All week, during the lunch time, "Smencils" will be on sale for $1 each. All profits will be going towards our Relay for Life goal. The scented pencils will be sold by members of Team North. Please help support our Relay efforts and buy one of the 10 scented pencils this week. Thank you!

For their assignment this week, the boys and girls were to write a kind note to their parent and leave it in a place that they would find it. It was so nice to hear about the notes that many of you received. Some notes are still not found, so if you didn't get one keep looking for yours.
A PTO Officer Nomination reminder came home today. Please consider nominating yourself for one of the 5 Officer positions for next year. All nominations will be presented at our meeting on February 2nd. Thank you and have a great weekend!

Today the students are bringing home a pink informational sheet about PTO. On February 1st, our PTO will be having a Give-Back Night at Chili's Restaurant from 4:00-10:00. Chili's will be giving 15% of total sales to North's PTO. Please bring the flyer with you to the restaurant next Wednesday so that your sale will count. Also, our next PTO meeting will be held on February 2nd at 9:00 am. Beau Weaver, a Poland School Board member, will be here to answer any questions you may have concerning the upcoming levy. Hope to see many of you next Wednesday and Thursday!

Today was an exciting day for 8 lucky North students. They had lunch at Pizza Hut and rode there in style! A black SUV limo picked the group up at 11:00 and drove us to the restaurant. The 8 students were top sellers for our PTO fundraiser in the Fall. After our pizza, wings, bread sticks, and salad, the limo whisked us back to school. It was a fun-filled afternoon for all of us.

It was great to see how many students enjoyed the snow this weekend! Many built snowmen and went sled riding but the big winner was having a snowball fight! My family enjoyed some sled riding and snowboarding minus me. The cold temperatures are not my favorite.
The Act of Kindness assignment will be a surprise for parents this week. Be on the lookout for something nice to happen to you!

We have 1 more chapter to read in our book, Frankly, Frannie Doggy Day Care. The main character, Frannie and her best friend Elliott, caused some trouble for her family. They took her aunt's dog to the vet's office by themselves and the dog got loose causing chaos. By luck, their situation actually helped Frannie's Aunt Magoo get a deal selling her sock dolls at a toy store. We will find out Frannie's consequence and if she can officially become a vet in our last chapter.

The weekend looks like a good opportunity for building a snowman, going sledding, or having a snowball fight. It has been about 11 months seen we have had this chance, so enjoy the snow fun if you can.

Hope everyone had a nice weekend and enjoyed the extra day at home. I wanted to let you know a link has been added to the left of the blogging spot about our Scholastic Book Fair. The book sale will be held on February 8th and 9th. Each homeroom has a time designated to them for shopping. The link to the left will provide more information about the book selections the students will be able to choose from. A book selection list will also be sent home closer to the Book Fair dates.

Our kick-off week for the riddles was fun! The students looked forward to their grade's turn to answer the riddle. We had 21 winners for the week! They each received a Chick-fil-A coupon for their creative answers. The "Riddle Box" will make another appearance in February. Ask your child about some of the riddles they heard this week.
We discussed the significance of Monday's holiday during our morning announcements. Many students shared why Martin Luther King Jr. was a hero for bringing equality to many. Enjoy the weekend.

The Riddle Box is back! The students were quite excited about the idea of answering riddles. One week of each month will be our 'riddle week'. Each day of that week, a grade is given a riddle after our morning announcements. Their answer needs to be written down and put into the Riddle Box before lunch. The winners are then announced the following morning. Each winner receives a coupon for their creative thinking!

Our new "Act of Kindness" was assigned today. The students are to help carry in groceries for a parent, grandparent, or neighbor. While discussing this during our announcements, a student asked if they could carry in something else other than groceries. He had suggested sporting equipment or suitcases. It is nice to see the students thinking beyond just what is mentioned. I encouraged them all to complete this easy task, helping with whatever needs carried in the house.

The students are enjoying a new book this week, Frankly, Frannie Doggy Day Care by AJ Stern. Frannie is a young girl desperate for a job with an office. She comes up with a "fantastical" plan to become a veterinarian and her best friend Elliott will be her secretary. Her big problem is convincing her parents that she should quit school and work in a vet's office! There are more problems that lie ahead for this ambitious girl.

Our new Character Trait from Chick-Fil-A was introduced this week. This month's trait is self-control, choosing to do what you should do, not what you want to do. Losing self-control can happen to all of us. Whether it is eating healthy or following the rules of a game. We discussed the importance of displaying this trait and how it can often times bring about other traits such as respect, responsibility, and patience. This trait can also be very helpful to us as we achieve our New Year's Resolutions!

Reminder about our January PTO meeting tonight at 6:30. Hope you can make it.

The temperatures are finally proving it is Winter. I reminded the students this morning to wear winter coats, hats, and gloves. They will be going outside for recess as long as the temperature, with the wind chill, is 20 degrees or higher. A pair of boots may be needed if there is snow on the ground to let the students use as much of the playground as possible.

Happy 2012! It is nice to be back into our school routine after the Holiday rush! Hope everyone enjoyed time with family, friends and did not eat too much! This month is one of my favorites for being in school! Routines are established, there is a calm in the air, and students are ready to move forward with their learning. Please re-establish and keep those school-home routines to make this week a successful transition for "school mode."