Newspaper Page Text
February 11. 2009
PAGE 5C
^Reporter
Hubbard Elementary School
Hubbard’s dancing tigers
Hubbard Elementary
School’s Dancing Tigers
program began on
Wednesday, Jan. 14 with
44 dancers in grades Pre-K
through 5th. The Dancing
Tigers meet at Hubbard
each Wednesday after
school. Donna Brown,
dance instructor, says the
students are learning a
variety of dance moves,
slides, jazz, and hip hop
techniques as they dance
to the Jonas Brothers,
Hannah Montana, High
School Musical and more
favorites.
The dance program
offers high energy fun as
well as benefiting HES
and the community. Ms.
Brown is a part of Cotton
Kandy Skies, a children’s
production company that
feeds the hungry in
Monroe and Spalding
Counties. As a non-profit
organization, monetary
donations are not accepted
but canned good donations
are accepted year-round.
Ms. Brown and her stu
dents will lead a canned
goods drive later this year
to benefit our community.
The cost of the dance class
is just $25 per month and
a portion of that money
goes directly into helping
our community and our
school. Students can join
the Dancing Tigers at any
time and have fun while
providing a service to
HES, Forsyth and the sur
rounding community.
Tumipators mark 100 days
Students in Ms. Jan Turpin’s 3rd
grade class celebrated the 100th day
of school on Monday, Jan. 26.
Students brought in projects ranging
from stickers, macaroni, pennies,
popcorn, marshmallows, and cereal
to represent 100 things they found
at home. The entire school day
focused on activities around the
number 100. Gracie Thompson in
brought in a piece of ribbon that
measured 100 centimeters long
instead of counting out individual
items. Gracie thought that using
her knowledge she had gained from
last week’s lesson on measurement
would be an awesome way to repre
sent her project. All of the students
seemed to enjoy the day and looked
forward to the end of the day when
Ms. Turpin popped popcorn and had
her students to count the number of
kernels popped in two bags. When
students got to the number 100, they
tallied their charts and eventually
graphed their results. The end
result equaled 629 kernels popped in
two bags. Everyone was amazed at
the end result. Kamya Davis creat
ed a graph to count down the num
ber of school days left in this school
year. When asked if she was ready
for the last day of school, Kamya
responded, “No, I love coming to
school because learning is fun in Ms.
Turpin’s class. She makes every
thing fun. I think she rocks and my
class does too!”
Math adds up for Mrs. Bunn’s third graders
Mrs. Bunn’s third grade
class has been working
hard to learn our multipli
cation and division facts.
We have been working on
the geometry that third
graders need to know such
as lines, angles, and the
various figures. We will be
blazing a path into the
world of perimeter and
area this week. The stu
dents will be visiting the
playground not to play but
to discuss the area and
perimeter. They will decide
how much more area and
perimeter we might need if
we added half of a regula
tion basketball court. This
will also bring fractions
into the problem. Milk may
do a body good but math
does a brain good!
Trixie, our
class pet
Our class pet is a dog,
YES, I said DOG! Trixie is
a Pomeranian; she is
slightly over a year old and
weighs less than 51bs.
Now some of you may be
thinking a dog could be
distracting for students.
However, research states
that the presence of a calm
and well-trained dog offers
a unique form of social support and invites peer inter
action; additionally, it reduces stress and anxiety
(Jalongo, 2004). Trixie comes to school with me most
days, and the students earn the right to read with her
based on good behavior and acts of kindness. Now I am
sure you are thinking this sounds crazy, but based on
research it is very beneficial for the students. Dogs
offer literal and figurative support to struggling read
ers (Bueche, 2003). My students absolutely love read
ing with Trixie; they say it makes them feel special.
Here are just a few of the things my class had to say
about their class pet.
Bailey Elliott said, “I think it is important to have
Trixie in our class; she makes me feel good.”
Jakob Bailey stated, “I think Trixie should be in our
room because she makes us learn.”
Dacoria Chatmon said, “Trixie is important to me
because I have never had a dog, and she is fun to read
with.”
Shaniya Walker said, “It’s very important to me
because I get to read to her sometimes and when I
read to her it makes me feel important.”
Georgia Schaffer said, “I think Trixie benefits our
classroom because she is nice and quiet. We know she
doesn’t like for us to get loud, so we behave and learn
more.”
Trixie makes reading time in our class fun and excit
ing for the students. Research shows that work with
dogs can build motivation, maintain focus, and
increase task persistence, even when other interven
tions have failed (Granger, Kogan, Fitcheet, & Helmer,
1998; Gunter, 1999; Heimlich, 2001). It is my goal to
assist all my students struggling with reading over
come their fears and limitations by using our class pet,
Trixie!
Mrs. Wachtel’s scientists
Nathan Hancock and Gage Bottoms demonstrate a science ex
periment for Mrs. Wachtel’s Third Grade class. They explain
how fur and fat act as insulators.
Hubbard pre-K registration
Pre-K registration for Monroe County Schools will
be held March 12 for Hubbard Elementary, T. G. Scott
Elementary, and K. B. Sutton Elementary, from 8
a.m.-5 p.m. Parents should register at the Board of
Education’s Auditorium at 25 Brooklyn Avenue in
Forsyth. School districts will be determined at the
time of registration. Parents must bring proof of
their child’s age and residency to complete registra
tion. Placement is on a first come, first serve basis
with completed registration. For more information,
contact Board of Education at 994-2031.
Feb. 19 & 20
7 p.m. • Board of Education auditorium
Tickets: $5 each