Students in Mrs. Lyons kindergarten class presented the LIFESKILL of friendship with help from Principal Mr. Drummond. They authored their own Nursery Rhyme:

Each year on Presdient Lincoln's birthday, one fifth grade boy and one fifth grade girl are selected to receive the "Learning and Living the Lincoln Legacy LIFESKILL" award. This is an award selected by peers and honors the efforts each boy and each girl use in holding true to the LIFESKILLS and Lifelong Guidelines. This year the awards were presented to fifth grade student Ethan Stafford and Jozie Ivey. Pictured with Ethan and Jozie are fifth grade teachers Mrs. Margaret Griffin, Mrs. Lynda Laatsch, and Mrs. Rachael Harshman.

Our school embarks on a special project, an all school book club called One School, One Book. Each family received a copy of the same book – Lynne Reid Banks’s The Indian in the Cupboard, and are asked to read it at home over the next few weeks (book is sent home with youngest child in each family).

I am personally asking you to make the time so your family can participate in this special activity. Reading aloud at home is valuable because it better prepares your child to be an effective reader. But it is also a fun, worthwhile family activity. With the One School, One Book program, we aim to build a community of readers at our school. Everyone - students, parents, teachers, even administration - will be participating, and we can all reap the many benefits.

Today, you received a tailored reading schedule and a parent resource card about comprehension so you can keep up at home. The schedule is created to allow time to talk about the book, too (the parent card gives great ideas!). Keep your schedule and parent card on your refrigerator, bulletin board, or other safe place!

 Throughout the next weeks, everyone will be talking about The Indian in the Cupboard! All grade levels are sharing in the common knowledge of the same book. Strange or daring as that may seem, it actually makes sound educational sense.

Reading professionals recommend reading material out loud that is beyond a child’s own reading level. We also believe that you can and should continue reading chapter books with your older children, even when they are able to read by themselves. We have selected a title that can be understood and enjoyed by younger students, but that will still captivate and stimulate older children.

 Good luck! I hope to talk with both you and your student sometime this month about what Omri learns from the Indian, Little Bear and the cowboy, Boone. With your help, we can build a Community of Readers at our school.