DAPHNE, Ala.—Last week, our school received big news! Emma Kirby, the school geography bee winner, has qualified for the state bee. In early February, Emma took the test to see if she qualified for the state geography bee. Mrs. Blair Heald received the letter last Thursday saying that Emma did indeed qualify. The state geography bee for Alabama is April 3 in Birmingham. Out of all the students in Alabama that took the geography test, the 100 students with the best test scores will participate in the bee.

Good luck, Emma!

Don’t forget that our third quarter ends on Friday, March 20. This will be a half-day for students at our school and at Daphne Elementary only. Teachers will be participating in professional development that afternoon.

It is time to recognize the remaining awards for Jump Rope For Heart, a national educational fundraising program sponsored by the American Heart Association and the American Alliance for Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance or AAHPERD. Each P.E. class worked together to create a poster, a team name, and a team chant to show support for their efforts in participating. In addition, each P.E. class recognized their longest jumper or the ones who were able to jump rope the longest without stopping.

In Mrs. Debbie Greer’s and Ms. Stephanie Johnson’s fourth-grade P.E. class, the best poster was made by The Jumping Hearts. The best team name was the Hot Chili Jumpers; The Jumping Hearts were awarded the best chant;  the longest jumpers were Camille Carey, Renata Rivera and Liam Ayres with Brian Mitchell coming in second.

In Mrs. Linda Kay Loper’s and Mrs. Cindy Riley’s fourth-grade P.E. class, the best poster was made by The Jumping Grasshoppers. The best team name was the Ropers—the team also won best chant. The longest jumpers were Krista Maines and Brooks Ellis.

In Mrs. Elaine Herring’s and Mrs. Erin  Payne’s fifth-grade P.E. class, the best poster was made by The Hearts. The best team name was the Tropers; the longest jumpers were Natalie Perrin and Darrick Richardson; best team chant went to the Jumpers with the Jumping Bagels coming in second.

In Ms. Mandy Ames’ and Mrs. Kelly Agee’s fourth-grade P.E. class, the best poster was made by The Jumping Hearts. The best team name was the Jumping Girls; the Jump Ropers of The World were awarded best chant; longest jumpers were Haylee Reid, Brandon Bowers, and Dominic Dennelo.

We would like to say thank you to Mrs. Elizabeth  Jennings and Ms. Youndora Knight, our P.E. teachers who organized our participation in this event.

In Mrs. Kelly Agee’s fourth-grade class the students are reading about Antarctica. It sometimes gets 100 below 0 in temperature there. Another thing is that it has a bunch of snowstorms and the wind can go up to 80 miles per hour. Sometimes boats have to watch out for icebergs floating in the water.

In Mrs. Elaine Herring’s fifth-grade class, students are learning about the United States government. It consists of the legislative, judicial and executive branch. The legislative branch is also known as Congress.

The legislative branch is located in the capitol building and is divided into two houses, can declare war, can change the Supreme Court size, can impeach executive officers, may impeach judges, write laws, write taxes to raise money, and approves appointments made by the president.

The executive branch includes the president of the United States who is commander-in-chief, leads the military, enforces the laws of the land, makes treaties with other countries, appoints judges to the Supreme Court, can propose or veto laws, can call a special session of Congress, and makes appointments to the cabinet.

The judicial branch includes the Supreme Court and is located in the capitol building. It is headed by judges, decides what the laws mean, decides whether laws follow the constitution and may rule if executive officers have broken laws. Those who serve on the Supreme Court are appointed by the president and must be confirmed by Congress. The appointments are made for life, until retirement or impeached. The nine judges who sit on the bench handle arguments about the laws.