From the Eagle's Nest
A Weekly Publication for MKL
For the Week of
February 18, 2013
From the Eagle's Nest, Page 6
News From Around MKL
Principal's Corner
From the Eagle's Nest, Page 6
Happy Presidents’ Day! Just a reminder that students and staff do not attend school on Monday. The school office will be open so feel free to call or come by if you have business that needs to be addressed before Tuesday.
In a couple of weeks MKL students will participate in a very important Florida Department of Education mandated assessment. It is called the Florida Alternate Assessment or FAA. This test is the equivalent of other students’ state assessments you may know as FCAT or End of Course Exam. The results from these assessments (math, reading, writing and science) are used to determine the grade level growth achieved by students, results in a grade for the school (based on all students’ scores in grades 3-11) and used to determine 50% of the evaluation score for teachers and administrators. Needless to say this is an important time for everyone at our school and we want our students’ skills to shine!
Our students, teachers and paraprofessionals have been working very hard to prepare for this important exam. Parents have an important role to play in the assessment process too. To help parents understand the FAA and all related aspects, MKL School is sponsoring an FAA Parent Night on Thursday, February 21st.
The parent night will begin at 5 pm and will be held in our school media center. There are still openings for parents to sign up and attend this information session. The easiest way to register is to call 767-1792 and speak with an office staff member. Let that person know you plan to attend. Refreshments will be provided. I hope you will take advantage of this important parent information session and I look forward to seeing you on February 21st.
I hope you will read our Coach’s FitBits later in this newsletter. Coach has worked diligently to promote greater levels of exercise and activity for our students. His articles highlight ways your entire family can enjoy a more fit and healthy lifestyle, something we can all strive to do better as well as promote.
Have a GREAT Week and Go Eagles!
MKL Celebrates Mardi Gras!
While the rain may have delayed our school Mardi Gras celebration it certainly did not dampen the spirits of those involved! Classroom krewes were on hand and as you can tell by the pictures below everyone had a great time! Special thanks to Candi and Dave Wise for once again having our float available for use and to King Charlie from the Krewe of St. Andrew for attending our parade. King Charlie shared with us that several other Krewe members were scheduled to be at MKL Tuesday but were not able to break work commitments so they had to miss Friday (something we certainly understand and can appreciate!). We need to also recognize and thank Ms. Gina Kimball for her dedicated efforts to coordinate this festivity for our school. Thanks to all for helping to make this a GREAT time for our students!
From the Eagle's Nest, Page 6
Here's What's Coming Up......
Week of February 18th
Monday – Presidents’ Day – No School
Thursday – Parent Night: FAA Information, 5 pm, Media Center
Friday – Eagle of the Month Program, 9:30, Multipurpose Room
Week of February 25th
Monday – FAA Begins – Be certain students get plenty of rest each night so they can do their best on this important assessment!!!!
Thursday – Progress Reports Sent Home With Students
Friday – PBS Activity, 9:30 am
Friday – Dr. Suess Day! Superintendent Husfelt Reads at MKL!!!
Week of March 4th -
FAA Testing All Week – Contact Your Child’s Teacher for Specific Dates for Your Child’s Testing Days
Monday – SAC Meeting, 3 pm, Media Center
Friday – Bay County Special Olympics County Games, Tommy Oliver Stadium
Week of March 11th –
FAA Testing All Week – Contact Your Child’s Teacher for Specific Dates for Your Child’s Testing Days
Week of March 18th -
FAA Testing All Week – Contact Your Child’s Teacher for Specific Dates for Your Child’s Testing Days
Wednesday – Last Day of FAA Testing
Friday – Regional Special Olympic Games, Marianna, Florida
Week of March 25th -
Spring Break Week!
Valentine Dance!
Friday evening our MKL Eagles enjoyed a special dance and movie to celebrate Valentine’s Day as well as to provide parents with time for an evening out on their own…. Often a rare treat!
Those in attendance had a great evening of dancing, singing and food. You could see from their smiles that our students had a wonderful time! We are hoping the parents did too!!!
Special thanks go to Leanne Tally, Danny Bain and Lisa Watson for their sponsoring this activity!
Fitbits
from the MKL PE DEPT
This edition of Fitbits is dedicated to Mrs. Gertrude Washington, a beloved member of our staff, who passed away January, 2013.
Type II Diabetes is a major concern for our country as well as the world. And that is true especially with our nation’s youth where we are seeing an enormous rise in Type-II diabetes.
Give Me 20! According to theAnnals of Internal Medicine, your risk of acquiring Type-II diabetes drops by 33 percent when you regularly exercise three times a week for 20 minutes.
I Need a Nap! Between the ages of 1 and 18 years, kids sleep approximately 50,000 hours. By the way, how much sleep do they need? Well, according to Dr. Roy Benaroch, our children need the following: 1-4 Weeks Old: 15 - 16 hours per day, 1-4 Months Old: 14 - 15 hours per day, 4-12 Months Old: 14 - 15 hours per day, 1-3 Years Old: 12 - 14 hours per day, 3-6 Years Old: 10 - 12 hours per day, 7-12 Years Old: 10 - 11 hours per day, 12-18 Years Old: 8 - 9 hours per day. Oh and in case you’re wondering….adults need 7-9 hours. I don’t know about you, but these days that’s a hard accomplishment. Yet we should all strive to do so. Our health depends on it.
I Don't Have Time to Sleep! Between the ages of 1 and 18 years, kids watch over 20,000 hours of television.
I'm Hungry! By the time a kid reaches age 18, he or she will have eaten over 2,500 slices of pizza.
I Need to Stay Awake to Watch TV and Eat Pizza! The most widely used drug among children is caffeine.
Healthy Foods
Can't eat pork….Swine flu.
Can't eat chicken….Bird flu.
Can't eat Beef,…..Mad cow.
Can't eat eggs…..Salmonella.
Can't eat fish…heavy metal poisons in their waters.
Can't eat fruits and veggies…. insecticides and herbicides. Hmmmmmmmmm!
I believe that leaves chocolate and ice cream!
Remember - - - 'STRESSED' spelled backwards is 'DESSERTS'
While this may be amusing, our diet is very important to our health. I realize this is not a shocker of new information, however, I have been reading a book, Death by Supermarket, and what I have read is absolutely shocking. I do love chocolates, but after leaving some remnants of ice cream in the sink overnight and waking up to see those same remnants looking the same as the night before (it is supposed to melt or so I thought, and no, it was not the cheap brand) I am more than apprehensive of ice cream. Will I cut it out cold turkey? No, I am not strong enough for that. Just eat less of it. At a 15K race (9 miles) in Dothan the other day I saw a kiosk advertising a juice concoction. They had a hamburger (produced by a well-known burger franchise). The woman at the kiosk told me the burger was from November. It looked like it was made a week ago. It had shrunk a little, but basically was still there. She told me that it was so full of preservatives that it would not go away. I immediately thought of the ice cream in the sink. Yum! How can that be good for me? She had a soft drink on her table. Attached to it were packets of sugar. The packets went all the way from the table to the ground. Yuck I thought. That much sugar! But it is actually worse. If it were indeed sugar, it would be one thing. But it is not. In soft drinks, it is HFCS or High Fructose Corn Syrup, a strange, synthetic concoction of chemicals that is very addictive. Whew! We should all try to be more conscientious with the food we eat. Eat what your grandparents ate.
The gist of all this is that our foods today, while they may advertised as being healthy and wholesome, are mostly a stew of chemicals and the use of HFCS as a sweetener is prevalent. I should know. I am an addict myself (HFCS, that is). As mentioned above, Type II diabetes is a terrible affliction and we must do what we can to avoid being struck with its devastating consequences. The good news is that this is a health problem that we can do something about. It is as simple as eating healthy and staying active. Good luck!
Remember, KEEP FIT, our lives literally depend on it. Thanks, Coach Andy
Local Fitness: The Strides for Scholars 5K & 1 Mile Fun Run is coming up February 23rd @8:00 AM (7:00AM registration at Nelson Building). Walk/run with your friends and help support the Take Stock in Children Scholarship Fund. The Panhandle Runners and Triathletes has a group walking/running get-together each Tuesday afternoon at 5:00PM at the PC Garden Club walking park leaving from the Balboa Street parking lot. We do some walking and some do running. Great, paved course suitable for wheelchairs. Come join us. Your heart and stress levels will appreciate it.
Blooms Are Coming!
Many thanks to Judy Stevens, Master Gardener, for helping MKL start our own Master Gardening Club at school. Mrs. Stevens, along with other volunteers from the County Extension Office are working with our students and teachers, both in and out of the classroom, to learn more about plants, our environment and gardening. Last week, the Gardening Club worked to adorn the front of our school with blue and yellow Pansies for the winter. Several classes also participated in gardening activities involving alfalfa seeds and bean seeds in order for our students to learn the parts of a plant. Thank you, Mrs. Stevens and the Master Gardening volunteers, for sharing your time and expertise with our MKL teachers and students.
If you would like to continue helping your student learn more about plants and gardening, check out the website www.kidsgardening.org. This site offers a section on Family Gardening that is loaded with at-home activities you and your student can do together. What better place to “grow” special family memories than in a garden? Gardening with your children at home or at a community garden not only provides the tangible benefits of exercise and fresh food, it also fosters communication, builds strong relationships and offers an opportunity to work toward a common goal. So check out www.kidsgardening.org and their monthly Family Gardening Activities.
From the Eagle's Nest, Page 6