Our February Box Top contest is over. Thank you to all who sent in Box Tops for the school. The homeroom who collected the most was Mrs. Wittenauer's class. They will be enjoying a doughnut breakfast soon.

Tomorrow is the last day for our 3rd and 4th grade students to donate items for the Birthday Boxes. These boxes will be delivered to the Beatitude House on Friday. Thank you to all who donated items.

Just a reminder...our PTO meeting will be Thursday at 6:30. We will be electing our 2012/2013 Officers along with looking for chairpersons of different committees. Hope to see many of you there.

Today, the students will be bringing home information about our Spring Fundraiser. There are 2 order catalogs and forms. The one is our annual Gorant candy sale. The other catalog is something new that I am excited to try. All items are $10 or less and feature mini cookbooks and greeting cards. There are 10 different cookbooks with over 135 recipes each. The cookbooks are themed such as "From the Grill" or "Crockery Cooking". There is even one that is specific to kids cooking! The greeting cards are sold in sets of 16 cards each. Please take a minute to look at the items from both catalogs. The orders are due March 15th with delivery being Monday, April 2nd. I appreciate your support with this fundraiser.

Today, we enjoyed a reading of The Lorax by Dr. Seuss. The book was originally published in 1971 after the celebration of the first Earth Day in 1970. The book teaches us a lesson of protecting the environment. Throughout the story, the Lorax speaks for the trees telling the Once-ler to stop cutting them down. As the trees continue to be cut down, the animals have to leave to find food and a cleaner place to live. Soon the beautiful place where the Truffula Trees once stood is filled with smog and no one is left. Ask your child about this story and how the colors of the illustrations help to show what is happening to the environment.

It is hard to believe it is the last Friday of February. The days are passing quickly and March is almost here. There are a few events taking place next week. First is our Spring Fundraiser. On Tuesday, the students will be bringing home all the information for this sale. The students will have their Spring photos taken on Wednesday, "Leap Day". All students will have their picture taken with the orders taken after the proofs are given to you. Thursday evening is our PTO meeting at 6:30. We will be electing new Officers and looking for Committee Chairs for next year. Have a great weekend!

Our 3rd and 4th Grades are collecting items for our annual "Birthday Box" Drive. We are collecting items to allow the children living at the Beatitude House to celebrate their birthday in style. The items collected will be assembled into shoeboxes and then wrapped. The Beatitude House will distribute these "Birthday Boxes" as birthdays are celebrated. Please continue to send in cake mixes, frosting, candles, plates and napkins. We will continue collecting these items until March 1st. Thank you for your generosity in helping children celebrate their birthdays!

We are almost to the end of the book, Coach Hyatt Is a Riot! It describes a losing football team with a new coach, who happens to be a girl! She has very different coaching techniques that the team has a hard time understanding. It is halftime in the book and the score is 77-0. Coach Hyatt has a secret weapon that may change the game to their favor. We will see who there secret weapon is on Tuesday.

The long weekend is almost upon us. The kids are looking forward to doing many fun activities with their families. Some that were shared today were: sled riding, roller skating, and sleepovers. Whatever you and your family do, have fun and be safe.

The 3rd and 4th Graders celebrated "FAN-tastic Day". There were 4 stations in the school focusing on Fitness And Nutrition. Our school nurse, Food Service Director and owner of a Martial Arts studio helped make this day fun for the students. "Eat This Not That" station was comparing different foods for kids. The winners of "Food Bingo" took home a beach bucket filled with fruit. The gym was the center of our stretching and self-defense moves with the Martial Arts instructor. The students even incorporated nutrition into math graphing activities. It was a successful event with the help of many people. Each 3rd and 4th grade student took home prizes and a folder of information about our day! Thanks to all who made this day a success.

Happy Valentine's Day! There was much celebrating in our school today. The kids had fun passing out and reading their Valentine cards. Thank you to our PTO for providing the ice cream treats. The sundaes were a huge success and as each grade came through, the combination of toppings were more creative! Enjoy the day with your special Valentine.

The students are excited to celebrate the Valentine holiday tomorrow. They are to bring their Valentines and box or bag with them to school. Our PTO will provide a treat for the students. All Room Parents are to be at the school at 12:45 to help with the treat. A reminder was sent home with students today.

Our Act of Kindness assignment centers around Valentine's Day too. The students are to make a Valentine for a neighbor and deliver it with your permission. It is always nice to know someone is thinking of you on Valentine's Day!

I would like to thank our PTO for providing our students with the Scholastic Book Fair. Mrs. Klase, Mrs. Garcia, and the volunteers did a wonderful job of organizing, setting up, and helping students shop. The Book Fair will be open on Friday from 8:30-9:00 for final sales. Hope everyone enjoys their book choices!

Tomorrow will be Poland "blue and white" day. The High School Basketball team is versing Canfield. We want to show our support for the team and help cheer them on to a win! Good Luck boys!

The Scholastic Book Fair begins tomorrow. Each homeroom has a designated time that they will be able to shop for books. PTO also has a preview day scheduled today for parents from 2:00-4:00. Please feel free to browse through the book selections or purchase a few books.

The 3rd Grade had a great time on their field trip to the Oh Wow! museum. There was much exploring of many science and math concepts. They had fun with water at the water table; being inside a hurricane tube; and working with sound with musical instruments. These are just a few of the many activities they enjoyed. Please ask your child about their favorite!

Everyone seems a little tired today after watching the "Big Game" on TV last night. We did make it through our Monday, thanks to the sunshine. We have been very fortunate with all our outdoor recesses lately.
This week, the students are to be on the lookout for someone that needs their help. Their kindness assignment is to offer to help someone before being asked. We talked about many situations where people need help. They suggested looking to help someone at home, school, bus, or friend's house. I look forward to hearing their stories.

Jodee Blanco, a New York Times Best-selling author, will be speaking on Monday, February 6th at 7:00-8:30. The presentation will be held at the Boardman High School Performing Arts Center. Jodee will be talking about bullying. She was bullied throughout her middle and high school years and has written 2 books about this topic. This seminar is open to anyone who would like to attend.

Happy Groundhog's Day! It is official, Phil saw his shadow and 6 more weeks of winter are in our future. The way winter has been, I really won't mind!
Tomorrow we are celebrating the upcoming Superbowl with NFL Day. Please encourage your child to wear their favorite team's logo or colors tomorrow. It does not have to be only NFL, it can be a local team or a favorite college team.

Tonight is our PTO's Chili's Give-Back Night. Please try to stop by Chili's restaurant between 4:00 and 10:00 pm. They will give 15% of total sales to our PTO. Please remember your flier so that North gets credit for the sale.

Our February PTO meeting will be at 9:00am Thursday morning. We will be discussing the Book Fair, Valentine treat, and presenting nominations for Officers. Beau Weaver, a Poland School Board member, will be here to answer any questions you may have regarding the upcoming levy.

Thanks for supporting our PTO and hope to see you tonight and tomorrow!