Dear Sewanee Elementary Students and Families,
Welcome to October!
This month is packed with exciting and importanct initiatives to help our students learn, grow, and thrive. As we move deeper into the school year, we'll be focusing on making healthy choices and promoting kindness and respect throughout the school.
World Smile Day is the first Friday of this month. Students are encouraged to celebrate with a smile on Friday, October 4, 2024 and do an act of kindness and help make one person smile. This day reminds us of "the importance of spreading happiness, kindness, and positivity through simple acts, starting with a smile."
October is National Bullying Prevention Month. Our skills lesson this month will focus on bullying. Red Ribbon Week, which is a campaign that supports healthy, drug free kids, takes place this month from October 23, 2024 to October 31, 2024. This year's theme is "Life is a movie, film drug free." I am marrying this year's theme with dogs and safety. Information regarding this event will be attached to this newsletter as well as sent to you separately via SchoolStatus Connect.
September was National Attendance Awareness Month, which focused on recognizing the importance of school attendance. We will be focusing on chronic absenteeism throughout the school year, which is defined by the State of Tennessee Department of Education as "a student missing 10 percent or more of the days the student is enrolled-for any reason, including excused absences and out-of-school suspensions". During the month of September, I sent out several announcements via SchoolStatus Connect about the importance of school attendance. The impact of chronic absenteeism, which is missing just 2 days a month, is tremendous. When a student misses a day of school here and there, it may not seem like much, but these absences add up. Make attendance a priority every day! Attendance matters and every day counts! We have just completed our first 40 days of this school year. If your student has missed more than 3 days of school, they are identified as chronically absent. Your student's absenteeism is more than a legal or compliance issue; we will work with you to try to understand the factors that may contribute to the absences. This will give us an opportunity to help identify the barriers or conditions impacting attendance and assist in improving attendance and supporting student success. Please reach out to me if you have any questions and/or if I can be of any assistance regarding your student's attendance. Also, please refer to the attendance section in the Sewanee Elementary 2024-2025 Handbook for more information and/or contact the school if you have any questions.
Last month, all students participated in our skills lesson that focused on self-control, which is essential for a successful school experience as well as the importance it has with respecting others. They learned that self-control can help them improve focus and attention in class; build stronger relationships with peers and teachers; make better choices in challenging situations; and achieve long-term goals by sticking with tasks. Students also learned about the importance of self-control in everyday situations through the story, "My Mouth is a Volcano". They explored difficulties with self-control that they experience and identified strategies they can use when they feel their self-control slipping, like counting to ten, making positive self-talk, journaling, going on a mind vacation, taking deep breaths, practicing mindfulness, or walking away to calm down. All students created a volcano craft with self-control strategies.
Kindergarten students also participated in a Dino Classroom lesson about blurting and impulse control. They heard the story of Blurt-osaurus, who learned that he can show his teacher and his
friends respect by not blurting out what he wants to say when it’s not his turn to speak. Students learned strategies that included raising their hands, waiting until their teacher calls on them, counting to 10 in their mind when they really want to speak, and writing down or drawing the thoughts they want to share on a piece of paper and sharing their thoughts later when it is a better time.
First grade students participated in a Safari Classroom lesson about self-control strategies (What's in your backpack?). They learned four coping skills and created a backpack craft with strategy cards. The strategies that they learned included Giraffe Journaling, Parakeet Positivity (positive affirmations), Chimp Chatting (talking to someone they trust), and Buffalo Breathing (take a deep breath in and blow out slowly while shaking their shaggy mane).
I am here to address our students' social and emotional wellbeing as well as provide support throughout the year. Please do not hesitate to reach out to me for help whether it's an academic, attendance, social-emotional or another issue affecting your student.
Kim Hasty, M.S.
SES Student Advocate
The October skills lesson will focus on bullying. Although, our students participated in the Move2Stand bullying prevention program at the end of the last school year, it is important to revisit the topic annually to ensure that we create a safe and supportive environment for all students. This is a time to remind our students about the importance of kindness, respect, and standing up for others. We will talk about bullying, how to recognize it, and what to do if students see or experience it. We'll also practice ways to be good friends and how to support others.
Students will also participate in Red Ribbon Week, which takes place every year from October 23 through October 31 and focuses on being drug free. I want our students to have an understanding of additional healthy and unhealthy choices. I will visit all classrooms during the event to speak with our students about Red Ribbon Week; students will also make a pledge to be drug free. The Franklin County Prevention Coalition will visit our school on October 30 and present about Red Ribbon Week to our fourth and fith grade students. The Franklin County Sheriff's Office will also visit us on that date.
Kindergarten, first grade, and second grade students will participate in a Dog Safety Program, since Red Ribbon week is about making smart, safe choices. I will be giong to their classrooms this month to read the book, May I Pet Your Dog?, and present the AKC Safety Education training program to students during their classroom snacktime. The Animal Harbor will present their Kids-n-K-9s program during Red Ribbon Week on October 28.
