Our Kindergarten, 1st, and 2nd Grades are beginning a wonderful service project. They are collecting new or gently used children's books through March 19th. At that time, the books will be donated to Akron Children's Hospital to be used by patients. We are off to a great start with the book donations. This is a great way to spread the joy of reading and kindness. Thanks to all who help with this project.

Welcome to our snowy start to the week. During morning announcements, we talked about the birds having trouble finding food on a snowy day. Our 'Kindness Assignment' is to put something out for the birds to eat. There were many great ideas on how to make a homemade bird feeder using pine cones or an old tray. Another suggestion was using bread that may not be eaten, such as the crust. Even though we may not get a 'thank you' or a smile for completing this assignment, the songs the birds sing will show they are happy for what we did.

The "Birthday Boxes" were delivered this morning to the Beatitude House. The 3rd and 4th Graders were able to put together 46 "Birthday Boxes". Each box was wrapped and contained a cake mix, frosting, plates, napkins, candles, and decoration. Thank you to all who donated items for this service project. Many children will be celebrating their birthday in style thanks to you.

Earlier this week, the students brought home a green paper about Tae Kwon Kids. It is a unique opportunity for our students. The Martial Arts Training Center is offering a 4 lesson after-school program at North. The classes are March 12th, 14th, 19th, and 21st from 2:30-3:30. The registration fee will be donated to our school. If you are interested in your child participating, please return the permission slip and money by March 9th.

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.