Certified Therapy Dog Visits Students at JCB

Today, a giant visited some classrooms at JCB. Okay, not really a giant--but close. Gator is an English Mastiff and is a certified therapy dog. Therapy dogs are trained to provide comfort and attention to people in all sorts of settings. They are often found in retirement homes, hospitals, schools, and disaster areas. In schools, students often read to the dogs. It provides the students with comfort as they practice and develop their reading skills. Reading out loud is sometimes stressful for students. The dogs give them comfort and confidence as they improve those skills.

Here are other benefits of using a therapy dog in the school. Interaction with the dogs provides tactile stimulation and assists with pain management. A visit with the dog provides a positive mutual topic for discussion, promotes self-esteem and well-being. Companionship with a dog stimulates memory, problem solving, and game playing. Therapy dogs improve acceptance from others and lifts mood.

Check out some pictures from our first visit today.

Giving Tree

Last week during parent teacher conferences, JCB put up our Giving Tree. The tags on the tree represent students whose families need help with gifts at the holiday season. Most of the requests are for very practical items. Thank you to the MANY people who have already taken tags.

If you want to participate, please stop by the school before Thanksgiving Break and select a tag. Purchase a new gift item and wrap the gift. Attach the tag from the tree to the gift. On the tag include all items in the gift. Return the wrapped gift to Miss Vent by 12/4/15.

Thank you so much for your generosity!

Students Get New Library Cards

During Parent Teacher Conferences this week, representatives from the Johnsburg Public Library were here to offer families to sign up for library cards. In two days the library signed up fourteen families for new cards. Additionally, the staff made available information regarding upcoming programs and events to be held at the library. They said it was nice to see so many families who already had library cards and that she recognized them as regular visitors to the library. We are very lucky to have such a great resource in our town and so close to our school. We appreciate our partnership with the public library a great deal.

The Book Fair is a Grand Success!

Thanks to Mrs. Thompson and Mr. HarriSon for all their hard work with the book fair this year. The book fair opened on Monday, November 2. For three days during their library class time, students were invited to shop the book fair and make wish lists to give to their parents. Some students knew what they wanted and were able to buy right away. We were also lucky to have a great turn out of Grand People at the book fair. Students were allowed to invite grandparents or anyone who is Grand in their lives to shop the book fair with them during their scheduled library time. Grand People and the students were also treated to some cookies.

If you haven't had a chance to shop yet, the book fair is still open during conferences. All parents who attend conferences and make a purchase at the book fair will have a raffle ticket to enter into a drawing for a free book for their student. One student per grade level will win a free book. They will be able to pick out their book first thing in the morning on Monday before they pack up the book fair for good.

This is the biggest fundraiser of the year for our Learning Center. And it has been quite a success. Mrs. Thompson and Mr. HarriSon are very excited to decide what to do with the profits from the book fair. But students should definitely see lots of new books in the coming months.

 

McHenry County Wildlife District Visits 4th Grade Classes

This week the 4th grade team had the McHenry County Conservation District  presented a program called Amazing Animal Adaptations. The students learned about the adaptations of many of the animals in our area. To further enhance the lesson, students were able to feel a Red Tail Hawk's wing, a beaver skull and pelt, along with the pelts of a raccoon, rabbit, fox, skunk, and coyote. Thanks to Miss Mary from the Wildlife District for her excellent presentation. She did a great job instructing our students this week.

Happy Halloween!

Students at JCB had a wonderful Halloween celebration last week Friday. Students brought costumes to school and dressed after lunch and recess for our annual parade. It took us longer to get dressed this year since we added an entire grade level and don't have many places to change. But everyone got in the spirit and helped each other out. Homeroom classes filled the gym and the cafeteria and applauded everyone as each homeroom passed by dancing to fun Halloween songs. Thanks to Mr. Sommerfield who was the guest emcee for the event.

While the students and staff enjoyed the parade, our faithful parents were in the classrooms getting set up for some wonderful parties. They had planned games and fun activities and lots of food--some of it was even healthy! As I walked the building checking in on each classroom party, I was entertained with mummy making relays, Halloween Bingo, and even a Family Feud style game. Thanks so much to our generous parents for their hard work in making the parties fun for the kids.

We Mustache You to Make Good Choices

Students at JCB had a great time throughout Red Ribbon Week dressing up for the different themes we had to remind students to be drug free and to make good choices. The focus was really on the good choices concept all week long. Several students were selected to attend a McHenry County Red Ribbon Week forum and came back as ambassadors for our school. Those students were chosen based on their participation in a poster contest the week before. Check out some pictures from our Mustache Day.