November 2016

In a wintery wonderland of snow, our first graders sang songs to welcome in the season at the Mapleton Tree Lighting Ceremony. They delighted the crowd with their poems, songs and actions. They even sang "Here Comes Santa Claus" as Santa himself arrived on a decorated fire truck. 

Our Principal, Mrs. Peery, had an opportunity to read with each of the grade levels before our Thanksgiving Break.  

This week is our GRATITUDE week sponsored by our student council. We are asking for donations that could help other children and families in need this Christmas and anything donated is greatly appreciated.

Today Mrs. Hansen 6th Grade class dissected owl pellets. Owl pellets were donated by Patti Richards with Great Basin Wildlife Rescue.

Mrs. Howcroft brought owl pellets for us to dissect today. Most of us had no idea that owls eat their food whole and then regurgitate the bones and fur of whatever they ate. We used a bone guide to try and determine the meal the owl had eaten. It was fun and very interesting. 

5th grade classes do a  wax museum each year. Students select a deceased person in history that made some kind of influence in America. Students do research, reports, and a put together a small paragraph they memorized to present to parents and classmates. They also dressed up and spent time with props and posters. What an amazing job they did. Such hard work and dedication. Thank you to all involved to help make this happen.

Avery Jenkins brought her two American miniature ponies Blue and Wingnut for show and tell last week.

Mrs. Hutchin's 5th grade class had an election in their classroom on Election Day. Students wrote speeches and debated about education and the environment while representing fictional political parties in the primaries and presidential debate. Jessica Esquivel was voted to be the president at the end of the day. 

Friday was an extra special day at Mapleton Elementary! Five local Veterans visited each grade level where students showed their gratitude through hundreds of cards written, posters made, poems and songs performed, and even salutes and many rounds of applause. It was a humbling experience as these men briefly shared their stories of service and received the warm "welcomes" and "thank yous" from Mapleton students. Even as the Veteran's were leaving and waved goodbye to those in the lunchroom, students stood, cheered and clapped showing their respect and appreciation.

Our theme this year is "Choose to make a Difference," and this term we are focusing on "choosing to be kind." Each week during this month our teachers have picked out a student in their class that they see showing kindness here at school.  Make sure to look at all three pictures for the month of October, showing all of our students of the week showing kindness. 

Congratulations to our October Road to Success winners.  These students were the top readers in their class and received a book of their choice.  Mapleton School students have read over 450,000 minutes so far this year.  Way to go students!