Embedded Files
August 30, 2021
Wow, what an exciting first day of ABC for Central Elementary's students! Mr. Gammon and Ms. Pond spoke to the students about their schedules and expectations, and then everyone was sorted into a house! It was so much fun to hear the cheers and applause as the students found out which house they were in! Would it be Guerrero? Or maybe Iqhawe? Some were sorted into Warrior, and last, but not least, came Tvshka!
September 7, 2021
Students of Iqhawe House were amazed to find out that our very own second grade teacher Mrs. Fletcher is a Navy veteran! Mrs. Fletcher served almost six years in the United States Navy and shared photos and a slide show about her time in the service. The students couldn't believe how young she looked in her bootcamp picture!
Mrs. Fletcher explains the meanings of the ribbons and medals she wore while in uniform.
Mrs. F. worked on radars and shot 5 inch 54s on board 3 ships during her service.
Mrs. F. served on 2 destroyers and 1 cruiser.
A word cloud of all the places she visited. Turkey is the biggest, because her ship went there a lot!
September 9, 2021
Ms. Toni Powell talked with Iqhawe House about the Week of the Military Child, which is in April. Ms. Powell worked for the Army and was happy to share her experience with our ABC students.
Ms. Toni Powell shared her experience of working with the Army youth services.
Ms. Powell talks about the importance of the Week of the Military Child.
September 9, 2021
Mr. Fuller and Ms. Warren lead the students in a team building game called "Toxic Waste." The students had to work together to get the balls from one basket to the other without touching them with their hands. What a great way to build teamwork and camaraderie!
Students had to hook their strings to the basket to transport the "Toxic Waste."
They couldn't touch the basket or balls with their hands.
Students carefully try to pour the "toxic waste" into the other basket.
September 15, 2021
When the directors of ABC set out to redesign our after school program, they wanted to use a lot of the features used by the Ron Clark Academy. Several of your Idabel Public Schools teachers have been able to visit this amazing middle school and we were energized and inspired by the teachers, students and parents we met. One of the ideas we really loved was the idea of the House System (think Harry Potter), and we knew it was something worth trying with our students to promote camaraderie and teamwork. At RCA, the students create house cheers and banners, and I was fortunate enough to get a peek at a couple of the banners our students and teachers have created for our very own ABC program.
Students work on the Iqhawe banner during ABC.
Tvshka House's Banner on display in Mr. Jackson's room.
Guerrero House's motto: Striving for Success
September 22, 2021
Champion Time! Teachers get small groups of students for either enrichment or intervention, depending on their needs. It's a great way for teachers to meet students' needs in a small group environment, and build the relationships we know are so important for the teaching and learning experience!
Ms. Oney's small group discussed Cause and Effect and drew on desks to illustrate their understanding of the concept!
Ms. Warren helps students in small group with a variety of skills.
Another fantastic (and fun) teaching strategy during Champion Time!
September 23, 2021
This afternoon, I went in to watch the Central and IMS Archery team practice under the guidance of Mrs. Hastings and Mr. Jackson. It was so neat to see the students so disciplined and focused on their targets as they carefully took aim. I got to visit with a few former students, and I'm proud to say not one of them aimed at me while I was photographing them! :) I can't wait to watch them improve and grow in their skills as the year progresses!
Bryce shows poise and focus as he aims for the target!
Aliana and Adrianna show me their target!
Harper and Paige aiming for success!
Bryce and Preston are on target!
October 4, 2021
Team chants are underway for parent night, which is this Thursday! I got a few pics of Iqhawe practicing, and I showed up just in time to hear the Warriors chant, "My hands are high, my feet are low, and this is how the Warriors go!" All the houses are eagerly learning and practicing their chants! I know their parents will be impressed!
Iqhawe practices their cheer!
"Big G! Little o! Go Iqhawe Go!"
Iqhawe house getting the timing right for their chant!
October 7, 2021
Wowza! We had our very first House Rally this evening! Over 40 families were represented. It was so neat to see all the houses perform their chants. Guerrero House won the chant competition. Tvshka House won the huge trophy for Best Attendance and Behavior! We also had a special guest visit from one of our partners, Mrs. Linda Potts, from the Idabel Public Library. She shared the many programs and resources the library has to offer our students and families.
Guerrero House rocks the cafeteria with their chant!
Warrior House unveiled their house banner.
Mr. Gammon welcomes parents and families to our inaugural House Rally.
Mrs. Linda Potts, from Idabel Public Library, shares information about all the resources available to Idabel students and families.
October 20, 2021
Today, Guerrero House recieved a thank you note from 100-year-old WWII veteran, Mr. Lawrence Decker. Mr. Decker turned 100 in September, and Guerrero House had made and sent cards to him for this very special milestone birthday! I found this information about Mr. Decker online:
Shortly after graduating from High School Lawrence was drafted into the U.S. Army in 1942. He served in the infantry in North Africa, France, Italy and Germany. After the war, Lawrence returned home to his family farm in Springer, NM where he continued to ranch and farm. Lawrence was also employed by the local school district as a School bus driver.
Thank you to Mrs. Pond and Ms. Royal for teaching students about our veterans and the sacrafices they've made for our freedoms.
Mr. Decker sent the students of Guerrero House a thank you card.
Mr. Decker took the time to send the students of Guerrero House a very special thank you note!
October 28, 2021
Today, Guerrero House went to visit Hill's Nursing Home to deliver some beautiful fall wreaths they'd made. I imagine the residents will be so pleased to have them hanging on their doors!
Students from Guerrero House line up to share the fall wreaths they made.
Guerrero House students showing off their wreaths.
Members of Guerrero House show the wreaths they made for nursing home residents.
Ms. Joy Hill, director of Hill's Nursing Home, thanking Ms. Royal and Mrs. Pond for bringing the students and wreaths out.
November 1, 2021
I went to visit Tvshka House and they were working to count 120 beads in groups of 10 to make corn decorations. The corn will symbolize the fall harvest of corn, and Mrs. Jackson is sharing a book about the Green Corn Goddess. So many skills covered in this activity! I was able to return to photograph the finished products, and they are so wonderful!
Sorting beads to make corn decorations.
Making groups of 10.
Aiyanna and Patience show their beaded corn.
Dodge's beaded corn
November 1, 2021
Guerrero House is at it again for the residents of Hill's Nursing Home. This time, they've made Thanksgiving themed placemats to share, and they're going to make cookies! What a fun treat! It's so neat that Ms. Royal and Mrs. Pond are teaching these students so much about giving back to the community and keeping in contact with nursing home residents who may feel lonely or cut off from family and friends during this pandemic. That's preparing Champions for life!
Clarabelle shows off her placemat for the residents of Hill's.
Tristan made a placemat to share with the residents of Hill's Nursing Home.
Brooklyn shares her placemat she made for the Hill's residents.
Ta'Laysha shows me her placemat for the residents of Hill's.
November 3, 2021
Guerrero House got to try out the Skillastics mats, which incorporates board game strategies with movement and math. What an engaging activity!
Mr. Fuller leads a group in using the Skillastic mat.
This group had to high five each member while weaving through the line.
Rolling the dice to see which movement comes next.
Tossing the bean bag in a star pattern.
November 4, 2021
Guerrero House is still in service learning mode as they made cards for our wonderful cafeteria staff. I know our ladies at Central will appreciate the cards Guerrero students made.
Decorating cards for the cafeteria staff.
A card for the lunch ladies at Central.
Guerrero students working on their cards.
November 4, 2021
With the holiday season quickly approaching, the houses are working to make ornaments to decorate the trees at the Red River Museum. Iqhawe House is working on painting their ornaments today.
DeMarquez paints a snowflake in Iqhawe house.
Alonzo, ready for the next step of decorating.
A group of Iqhawe students paint their ornaments.
Students working to decorate their ornaments in Iqhawe House.
November 10, 2021
All the houses are busy preparing their ornaments for the Museum of the Red River's Christmas trees. Iqhawe house is painting Christmas shapes. Warrior House students were able to choose from a snowflake, a Santa hat, or a snowman made from a cup. Guerrero House made Christmas trees by wrapping yarn around painted popsicle sticks, and Tvshka students made candy canes or wreaths out of pipe cleaners and beads. It's been so much fun to see their wonderful creativity!
Mercedez from Iqhawe House paints her Christmas tree ornament.
Ms. Oney shows a group of Warrior House students how to create a snowman from a cup.
Mia follows the pattern she drew to create a candy cane ornament in Tvshka House.
Guerrero House's Jerell used yarn and sequins to decorate his Christmas ornament.
November 15, 2021
Tvshka House is busy making turkeys by tracing their hands.
A Tvshka student traces her hand to make a turkey.
Eliana adds the finishing touches to her turkey.
Lizbeth traced her hand to make a turkey.
Tvshka students working to make their turkeys.
November 16, 2021
ABC has so many activities for students, including tutoring and intervention. Here, Ms. Taylor reteaches the second grade phonics skills ee and ea by playing a game with the students. Fun and learning!
Second grade students jumping to choose their answer in a phonics game.
Is the word an ee word or an ea word?
Students celebrate choosing the right answer in Ms. Taylor's intervention time.
November 18, 2021
Ms. Oney, Ms. Taylor and Mrs. Melson so bravely let students work with glitter to decorate these beautiful cornucopias!
November 29, 2021
Ms. Royal reads a thank you note from the cafeteria staff to the students of Guerrero to thank them for the cards they made. Mrs. K. Pond tells the students about the plans for Christmas caroling and donations for the nursing home residents.
November 29, 2021
Students of Iqhawe house work on Christmas pictures with Art Hub.
December 2, 2021
The holidays are very fast approaching! Guerrero house is wrapping boxes and making posters in order to take up donations for the residents of Hill's Nursing Home.
December 3, 2021
This evening was the Idabel Christmas parade, and the theme was Christmas Magic. Mrs. Hastings, Mr. Jackson, and the Archery team represented Central with their float in the parade!
December 9, 2021
What a great day for a field trip to the Museum of the Red River! Our afterschool students enjoyed seeing the Christmas tree they helped to decorate and of course a visit with Oklahoma's own dinosaur, acrocanthasaurus!
Central students recently enjoyed a trip to the Museum of the Red River.
Students parade by the 2021 Festival of Trees presented by the Museum of the Red River.
Afterschool students enjoyed seeing acro at the Museum of the Red River.
January 4, 2022
Happy New Year! Welcome back to an exciting new year of ABC! January will be STEM month for our students, and all four houses are busy creating STEM activities to share with parents on our next parent night.
Warrior House students create recycling posters for a recycling project.
Iqhawe House students are building paper airplanes.
Guerrero House members worked with Legos for their STEM challenge.
Students from Tvshka house planning for towers made from spaghetti and marshmallows.
January 6, 2022
Continuing with the STEM Challenge, the four houses are working hard on their STEM projects.
Members of Tvshka build towers with marshmallows and spaghetti.
Guerrero works on Legos for their STEM Challenge.
Mr. Fuller shows Iqhawe students how to best throw a paper airplane.
Warrior house students building catapults from popsicle sticks.
January 12, 2022
Tushka House had a great day, building ziplines and towers with gumdrops and toothpicks. Each team had to work together to be successful in this challenge. The team with the tallest tower (that stood alone for 5 seconds) was the winner!
Members of Tvshka build a tower using gumdrops and toothpicks.
Working to make a safe zipline for the ping pong ball.
Testing out the safety of the zipline.
Ms. Oney measures the winning team's gumdrop tower.
January 25, 2022
Get ready, get set, GO! Mrs. Melson, Ms. Oney and Ms. Taylor had a poppin' good time watching students race by blowing a piece of popcorn with a straw! What a fun activity!
Students from Iqhawe House working hard to keep their popcorn in line!
Who will win?
Ready....Set....Go!
Popcorn races are so much fun!
January 26, 2022
Tvshka House members did a neat race using balloons and soda cans and the static electricity from their bodies! Students had to work in pairs to take turns "charging" their balloons and then holding the balloons down for the cans to follow along. What a fun idea!
The soda can follows the static electricity of balloon.
Students had to take turns "charging" the balloons.
Reaching the finish line!
Tvshka teammates taking turns leading their can to victory.
February 1, 2022
We had some special visitors tour our ABC program today! Teachers from Atoka Public Schools came to tour our program and learn about all the wonderful things we do here at ABC. They were able to see all four houses busy at work, as well as learn about what the staff does to prepare and make everyday a fun and productive day. What a great testament to our program it is that the state department is sending others to see what we do!
Ms. S. Pond leads the Atoka teachers on a tour of the ABC program.
Teachers from Atoka Public Schools met with Ms. S. Pond and Mr. Gammon to find out more about our fabulous ABC program.
February 8, 2022
This month's theme is all about countries. Yesterday, when I toured the classrooms, Tvshka was learning all about Greece with Ms. Oney and Ms. Taylor. Iqhawe was learning about Australia and the Great Barrier Reef with Mr. and Mrs. Jackson. Warrior House was learning about Cameroon with Mrs. Pond and Mrs. Royal. Mr. Fuller and Ms. Warren worked with Guerrero House on the continent of Africa.
We're looking forward to our STEM Night on Thursday, when parents can come and check out what all the students have learned. Also, this blogger got a brand new camera, but I have to wait for the adaptor to come in so I can share my pics with you! :)
February 11, 2022
Our STEM Parent Night was a complete success! We had forty families represented, and students and parents got to experience fun STEM activities! Participants were able to build a marble run, build Lego structures, have balloon races, catapult marshmallows in two different ways, make custom paper airplanes and build towers with gum drops and toothpicks. Students were there to guide their parents and guardians in the activities, and an excellent time was had by all!
Students and parents create a marble run using cardboard tubes and other materials.
Ms. Taylor led a group in building towers with gumdrops and toothpicks.
Mr. Fuller and Ms. Warren helped students to build custom paper airplanes.
Students worked together to launch marshmallows with catapults.
February 11, 2022
Mrs. Melson's daughter, Sarah, came to visit Tvshka House today and showed pictures of her trip to Greece. She visited Santorini, Crete and Athens. She shared pictures of the beautiful houses, the sparkling Mediterranean Sea, and some of the fresh delicious food she tried while on vacation there. She also visited the Olymipc Stadium and the Parthenon. The students were so excited and grateful to have her visit!
February 12, 2022
The Idabel Archery team competed today in Broken Bow!
The Warrior Archery Team participated in a tournament at Broken Bow on Saturday.
The Warrior Archery Team takes aim!
March 1, 2022
Guerrero house is still busy working on their project about Cameroon. The project has them coloring the map, the country's flag and learning facts about Cameroon.
Mrs. Pond shows one student's finished project.
Guerrero students work on their Cameroon projects.
A Guerrero student works on her country project.
March 9, 2022
Ms. Oney and Ms. Taylor took advantage of the great weather and had a few friendly competitions going on today! The students enjoyed the sack races, tug of war, and other activities outside on the playground.
March 23, 2022
Tutoring time! Mr. Stiles has been bringing his middle school students over for peer tutoring for the last few weeks. What a great way for the middle schoolers to learn patience and mentor these elementary students! These third graders can get help from their teachers or their middle school mentors!
March 29, 2022
Ms. Oney and Ms. Taylor's group was learning all about Mary Blair, the creator of the "It's a Small World" ride in the Disney parks. Today students were getting ready to create their own Mary Blair castles.
April 4, 2022
Mrs. Jackson and Ms. Leonard's class is learning about the Oklahoma flag and its symbols of peace. Each part of the flag represents part of the Native American culture that our state is known for. They are also discussing the geography and waterways of Oklahoma and other facts about our great state.
April 5, 2022
Mrs. Pond and Ms. Royal's group is starting a study on rocks and geology. Before beginning, they learned about tectonic plates and the continental drift.
April 11, 2022
"Brand new state! Brand new state, gonna treat you great!" All four houses were learning about Oklahoma today! Ms. Oney and Ms. Taylor's Warrior House was making an Oklahoma flip book, Ms. Warren's Iqhawe House was learning facts about our great state, Mrs. K. Pond and Ms. Royal's Guerrero House was about to discover crops of Oklahoma, and Mrs. Jackson and Ms. Leonard were bursting with song as they taught Tushka House our state song. It was all I could do NOT to sing along at the top of my lungs! Although I did get a "YEOW" out once I got out into the hallway! :)
April 13, 2022
This evening was our final parent night of the year. We had many different games set up all around the caafeteria and parents and students enjoyed playing against each other and a few of their ABC teachers! We had 22 families represented, so it was a great turnout! We also had a representative from the Museum of the Red River to share information about the museum. Guerrero House displayed their Oklahoma State tree, the redbud, made with dyed grains of rice. Mr. Gammon and the other teachers chatted with parents about our upcoming summer school program, in partnership with the Choctaw Nation POSSE program. A good time was had by all!
April 28, 2022
We celebrated our last day of ABC with an ice cream party! All the students received a free book as well. Everyone enjoyed being served a sundae and a good time was had by all.
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