Carson & Leatha Interview

Mr. Barry sits down before the break to talk with Leatha & Carson.

Washington Students Deliver Again!

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.

Red Ribbon Week Poster Winners

On Friday, December 7th an assembly was held at Washington Intermediate School in Red Oak to honor the winners of the 2007 Elks Drug Awareness Poster Contest. In the annual contest, 4th and 5th grade students create posters about the year's theme. In 2007, the theme was "Because I'm Drug Free, I Can ....".

Red Oak Elks Lodge #1304 selected Alyssa Wilkins as the 4th grade winner and Nick Carlson as the 5th grade winner. Each received $25 in Red Oak Chamber Bucks. In addition, both students won District Competition and will receive a $50 US Savings Bond. Alyssa also was selected as the State Winner and will receive a $100 US Savings Bond. In addition, her poster will be forwarded to the National Elks Drug Awareness Program for consideration to be placed in the Elks Drug Awareness Coloring Book.

The Elks are one of the nation's premiere social fraternities with one million members. Elks are extremely active in their communities with several youth programs including Scholarship, Hoop Shoot, Soccer Shoot, Americanism, and Drug Awareness. Annually, the Elks give out more than 3 million dollars in scholarship and are the leading nongovernmental distributor of drug awareness materials.

Here are a couple of links to the Elk's programs we received from Dave Fields:

http://elks.org/drugs/default.cfm This is the drug awareness section.

http://elks.org/marvel.cfm This has a digital version of our drug awareness comic book and the Teacher's guide

http://elks.org/default.cfm Finally, this is our home page, which lists all of our programs.

We are very proud of Alyssa, Nick and every student at Washington who participated in the contest.

Good luck, Alyssa! We will keep everyone posted.

Washington Student Videos

Mr. Barry met with the first two groups of students yesterday to talk about the website video project. The students brainstormed ideas and some have already started to work on some scripts or ideas. Our introduction is below! Mr. Barry will meet with more interested students during the month of December. Continue to check back for more student created videos highlighting what is going on at Washington!.

December Newsletter

The December newsletter is coming home with students on Friday, November 30th. Please look and read through it with your child! Lots of upcoming news, stories from our own students and some interesting information about what our staff members do during the holidays! Have a great December and holiday season. ~ DB

From the Desk of the Principal

December 2007 Newsletter - page 1

Parent Advisory Committee Date Change
Due to a scheduling conflict on my end, the Washington Intermediate Parent Advisory Committee meeting will be moved from Thursday, December 6, to Thursday, December 13, at 6:30 PM. This meeting is open to any parent of a Washington Intermediate student. We will host this at Washington in the media center. Some of the topics on the agenda will be: technology update, after school math update, attendance policy, healthy choices/treats, BD pilot program, and parent ideas, concerns & questions.

Holiday Happenings
Brrrr….as I write this month’s newsletter article, the north winds have brought us some chilly temperatures! As the temperatures go down, make sure your child dresses warmly. We often have students come without gloves, mittens, hats and coats. Unless the temperatures are below freezing, we head outside! Bundle up until March! J

We will be conducting our third annual food drive at Washington Intermediate during the week of December 10 – 14. Students, parents, and community members may drop off non-perishable food items at Washington during that week. Our December Student Advisory Group will coordinate the food drive and help me deliver it to a local food pantry the following week. This has always been a fun activity for the students and staff at Washington and we appreciate your generosity, compassion and help during the holiday season.

Holiday classroom parties will be held on Thursday, December 20th. They will begin after 2:00 pm. Look for notes to come home from your child’s teacher. We do want to remind parents that we do not exchange gifts at school.

Washington Hosts Pilot Program
Pending school board approval on December 13th, the Red Oak Community School District is looking to pilot a 4th through 8th grade behavior disorder classroom within the district. We are in the initial stages of putting together the program, but a Washington Intermediate classroom will be the site for this program during the 2nd semester. A question parents may have is, “What does this mean for my 4th/5th grade child at Washington?” I want to assure each parent that nothing will change for the students who attend Washington as the middle school students in the pilot program will be separate from all activities that our students participate in during the school day. Further explanation of the program will take place during our December 13th Parent Advisory Meeting mentioned above. This would be a great opportunity to hear more and get your questions answered!

Celebrating National Young Readers Day

National Young Readers Day (NYRD) was celebrated at Washington Intermediate on Tuesday, November 13. Several celebrity readers entertained 4th and 5th grade students by sharing some of their favorite books. Several parents volunteered to read in Mrs. Guinn's class and Red Oak CSD superintendent, Mr. Schmidt, read to Ms. Chelsvig's students. Mrs. Timmerman even had a former student, Marsha Fleming, read in her room. NYRD was co-founded in 1989 by Pizza Hut and a division of the Library of Congress to recognize the joys and benefits of reading. Students from all over the country set aside this special day annually to celebrate reading, one of life's most important and greatest pleasures.

A big thank you to Mrs. Burnison for setting this up for our building and for being Washington's "Everyday-Celebrity-Reading-Specialist"!

Good Luck Tigers!!

A few pictures from our black and orange spirit day & pep rally...

Important Cyber-Tips for Parents!

Did you know that there are over 200 youth in the Red Oak area who have their own account on myyearbook.com? Do you know if your child does? If so, do you know who your child talks to through this site or other forms of computer networking such as instant messaging and email? In today's world, these are important questions to ask your child and to have a conversation about the do's and don'ts of internet safety. There can be a lot of benefits from using social-networking sites such as myyearbook or myspace but parents and students should be aware of several risks too!

Children present unique security risks when they use a computer. The National Cyber Security Alliance, a partner in the National Cyber Security Awareness Month initiative, offers the following tips to keep children safe and to protect their data. By taking some simple steps, you can reduce the threats to your child.

1. Keep your computer in a central and open location in your home and be aware of other computers your child may be using.

2. Discuss and set guidelines and rules for computer use with your child. Post these rules by the computer as a reminder.

3. Use the Internet with your child. Familiarize yourself with your child’s online activities and maintain a dialogue with your child about what applications they are using.

4. Implement parental control tools that are provided by some Internet Service Providers and available for purchase as separate software packages. Remember, no program is a substitute for parental supervision. You may be able to set some parental controls within your browser. To find these options in Internet Explorer for example, click Tools on your menu bar, select Internet Options, choose the Content tab, and click the Enable button under Content Advisor. (For other browsers, contact the vendor to determine what parental controls are included.)

5. Consider using software that allows you to monitor your child’s e-mail and Web traffic.

6. Consider partitioning your computer into separate accounts. Most operating systems give you the option of creating a different user account for each user. If you’re worried your child might accidentally access, modify, or delete your files, you can give your child a separate account and decrease the access and number of privileges your child has.

7. Know who your child’s online friends are and supervise their chat areas.

8. Teach your child never to give out personal information to people he or she meets online, such as in chat rooms or bulletin boards.

9. Know who to contact if you believe your child is in danger. Visit www.getnetwise.org for detailed information.

10. If you know of a child in immediate risk or danger, call law enforcement immediately. Report instances of online child exploitation to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children’s Cyber Tipline at http://www.missingkids.com/

This information and more can be found at two very useful sites:

http://secureonline.iowa.gov/newsletters/index.html

http://www.cyber-safety.com/parents.html

After School Math Dates Remaining...

The Tuesdays listed below are our remaining days for After School Math. It runs the 2nd and 4th Tuesday of each month listed (not in December or April). The program is open to any and all 4th and 5th grade students. The program runs from 3:10 – 4:00 each day listed below.

Nov 13 & 27
Jan 8 & 22
Feb 12 & 26
Mar 11 & 25
May 6 - Year End Contest & Celebration

Students who attend more than 1/2 the days may participate in our year-end Math-A-Thon contest that will take place on May 6th.

5th Graders Celebrate Reading Success!

The Washington Intermediate 5th graders held their September/October reading party Friday afternoon at the YMCA to celebrate reading. To qualify, each student met individual goals for pages and genre. Their reward was to swim in the pool and play dodgeball or volleyball in the gym. What a fun and worthwhile afternoon!

Red Ribbon Week Winners!

*****Mrs. Timmerman's Class*****___*****Mr. Haufle's Class*****

During Red Ribbon week, Ms. Bates posed several trivia questions to the entire student body. The questions were centered on the negative effects of taking drugs and the positive effects of saying 'no' to drugs! Classes competed against each other and the winning classes for the week were Mr. Haufle's (4-2) and Mrs. Timmerman's (5-4) classrooms! Congratulations to both classrooms and to all the students who participated. We would also like to send a BIG THANK YOU to Brandon Lampkin and Hy-Vee as they sponsored our Rock In Prevention assembly during Red Ribbon week. We could not have brought in this engaging, entertaining and informative presentation for our students without the help of Mr. Lampkin and Hy-Vee!

Change in Next Week's Schedule

To allow our community to support the girls' volleyball team at next week's state tournament, changes to the schedule have been made. There will be a note coming home with all Red Oak students on Friday, November 2nd, detailing the schedule changes for next week. Here is the quick version:

Wednesday, November 7th

There will be a school-wide/community pep rally at the high school.

It will begin at 2:15 pm and end at 2:45 pm. Washington students

will be bused to and from the high school with regular dismissal
from Washington Intermediate taking place at 3:10 pm.

Thursday, November 8th

Two hour early dismissal from school. This will allow those families and

staff traveling to Cedar Rapids time to get there for the 7:00 PM game.

Friday, November 9th

Due to the lateness of the game and the chances of the girls playing further

in the tournament, we will have no school on Friday. This day will be made

up on Friday, May 23rd.

Congrats Red Oak Volleyball Team!

On to State!!

Rockin' to a Drug Free Beat!

Red Ribbon week was a great success at Washington Intermediate during the week of October 22 - 26. Each day, the students started the day out with a message from Ms. Bates, our counselor, and a song. High school students visited on Monday to have students sign pledges that they would be drug free. Students also received a red ribbon wrist band. As you can see above, two classrooms (Mrs. Timmerman & Mr. Fehring) had students learn a line dance and perform it for the remaining 5th grade students on Friday. They also taught it to the 5th graders and everyone joined in on the fun! Our 4th grade students worked on drug-free cheers, songs and skits so they could present to their classmates on Friday. Each 4th grader who presented did an excellent job!

Check back for more Red Ribbon week winners and more pictures later this week!

Fire Safety!

Click on pictures to enlarge

Mike Wise, from the Red Oak Fire Department, visited Washington on Friday, October 26th, to provide a great fire extinguisher demonstration. For the 2nd year, the Kiwanis supported this extremely important program at Washington Intermediate. Each of the 4th grade students got the opportunity to learn about fire safety, learn about the importance of having a fire extinguisher in the house and use an actual fire extinguisher on an actual fire! Mike did an awesome job with the students and we appreciate the support and education he and the Fire Department has provided our Washington Intermediate students. Also, we could not have done this without the support of the Red Oak Kiwanis Club.

Columbus Day Celebration!

Ms. Hughes and Mrs. Timmerman's fifth grade classes from Washington Intermediate School presented a Columbus Day program at the Red Oak Senior Center October 12th. Part of the program was a quiz session to see how much the participants remembered about Columbus from their school days. The fifth grade students were amazed at how easily they could answer the questions. Poetry and a chant were also part of the program. Students also had made the presentation to the entire Washington student body and did a fabulous job!

Picture Reprints and Retakes

After speeking with Lifetouch it was expained that there were errors during the printing process that caused the discoloration and darkness in this year's school pictures. They said they would reprint all the pictures for IPS and WIS correctly. The parents would keep the pictures already received and every parent who ordered a packet would receive an additional one even if their child’s pictures were not affected. So, if you were going to get retakes due to the coloring alone, it will not be necessary as those pictures will be reprinted. If you were needing retakes due to closed eyes.... etc, retakes are scheduled for Oct. 12th.

Enjoying Some Learning & Some Fun!

We celebrated a fun homecoming week at Washington!
Good luck to the Tigers Friday night!

End of Week Update!

As the week ends, a few items for Washington Parent(s):

1. Homecoming week is next week! A letter is coming home today with a list of activities for the week. The copy of the note is below too. Thank you in advance to the parent volunteers who will be selling buttons and tattoos each morning!
2. Washington Intermediate does not have our Lifetouch pictures in the building yet! For some reason, our pictures did not arrive the same time as IPS and the MS. We will get those out next Monday.
3. Rumor Central…have you heard the one about Washington Intermediate…?? To squash some rumors, I’ll let you know that we are not hosting the cast of The High School Musical and we are not having a dance tonight either! We did actually win the $5,000 from Hy-Vee…so that one is true. J If you ever have questions about what is happening at Washington and what is not…please email or call.
4. Parent Advisory Committee is meeting Monday (9-17) at 7:00 pm in the media center. Please join us if you can! Agenda items include: Review of 2006-07 data; Happenings so far this year; blog & technology update; Student Savings accounts; suggestions/discussion about the $5,000 we won; other input, comments and questions.

Washington Intermediate is Smiling Now!

Mr. Brandon Lampkin, Dylin Keat & Mr. Doug Barry

More pictures can be found on KCSI-FM!

THIS JUST IN...

We are now taking your ideas!! How would you spend $5,000 on your school? Click here to take a survey that makes you the "principal" for the day! We welcome answers from parents, students, staff, and community members!


We are extremely excited to share some great news that came our way on Thursday and we were able to announce it to all students and staff today! One of our Washington 'family members' had his name drawn for the Smiles for Education contest our hometown Hy-Vee is running this fall. Fifth grader, Dylin Keat, is the lucky winner! Not only will he receive a brand new Dell laptop, but our school will receive a $5,000 check from Hy-Vee to help support our classrooms or help purchase something that will make Washington Intermediate an even better place to learn, work, share and grow!

So, we would like for you to come help our Washington Family celebrate…

What:
Washington Intermediate Assembly
5th grader, Dylin Keat, had his name pulled for Hy-Vee's Smile for Education!
We will receive a check for $5000 from Hy-Vee! Dylin receives a laptop computer!

Who:
All students, staff, any district staff and parents available can attend!
Brandon Lampkin, Hy-Vee store director & other Hy-Vee staff.
KMTV-3, Red Oak Express & KCSI

When:
Tuesday, September 11, 2007 - 10:00 AM

Where:
Washington Intermediate Gym


We of course have already had many suggestions from students and staff as to what we could do with the money. Ranging from laptops, to basketball poles/backboards, to a few who thought we should build a pool! I know that it will also be a conversation at our September 17, Washington Parent Advisory meeting! Have an idea? Come join us on the 17th!

Two More Washington Sites Go Online!

Starting August 28th, Ms. Linn will begin posting classroom information online. Check out her classroom's new site at wislinn.blogspot.com. Our other new site will be our Student & Parent Advisory groups site located at wisadvisory.blogspot.com.

Keep checking back to see when other staff members or groups begin posting online!

It was noted that the dates on our handout available at registration were incorrect in a few places. Please use the information below to double check your calendars at home! The bold print are the dates that were incorrect. Also note the dates for after school math below. Thank you and sorry for any inconvenience this may have caused you. ~ Mr. Barry

Important Dates:
School Pictures ** Thurs. Aug 30
Parent-Teacher Conf. (K-12) ** Oct 1 & Oct 4 (4-8 PM)
End of 1st Quarter ** Oct 24
4th Grade Music Program ** TUES, Dec 4
End of 2nd Quarter/1st Sem ** Jan 9
Parent-Teacher Conf. (K-12) ** Feb 25 & 28 (4-8 PM)
Spring Break Week ** March 17-21
ITBS Testing Week ** Apr 7-11
5th Grade Music Program ** Mon, Apr 21
ICAM End of Testing ** Apr 24-26
End of 3rd Quarter ** Mar 14
5th Grade Oregon Trail ** Fri, May 2
Wash. Track & Field Day ** Fri, May 9
3rd Grade Parent Orientation ** Tues, May 13 (6:30)
Transition Day (3rd,5th,8th) ** Thur, May 15 (1:30)
End of 4th Quarter/2nd Sem (Last Day) ** May 22


After School Math Program - Third Year Running!
We will be having our after school math program for any and all 4th and 5th grade students. The program runs from 3:10 – 4:00 each day listed below. If you want more information, ask any WIS staff member!

Mark your calendar & come join us on the Tuesdays listed below!!

Sept 11 & 25
Oct 9 & 23
Nov 13 & 27
Jan 8 & 22
Feb 12 & 26
Mar 11 & 25
May 6 - Year End Contest & Celebration

Parent/Student Handbooks!

On the first day of school, each teacher will spend some time going over the Parent/Student Handbook with their students. These handbooks will come home with the students and I would encourage each child to sit down with their parents to go over the handbook, especially some of the items noted below! If you ever have any questions, never hesitate to email me or call (623-6630).

Staff Listing (p.2)
- We are a family. It is important we know who works at Washington. Being respectful means you introduce yourself to staff members you do not know. The staff at Washington will also take the time to greet and get to know you!

Attendance (p.5)
- It is important you’re here every day as that will ensure the best chance for you to be successful! Instruction starts at 8:25 AM so being ready and prepared before then will be important! School is out at 3:10 PM each day. (Parents note that the handbook states 'students are allowed to enter the building at 8:15a.m. with instructional time beginning at 8:25a.m. Our building is open before 8:15a.m and students are to go into the gym to either eat breakfast or sit down along the side of the gym. We have supervision until the teachers pick the students up from the gym at 8:15a.m. Sorry for the confusion!)

Birthdays (p.6)
- Bringing snacks for all classmates is not required but it is okay. Healthy snacks are even better! Please do not bring birthday invitations to school – send them in the mail!

Clothing (p.7)
- Bottom line on clothing…if you or your parent has a question about whether what you put on in the morning is okay to wear, it probably is not! Wear clothes that cover you from the knees to the neck! No inappropriate or disrespectful words, phrases or pictures should be on your clothes either.

Harassment (p.9)
- Every school in the state of Iowa passed new harassment policy. EVERY child should feel safe and comfortable at school. If students are making others feel unsafe or uncomfortable at school by what they are saying or doing to them, students have the right to complain to an adult. If you feel like you’re being harassed, you need to take the following steps:
1. Talk to the person harassing you and tell them you expect it to stop. Ask a teacher, counselor or the principal to help you do this if you do not want to do it on your own.
2. If it does not stop, tell a teacher, the counselor, or principal.
3. You need to write down exactly what happened in your words and give it to the counselor.
4. The counselor will look into the harassment and let the principal know what happened.

Bus (p.12)
- Cameras have been added to every bus so all students may enjoy a safe ride to and from school. Students not making it safe may lose the right to ride the bus. Play it safe by always sitting down, talking quietly and being respectful to your bus driver each day!

We believe that by being respectful, responsible and showing pride in ourselves, our school and our community, we can have an awesome year! Thanks for helping! Mr. Barry

After School Math at Washington!

Washington Intermediate will be providing an after school math program again this year! We started this program two years ago to address the concern that our students did not know their times-tables and other basic facts as well as they should have. Students could do the basic facts, but their fluency (speed or rate) at which they computed the facts needed increased. Out of that discussion came our After School Math Program. During the course of the 2007-08 school year, students will be able to stay after school for an hour to work on their math facts, play math games, use the computers, and other fun activities to help them memorize their basic facts. In addition to the classrooms working on basic facts, we hope to also have at least one teacher work with students who have mastered their facts and let them engage in higher-level math problems, activities and games. We are fortunate that local businesses sponsor each day by bringing in snacks and/or activities for the students to do. Students who have attended the program can tell you that it is a lot of fun and it works! The dates and important information is listed below. If you have any further questions, give us a call or email Mr. Barry. Hope to see your child there on September 11th!

• Program runs from 3:10 - 4:00.
• We do not provide transportation.
• Parents/rides should pick students up at 4:00 PM on the south or north side of the school.
• Snacks are provided by local businesses.
• Students are encouraged to stay each day we offer the program.

After School Math Dates (note: some dates were printed wrong on the large calendar!!)
September 11 & 25
October 9 & 23
November 13 & 27
January 8 & 22
February 12 & 26
March 11 & 25
May 6 **Celebration Contest & Awards**

If you did not register Monday, August 13th, contact the central office (623-6600; 904 Broad Street).

Attempting to ride out onto the internet!

The 2007-2008 school year brings many changes to Washington Intermediate and the Red Oak Community School District. One change is that I will try to post my updates, newsletter articles and other important information to my newly created 'blog.' This will be an opportunity for me to get parents updated with current information and easily receive feedback from parents and community members. If you have ideas for me on how to make the site even more user-friendly, contact me anytime!

As for other changes, we have many! From staff, to programs, to schedules...we are making changes to make sure all students at Washington enjoy success! If you have input as to how to make Washington Intermediate even better, let me know! Here is a summary of the staff changes...

Those who you will meet...

We welcome two new teachers to our ranks this school year. Mrs. Linn comes to us from the River Valley School District in NW Iowa. Before staying home with her three children, Mrs. Linn taught two years at the first grade level. Ms. Hughes comes to us from Shenandoah. She just graduated after student teaching in Malvern and Nishna Valley. Both teachers come highly recommended and we are excited to add their ideas, energy and enthusiasm to our staff! As a district, we welcome a new superintendent, Terry Schmidt! Mr. Schmidt joined us in July and I know that his vision and his determination will allow our district to continue to grow and head in the right direction!

Those who will be missed...

Mrs. Hartstack retired last spring and left a big hole in the 5th grade wing of our building. Although she will be missed by staff, parents and students, I know we will see her at Washington during the year as she will be subbing for us!

Mr. Perrien took a position in as a middle school principal in the Riverside School District. He will not be far away as the middle school is located in Carson, Iowa, but he will be missed by Title I students and all the students in the lunchroom!

Fifth grade teacher, Mr. Nordquist, took a teaching position in Missouri to be closer to his new wife! We understand his reasoning, but will miss his energetic teaching style and I know the athletes at the middle school and high school will miss him, too!

From the district standpoint, one notable face you will miss is our superintendent, Dr. Brummer. Dr. Brummer is currently the superintendent at Carroll Kuemper so look for him when the Knights visit our Tigers in football, volleyball or basketball this coming year!

Help Washington Intermediate Earn Money!

We all search the internet when looking for information, doing research or looking for directions. What if Washington Intermediate earned a penny every time you searched the Internet? Well, now we can! GoodSearch.com is a new search engine that donates half its revenue, about a penny per search, to the charities its users designate. You use it just as you would any search engine, and it's powered by Yahoo, so you get great results.

Just go to the Goodsearch site and be sure to enter "Washington Intermediate School" in the box below the statement, "Who do Goodsearch for?" You can also track how much we have raised each month by clicking on the "Amount Raised" button on the page under our school name. The money will be tracked by our Student Advisory and Parent Advisory groups and used for projects or needs recognized by these two groups. Examples of ideas generated by both groups last year include: new basketball hoops/poles, landscaping in the front of the building, repainting the lockers, adding more books to the classrooms and/or media center, more laptops, and more!

The site begins tracking our searches starting August 1st, 2007. Checks are sent out in December if the charity has earned $20 by September 30th of that year. Just 500 of us searching four times a day will raise about $7300 in a year without anyone spending a dime! And, be sure to spread the word!

(Please note that the site does state: "Please use this site honestly. Fraudulent searches will result in a charity being de-listed.")

Watch Your Step!

Starting July 24th, the outside of our Washington Intermediate building will see some improvements! The side walk on the south and east side of the building will be replaced. Today, the entire south sidewalk was removed and the contractors thought they would have new side walk in place by the end of the week on both sides! They will also do some work on the north side of the building. All were needed improvements as the side walk showed many cracks, holes and was becoming a bit dangerous in spots! Our playground will also see some changes as it will be resurfaced and the blacktop will be extended about 5-10 feet to the south in places so that the tether ball 'courts' are on blacktop and not dirt/grass/mud! No muddy basketball players this year! Check back for pictures or stop on by to see it yourself.