MAY - Used School Supply Outreach Opportunity

Dear JES family and friends,
USED SCHOOL SUPPLY COLLECTION - On May 30, 31^st and June 3rd your student will have an opportunity to help other school children half way around the world! It doesn’t take much time and you don’t have to buy anything! In fact, it may help you! Donate your left over school supplies to the Munhu, Inc. organization.

The primary goal at Munhu is providing educational opportunities to children orphaned by the AIDS epidemic in Zimbabwe. A good education is the foundation for a bright future for these children. Munhu pays school fees, and buys school uniforms and supplies to enable the children to attend school. They also support the families of these children. For more information visit the website at http://www.munhu.org/ . This non-profit organization was started by Sipho Gumbo, a Johnson Elementary family member, and the supplies are shipped by the organization. Talk with your child about what items your family might be willing to donate to this worthwhile outreach project. Of course, if you reuse the supplies for next year, please keep those items. However, if you prefer to donate them, Munhu can put them to good use!

ONE DAY WITHOUT SHOES - Update
The nearly 359 pairs of shoes collected during our shoe drive at JES have been delivered to the distribution center of the Buckner Foundation. We have been informed that they are expected to be delivered to children in Mexico and Ethiopia. Thank you to all who contributed to the success of our ONE Day Without Shoes. This is a fun and meaningful day of thought for our children about those children in other cultures.

Thank you to the Rachel’s Challenge advisory team for their planning and guidance. Thank you to the Ambassadors of Kindness who got out the word about the shoe drive to the other students. They also helped count and pack the shoes for delivery. A big thanks goes to parents Tracy Lentz and Za Flores for their assistance in the hallway. For your great enthusiasm and behind the scene support, thank you to the best staff in the world! It would not have been successful without each of you doing your part.

Our POP TOP COLLECTION to raise funds for the Ronald McDonald House is ongoing! Keep those pop top pull tabs coming! If you have been saving them along the way… now is the time to bring them in. We will be emptying our tubs at the end of school. So send in what you have collected. The money raised goes toward Ronald McDonald House in honor one of our own students who is under medical care. Thanks to all those who have contributed.

Our character trait for May is PATIENCE. The definition is waiting until later for what you want right now. Learning to wait can teach goal setting and encourage hard work. Catch your child being patient and acknowledge him or her for the virtue that it is.

As always, if I can assist you in any way, please email me or call.

Kindest regards,

Ziba Johnston

Counselor
When given the choice between being right or being kind, choose kind. 
~ Dr.Wayne Dyer

ONE DAY WITHOUT SHOES ~ APRIL 11th

Dear JES family and friends,

 On April 11^th, we will be going shoeless at Johnson to bring attention to the needs of children around the world who miss opportunities in life because they do not have shoes. Did you know that one pair of shoes for a child can gain them entry to school, keep them healthy, protect them from injury and most of all give them the hope that someone cares about them?  We will also be collecting pairs of new shoes to donate to Shoes for Orphan Souls. For more information visit the Shoes for Orphan Souls website at:

            www.shoesfororphansouls.org

Fourth Grade Orientation for Intermediate School

Orientation for our fourth graders going to Durham Intermediate next fall is the morning of May 7th. All fourth graders will travel to DIS by bus for an informational talk by the DIS administrators and a tour of the campus. We will leave JES at 8:30 and return around 10AM. A Parent Orientation is being offered at 6PM in the Durham Intermediate Cafeteria. There is an informal coffee for parents at 9AM on May 8^th at DIS.  Transition to fifth grade can be a challenge. Attending the orientation meetings can ease some of the anxiety by answering many of your questions about procedures, the schedules and the “always challenging” lockers!

Our character trait for April is FRIENDSHIP – spending time with someone you trust and enjoy!  

Rachel’s Rally and Relay for Life are coming up on May 3rd and 4th at Carroll High School. This is a community wide celebration of kindness and compassion followed by a service opportunity to walk to raise awareness for the ongoing battle against cancer. To get more information or sign up for a relay team go to: http://www.relayforlife.org/southlaketx .

STARR testing takes place this month. Fourth grade will be taking the Writing assessment this week on April 2^nd and 3^rd. Third and fourth grades will be testing on April 23^rd and 24^th.  Our students are well prepared. The most important thing that parents can do to help is make sure your child is rested, well fed, and in attendance on time for testing days. Thank you for your help.

As always, if I can assist you in any way, please contact me.

Kindest regards,

Ziba Johnston - Mrs. J

Elizabeth.Johnston@southlakecarroll.edu

Counselor

March's Character Value - HONESTY

Dear JES family and friends,

Many thanks to our PTO for “cooking up” a special week of recognition for us last week! We truly feel appreciated! The sweet notes, tasty treats, cookbooks with delicious family recipes, the Friday luncheon and the apron…WOW you out did yourselves! Thank you to all of our parents for your continued support throughout the year.

The “Drive for a SMILE” toothbrush drive was a success! We exceeded our goal of collecting 600 toothbrushes! Thank you to everyone who contributed whether it was by donating a toothbrush or counting them at the end – together we make a difference especially for those children who will receive a toothbrush to promote dental health through Cook Childrens’ Hospital. A special thanks to our nurse Susan Bonczyk for arranging to get the toothbrushes delivered to the hospital. For meeting our goal, the students and staff were rewarded with sugarless bubblegum (or an alternative) and permission to chew it during school!

HONESTY is the character value for the month of March. The definition is choosing to be truthful in whatever you say or do. Watch out George Washington and Abe Lincoln! After this month, our school will be filled with children who will go down in history for their inability to tell a lie, because we are dedicating the whole month of March to the value of HONESTY.

Kindergarten Preview at JES - April the 18^th from 5-6:15. This is an opportunity for prospective kindergartners to visit the Johnson campus. If you have a child who will be five years old by September 1^st, 2013, plan on visiting this fun event. Be sure and tell your neighbors and friends about our Preview, too!

As always, if I can assist you in any way, please contact me.

Kindest regards,

Ziba Johnston-Mrs. J

Counselor 

elizabeth.johnston@southlakecarroll.edu

 

SOUPER BOWL of CARING

Dear JES family and friends,

February is a month dedicated to some pretty incredible people who were brave enough to make a difference in a peaceful way - Martin Luther King Jr., Rosa Parks, Presidents both past and present. So it’s the perfect time to introduce the value of Peace—proving you care more about each other than winning an argument. Promoting peace through kindness is the basis of what we have implemented over the last few years with our Rachel’s Challenge initiative. Our students continue to promote peace by the practice of school wide acts of kindness. Those little acts of kindness – a smile, a thank you, a helping hand, an invitation to sit by me or come play with us – make a big difference.

What is the challenge? Rachel Scott was a student who showed compassion to everyone especially new students, students with differences, and alienated students. She once wrote that she believed that one’s kindness could start a chain reaction that would lead to more of the same and that it would have no end. Rachel’s challenge is to start a chain reaction of kindness and compassion. Students have the power to make permanent, positive, cultural change in their schools and communities by accepting this simple challenge. For more information for new parents or a refresher for all, you can visit the Rachel’s Challenge website http://www.rachelschallenge.org/.

Thank you to all who sent in snowflakes for the children at Sandy Hook Elementary School. Snowflakes from JES were sent to help decorate their new school building in a beautiful, peaceful blanket of kind wishes.

This week at JES, Tuesday, January 29^th – Friday, February 1^st, we will be participating in the Souper Bowl of Caring by collecting currently needed items for the food pantry at GRACE (Grapevine Relief and Community Exchange). They have requested sugar and flour in #4 bags, salt and pepper, oatmeal, cooking oil, mayonnaise and ketchup, Ramen noodles, kids cereal, canned meat, tomato sauce and paste, shampoo and conditioner and toothpaste. No glass containers, please. Send the donated item to school with your child. There will be collection boxes at front entrances. For the complete wish list visit their website at: http://www.gracegrapevine.org/documents/PantryNeedsList-1-13.pdf 

As always, if I can assist you in any way, please email or call.

Kindest  regards,

Ziba Johnston

Counselor
817 949 4500

Elizabeth.Johnston@southlakecarroll.edu

SNOWFLAKE PROJECT for Sandy Hook Elementary

Snowflake Project

 Many parents and a few students have asked about some way of expressing encouragement, kindness and compassion to the Sandy Hook Elementary School students and staff who are returning to classes following the tragedy at their Newtown, CT school. Since we are not addressing the incident at our school due to sensitivity of our young students, we will not be participating in any group project during the school hours. However, the faculty and staff at JES will have an opportunity to make snowflakes to send. If you would like to make a snowflake at home with your child and send it to school to be mailed, please send it with you child or drop it off at the school office by 3PM on Wednesday, January 9^th. If you prefer, you can mail it directly to the address below:

This month our character value is
DETERMINATION: Deciding it's worth it to finish what you've started. Also you can remind your children of the values we've talked about this school year – RESPECT, INDIVIDUALITY, COOPERATION, and COMPASSION.

Here's a great way to reference the values  and help the children of Sandy Hook Elementary in Newtown.

When school resumes for Sandy Hook, it will be in a new building. Parent-volunteers are working to ensure that the students are welcomed back by a winter wonderland with the entire school decorated with as
many unique snowflakes as possible.

Snowflakes to arrive in CT by January 15th can be sent to:
Bonny Marsicano
22 Pine Tree Hill Road
Newtown, CT 06470

Kindest regards for a Happy 2013!

Ziba Johnston
Elizabeth.Johnston@southlakecarroll.edu