Oak Hills Elementary School Newsletter

OAK HILLS ELEMENTARY SCHOOL NEWSLETTER

December 2014

Principal’s Message

Happy Holidays Everyone!

It’s a great time of year to be around children. The wonder and joy they express during the Christmas season makes me smile and feel even more grateful to be right here at Oak Hills.

Each year, Mrs. Hodges donates a tree to the Festival of Trees. It is a wonderful service learning project. She involves all of the fifth grade students in creating and producing the decorations with the help of volunteer mothers. The volunteer mothers help her set up the tree at the South Towne Center and then the students go on a field trip to see the tree all set up with the other trees at the festival. It is such a great experience for everyone involved. This year the tree sold for $1500! Thank you Mrs. Hodges, Mrs. Wilkinson, and all of the mothers who made this type of learning activity happen for our fifth graders. It’s the spirit of Christmas in action. If you get a minute to visit the festival this weekend, watch for the tree.

Our Christmas Choir will be performing during the evenings of December 17 and 18, starting at 7:00 p.m. They will also be performing in a concert assembly for the school on the 17th at 2:00. Listening to the students sing is a sure way to feel the spirit and fun of the season! We have some talented and energetic ladies who have put this all together. Thanks to Lisa Anderson and Misty Mayfield and their committee for all of their hard work in providing our students with opportunities to share their talents and shine.

We had very successful SEP conferences and book fair last month with almost every class reporting 100% attendance. The teachers enjoyed a delicious dinner provided by the PTA and the support from the community was fantastic! Students, teachers, parents, and administration working together is a winning recipe for student success!

Merry Christmas and a happy New Year to each one of you!

Warmly,

Ruthanne Keller

PTA MONTHLY MESSAGE

Wow! We can’t believe it is already December! We had so many amazing events in November!

Thank you to everyone for coming to Parent Teacher Conferences and for supporting our Book Fair. We were able to reach our goal and stock each of the classrooms with books and also buy books for Mrs. Keller’s Book Club. We couldn’t have done it without everyone’s generosity and support. The teachers are so thankful and we are too. A huge shout-out to Laura Stewart for organizing the whole Book Fair. It is a lot of work and she did such an amazing job! Another big shout-out goes to Leslie Stevens and Heather Allred for providing a delicious dinner for the teachers during Parent Teacher Conferences. Those nights get long and we appreciate your time and effort in making sure the teachers get a yummy meal in between appointments! You ladies are awesome! Dads and Donuts was a huge success! Thank you to all the Dads who came with their kids!! It was such a fun morning! A big thanks goes out to Desiree Werrett and her committee for putting on the event and for making sure we had enough donuts for everyone! 

Our Veteran’s Day Assembly was truly amazing! Thank you to everyone who came and brought a Veteran. We appreciate all the kids who participated and made it such a wonderful program. We also appreciate Sgt. Keith Moon for coming and sharing his experiences and inspiring words with us. It made us all so grateful for our freedom! A huge thank you goes to Heidi Hill and her committee who planned and organized this amazing event. You are the best!

We are getting so excited for the upcoming Christmas Choir Concert. The kids have been having fun getting ready for the concert and they have been working very hard on the songs. We can’t wait to hear them perform! The concerts will be held on December 17 and 18 at 7:00 p.m. and it will get for sure everyone into the Christmas Spirit! We would like to thank our amazing choir director Lisa Anderson for organizing everything for the choir this year, and also, thanks to Misty Mayfield for playing the accompaniment. You ladies are amazing!!

It’s time for the School Musical at last! Aladdin Jr. is coming!! We are so excited!! The play will be open to all 3-6 graders who are interested in being involved in the production this year. A pre-show performance will be done by the 2nd graders. An informational parent meeting will be held on Friday, December 5 at 1:30 p.m. Forms will be available to fill out for all participants. Registration fees are $30 per child or $55 per family. Auditions will be held on Monday, December 8th, Callbacks on Tuesday, December 9th and Dance Auditions on Thursday, December 11. Sign-up sheets for audition times will be available at the parent meeting. Judging will be done by outside judges and there will be two casts chosen. We would like to thank Holly Barker and Mariana Harper and their amazing committee for putting everything together for the play. This is a huge task and we are so grateful to them for sharing their time, energy and talents with us! You are all extraordinary!!!

The Spelling Bee is coming up in January, so be watching for an email with a link to the school website with the words on it. It should come out before Christmas Break so you can be practicing. The spelling bee is scheduled for January 23 for grades 3-6.

This is such a great time of year and we are so excited for all the upcoming activities. We are so thankful for all the countless hours of volunteers who make all these activities possible. It enriches our children’s lives and we appreciate everyone so much! We hope you all have a wonderful Holiday Season.

Monica Lonnecker and the PTA Board