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Badger Family Update
February 21, 2024
Dear Families,
We are in that long stretch of learning between winter break and spring break. Although it's a long stretch, I find our learning community has found a sense of calm in the many, long of 5-day weeks we get to have between now and spring break, with very few interruptions.
Our focus continues to be on improving attendance and learning outcomes for our students in reading and math. Our teachers likely said the same thing last week at conferences, but I will reinforce it here: Students who read at home at night become stronger readers. Why? They get more practice! Malcom Gladwell said, "Practice isn't the thing you do once you're good. It's the thing you do that makes you good." In fact, he estimates that it takes approximately 10,000 hours of practice to achieve expert-level mastery of any skill. “Practice isn’t the thing you do once you’re good. It’s the thing you do that makes you good.”
If you're thinking, "That would take forever," you're not wrong. It takes some time and persistence, but if students spend approximately 1.5 hours a day reading at school, and another .5 hours at home, they are reading 10 hours per week. If they do that for 1,000 weeks, they'll achieve expert-level mastery by the time they are 19-- just in time for all that reading they'll do in college and trade school!
Many students come home with a book they've been assigned by their teacher to read for their book club or small reading group; all students may check out 1-2 library books per week from the LMC. Thanks for reading and discussing these books with our students-- every extra bit of practice makes such a difference in their lives as readers and students.
Read on for updates on summer programming at Badger and through the Boys and Girls Club, as well as other events happening at Badger in the next few months.
Yours in partnership,
Anne Marie Werley-Gonzalez
Principal
Upcoming Events:
Friday, March 1: Shrek, Jr., Badger Musical Performance at Appleton West
Monday, March 11: PTA Meeting
March 22-April 1: Spring Break, Classes resume Tuesday, April 2
April 8-19: Forward Exam (grades 3-6).
Community Opportunities for Students
The AASD shares local, community opportunities for students. These community opportunities include upcoming events and activities such as art and music camps, youth athletics, cultural events, enrichment programs, and more. We encourage AASD families to regularly review these opportunities for students of all ages. Check out the AASD COMMUNITY OPPORTUNITIES FOR STUDENTS WEBPAGE for a current list of opportunities for students.
Notes from the School Counselor:
In collaboration with The Center for Grieving Children, we will be offering a group to support children who are coping with a loss of a loved one. This is an educational and supportive group designed to give young students a confidential outlet to understand their emotions about the change and learn coping strategies to help with those emotions. The goal of the group is to help students learn how to deal with those feelings in a healthy and manageable way.
Groups will be held during the school day on Monday mornings.
If you think your child could benefit from this group experience please contact Renee Luniak, school counselor at Badger, through calling the main office (920) 852-5440 or by email at luniakrenee@aasd.k12.wi.us.
Summer BOOST Program
Summer B.O.O.S.T.
Building Outstanding Opportunities for Students Together
A DPI funded ESSER grant-based collaboration between AASD Summer School
and Boys & Girls Clubs of the Fox Valley
Participating schools: Badger, Classical, Columbus, Edison, Foster, Highlands, Houdini, Huntley, Einstein, Kaleidoscope, Madison, and Wilson
Dates: June 10th -July 19th (No school on 6/19, 7/4, 7/5)
During the Summer School Session
June 10th -July 3rd (No school on 6/19)
Badger, Columbus, Edison, Foster, Highlands, Kaleidoscope, Madison:
Students will enroll in summer school classes at the school site and attend the Boys & Girls Club after-care program at that school site. Guardians will pick their student(s) up by 5:30 pm.
Classical, Houdini, Huntley, Einstein, and Wilson:
Students will enroll in summer school classes at the school site. Students will then be bussed free of charge to another location for lunch and afternoon programming through the Boys & Girls Club. Guardians will pick up their student(s) at their determined location by 5:30 pm. Specific location information will be provided before programming begins, but may include Badger, Columbus, Edison, Foster, Highlands, Kaleidoscope or Madison.
After the Summer School Session
July 8th -19th
Badger, Columbus, Edison, Foster Highlands, Kaleidoscope, Madison:
Students will attend the 2-week program from 8:00 am-5:30 pm daily at their home school site. Guardians will pick their student(s) up by 5:30 pm.
Classical, Houdini, Huntley, Einstein, and Wilson:
Students will attend the 2-week program from 8:00 am-5:30 pm daily at another school site. A bus will pick students up at their home school site at 8:00am. Guardians will pick their student(s) up at the designated location by 5:30 pm. Specific location information will be provided before programming begins, but may include Badger, Columbus, Edison, Foster, Highlands, Kaleidoscope or Madison.
Additional information:
👉 Students must register for summer school classes at one of the participating schools:
Students must register for the Boys & Girls Clubs of the Fox Valley after-care program:
Link here
Registration for the 2-week BOOST program is free of charge
Summer Food service will provide free meals for the 6 weeks
Congratulations, Badger BRAVE Award Winners!
The BRAVE Awards are back! Congratulations to our BRAVE (Bulldogs Respect and Value Everyone) Award recipients for the month of January 2024:
Kindergarten - Saanvi
1st Grade - Ellie
2nd Grade - Miracle
3rd Grade - Kali
4th Grade - Kimora
5th Grade - Chase
6th Grade - Elliott
One student from each grade level was nominated by their teacher for exemplifying one or more of the following traits: Resilience, Leadership, Character, Work Ethic, and Academic Excellence.
Way to go, Badger Bulldogs!!!
PTA Corner
Hello Badger Families,
We are heading into the second part of the school year and have lots of fun things coming your way!!
**A few dates to keep in mind:
**Restaurant nights
March 14 at McDonalds
April 9 at Tom’s
May 16 Stuc’s Pizza
**We WILL be selling flowers again this year and they will be delivered before Mother’s Day just like in past years so please look for info coming home about the sale.
**We also have the Fifth and Sixth grade Basketball game set for Friday May 3rd!!!
We are just starting the planning for the game and need A LOT of help!! It takes many people to coordinate and pull this night off, please consider donating your time and/or a raffle item. Feel free to contact Terry Frase at fraseterry@yahoo.com
Thanks,
Your Badger PTA