The teachers and staff would like to welcome the students back to school. They hope the students enjoyed their time off but are ready to get back to work. The third quarter started Monday and second-quarter report cards were sent home Friday.

The Building Leadership Team would like to recognize Mrs. Tindell and Mrs. Evans for their work in making our library such a wonderful place to visit. Not only have they ‘redesigned’ the library, but they have also created a staff room full of educational resources for teachers. Thank you Mrs. Tindell and Mrs. Evans for going above and beyond the call of duty at Daphne Elementary!

Mrs. McGinty’s class welcomes a new friend, E’myis Craig. The class is glad he joined our group!

The class will be taking a field trip to Thomas Hospital to learn about healthy helpers. What fun! Happy New Year!

Mrs. Hawes’ class is learning about winter. The students will learn what animals do in the winter and what happens to trees in the winter. They will also paint a picture of a snow person.

Ms. Jackson’s class is very excited to back in school. They are even more excited because of their new Promethean board that was installed over the holidays.

During January students will learn about winter, Arctic animals, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Mardi Gras and dinosaurs.

This week they began a unit about winter and will be reading The Mitten and The Hat by Jan Brett. They will also read many books on snowmen and winter throughout the week. Next week they will begin a unit on Arctic and Antarctic Animals by first discussing penguins.

They are looking forward to celebrating the 100th day of school on Friday, Jan. 18 with a 100-piece snack, as well as special crafts and activities.

Mrs. D. Smith’s and Ms. V. Smith’s classes are concentrating on winter. Our classrooms are filled with snowflakes and snowmen.

In Mr. Ayers’ first-grade class the children are busy learning about landforms during our study of geography.

They will also be learning about the four oceans and seven continents.

Mrs. Clayton’s first-graders are excited to be back in the swing of things.

In math this week they are determining the value of the digits in the ones and tens places. They are learning about geography in social studies and are continuing to learn about different words that are spelled with the long vowel. 

First-graders in Ms. Phillips’ class are learning all about air and weather. They will be learning about all the seasons, especially winter.

Mrs. Pierce’s first-graders are learning about the geography of their neighborhood and about arctic animals.

In Mrs. Riel’s first-grade class the students are learning about long vowels, place value and geography.

Mrs. Vereen’s first-graders are learning about weather. They started a KWL chart on weather and are looking forward to answering questions like “How does the water know when to come out of the clouds?” and “What makes the weather foggy?”

Mrs. Davis’ class will be learning about the Arctic and Antarctic regions. They will be learning about the weather and animals in those regions. 

Mrs. Davis wants to congratulate Caroline Ray and Christopher Small for being chosen Character Education students for the month of December. They have been showing the character of caring.

In Mrs. Majure’s art room the students of DES made Christmas tree cards and ornaments that were taken to Thomas Hospital for the patients hospitalized over the holidays. 

The students selected Thomas Hospital as several children had experienced being in the hospital during Christmas and remembered wanting a Christmas tree in their room. Each child decorated their tree with sparkling confetti and wrote words of encouragement for the patients. 

During January, students will be studying the different arts created in China: wood block prints, paper cutting, story cloths and origami.  They are beginning their exploration of this Oriental culture by comparing the Chinese New Year (Jan. 7–22) with our American version. Chinese lanterns where made and hung up in the art room in honor of the Lantern Festival, which is celebrated on the last night of the 15-day holiday.   

Mr. Bellmyer’s third-graders are learning about elections and government.

Mrs. Blackman’s class is reviewing multiplication and division and getting ready to start a chapter on geometry.

Mrs. Bowen’s third-graders are starting a new unit on penguins. They are reading Penguin Chick, pulling in main idea and details.

In science, they are studying about penguins, where they live, how they take care of their young, and what they eat.

Third-graders in Mrs. Dickson’s class are reviewing multiplication and beginning a theme on penguins. They will be studying penguins this week and then move into a unit on the Chinese New Year.

On the first day back, students in Mrs. Peturis’ class wrote “cool resolutions” and displayed them on penguin cutouts.

Someone has been leaving snacks on Mrs. Nolfe’s desk!

The students in Project Jubilee are going to use a fingerprinting technique called carbon printing to determine who the culprit is. The students are starting a new unit called “CSI: The Ultimate Investigation.” During this unit they are going to explore forensic science, criminal investigation, fingerprinting and chromatography in order to solve a few mysteries in their classroom.

The students are also scheduled to visit the crime lab at the Baldwin County Sheriff’s Office in Robertsdale.