This month’s Classroom Highlight:
3rd & 4th Grade
The 3rd and 4th grade class is building their classroom library, book by book. Research shows that classroom libraries help students attain reading achievement. By providing access to a rich classroom library, Mr. Lee wishes that his students learn how to spend time with books, increase vocabulary knowledge, and reading comprehension. He believes that the classroom library has the potential to increase students' motivation, engagement, and achievement and help students become critical thinkers, analytical readers, and informed citizens.
Mr. Lee is happy to see that his students want to spend more time in the classroom library. Whenever they have time, they ask him to go to the library. It shows him that his students are falling in love with reading. The classroom library serves the overall goals of education, he would like to have rich and diverse books to offer students access to a wide and extensive repertoire of accessible reading materials. Mr. Lee welcomes book donations for the classroom library so if you have good books for students, please do not hesitate to donate!
5th & 6th Grade
From October 14th until the 20th, Mrs. Mendonça’s class was blessed with the generosity of Mrs. Michelle Church. She is a Writing professor at Andrews University who is passionate about reading and writing. After talking to Mrs. Mendonça and learning about how much she wanted to help her students develop a passion for reading, she offered to donate some books for the classroom’s library.
For 5 days, packages kept arriving for Mrs. Mendonça’s class. The students were very surprised every time a package came in. This has made them very happy, thankful, and excited to read the 89 brand-new books in their classroom’s library. They created a card for Mrs. Church, making her feel appreciated and loved by students who live so far away from her hometown and whom she never met.
You too can contribute and help someone you don’t know. What could you do to help a stranger? What about those around you? How can you serve them? God has put us on this earth to be a light. Let’s brighten up someone’s day today with an unexpected blessing.
Students of the month
PreK - Naomi Marc
Kindergarten - Nolan Goulbourne
1st Grade - Joshua Williams
2nd Grade - Caitlyn Arthur & Carter Facey
3rd Grade - Caleb Arthur & Joshua Goulbourne
4th Grade - Melany Arriaga
5th & 6th Grade - Dana DeBarros
7th & 8th Grade - Danah Lazarus
This month’s Community Giveback:
Whispering Pines School is once again participating in the Operation Christmas Child project. Share the blessings God has given you with a child on the other side of the world who would otherwise not get any gifts this year. For more information, contact the school and watch the videos below.
About Operation Christmas Child
How to Pack a Shoebox
COVID-19 has altered the way we celebrated holidays. We invite you to read this article about Virtual Thanksgiving family activities (click the picture below).
Let's expand our international vocabulary! Practice this phrase with your child this month.
English
I am grateful for my family and my village.
Spanish
Estoy agradecida por mi familia y Mi Pueblo
Korean
저는 제 마을과 가족에 감사해요
(jeoneun je ma-eulgwa gajog-e gamsahaeyo)
Our prayer for each WPS parent and family is that you would have Whole Health. We all struggle with different aspects of our health throughout our lives. During this school year we will explore the different aspects of health, answer questions you may have, and challenge you and your family to focus and improve on one aspect of your personal health.
As we get started, here are some things to consider regarding whole person health.
Physical Wellness – Recognizing the need for physical activity, diet, sleep, and nutrition.
Financial Wellness – Satisfaction with current and future financial situations.
Mental/Emotional Wellness – Coping effectively with life and understanding your own feelings and expressing emotions in a constructive way.
Vocational/Occupational Wellness – Getting Personal fulfillment and enrichment from your job or educational pursuits.
Social/Relational Wellness – Developing a sense of connection, belonging, and a well-developed support system.
Environmental Wellness – Good health by occupying pleasant, stimulating environments that support well-being.
Spiritual Wellness – Having Christian beliefs and values that provide a sense of meaning and purpose to life and acting in alignment with those beliefs.
This month’s Challenges:
Family Activity challenge
What will your family do this month to show generosity to others? Have your child take or draw a picture of your gratitude in action. Take a couple minutes, around the holiday, to discuss its impact of those you helped and on yourselves.
Super Parent/Guardian Challenge
Take 5 minutes this month to express to your child how grateful you are to be their parent/guardian. Be specific, share one thing that you appreciate about them and end the conversation with a warm hug, a fun tickle war, or a silly inside joke.
Whole Health Challenge
This month, identify one wellness area on which to focus. Reflect on why you chose this area and one thing that you can do to take a step towards wellness.
We welcome your input and feedback! Send any suggestions or comments to WPSNewsletter@outlook.com.