Please join me in congratulating our 2013-14 Tuscany Teacher of the Year, Mrs. Kimberly Young. Mrs. Young is a kindergarten teacher and is an excellent teacher and role model for our students.
This past Saturday was the North East Foundation Starlight Gala. Tuscany was represented at the Gala by staff and PTA. Thank you to our wonderful PTA for purchasing a table for our school. The money raised is used to provide grants for teachers and students in North East for many different types of projects that benefit our schools and community.
Tuesday, March 4 - Election Day, please exercise your right to vote, also please remember that our library will be closed due to voting. The Tooth fairy will be visiting Tuscany K-2 grade in the cafeteria at 9:00 a.m.
Wednesday, March 5 - Please encourage your child to wear his/her favorite college shirt. We have just received our new college pennants to display in our hallways. Look for your favorite school or alma mater when visiting Tuscany!
Thursday, March 6 - Tuscany PTA will have a follow-up meeting for our recent Run for The Heights event at 9:00 a.m. I would like to thank all of you again, for your support and attendance at this amazing school and community event. Thursday night we will be honoring our PTA Lifetime Recipients at Reagan High School at 6:00 p.m.-Michelle Kaiman, Mindy Waters, Kim Fields, Karen Burges, Emily Lunsford, and Maria Hubard.
Friday, March 7 - End of the Third Nine Weeks
Sunday, March 9 - Daylight Savings Time
Monday, March 10 through Friday, March 14 - Spring Break
Please have a much deserved rest and be safe during the break!
SPECIAL HAPPENINGS AT TUSCANY!
Mrs. Kari Johle -A student of mine, Lexi Lucero, had to deal with her father’s deployment to Afghanistan this year. She spoke at our Veteran’s Day Assembly shortly after his deployment, and I was proud of her willingness to talk so shortly after he left her family to go overseas. In addition, during parent conferences, her mother brought up that Lexi wanted to give to the troops in some way. She asked her dad what she could do, and he mentioned that there are a lot of things from home that the soldiers miss, that they cannot get overseas; basic things, like coffee, Nutella, Twizzlers!!!
Lexi and our class decided to donate!!!
The students in my class brought in various items on the wish list, and then Mrs. Lucero sent them overseas during the holidays to so that these soldiers could have a taste of home.
(GREAT news)…I wanted to share with you that LTC (P) Pedro Lucero is now back safely from deployment in Afghanistan!!! He, and the other soldiers stationed with him, were very touched by our class donations that Mrs. Lucero sent to them from what we collected prior to the holidays.
LTC(P) Lucero came to our classroom this afternoon to address our students, and surprised ALL OF US with tokens of appreciation. Each soldier stationed with LTC (P) Lucero offered THEIR service patch, and every student received a patch with the soldier’s name on a card as thank you from the troops!!! AS IF THEY NEED TO THANK US!!!! In addition, he presented me, and our class, with the ACTUAL American flag that flew over the Spanish NATO Role 2E hospital in Herat, Afghanistan from March 2012-January 2014.
I am/was at a loss for words, and I will display this flag and certificate in our classroom with honor.
I am attaching photos for you to see what our class received from these amazing, selfless, and brave soldiers in the United States Army!
YAY for these kiddos who want to HELP! J am SO very proud of them!
Writing Boot Camp at Tuscany Heights Elementary
It’s that time of year again, our 4th graders are gearing up on their writing skills! 4th graders here at Tuscany Heights Elementary are writing Narrative and Expository papers left and right. They are showing off their storytelling talents as well as informing us on various topics.
They have learned “Smiley Face Tricks” to spice up their writing. They have tools in their tool box that help them do this. Tools such as truisms, using their 5 senses to describe things, using Ba-Da-Bing techniques that we have learned from Gretchen Bernabei, putting in Magic 3 sentences, exploding the moment, putting in Hyphenated Modifiers to show how people feel, and using figurative language are just a few “Smiley- Face Tricks” that have enhanced the art of writing for our children!
The children’s writing is graded on a scale of 1-4 with 4 being a great paper! To show the children how very proud we are of their accomplishments, we have initiated Writing Boot Camp! Teachers wear camouflage army pants with their “Just Write It” shirts. The children go out and participate in various relays according to their accomplishments. We have a boot camp chant and we shout it out for all of San Antonio to hear. “I don’t know but I’ve been told, writing here is weighed in gold…” All children participate. We have relays for children who exhibit great penmanship, and relays for children who score a 1, 2, 3 and 4. A child has the opportunity to participate in all 5 relays if penmanship is good, and their writing score is a 4. Relays consist of basketball dribble, shoe toss, hula-hooping, jump-roping, frog leap, crab walk, capture the flag, etc. Children are motivated to write the best they can to participate in all relays! Fun is had by one and all!!!!
We are so proud of our 4th graders. Not only will these writing lessons be beneficial now, but they will be useful for the rest of their lives.
American Heart Association Event
We want to thank each and every Tiger who contributed to the American Heart Association through our Jump Rope For Heart Event. Our goal was $2000.00. Tuscany Heights raised over $6000.00 to benefit the AHA. Thank you tigers and keep jumping!!!
Safety First
Parents…In the mornings please utilize our front car lane when dropping off your students. We have some buses that aren’t arriving until 7:30 am. Recently we have had some cars pulling in front of the buses. This puts our students and staff at risk of being accidently hit by a car.
Thank you for helping us keep Tuscany Heights safe!!