D I B A A J I M O W I N

Volume 5 No. 1 Red Lake Elementary

Boozoo from the Principal:

We are having another great start to the school year! During our first two days of orientation conferences on September 1 and 2 just about 85% of all of our parents and children visited with their teacher and filled out all the necessary forms for the school year. Thank you so much for participating and starting the school year on a positive note.

Red Lake Elementary and the Early Childhood Center staff have set a goal for re-dedicating to our reading and math programs. There are new additions to our curriculums that are child-centered promoting individual progress with a variety of reading stories and small novels.

New to our instruction and curriculum this year is a computer based language program that emphasizes phonics, building vocabulary, listening techniques and comprehension. Each student will work with the Fast Forward program everyday for nine weeks to strengthen their language arts skills.

Our enrollment is up around 600 students which reflect the growth trend on the reservation. Part of our rededication to learning promotes the importance of everyday attendance. Studies of learning through the last century have indicated that attending school is the most important factor for achieving success not only in school but also on the job and in relationships with others. This year when students are tardy or absent a number of times, they will be required to stay after school with their teachers in order to get the instruction and make up school work they missed when not in school. Our school day starts at 8:15 and ends at 2:55. If your child will be absent or tardy please call us before school at 679-3329 to report their absence. Remember that classes run until 2:55,, so please do not pick up your child until the end of the school day, thank you.

Mrs. Whitefeather and Mr. Wax

Parents are Key to Their Child's Success

An article taken from a national parent magazine.

It seems like common sense, but it doesn't hurt to be reminded: We as parents should never question the value of good school attendance and how it positively impacts our child's ability to do well. It is very important at all grades, buts seems to affect the elementary grades the most when young students are learning the fundamentals of reading, writing and math.

A student who has poor attendance or is tardy often puts them at-risk for school and learning problems. For example, when a student is absent, teachers cannot spend the necessary one on one time to help students get caught up. As a result students have a hard time understanding new and old material. As absences increase, students experience a downward spiral of falling behind and missing crucial instruction and assignments affecting a child's ability and desire to do well.

In addition to learning difficulties, students with poor attendance often feel a lack of connection to the school, their teachers and fellow students. Having a connection to school brings a positive attitude that builds friendships with peers and interacting with teachers and school staff.

Always make sure to carefully consider a decision to keep your child home from school. There are always legitimate reasons such as illness, doctor appointments or family emergencies. However, unnecessary absences take away from learning success.

Make certain you tell your children you want them in school. You can show this by attending teacher conferences, activities and volunteering at school. Ask your child about their day, their classes, their friends and what they had for lunch in the evening. By taking just a couple minutes a day to talk about school with your child, you are sending a positive message that you are interested in your child's success and to be in school every day.

Congratulations to our Excelling Students!

Each month we will be honoring our students that have perfect attendance with all of their reading and math homework completed and handed in. Here are the students made this achievement in September.

(All photographs were unable to be converted at this time - rlnn.com)

Mariah Nabors from Ms. Anderson 1^st Grade

Seleeasha Roy, Cody Johnson and Amber Kingbird

from Mr. Hartvikson 2^nd Grade

Roy White from Mrs. Fogarty 2^nd Grade

Shauntay Roy from Mrs. Peck 4^th Grade

Jeremy Martin from Ms. Parkos 1^st Grade

Elizabeth Lussier from Mrs. Bowman

Lacey Ducheneaux, Brandon Jackson and Aleisha Jourdain from Mrs. Hamnes 5^th Grade

Kristen Oakgrove and Erin Brun from Mr. Zeman 4^th Grade

Alyss Seki from Mrs. Pemberton 5^th Grade

Ashley May, Curtis May and Darwin Robinson from Mr. Eklund 4^th Grade

Alex Barrett, Shania Blue, Jonathon Kingbird and Devin Stately from Mrs. Keers 3^rd Grade

Nicolas Roy, Vernon Sargent, Cassidy White, Shyla Jourdain and Shateasha Stately from Mrs. Hunt 4^th Grade

Tatianna McClain and Rhianna Cloud from Mrs. Krona 2^nd Grade

Monica Prentice from Ms. Olson 3rd Grade

Colors Galore!

Third and fifth grade students in Mrs. Kantor-Frank and Mrs. Lamphear's Art classes practiced color mixing with tie dyes. Wipes, rubber bands and food coloring are used with the primary colors, red, blue and yellow. Students created secondary colors of orange, purple and green by dropping food coloring onto the wipe after being wrapped with rubber bands. The wipes dried overnight creating lots of exciting designs which came out beautifully as shown by the following pictures on the right and on the next page.

Congratulations to these students that have birthdays this Fall.

September Birthdays

3 - Joshua Eagletail, Tyrone Schoenborn & Ryan Smith

4 - Aeryn Drouillard and Andrea White

6 - Kristie Basswood and Ryan Hegstrom

8 - Brandon Desjarlait and Kayla Lussier

9 - Deena Lussier and Francis Neadeau

10 - David Cook and Skyler Nelson

11 - Jordan Roper, Keenan Sayers and Tyler Stately

12 - Latausha Parkhurst

14 - Shaundae White

15 - Elizabeth Lussier

16 - Verdell Beaulieu, Hinton Jones & Alberta White

17 - Justin Lussier

18 Martin Clark, Trista Jackson, Sean Strong, Shane Strong

20 - Cody Roberts and Bridget Strong

21 - Nashelle Auginash and Shianne Auginash

22 - Brittany Reynolds

23 - Shaleesa Johns, Jerlyn WarClub & Justice White

24 Jonathan Beaulieu, Breanna Gooddrider. Robert McNeal

25 - Autumn Beaulieu

26 - Celina Johnson

27 - Megan Johnson

29 - Ira Spears

30 - Darion Cobenais and Rashaun Lawrence

October Birthdays

1 - Robert Aldridge and Dallas Martin

4 - Joseph McNeal

5 - Zachary Morrison

7 - Aleisha Jourdain

8 - David Cournoyer, Alyssa White, Raven White

      and Roland Wilson

9 - Shyla Jourdain and Avery Lussier-Neadeau

11 - Destiny Ford, Charles Kingbird, Jasmine Kingbird

        and Lydell Neadeau

13 - Jeremy Martin and Autumn Stillday

14 - Nakiah Stillday and Kimberly White

15 - Danielle Maxwell and Chesley Oakgrove

16 - Edward Cook and Britney Lussier

17 - Mary Lou Jenkins

19 - Vernon Sargent

20 - Kari Owens

22 - Steven Defoe and Tianna English

23 - Victoria Fajardo and Damon Jones

25 - Roy Cloud, Zachary Head and Jared Jones

26 - Darwin Donnell and Samantha Lawrence

27 - Kaycie Basswood and Cody Johnson

30 - Lacey Ducheneaux and Brian Roy

Girls Sport Club

About 35 4^th and 5^th Grade girls have been involved in this after school club for the past six weeks. The girls enjoyed a variety of physical activities that included: scooter soccer, minefield, mat ball, rhythmic gymnastics, relays, heart obstacle course, team building games, tag games and gymnastics. The girls are looking forward to the field trip to the climbing wall at Bemidji State University. Here are some pictures.

Reading Group Learns From Indian Scientist

Last Spring, Red Lake Elementary students in Michele Morrell's reading class read an article entitled "The Return of the Wolf to Idaho: A Cultural Triumph." The author, Marcie Carter, an enrolled member of the Nez Perce Tribe, is a biologist for the Reservation working with the tribe's Wolf project for five years. Our students discussed the article and wrote personal letters to Ms. Carter. This Fall, Ms. Carter sent individual letters back, answering the students' questions. She also sent a picture of a radio collared Wolf, shown below. What a great learning experience from an Indian expert in her field!