DAPHNE, Ala.—Daphne Elementary would like recognize Mrs. Pam Jones, our assistant principal. She will be moving on to another school in Baldwin County as of Monday.

Not only has Mrs. Jones been our assistant principal, but she has also served in the capacity as teacher and student. She will be greatly missed, but everyone at Daphne wishes her the best!

Hello! My name is Anna Claire Nolfe and I am Daphne Elementary School’s Red Ribbon Leadership Winner. As a part of being chosen as the Leadership winner, I have to develop and lead an original community service project. A lot of families are facing hard financial times and are being forced to make the difficult decisions — like give up their family pets because they cannot afford to feed them. I have chosen to raise funds to help our local animal shelter with a project I call “Pennies for Pets.” Over the next three Fridays, I will be collecting spare change from students that will be counted and presented to the Daphne Animal Shelter in early December. It is hoped that this change will help the shelter cover the costs of caring for homeless pets until they are able to find their “fur-ever” homes. It is my desire to reach a goal of at least $300. Please help by sending in your spare change over the next three Fridays (Nov. 5, 12 and 19). 

The Daphne Elementary Fall Festival is this Saturday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Lots of games and activities for the whole family are planned. 

Family Reading Night for kindergarten and first grade will be held on Tuesday starting at 6:30 p.m. 

No school is in session on Nov. 11, in honor of Veterans Day. 

Mrs. Hawes’ class is learning about farm animals. The class is looking forward to its field trip to Beebe Farm on Nov. 9.

This week, Ms. Jackson’s class has been learning about the farm. They have made mud from chocolate pudding and have started a farm mural in the hallway. The students are very excited about going to the farm next week. They also cannot wait until Saturday’s Fall Festival — they will have the pie throwing booth! Come and see who is going to get a pie in the face!

Mrs. McGinty’s class is having a “barn-raising, hee-haw” great time learning about farms, the animals and tools and how this all relates to their four food groups.  The students can hardly wait for their field trip to the farm next week! 

Mrs. D. Smith’s and Ms. V. Smith’s classes are concentrating on cowboys. They learned that their hats can be used to drink water from a creek, their bandanas keep the dust out of their eyes, and their high boots protect them from snake bites. They used ropes to lasso their names. What will they find as they travel West? 

Mr. Ayres’ class just ended their first month of Book It. Six of Mr. Ayres’ superstars used their awesome “super powers” of reading.  They are well on their way to defeating the terrible “Video Vadar.” The students were rewarded with a Great Job certificate and a delicious coupon for a small pizza.

A big “thank you” is extended to all of the PTA members who have spent so much time working on this weekend’s Fall Festival. All of your efforts are truly appreciated! 

Mrs. Csakvary’s class ended their week with a great “fall celebration.”  They enjoyed decorating cookies, eating fresh fruit and playing “stinky Bingo.” The students’ character book reports were also great! 

Mrs. Riel’s class has been studying animals.  The story this week was about dinosaurs. 

Mrs. Conner’s class carved a huge pumpkin and roasted the seeds last week. Everyone agreed they were delicious!

Ms. Ferry’s class has been working very hard on their character. Not only do the students learn to say no to drugs but they also learn how to treat one another.  The students and teachers take bullying very seriously and strive to show the best character at Daphne Elementary. 

Mrs. Stembridge’s class has been learning about the needs of all living things. They have discovered many ways they are all alike and different. They have been using their knowledge of the characteristics of living things to categorize different groups. This unit has been very interesting! 

Mr. Bellmyer’s class is talking about landforms and government, as well as elected officials. Ms. Bryant’s class is learning about time in math.  Also, they are discussing communities in history in social studies.

Mrs. Bowen’s third-graders are studying a unit on time. They will make clocks to help them tell time. They are also studying about how plants are classified in science. 

Mrs. Dickson’s class is talking about the government and elections.  They are also starting their books for book reports. Come check out their “book bag” reports. 

Mrs. Megginson’s class is looking forward to having some lessons on the history of Daphne that are being provided by the Junior Achievement program.  Thanks to Ms. Stephanie Hamric of Regions Bank for speaking to the class.

All music classes enjoyed singing fall and Halloween songs this past week. Students used fall-colored scarves to move with the music of Antonio Vivaldi.  Second- and third-graders used dynamics to make their songs “scarier.”

In library this week, students are learning how to become a pirate as they read David Shannon’s engaging tale of a little boy determined to leave his beach vacation behind and board a real pirate ship! When he finds out how tough the life of a pirate is, he decides to return to his family just in time for soccer practice. New books are in and all are anxiously awaiting the new “Diary of a Wimpy Kid” release.

Mrs. Nolfe’s third-grade Project Jubilee students will continue their study of architecture, this week focusing on bridges. The students will be building a variety of bridge types and testing their strength. The students will also be building a truss bridge using popsicle sticks over the next several weeks.