Student Leadership Team

Student Leadership has been working hard on preparing a hallway for Columbine High School’s Trick or Treat Street this weekend.  Each hallway will have a different theme, and Leawood’s theme is The Lion King. Come check it out! Trick or Treat Street is at Columbine High School on Saturday, October 27th, from 3:00pm-5:00pm.  Thank you to all of you who have brought candy in. 

Our next project will be organizing a Food and Toiletries Collection Drive and helping with our Veterans Day celebration.

For more information, please reach out to Mrs Shehan at martha.shehan@jeffco.k12.co.us

From the Library

Our Enchanted Forest Book Fair was a huge success! Thank you to all of the parents, grandparents, students, and community members who visited our book fair.  We will be able to add over 100 new titles to our collection with this year’s proceeds, including the books shown below.  

Mrs Pepper, Digital Teacher Librarian

Music Happenings!

On Thursday, November 15th we will be having “informances” (informal/informational performances) in Mr. Lomba’s 5th grade music class and Mrs. Story’s 6th grade music class of our small group ukelele projects. Family members and school staff are welcome to join as audience! Performances will be videotaped and available for viewing for those who can’t make it during the school day. These will take place in the music classroom during our regularly scheduled 6th grade AMP time (9:15-10:00) and 5th grade AMP time (10:05-10:50) respectively. Mr. Lupo’s 6th grade and Mrs. De Herrera-Schnering’s 5th grade class “informances” will take place on Tuesday, December 4th.

On Tuesday, November 27th 4th graders will be taking a field trip to the Colorado Symphony Orchestra for the “Drums Around the World” youth concert. Symphony percussionists play new and old pieces written with rhythm and drumming in mind, including pieces for found household objects like brooms! 

Mark your calendars for the 2nd and 3rd grade Winter Concert on Thursday, December 13th at 7pm. We will be singing, moving, and performing songs using pitched and unpitched percussion in the gym on the Leawood Elementary stage.

1st-3rd graders are continuing to learn how to be creative movers. Here are pictures of us exploring the concept of size (big and small) using mirroring with partners. One student leads with movements and the other has to follow as a mirror image of the leader.

Mr. Zigman, Music Teacher

From Instrumental Music:

Hello band and orchestra guardians! We have some very important events coming up:

Our fall concert is just around the corner! Both band and orchestra will have a concert on the 13th of November at Columbine High School in the gym

Concert schedule:

Band students arrive at 5:00pm in the back of the gym (behind curtain) – Leave cases and coats in back of gym, Bring instrument, stand, and music to the front of the gym. Concert begins at 5:30pm.

Advanced Band Students leave instruments and music to the side of the gym and sit in reserved student section. Remember to be a good and attentive audience member.

After Beginner Band performs the groups will switch.

Orchestra students arrive at 6:30pm in the back of the gym (behind curtain) – Leave cases and coats in back of gym, Bring instrument, stand, and music to the front of the gym. Concert begins at 7:00pm.

String tuning at 6:45pm.

Advanced Orchestra Students leave instruments and music to the side of the gym and sit in reserved student section. Remember to be a good and attentive audience member.

After Beginner Orchestra performs the groups will switch.

Item checklist for concert:

• Instrument / Music

• Music stand 

• Band/Orchestra t-shirt (or black shirt if you don’t have one) and black pants or skirt.

Extra rehearsal: 

On Wednesday November 7th, I’ll be holding an extra rehearsal in the Columbine High School band room to prepare for the concert the following week. 

Here is the schedule for that: 

4:00–4:45pm/Beginning Band 

4:45–5:30pm/Beginning Orchestra 

5:30–6:15pm/Advanced Band 

6:15–7:00pm/Advanced Orchestra

I’ve posted links to recordings of the Advanced Band/Orchestra repertoire at www.columbineareamusic.us to help aid your students in their practice endeavors.

Eric R. Whaylen

Eric.whaylen@jeffco.k12.co.us

P.E. and Track News

We   just completed our Leawood Lion Invitational  Track Meet at Jeffco Stadium on Tuesday October 16, 2018.  Our parent volunteers and all the coaches from all schools did such a great job that the meet went very smooth and kept a good time frame even though we added 1 more event.  We ran an all boys and all girls 800 relay. In the past it was just 1 coed relay. Our kids went into the meet with a well-balanced team and our kids did a great job. The schools that were competing were Green Mountain, Leawood, Red Rocks, Rose-Stein and Ute Meadows. Our young tracksters were able were able to win several medals as they showed such great sportsmanship throughout the meet and all of us are very proud of them. This meet was started about 21 years ago by Lasley and some of the records from many years ago still stand. Mr Gonzales took over the sponsorship of the meet about 12 years ago when Lasley dropped it. In the few years that our Leawood Lions have been in the meet, we have earned 14 records out of the which gives Leawood a little over 1/3 of the records held.  Over the years there have been 13 different schools involved in this meet. Our kids really stood tall and some even gave up an event so that others could have a chance to compete. We learned that a winning team is one that stands together. 

Records by school: 

TOP THREE-Many other schools have held records but have been broken over the years.

Leawood-14

Hutchinson-6

Lasley-5

In other news, we are getting ready to start our after school team sports for 3rd, 4th and 5th grades.  We will have a different modified team sport each week.  3rd will be on Monday , 4th on Tuesday, and 5th on Thursday from 3:45-4:45 pm.  Games will be bowling pin kick ball, in door kick ball, Detroit basketball, and scooter soccer.  Look for permission slips going home soon with our starting date and more information for those that are interested. 

Mr Fred Gonzales

Fourth graders took a trip to Africa this week. 

Students have been learning the importance of reading maps. Students understand that analyzing the impact of physical geography allows us to identify the unique differences in the lives of people who live in different regions. This unit allows students to think like geographers and investigate how physical geography impacts people. As young geographers, students analyze geographic sources (including charts, maps, graphs, and multi-media) to acquire information about patterns of physical geography (such as climate, rainfall, plants, and animals) within different natural regions. Next, students investigate the lives of people living within these natural regions. Students apply their knowledge of physical geography by explaining how physical geography provides opportunities and places constraints on people. In the end, students demonstrate complex geographic thinking by using details of physical geography as they compare the lives of people living in different natural regions. This unit develops foundational geographic thinking that is applied during the study of Colorado when students will examine 1) the impact of Colorado’s natural regions on people over time and 2) economic development unique to Colorado’s natural regions. Please see pictures below from our travels across Africa.

From the Instructional Coach

The Importance of Reading to Your Child

Parents often ask what they can do to help their child at home.   The number one answer from an educator will always be, read to your child.  Even after they have learned to read on their own, research shows the benefits will continue as your read to your children throughout their childhood. 

1.    Reading exposes your child to rich language and diverse content.  Books allow parents to expand the language environment as they become their children’s first and most important teachers.  They help parents to immerse their children in rich and varied language.

2.    Reading with your children helps prepare their minds to succeed in school.  The benefits of shared reading know no age limits.  Babies are soothed by their parents’ voices; school children reading to parents can show their new accomplishments or seek their parents’ help. Children are used to listening to language for its meaning, but reading demands that they also pay attention to the sounds of language.  Hearing words in terms of syllables, consonants and vowels encourages phoneme awareness, which is the first step towards reading phonetically. 

3.    Reading with your child can enrich family ties and intimacy.  Its virtues are strongest when parents read ‘dialogically’ by taking the book as an opportunity to enjoy a conversation.  Reading together is family time; it is fun time, cuddle time, a time to share your passions, perspective, and your values but also a time to listen. It creates a time for children to express themselves as well as an opportunity for parents to show their willingness to listen. When we build a conversation around a book we encourage our children to communicate with us.

To learn more, check out this site below. http://www.scilearn.com/blog/why-you-should-read-with-your-child

Happy Reading!

Aimee Crispin, Instructional Coach

From the Principal 

From the School & Office  

From Our Teachers

From Our Preschool  

From PTSA/Accountability  

From the District/Community