Happy Thanksgiving! (also some pics from third grade Colonial Day!)

I would like to extend my best wishes for a happy and restful Thanksgiving.  I often think about how blessed I am to work at such an amazing school, with such a dedicated staff, in a wonderful community!!!  I am also thankful for my amazing family that continues to grow and grow….over the past year I have gained a daughter-in law, son- in law, a new granddaughter, and a wheaten terrier grand puppy!  They will all be at our house for Thanksgiving and I cannot wait to get home and start cooking!  Enjoy your holiday, and enjoy the Colonial Day pics from today!!!

Gaga Pit at EES!

Have your children been talking about the new Gaga Pit at EES?  I thought you might enjoy seeing some pictures of the new pit and students learning the game in PE class.  I am also including this link in case you want to watch children play this game.

  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tjK7V9420nI

Thank you to the parent volunteers who worked from 9:00-4:00 on Saturday building this pit!  They were:

Steve Bixby

Jenn & Jonathan Cort

Chris WIlliams

Bernie Holmes

Also, TM Turfscapes (Karen & Tom Moulton) donated the turf and a 3 person crew for 3 hours.

Finally, thank you to the parent volunteers who have signed up to oversee "the pit"next week when children begin to use it during recess.  Linda Collins has been so kind as to teach every student at EES how to play this game during PE this week!  Great team effort!!  We are so blessed to have such amazing parents!!!

Hour of Code at EES!

 Have you heard about the Hour of Code?  Last year, the Hour of Code was launched as a grassroots campaign to recruit ten million students to try their hand at computer science during National Computer Science Week.  The idea behind it was to break stereotypes and to remove the veil of mystery that surrounds the field. The campaign supassed its goal in only a few days, and has now reached 47 million students worldwide. 

We are thrilled to launch the EES Hour of Code in early December.  This Hour of Code will coincide with National Computer Science Week, which kicks off on December 8.  The main goal is to empower learners young and old to take their first steps toward learning computer science basics in a fun and accessible way!!  Innovators like Mark Zuckerberg and Bill Gates are behind this national push to promote computer science.  It is predicted that by 2020 there will be one million computing jobs without qualified applicants. Now is the time to expose our learners to the exciting possibilities of computer science and technology!  We live in a digital age, but few know how to make it work.  The Hour of Code is looking to break that cycle.

Please join me in supporting the students and staff as we chart our course for a coding adventure.  Mr. Bodmer-Turner, technology teacher, will be working with students during thier computer class that week.  He  would appreciate having two parents per class to support this initiative.  If you are interesting in helping, please email him directly.   In addition, some teachers might be reaching out to you for classroom support.  We are aiming to share our coding progress with the country at hashtag #HourofCode.  I encourage the EES community to check out Code.org for more information about the importance of teaching computer science in our classrooms, and see the positive momentum this campaign has garnered.  

In just one hour, we will align our compass for an engaging, meaningful exposure to computer science!  And quite possibly, we may launch the coding wizards of the future!

GRANDMA Roberts!!!

Our first grandchild was born on Tuesday, November 4 at 4:46 AM.  This is a photo of the new grandma holding Madison Kyle Roberts (6 lb. 9oz.) for the first time.  She is so beautiful!!!  This has been an amazing year for my family.  My son Jeff is such a proud Dad!!!