Ms. Hughes' Students Create Fun Art!

By Cameo Stephens and Makayla LeRette

In our art class (with Ms. Noonan) we are making books. It is so much fun! We have made many small, medium, and big books. We have also been making flowers with pastels. This was fun, although it was messy. You can pick any kind of flower, but it has to be realistic. If it was realistic and you were in a dream, you can smell the flower.

MARGRE DURHAM CONCERTS FOR YOUTH

The fourth grade students at Washington Intermediate will be attending the Concerts for Youth on Friday, February 22nd, at the Holland Performaning Arts Center in Omaha. The students will join the Omaha Symphony as they explore “The Composer’s Craft.” Through interactive and directed listening, students will explore how composers put all of the notes together. Whether it’s joining the orchestra on stage, answering questions from a seat in the audience, or working together to compose a piece of original music, the Omaha Symphony’s Concerts for Youth acknowledges that students learn by doing.

Thank you to PTO for helping provide this opportunity by paying for the cost of the transportation and a portion of each student's ticket.



From the Omaha Performing Arts website...


Omaha, Neb – Join the Omaha Symphony and 10,000 area elementary students as they
participate in Concerts for Youth, February 21, 22, and 23 at the Holland Performing Arts Center. The Omaha Symphony Concerts for Youth performances feature an exciting repertoire and interactive student activities throughout the concert created to engage the students and follow this year’s theme of “rhythm.”



“With each performance, students gets to explore and experience the sounds of a full
symphony orchestra – some for the first time,” said Jennifer Boomgaarden, director of education and community partnerships with the Omaha Symphony. Students will get to be a part of the final song as the Symphony will have the students use an unusual instrument for the first time in history!

This year’s Concerts for Youth are supported by First Comp and the Omaha Symphony Guild.
Performances will be held each day, February 21-23, at 9:45 a.m. and 11:10 a.m. at the Holland
Performing Arts Center, 1200 Douglas Street.

Meet Mr. Maurer

Olivia sits down to interview Mr. Maurer. Learn more about Mr. Maurer by clicking on the video below. Continue to check our website for more student interviews and videos!

From the Desk of Mr. Barry

From the February 2008 Washington Intermediate Newsletter (click to visit)

Starting 2008 Off On the Right Foot!
If your house is anything like mine after the holidays, it may be hard for everyone to get back into a routine! Students return to school after being on different sleeping, eating, studying and playing schedules. It usually takes a week or so to get back on track and get focused on the task at hand. I was very impressed with how our students returned from the holiday break and got back to work so quickly and so efficiently! They deserve a pat on the back!

Mid-Year Testing
The students took our mid-year (winter) reading comprehension and fluency (rate and speed) assessments the first two weeks of January. We measure these two reading areas three times a year to monitor progress. As a building, we saw an average growth of over 8 months since September. This was twice the normal growth for 4 months time between tests and I am proud of the students and teachers work with their reading comprehension skills. Your child’s individual growth will be shared with you during our February Parent-Teacher conferences on February 25th and 28th.

After School Math
A note came home this earlier in January with the final 6 dates for the After School Math program and an explanation of our year end Math Celebration and Contest. We are asking students who want to participate in the May math contest to attend 4 of our final 6 after school dates. All students will be welcome to attend the celebration in which we will hand out certificates, awards and crown our Washington Math Team Champions. Last year the students had a blast and we hope to repeat the success and fun this year! Remaining dates as of now are Feb 12 & 26; March 11 & 25 and the May 6th Celebration.

Pain Free Fundraiser!
Before break, we received a $15 check from the Goodsearch.com. This money came from searching done from the www.goodsearch.com site by staff, parents and anyone else who indicated “Washington Intermediate” as the charity of their choice. The $15 may not seem like much, but it was only for 3 months time. We hope to increase our numbers this year! This is one fundraiser that does not cost anyone a dime! Visit the site, search and bookmark it for later use! More information is listed on our website (http://wistigers.blogspot.com). If you have questions, do not hesitate to call, email or stop in my office.

Student Advisory
The students at Washington Intermediate collected, organized and delivered nearly 600 food items to the local food pantry the week before break. It was quite a group effort as every class collected over 30 food items and one class, Ms. Linn's, collected nearly 200 food items on their own! The November and December Student Advisory groups helped load the food items into Mr. Barry and Mr. Maurer's vehicles. Then, the 5th grade Student Advisory students helped take the items to the food pantry near the Square and unload all the items. Mr. Barry is extremely PROUD of each and every student at Washington Intermediate for taking part in this program. It is a very CARING act of kindness before the holidays.