And just like that, the week celebrating Catholic Schools all over the world has officially come to a close. It was a whirlwind week, filled with Ziggle Zaggle days and lots of games and giggles. Here, you can take a look back at the chaos (and also joy) that was the last 5 days here at CKS.
Monday
To kick off the week, kids got to have a free dress day. Days like this are always like my first day of the year...on day 1, everyone looks the same in their uniforms so they're hard to tell apart; on free dress days, every kid is in their street clothes so they're hard to tell apart! It also didn't help that we had 2 girls in the same sweater! :)
The morning was pretty much business as usual. But after lunch, our time was filled up with school-wide game centers. The school was split into 16 groups with a representative from every grade (except kindergarten, since there's only 14 of us!) in each group. Students had 15ish minutes at 4 different centers: hangman, Jeopardy, Jell-o drop, and relay races. Kindergarten is the first time kids get to take part in these afternoon activities, so our kids were extra excited to take part, and they did a GREAT job staying with their teammates, following directions, and participating in the activities. They had a blast!
Tuesday
After our usual morning centers and meeting time, we headed down to the gym for a school-wide BINGO game. Last week, we took some time to teach the kids how to play the game, which really paid off--this way, they could play independently and not rely so heavily on their Big Buddies, which made it more fun for the kids in both grades.
Kids got to enjoy the company of their friends and Buddies, as well as chow down on some popcorn while competing for some awesome prizes. Congrats to the lucky winners in Kindergarten, Alec and Gabby!
Monday
To kick off the week, kids got to have a free dress day. Days like this are always like my first day of the year...on day 1, everyone looks the same in their uniforms so they're hard to tell apart; on free dress days, every kid is in their street clothes so they're hard to tell apart! It also didn't help that we had 2 girls in the same sweater! :)
The morning was pretty much business as usual. But after lunch, our time was filled up with school-wide game centers. The school was split into 16 groups with a representative from every grade (except kindergarten, since there's only 14 of us!) in each group. Students had 15ish minutes at 4 different centers: hangman, Jeopardy, Jell-o drop, and relay races. Kindergarten is the first time kids get to take part in these afternoon activities, so our kids were extra excited to take part, and they did a GREAT job staying with their teammates, following directions, and participating in the activities. They had a blast!
Tuesday
After our usual morning centers and meeting time, we headed down to the gym for a school-wide BINGO game. Last week, we took some time to teach the kids how to play the game, which really paid off--this way, they could play independently and not rely so heavily on their Big Buddies, which made it more fun for the kids in both grades.
Kids got to enjoy the company of their friends and Buddies, as well as chow down on some popcorn while competing for some awesome prizes. Congrats to the lucky winners in Kindergarten, Alec and Gabby!
We got to the gym before any other class (I have a thing about being late...), so it was the perfect time to take a few pictures before the rest of the school came filing in!
To end the day, the school gathered in the gym for a pep-rally. Here, the kids were broken into teams for some games of "telephone" and trivia. Then, for the cherry on top, a small group of teachers played the 8th graders (a MUCH larger group) in a game of volleyball. I am proud to say that, despite myself scoring on our own team (by hitting the ball forward, rather than up...) the faculty won the game! I may not be highly coordinated, but I'm quite competitive, so I enjoyed the victory ;)
Wednesday:
With no Catholic Schools Week events today, we enjoyed a typically-scheduled day. But, unsurprisingly with a week like this, the kids were full of the wiggles. Since we had a few minutes left in our math time, the moment called for an impromptu dance party. It didn't exactly get their energy out, but thankfully they were headed right to gym!
Throughout the day, our typical lessons were swapped out for some prep for the next 2 days (card-making, etc), but it was nice to have our usual schedule intact with few interruptions.
Thursday:
SURPRISE! Today was the 100th day of school! Can you believe how fast the year has passed?! We're well past the half-way point now with less than 90 school days to go. To celebrate how far the kids have come since day 1, we had lots of 100-related activities. By now, with our past math lessons, the kids are pros at identifying the numbers 1-100 and counting as far, but still had a few things up my sleeve that we hadn't done yet.
To start the day, kids came in through the "Happy 100th Day" banner. On their seats, they each had a small gift of sugar to start their morning...Smarties for my group of smarties to celebrate being 100 days smarter! As part of their morning centers, they also got to make a "100 Days Smarter!" hat to wear for the day.
With no Catholic Schools Week events today, we enjoyed a typically-scheduled day. But, unsurprisingly with a week like this, the kids were full of the wiggles. Since we had a few minutes left in our math time, the moment called for an impromptu dance party. It didn't exactly get their energy out, but thankfully they were headed right to gym!
Throughout the day, our typical lessons were swapped out for some prep for the next 2 days (card-making, etc), but it was nice to have our usual schedule intact with few interruptions.
Thursday:
SURPRISE! Today was the 100th day of school! Can you believe how fast the year has passed?! We're well past the half-way point now with less than 90 school days to go. To celebrate how far the kids have come since day 1, we had lots of 100-related activities. By now, with our past math lessons, the kids are pros at identifying the numbers 1-100 and counting as far, but still had a few things up my sleeve that we hadn't done yet.
To start the day, kids came in through the "Happy 100th Day" banner. On their seats, they each had a small gift of sugar to start their morning...Smarties for my group of smarties to celebrate being 100 days smarter! As part of their morning centers, they also got to make a "100 Days Smarter!" hat to wear for the day.
Next up, a non-100th day activity: the robot parade! This month, the entirety of CKS has been working on building their own mini robots in the MakerSpace. Today marked the finale of the project, and our kids and the Early Ed kiddos got to show off their robots in the gym during the robot parade! It was very exciting and so cool to see the unique creations and interpretations of the project.
For snack, the kids were given 100 fruit loops, a piece of yarn, and some numbered dividers. They had to string the loops onto the yarn in groups of ten, dividing them by their given number. Once all 100 were on, they could eat. So, yeah, I gave them more sugar...but at least I made them work for it!
Then, it was time for math. The kids were given a small packet of 100-themed activities. They had to label a 100s chart 1-100, and then flip a penny 100 times! Each time they flipped it, they had to color in a space according to whether or not it was heads or tails. Then, they counted each color up, and recorded their results! When kids were finished their packet, they headed to the floor to make towers and castles with 100 plastic cups.
After lunch (thanks to all of the family members who joined our kiddos for lunch...they loved your company--what a special treat!) and recess, we came back in for a non-themed social studies lesson. But that was followed up by writing when the kids needed to write a bit about what they would do if they had $100. There was a time in my life when I may have said that's not that much money, but with college loans dominating my life, I'd love an extra 100! HA! And I'll tell you what, the kids thought that was a TON of money...just check out their awesome answers:
Then, to wrap up our totally wild day, we headed to the gym for a whole-school assembly. This was a great gathering, where we recognized and thanked our community members for their hard work and dedication to their respective vocations. Our class was assigned the University of Vermont Medical Center, and we gifted them with a basket of delicious cookies (thank you, Chloe!), a big card we worked together to make, as well as individual cards for their staff members.
It was a great day, 100% (see what I did there?) filled with fun and learning. While it was a wild one, I always enjoy days like these and am thankful for the exciting milestones they represent.
Friday:
And just like that Catholic Schools Week came quickly to a close. While there wasn't a jam-packed CSW schedule, we did enjoy a morning celebrating Monsignor McDermott and the other priests in our community. Some of the kids from the fall production of Cinderella worked with Miss B on a medley of Broadway classics, as Monsignor is a huge fan of the stage. They preformed their number(s) for Monsignor and the rest of the school. It was a great way to thank him for his dedication to our school, and for his commitment to making our community a wonderful place to learn, work, and worship.
And essentially, the rest of the day was business as usual!
We had a wonderful week and loved every minute that we spent celebrating Catholic schools and the many people who contribute to making these schools the everything that they are.
I hope you've heard lots of stories about our adventures from your kiddos this week. And I hope these pictures helped to put all of it into perspective!
Friday:
And just like that Catholic Schools Week came quickly to a close. While there wasn't a jam-packed CSW schedule, we did enjoy a morning celebrating Monsignor McDermott and the other priests in our community. Some of the kids from the fall production of Cinderella worked with Miss B on a medley of Broadway classics, as Monsignor is a huge fan of the stage. They preformed their number(s) for Monsignor and the rest of the school. It was a great way to thank him for his dedication to our school, and for his commitment to making our community a wonderful place to learn, work, and worship.
And essentially, the rest of the day was business as usual!
We had a wonderful week and loved every minute that we spent celebrating Catholic schools and the many people who contribute to making these schools the everything that they are.
I hope you've heard lots of stories about our adventures from your kiddos this week. And I hope these pictures helped to put all of it into perspective!