Children's Book Week

This week our school celebrated Children's Book Week. We had a number of different activities that our students and staff participated in during the week. Each class created a favorite book character using a pumpkin and these were displayed in the media center. Students and teachers also created a Book-O board (like Bingo only you use book titles) and names were called out on the news until three classes got Book-O. Mrs. Waller, our media specialist, also did book reviews each morning on the news and grade levels had different activities during the week as well.
One of my favorite things to do here at school is to read to the classes. During Children's Book Week, we place an extra emphasis on doing this. I been to numerous classes this week to read book, most of which relate to Thanksgiving. I love seeing the kids get excited about someone reading to them! I encourage you to spend time reading to, and with, your child. It is one of the most satisfying things you can do and it is also a great help to them as they learn to read.

American Education Week

This week is American Education Week and I hope you will take the opportunity to thank someone for the part they played in your education. This year the theme for AEW is "Great Public Schools; A Basic Right and Our Responsibility." I feel very blessed to be in a school and school district where the employees take this responsibility to heart and the people work hard every day to ensure that our students receive a quality education.

I want to thank everyone who attended our PTST meeting and Thanksgiving meal last night (11-17-08). We had a great meal and some wonderful entertainment from some of our 3rd and 5th grade students. A special thanks to the members of the PTST board for their work in preparing for meal and meeting. We have a great group of dedicated board members who continue to work for our school and students. I also want to thank our faculty and staff members who helped with serving the meal and the clean-up afterwards. As always, they step up to the plate when something needs to be done and help make sure it happens!

Bittersweet Emotions

It is with mixed emotions that I announce that our Assistant Principal for Instruction, Mrs. Shanon Lusk, will be leaving us to take over as the new Principal at Tamassee-Salem Elementary School. I am very excited for Mrs. Lusk and I know she will do an excellent job in her new position. I am also sad that she will be leaving us after 15 plus years at Walhalla Elementary School. Shanon has been an outstanding teacher, administrator and friend during her time here and she will be greatly missed. Her dedication to our students and staff has played a tremendous role in our school's success. Shanon is a professional in every sense of the word and I feel blessed to have worked with her for the past seven years. The students, staff and families of Tamassee-Salem Elementary School should be very excited to add Mrs. Shanon Lusk to their team!
I also want to say a thank you to the retiring Principal at TSES, Mrs. Myra Dillard. I have had the pleasure of working with Myra for the past seven years and she has been a tremendous help and blessing to me both professionally and personally. Myra has worked diligently for her school and is leaving Shanon a great opportunity to continue to build upon the school's successes.
I am very proud to have the chance to know and work with these two outstanding ladies. You would be hard pressed to find two more passionate people about the students and doing what is best for every student.
I hope the students, staff and families of TSES will celebrate the past successes with Myra Dillard and be excited about the future successes with Shanon Lusk. The quote below reminds me of Myra and Shanon because they are both more concerned with what they can do to make the team better than individual accolades.
Best wished to both Myra and Shanon as they embark on these new journeys in their lives!

"The most important measure of how good a game I played was how much better I'd made my teammates play." ~Bill Russell

Walhalla Elementary Election results

The 5th grade culminated their study of the election by participating in a mock election on Monday. Our school results mirrored the state results with McCain/Palin defeating Obama/Biden. Our 5th grade teachers did a great job of teaching the students about the election process. Students learned about the views of the candidates, the history of the electoral college, and how the registration process works. Students even registered and voted based on their "precinct."
On Wednesday, teachers and students discussed the results of the history making election from the night before. These were excellent teachable moments and our teachers and students did a great job!