October 2012

Our Halloween Costume Parade began here at Santaquin Elementary at 1:00pm on Wednesday, October 31st.  Parents were welcome and came to join us in the gym and main entryway to watch as students and teachers “paraded” through the school.  Clowns, witches, doctors, superheros, etc., marched in step, showing off their amazing costumes.  Happy Halloween!

Each month Santaquin Elementary will post a new edition of our very own school newspaper, the Santaquin Sentinel.  This publication will include:  calendar items, review of important school events, guidance from our school counselor, and a special message from Mr. Argyle.  Thank you to all members of our school community for your continued support of our learning.

http://santaquin.nebo.edu/content/santaquin-sentinel

On the evening of October 24th, 2012, the parking lot of Santaquin Elementary was full.  Parents and second grade students were at the school for their second annual ‘Parents and Pumpkins’ Literacy Night.  Parents and 2nd graders came to learn about word work strategies, comprehension tools and technology they can use at home.  Parents enjoyed the strategies learned that evening, going home with a variety of materials for being in attendance.  One of the highlights of the night was the pumpkin drawing.  During the month of October, 2nd grade students had the opportunity to turn in ‘pumpkin reading tickets' for every 20 minutes they read.  Containers were filled with ‘pumpkin reading tickets’ from each class.  The students sure read a lot!!!  It was at the end of ‘Parents and Pumpkins’ that students’ names were drawn to pick an awesome hand-painted pumpkin.  The pumpkins were donated locally and painted by volunteers.  ‘Parents and Pumpkins’ was a great event for all!

 October 22, 2012, at Santaquin Elementary. 

      It was the first day of Red Ribbon Week and we were told to wear red clothes and wear running shoes.  Most of the students did.  After the announcements, we all went out to the front of the school, on the grass by the first grade classrooms.

     When the whole school was there, Mr. Argyle yelled. "GO".  Then while following a flag that read "Run Away From Drugs", everyone zoomed around the school.  It was AWESOME.

     After the run, everyone returned to class, very tired but happy.

                                                       Photos and Story by:  Elizabeth Anne Crook, sixth-grade student

These dedicated readers were chosen to participate in our October 'Road to Success' Reading Celebration ... popcorn and a movie with Mr. Argyle!  “The goal of the program is to encourage improvement in literacy which will help develop daily and lifelong reading habits, specifically by READING EVERY DAY at least 20 minutes, to improve vocabulary, proficiency, and communication skills” (Garff, 2012).  Well done Santaquin Readers!

Monday morning, October 22nd, the entire Santaquin Elementary studentbody, faculty and staff had to the opportunity to meet outside to "Run Away From Drugs and Violence" as a kick-off to our Red Ribbon Week!  We all wore RED and our running shoes, and met to run around the perimeter of the school together in our School Fun Run!  Go Santaquin!

Patricia Haroski, a secretary from Illinois, originated National Boss Day in 1958 in honor of her father who helped all of his children with good advice throughout their careers.  In honor of his birthday, October 16th, Patricia registered the day with the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.  Four years later, National Boss Day was officially announced.  The idea quickly gained favor across the country and is now even observed in England, Australia and South Africa.  Today at Santaquin Elementary we honored our very own Mr. Argyle, celebrating with balloons, cards, cookies and a few extra smiles!

On Wednesday, October 10th, the Living Planet Aquarium's Education Program presenters visited the fourth grade students at Santaquin Elementary.  The students were able to participate in several experiments to learn about their science core topic of understanding "the physical characteristics of Utah's wetlands, forests, and deserts and identifying common organisms for each environment."  The wonderful presenters brought live animals indigenous to Utah, i.e., snakes, lizards, toads, etc., and taught the students how to classify them.  The visit  was "very informative and interactive" demonstrating to the students how "experiments work differently and we can learn from each of them."  Thank you, Living Planet!

I won an autographed copy of the book Evertaster from the Author, Adam Glendon Sidwell.  I thought Evertaster was an awesome book.  It had good detail and good description.  It’s the kind of book you do NOT want to set down.

          The book makes you think you taste all the wonderful food.  It isn’t hard to picture what is going on.  It has battles and magic forces in the race to find the “ONE RECIPE”.  It’s a race to the finish line back and forth the whole way!!      

          Don’t judge the book until chapters 8-10, it’s beyond  good at that point.

I donated the book that I won to the Santaquin Elementary School Library, so…… GO GET IT READERS!!  Go before school and after school to look for that book!!  Be the first one to read it  (after me). 

This is one of the best books I have ever read.  You should read it.  

On Friday, October 5th, the second grade students from Santaquin Elementary had the pleasure of visiting Harward Farms for their annual Farm Field Day.  How much do YOU know about Agriculture?  Well, we learned things like:  a plant needs five things to grow - water, air, sunlight, soil, and nutrients; the Z.I.P. you get from eating beef stands for zinc, iron, and protein; and a mother sheep is called a ewe!  Thank you, Harward Farms, for an amazing day of learning!!