Students in Mrs. Johnson’s Kindergarten library skills class read “The Surprise Garden” by Zoe Hall. They talked about what plants need in order to grow, and they planted radish seeds in a balloon garden. Thanks to Mrs. Nippert for volunteering and assisting us during this special unit.
If the students don’t pop their balloon, they should be able to watch their plants grow. Once the plants outgrow the balloon, they can pop the balloon and plant them in their own gardens or pots at home.
February is Children’s Dental Health Month, Dr. Jason Grant a dentist from Fairbury came and talked to the Second Graders at Central Elementary about their dental hygiene. The students were able to practice the appropriate brushing techniques on stuffed animals that had teeth. They learned the foods that are good for their teeth, the ones to avoid, and how many times they should brush their teeth a day. Dr. Grant stated that kids should brush their teeth at least twice a day. The second graders learned a lot of valuable information from Dr. Grant about dental health.
On Thursday, January 28th and Friday, January 29th, the students and teachers at Central School Celebrated 100 days of learning so far in the 2015-2016 school year. Celebrations varied from classroom to classroom. Some of the activities included: 100 piece puzzle building, 100 cup sculpture building with cups, doing 100 math problems, rolling a dice until you get to 100, creating artwork with the number 100 or with a 100 stickers on it, reading stories about the 100th day, eating 100th day snacks, counting to 100, plus many more fun things were planned. Check out the photos from Central.
With the cold dreary “gray” weather outside, one might not think of “gray” as a positive color. But inside the Fairbury High School gymnasium Gray was the color of the night.
Gray is the color of diabetes awareness and in an effort to raise awareness of Type 1 diabetes (T1D) the IN Group (a T1D support group) and Fairbury Public Schools hosted a Gray Out during the Fairbury vs York basketball games on Friday, January 22nd. T-shirts were sold prior to the game and business and family sponsorships were collected. With the close to 200 t-shirts sold and the sponsorships the IN Group raised more than $2000. This money will be used for camp scholarships for students attending diabetes camp and money will be sent to JDRF (Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation) to help find a cure for T1D.
The IN Group was organized when a need was seen for a parent and student support group for the six T1D students at FPS. The group has supported each other, a newly diagnosed student and their family, a new student to town, and adult’s in the community have come to encourage and share their own T1D life stories. The mission of the IN Group is to raise awareness through education of this silent, chronic disease.
Type 1 diabetes, which was formerly known as insulin-dependent diabetes, affects the body’s immune system destroying the cells that release insulin, eventually eliminating insulin production completely. Without insulin, cells cannot absorb sugar (glucose), which is needed to produce energy. So, if insulin is not on board to absorb the sugar you are not able to functions normally.
The symptoms of T1D usually start in childhood or young adulthood. People often seek medical attention because they are seriously ill from sudden symptoms of high blood sugar. T1D cannot be prevented nor is it anything that a person does to acquire it.
Diabetes greatly increases a person’s risk for a range of serious complications. Monitoring and managing is the key to prevention of these complications. It remains the leading cause of blindness and kidney failure. It continues to be a critical risk factor for heart disease and stroke.
**Statistics
Children’s hospital told one family 1 in 500 children get T1D
In FPS 1 in 147 students have T1D
200 is the number of times a diabetic thinks about being a diabetic every day
4,050 is the average number of finger sticks in the 1st year after diagnosis
40,500 finger pokes over 10 years
I would like to take a moment to thank Mr. Richard Zimmerman for his excellent
service to our district! Richard has made the difficult decision to retire from the
Fairbury Public Schools Board of Education, effective this December 2015. His
dedication and service has spanned an incredible 31 years! Throughout his tenure,
he has also helped lead at the State Level as well, as he served as the President of
the Nebraska Association of School Boards in 2012.
During his tenure as a Fairbury Public School’s board member, there have been
momentous events that Richard has had the opportunity to observe, lead and to be
an integral part of since he began on the board in 1985! For example:
Thank you for your service Richard!
Last week I read The Gingerbread Man to my kindergarten students. They loved the story but we were saddened when the Gingerbread Man was gobbled up by the fox in the end! For a family project I sent home a gingerbread man with each student and their parents helped to disguise them. Check out their awesome creations!
The second graders spent the day at the Hastings Museum’s Native American Festival. The students watched the Mini Moccasins Dance Troupe, created a pot, watched Tiny Giants a 3D movie, heard Native American spirit stories, explored the museum, as well as many other activities!
The 2nd Graders at Central listened to a presentation given by Ranger Nick from the Homestead National Monument on the Buffalo on Tuesday, November 10th. The students learned how the Native Americans used all the parts of the Buffalo after a hunt. Ranger Nick had many different items in his trunk that he we were able to see and touch as he spoke about them. A couple of the items Ranger Nick mentioned was a parfleche. A parfleche is made out of the buffalo hide that has been dried out and tanned so it is a soft hide with the hair removed and many Native Americans will use dyes to make a design on them. A parfleche is used like a pouch for carrying items in, much like a purse of today. Another item, Ranger Nick had was a buffalo stomach, the Native Americans used this for cooking things in much like a crockpot today or for storing things in when not cooking. Plus many, many more things to see and learn about.
