to volunteer at The Well.