Crescent Elementary School- Crescent, IA

On Tuesday, September 11th, Hitchcock came out for the afternoon to share information on the migration of the monarch. Students had the opportunity to learn more about the migration and the life-cycle of the butterfly. In addition, one lucky student was able to tag a monarch to aid in further research of this beautiful butterfly.

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Up close and personal with

Big Lake!

As part of our science enrichment program especially designed for our students at Crescent Elementary by parent volunteers, we were able to present our first enrichment science lab yesterday.

We are very fortunate to have a parent volunteer who is a scientist. Dr. Heather Smith spent the afternoon talking to all the classes about Ecology. Dr. Smith brought a water sample from Big Lake Park to show the students what kind of organisms live in the lake. Some things the students could see with just their eyes, and some things they could only see using a microscope.

Some interesting points from the discussion:

- Ecology is the study of the interactions between living things, that we call organisms, and the living and non-living parts of their environment.

- Ecologists use Food Chains (both ground-based (terrestrial) and water-based (marine or aquatic)) to describe and study which organisms are eaten by which other organisms in a given ecosystem.

- Producer organisms, like plants, use the energy from sunlight to produce their own food. Food chains always start with a producer organism.

- Organisms that cannot produce their own food are called consumers. Humans, dogs, cats, fish and insects are all consumers because they must consume plants and/or animals to fuel their bodies.

- With a little help from a high-powered microscope, we were able to investigate some of the very small producer and consumer organisms that make up the aquatic food chain in Big Lake.

- We learned about and observed phytoplankton and algae (the producers) in water samples.

- Students saw how some algae use a tiny whip-like structure called a flagellum (plural:flagella) to propel themselves through the water.

- We also used the microscope to observe a water boatman (a consumer). They are small swimming insects that eat algae.

- It was a great opportunity to see that ecology and science is about both the very big and very small. Since these very small, microscopic organisms are the basis for the aquatic food chain, they have a big impact on much larger consumer organisms living in Big Lake.

An extra special thank you to Heather Smith and Julie Newby for volunteering to do this with our students. The students learned a lot about living things and enjoyed using the microscope as well. Thanks to Julie as well for synthesizing the information for this great article!

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Grayson Harvey Builds Outdoor Classroom in Nature Trail

Grayson Harvey, former Crescent Elementary student, worked with other Troop 3 members to complete an Eagle Scout Project on the Crescent Nature Trail on Saturday, April 21st. Grayson designed and built an outdoor classroom for our students to use. In addition to benches and writing areas, the classroom also features a full size whiteboard and podium. We are grateful for Grayson's generosity and classes were using the space the following Monday. Thank you, Grayson!

5th Grader Receives Writing Award

Brianne McDermott, a 5th grader at Crescent Elementary, was honored by the Daughters of the American Revolution for her essay on The War of 1812. The essay described what it was like during the war and why it is important to honor those who served. Brianne was selected from entries that included grades fifth through eighth. For all of Brianne’s hard work, she was given a certificate of achievement, a medal, and a $50 check. Congratulations, Brianne! Pictured with Brianne is her classroom teacher, Mrs. Beverly Nelsen, and DAR Chapter Chairman, Mary Jane Foutch.

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Bakers in Training!

Twenty-two students attended the Council Bluffs' Panera Bread's Baker-in-Training program. Along with touring the work and kitchen areas, students left with a fresh baked baguette. Although students learned about bread making in just a few hours, a bread maker at Panera has seven weeks of training. Panera started business as the St. Louis Bread Company and changed their name as they expanded. They have been in the bread business for 25 years and have over 1,500 bakery locations. A special thank you to Crescent PTO for organizing this special event and Promise Partners for the grant money that allows us to participate in these programs.

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Crescent Kindergarteners Wish Bethany Lutheran Home Residents a Merry Christmas!

Crescent Kindergarteners spent time during their holiday celebration to create beautiful cards for Bethany residents. Each student was given a name of a person. Students then got to work creating a special card. The students learned a valuable life lesson of thinking of others during the holiday season.

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Crescent Elementary and Crescent Optimists team up for Food Drive

The students at Crescent Elementary made many families very happy for the holidays by bringing over 425 food items for the food drive. Thank you to everyone who participated. It was a huge success. The winning classroom, Mrs. Thielen's room, enjoyed a root beer float party while the second place class, Mrs. Nelsen's class, had a pizza party. Regardless of the outcome, the real winners are the families who benefited from your generosity. We look forward to doing it again next year.

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Fire Prevention Assembly &

Open House

The Crescent Fire Department presented a fire safety assembly to students at Crescent Elementary on Tuesday, October 11th. Students were encouraged to talk with families to develop an exit plan and meeting spot in the event of an emergency. They were also given instructions on what to do in case a fire at home. Please take some time to discuss your exit plans and meeting place with your children. Also, make sure to check your smoke alarm batteries regularly.

The Fire Department is holding an open house on Wednesday, October 12th from 6-8 at the Fire Barn. Everyone is invited to come and tour the fire trucks and ambulance as well as play games and receive valuable information related to fire safety.

Students learned how firefighters stay Students had the opportunity

safe in their protective gear. to tour the ambulance.

Mr. Manz explained how all the different

parts of a fire truck work.

A special thank you to all of the men and women of the Crescent Fire Department for helping us to celebrate Fire Prevention Week!

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To positively impact the world by inspiring youth to reach their full potential through mentoring.

Have you ever considered being a mentor?

This school year is a big year for Council Bluffs TeamMates. Every school in our district will be involved in this rewarding mentoring program.

The program was begun by Dr. Tom and Nancy Osborne in 1991 in an effort to provide support and encouragement to school aged youth. The goal of the program is to see youth graduate from high school and pursue post-secondary education. To reach this goal, youth meet one hour per week with a caring adult who serves as a mentor.

Mentors are volunteers from the community who have dedicated themselves to making a difference in the life of a young person. Mentors give youth a sense of hope, purpose and vision. Adult TeamMates serve as positive role models and meet with their student at least one hour a week during school hours, sharing in a variety of activities. A three year trend statistically shows significant improvement in grades, attendance and disciplinary referrals for youth once they have been matched with a Teammates Mentor.

Council Bluffs School District vision for TeamMates is to engage at least 3% of the student population and have 100% building participation by 2012.

We need great people like you to share your time and talents with our youth! The commitment of one hour per week can make memories for a lifetime!

Interested in being a TEAMMATE?

Please contact:

Jessica Plueger, District Coordinator

(712) 328-6476 x1210

jplueger@cbcsd.org

New Site Under Construction

The district is working to update all district websites. This change will make all sites similar for easier navigation. Please be patient during our transition time as we work to update our communication. Everyone will be notified when we are ready to unveil our new site. In the meantime, we will continue to post essential information on this site until it is disconnected. Thanks for your patience!

WE DID IT!!!

National Blue Ribbon Award

Crescent Elementary was honored with the 2012 National Blue Ribbon Award. This honor went to five other schools in Iowa as well as 269 schools across the nation. Mrs. Chalupnik and a clasroom teacher will be traveling to Washington D.C. in November to accept this award on behalf of our school and district. We are so proud to be able to represent all the hard-working staff and students across the Council Bluffs Community School District. It is through the support of our district, colleagues, and communities that make this honor a reality. We are truly blessed to be a part of a wonderful team!

Support Our School!!!

Please consider helping our school raise money for academic opportunities and extra-curricular items!

Papa John's Night

The second Thursday of each month

Papa John's delivers to the Crescent area!!!

Place your order online and we receive 25% of the order total.

On all other orders, we receive 20% of the order total.

No extra cost to you!

Order forms will be sent home the week of the event, fill out the form with student information and turn in the form with your order.

The class with the highest order total each month will receive a FREE pizza party from Papa John's!

Lansky's Night

The 4th Saturday of every month!

Dine in or take out on the fourth Saturday from 11am-9pm

Drop your receipt in the box on the counter and 15% of total receipts is donated back to our school!

Encourage friends and relatives to participate. Anyone can drop a receipt in our box!

Lansky's is located on North Broadway next to Super Saver. Contact pto.crescent@gmail.com with questions.

Box Tops, Receipts, and Labels...Oh my!!!

A Big thank you to the Crescent community for saving and clipping receipts, Box Tops, and Campbell's labels. Because of your help, we are able to purchase extra-curricular items and supplies for our school. Please help us by telling friends, neighbors, and relatives to save these items and drop them off at school. Thanks again for all of your continued support!

Please send all:

Hy-Vee receipts (Sept. 1- Dec. 31)
Super Saver receipts (Sept. 1- March 31)
Box Tops for Education (all year)
Campbell's Soup Labels (all year)

Please send items to school by the last day of each month for pick up by our PTO.

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September's Developmental Asset:

-SOCIAL COMPETENCIES-

Each month the school district and the community have chosen one of the eight 40 Developmental Asset Categories to focus on. The 40 Developmental Assets represent the relationships, opportunities, and personal qualities that young people need to avoid risks and to thrive. The April Asset Category is Social Competencies! The four assets focused on this month include:

· Interpersonal Competence – Young person has empathy,

sensitivity, and friendship skills.

· Cultural Competence – Young person has knowledge of and

comfort with people of different cultural / racial / ethnic

backgrounds.

· Resistance Skills – Young person can resist negative peer

pressure and dangerous situations.

· Peaceful Conflict Resolution – Young person seeks to

resolve conflict nonviolently.

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