Grit and Report Cards

Report cards went home last week and there might be some not so happy children and parents. This is alright and I expect you to be mad, but how you handle that feeling will either help you or hurt you. It is time for both adults and children to stop saying the "I cant's" and start saying the "I cans".
Before you get even more upset let me explain what I mean. I too use to feel sorry for myself and would give up when things didn't go my way. I was lucky to have some role models in my life that wouldn't let me settle for giving up. These people pushed me into trying and working harder. These people explained that life isn't fair and that life can be frustrating and hard. They taught me that if I wanted something I would have to work for it and push myself harder than I had been pushing.
We have been teaching our students about Grit at school and some of our students have embraced what Grit means, while some have not. These students don't see the value in hard work and don't see how hard work will get you where you want to go. It is our job as educators and your job as parents to help them see where hard work will get a person. We as educators and you as parents have to want our students to be better than what we are.
How can Grit help? Grit has nothing to do with how smart you are. Grit has everything to do with how bad you want something. There have been studies on predictors of success. IQ and social intelligence weren't what emerged as the predictors. It was Grit!
I have read articles on people born without arms and legs that do not let their physical limitations stop them. These people have competed in triathlons,  graduated college and have gone on to have success in businesses. If these people can do these things, I know our students can work harder on solving math problems and learning how to read. Our teachers are changing their mindsets and our working on being Grittier. If we want to change the future for our students and children we all need to roll up our sleeves and get gritty.
Here is a video on Grit:

Junior Achievement Volunteers Invade Estes

Junior Achievement volunteers invaded Estes with some engaging lessons for our third and fourth grade students. The students were taught by bankers, university personnel, and engineers. We would like to thank the following people for coming and teaching the JA lessons: Amanda Payne (Independence Bank), Marketa Kruezingerova (Brescia University), Greg Smith (Atmos Energy),   Devin Jessup (US Bank),  Keaton Jesse (Brescia University),  Angie Padgett ( UK Extension Office), and  Perry Johnson (US Bank). Our friends from Junior Achievement will be back in the spring to teach our k-2 students!

Creepiness and Investigating in Kindergarten

Ms. Manqueros had her students getting ready for Halloween last week. Ms. Manqueros read a story about monster stew and then she made a stew complete with frogs, bats, lizards and spiders. Don't worry no children were hurt in the making or eating of the stew. Later that week, Ms. Manqueros' students had fun learning about pumpkins and the parts of a pumpkin.

The "Wright Girls" Blast Off!

This past Saturday Ms. Coomes took Andreanna Long, Jenna Kiper, Autumn Bolmer to WKU's Center for Research and Development and the Aviation Heritage Park in Bowling Green, KY.  The girls qualified for this competition by designing, building and launching rockets against other students in Ms. Coomes' class. The girls  competed with elementary, middle and high school students. They competed in a range and performance competition and placed 6th overall and came in first in the elementary school division. We are so proud of our rocket engineers!

3,2,1-Blast Off!

Ms. Coomes' students took turns launching rockets. The students spent several days learning the ins and outs of what it takes to build and launch rockets. The students designed, created and launched their rockets. The students were responsible for creating several rockets out of ordinary products that can be found around most houses. The students also were responsible for charting all of the measurements of their rockets. The winning group along with Ms. Coomes will take their rocket to WKU and compete against other schools. Check back next week and we should have pics and videos of the big competition at WKU.

Group Creativity

Some of Ms. Lee's boys presented their creativity project to Mrs. McKenzie's class. Fine job, boys!

WatchDogs

We loving having our WatchDogs patrolling our hallways! 

GRIT, Bikes and Academy Sports and Outdoors

Last week we received some wonderful news from Academy Sports and Outdoors. This new company that just opened its doors over the weekend is donating 50 bikes to our school. 25 boys and 25 girls will receive a new bike at a December assembly.
To qualify for 1 of the 50 bikes a student has to show GRIT. What is GRIT? GRIT is passion and perseverance. We want our students at Estes to not back down from challenges. We want our students to meet challenges head on without the fear of being wrong.
Each time a student is seen exhibiting GRIT he or she will receive a GRIT ticket that will be placed in a jar. There will be a jar for each boys and girls inside each classroom. The more times a student uses GRIT the odds of winning a bike increases.
SHOW SOME GRIT AND EARN A BIKE!

Exciting News from Last Week

Last week proved to quite eventful for some of our Estes teachers. Take a look at the great things that some of wonderful staff were recognized for:

• Mrs. Meserve will be recognized by NKU President Mearns as an outstanding Trailblazer for Mathematics Education at a reception to be held Tuesday, October 28, 5:30 to 7:00 p.m.
• Ms. Coomes is part of Western University Kentucky's SkyTeach program and will take a group of fourth grade students WKU's Center for Research and Development Facility/Aviation Heritage Park in Bowling Green to compete in STEMshot! 
• Mr. Sorce will be recognized at the October 2014 Board meeting for his iGrant that was reviewed and accepted by a district committee. His grant of $9,286 will be fully funded by our Board of Education.

Congratulations to all three teachers and these wonderful accomplishments!