No Michigan Makers Tomorrow (Monday)

Michigan Makers will NOT meet on Monday, November 25.
I apologize for the confusion.
Kevin

Physical Education News from Mrs. Lindemann

Dear Parents,

We are currently doing a sport stacking unit in PE. Sport stacking is an exciting sport where students stack and unstuck 12-specially designed cups (Speed Stacks) in predetermined sequences.  Students race against the clock for faster times and race against each other in relays.

Sport stacking promotes hand-eye coordination, ambidexterity, quickness, concentration and Fitness- plus students love it! Sport stacking uses both sides of the body and brain developing important skills needed to dribble and shoot a basketball, throw and catch a baseball, play a musical instrument, type on a computer and more. By activation both sides of the brain,students also benefit academically with greater focus and concentration levels. 

One of my goals, as a Physical Educator, is to promote activity at home through positive Alternatives to computer, television and video game screen time. I believe that sport stacking is a unique, fun and simple activity that motivates kids to get up and move. To help accomplish my goal of keeping kids active and healthy, I invite you and your student to participate in our school Group Order with Speed Stacks.

Group order participants:                       

·       Receive special school discounts on their favorite gear.

·       Take advantage of free shipping on all orders.

·       Help our school earn free equipment – the more you order, the more we earn for the program. 

Choose your items from the product brochure and order using these easy steps:

1.     Go to the Group Order Store online at www.speedstacks.com/go

2.     Find our school in the listing and place your order.

Sincerely, Mrs. Lindemann

      

Good News for the Mitchell English Language Learner (ELL) department!

This week a Karen Thomas Grant was awarded to Susan Atkins for her proposal for an ELL family literacy after-school project that will run this spring. Parent-student pairs will partake in activities to develop interactive reading and writing skills at home. The theme for this class centers around the Hispanic tradition of "Dia del Niño," or Day of the Child. Thanks to the grant, students and parents will receive bilingual books to take home, and bound writing journals in which to compose family stories.

Mitchell School Improvement Plan Update

Reading is important to me because it is one of our most important goals in the The Mitchell School Improvement Plan.  In case you didn't know, our focus school improvement goals are:

1. Mitchell students will become more proficient readers;
2. Mitchell students will become more proficient writers;
3. Mitchell students will show behaviors that support and lead to greater learning opportunities.

The first goal in the list is something every family can support just by encouraging your child to read each night - or read with them. 

Family Movie Night - December 6, 6 PM

Our PTO does a great job of hosting community events so that families come to school and enjoy being together. Thank you for this support! The next family night coming up at Mitchell is Family Movie Night on December 6. Hope to see you there!

Free Community Thanksgiving Meal - RSVP by 11/2 - Call 734-482-2055

Mitchell families are cordially invited to a  . . . 

Free Community Thanksgiving Meal

On 

Wednesday, November 27, 2013 

From 

4:30 PM to 6:30 PM

RSVP by November 22 by calling 734-482-2055

Winter Wear Clothes Closet Available 

Invitation to Mitchell 4th and 5th Grade Concert

Dear Friends to Mitchell School, 

On Thursday, November 21 at 7:00 pm, the Mitchell 4th and 5th grade students will be demonstrating what they are enjoying in music class. 

We invite you to attend and enjoy!

This "informance" will take place in the multipurpose room at Mitchell School. In addition to the general music program (vocal and humanities), the El Sistema after school strings program participants will also be demonstrating. 

Special guests for the evening include Dr. Mark Clague and Dr. John Ellis, professors of musicology and music at the University of Michigan. Also joining us will be Horacio Contreras Espinosa, Zachary Ragent, and Chase Bernhardt from the University of Michigan, who have been with working with the students.

Light refreshments to follow.

Please RSVP by CLICKING HERE.

Sincerely,

Kevin Karr

Principal

Mitchell School

PHOTO: Title 1 Family Night

Title 1 Family Night is a time when families of children who participate in Title 1 programs are invited to school to meet the Title 1 teachers and learn about the reading and math programs we offered this fall. If you have questions, you can ask Mrs. Hudson, Mr. Hilton or Mr. Karr.

PTO Update: Science Olympiad!

Dear Mitchell Families,

The 12th Annual Washtenaw Elementary Science Olympiad (WESO) will be held on May 10th, 2014 at Pioneer High School. Students in grades 2-5 at Mitchell are invited to participate again this year!

Mitchell's 2^nd Grade Mystery Architecture Team won a medal in 2013!  We had 22 children and a dozen parents participate. Our goal is to double the number of students to at least 50. We will need more parents to pitch in this year.

Registration forms and event information are being sent home this week. Please complete the form, noting which event(s) your child would like to participate in and return it to school by Friday, December 6.

If you have any questions about the Science Olympiad please contact Sarah McCallum, Mitchell's Head Coach at 734-945-8076 or mccallumsarah@yahoo.com.

Links to other forms volunteer and participant release forms can be found on Mitchell's web site at http://www.aaps.k12.mi.us/mitchell.home/science_olympiad.

Thank you for your support!

Mitchell Literacy Fund Grows

You might remember that earlier this year we shared that an endowment had been started to help fun literacy initiatives at Mitchell School.  This was began as an outgrowth of discussions that began at with the Mitchell School Improvement Team! 

Our goal for the fund is to accumulate $50,000.  I'm happy to announce that as of 10/21/2013 the fund balance is just over $15,000! 

If you, your family, your friends, your business or anyone else you know would like to donate to the fund, please direct them to: 

http://tinyurl.com/mit-lit-fund

All donations go directly to the purchase of books and the funding of literacy initiatives at Mitchell School.

If you have questions, please contact Mr. Karr at 997-1216.

Millage Passes

Good morning,
Early this morning I read that the Ann Arbor voters passed the school millage yesterday.  This is great news!  Thank you to Mitchell families who made time to vote yesterday.
In particular, this millage will be used to maintain the schools (including Mitchell).  Most recently this millage has funded the following items at Mitchell:  stage curtains, bathroom remodeling, new exterior doors, lighting upgrades inside and outside the building . . . and more that I'm not thinking of at this moment.
If you have questions, please contact me.
Sincerely,
Kevin

PTO Notes - 11/5/13

Tuesday, November 5 – No School – Leo's Coney Island – Dining to Donate – 4-8PM

            No flyer needed, Just vote and then head out to dinner with the family.

Please be sure to Vote. The Sinking Fund Millage Renewal will be on all ballots in the Ann Arbor school district. These funds are for building and property construction and remodeling. No increase is proposed - your taxes would remain the same, while preserving regular funding for classrooms.

 

Fun Run pledges- Please be sure to turn in all outstanding pledges by Friday. Any pledges submitted today(Monday) will be counted and entered into the raffle for some great prizes. The raffle drawing will take place on Friday afternoon.

Next Tuesday, Nov 12, we will have our monthly PTO meeting - Childcare available! Please join us!

Mitchell Music Program Awarded Grant

Mr. Tolly is happy to share the news that his grant request for the Sweet Music in Harlem project has been awarded. The Ann Arbor Public Schools Educational Foundation has awarded $1,000 for this project at Mitchell. The project will begin in late spring, and will include bringing a children's author, a composer, and musicians to Mitchell as part of the project. More to come as this unfolds!