Home of the Stallions

Stonewall Elementary School

Home of the Stallions

March 2004

It was a very special meeting this past week. The PTA had two special guests attend from Harrison Elementary. Principal Diane Wiles and PTA President Brannon Stone addressed our board with some of the needs that challenge the children of their district. It was a truly eye opening experience. We at Stonewall are so blessed that I think sometimes we put blinders on to the needs of others around us that are in our own community. I know that I am guilty of this.

Many of their children struggle with their home lives. Some are from the Salvation Army Shelter, some are being pulled in and out of their homes by the court systems, many living in single parent families where one of the parents are in jail, some live with grandparents, and some are in foster care. These children are at a disadvantage from the start. Their principal doesn’t send home school supply lists with the kids for fear that some children won’t attend school because they can’t afford the supplies. They have a family resource center in conjunction with their newly formed PTA that works together with the community to try and meet their needs. Their most recent need is dictionaries for the fourth and fifth grade classrooms. A staggering 96% of these children are on free or reduced lunches.

Ms. Wiles is currently trying to initiate a dress code of khakis or navy pants with collared shirts tucked in with a belt. In order to do this, she is writing a grant to try to get funding to give every student at Harrison one outfit to get them started. When questioned whether it would be feasible to ask the students to follow the dress code, she explained that many of the clothes the children wear are inappropriate to be worn in school (t-shirts with obscenitites, little girls dressed provocatively, etc.). She wants to teach them a sense of pride and what appropriate attire looks like.

Harrison’s PTA was attempting to send their science fair participants to Champs for a skating party as incentive for participating. They offered this last year, but were afraid they wouldn’t be able to afford to pull it off this year. The participation doubled last year as a result of this party. Last year they sent two students on to the district competition; this year they were able to send ten. With the help of one of our PTA board members and Nick Champa, the Harrison students will be receiving this party again this year. Stonewall’s PTA is paying for their transportation and Mr. Champa has agreed to donate the party. Through her tears, Ms. Wiles thanked our board profusely. It was very touching to see how such a small gesture on our part could make such a difference in their school.

I am proud to announce that Stonewall’s PTA voted unanimously to officially adopt Harrison Elementary as our sister school. It was approved that we develop a collaborative partnership with Harrison to try to work to the benefit of both of our schools. There is an important lesson our children can learn in regards to becoming involved in a community project. These children did not ask to be in these situations.

In the upcoming months (and hopefully years), you will be able to see this relationship grow. A committee was formed to work on ways in which our school might be able to add something to the lives of the children at Harrison Elementary. If you are interested in joining that committee, please see Angie Hertweck or contact me shonican@qx.net. Good job guys!!! I’m so proud of our parents and their generous hearts.

Five Stonewall chess players participated in the Middletown Chess Tournament in Louisville on January 30^th. Ajay and Nikhil Lingireddy, Jennifer and Katherine Jacob, and Meghan Waters braved the weather. Congratulations to Meghan who tied for first place in the K-3 section with three other players. Our primary team came in 7^th in the K-3 section.

The chess team also brought home a first place trophy by the primary team and a fifth place trophy by the elementary team from the QUAD C Regional Chess Tournament. There were also individual trophies earned by Nihil Lingiredy, Andrew Moore, Turner Hawkins, Meghan Waters and Justin Hui. Congratulations to all.

A note on our last tournament of the year: The State Championship will be held on March 13^th in the Lexington Center. We are expecting around 600 players from all across Kentucky. Our chess club members are working hard to prepare for this tournament. We hope to see you there!

March 8 – 12 is National School Breakfast week. We encourage all students to eat breakfast daily, whether at home or at school. Breakfast is the most important meal of the day. Generally, it follows the longest period of time that our body goes without food. Food is the fuel for your body like gasoline is the fuel that runs an automobile. It is important to start your day with the right foods. A doughnut or sweet roll once a week is a nice treat but they should not be eaten daily. We offer cereal, toast, milk and juice daily. Also, we have a hot entrée as a choice except on Mondays. We have yogurt as a healthy choice daily. Our breakfast if $1.10 per student and $1.50 per adult and is served from 7 – 7:30. Remember, you are what you eat!

A big THANK YOU goes out to all parents who have helped with morning traffic duties. Thank you so much for taking time to help make Stonewall a safer place for our children.

Rock-a-bye baby in the treetop, when the baby comes, Mr. Hardy will…Beam with pride! Congratulations Grandpa – it’s a girl! Mr. Hardy’s daughter Amy delivered a beautiful baby girl last week. Her name is Anna and she weighed in at just under 7 pounds. Congratulations Mr. Hardy. You have a very lucky little granddaughter!

LAST CHANCE TO ORDER---Memory Books are currently on sale! FINAL OPPORTUNITY TO BUY---$15 each! We will take orders until March 3! Fifth graders will receive a complimentary copy...extra copies are $15 each. We also have space available for parents of 5^th graders who wish to leave a special message for $2 each. Fifth Graders!!! If you would like to leave a special message on our MEMORY WALL…NOW is your last chance…$1 each.

All teachers and parents are encouraged to submit pictures for possible inclusion in the memory book. We can take them on cd, disk or developed prints (printouts are not high quality enough). IF you send originals, be sure you include your name and class on each photo. We will do our best to return them in a timely manner upon completing the book. We would prefer everyone send duplicates! If this is the case, please indicate so on the back of the picture. WHAT KIND OF PICTURES? ANY and ALL of kids and activities regarding Stonewall. Be it a field trip, party, a casual day or perhaps a funny moment.

If you have questions, please contact the Memory Book Chair, Cassandra Simpson, via email at cas@werbac.com or phone 219-2351.

A support group is being formed by parents who are currently navigating the special education and 504 systems. The objective of this group is to bring parents together for emotional and collaborative support. Raising children in today’s world is difficult in and of itself. Add into the mix children with special needs and the job becomes daunting. We are a group of parents who live this reality everyday. We think it is important for parents to share information and to support one another. If you need to just talk to someone or if you need advice on daily life strategies with your child, please consider joining our group. REMEMBER – you are not alone!