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September/October 2018

Miller Messenger Miller Elementary School

Dates to Remember

September

14th PTO Popcorn Friday

19th Picture Day

27th Early Release

28th No School

October

5th Popcorn Friday

11th Parent/Teacher Conferences

3:45-7:00 pm

12th Parent/Teacher Conferences

8:00-11:30 pm

12th No School

19th Grades 4 & 5 Pastries with Parents

19th High School Play @7 pm

20th High School Play @ 7 pm

21st High School Play @ 2 pm

22nd-25th Safety Week

23rd High School Fall Choir Concert

@7 pm

25th Family Movie Night

Doors open at 6:00 pm and movie begins at 6:30

26th No School

28th Spooktacular Chili Dinner in High School Commons 11:30-4:00

November

2nd Popcorn Friday

6th Picture Retakes

6th K-2 Elementary Concert in High School Auditorium @ 6:30 pm

9th No School

21st-23rd No School

Greetings Miller Families,

Welcome to a new school year! I hope everyone had a relaxing and enjoyable summer! We are excited for another outstanding year at Miller! Miller Elementary has undergone some building changes over the summer and looks amazing! Areas improved on include:

Remodeled Kitchen New ESS and Miller Building Storage Areas Remodeled part of the basement for a new Title I room Remodeled part of the office to switch Office Storage and the School Counselor’s office

Please remember we would love to hear your ideas and value your support here at Miller Elementary. If you have the time, please consider volunteering! For example, you could help in your child’s classroom, read with students, work with a small group in Math, or help in the lunchroom or out on the playground. If you have some spare time to share, please come in to our office and Ms. Stanek would be happy to give you a volunteer application to fill out. We hope that you will visit and volunteer often!

Another opportunity for you to share your ideas and support is through our PTO. The next PTO meeting is on Tuesday, October 9

th at a new time 5:30 pm

in the Miller LMC. You do not have to come to every PTO meeting or help at every event to make a difference for our Miller children. Every little bit helps!

Thank you for your continued support of our school!

Diana Lesneski Principal

Make sure to visit Miller School’s website at www.tomah.education/Miller

The Tomah Area School District does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, national origin, ancestry, creed, pregnancy, marital status, parental status, sexual orientation, sex (including transgender status, change of sex or gender identity) or physical, mental, emotional, or learning disability (“Protected Classes”) in admission to, access to, treatment in, or employment in its programs and activities. The Coordinator of the District’s efforts to comply with Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 is Dr. Paul Skofronick, 1310 Townline Road, Tomah, WI 54660 – phone: (608) 374-7011. Any inquiries regarding the application of the District’s non-discrimination policy may be referred to the U.S. Department of Education, Office for Civil Rights.

Si necesita Ud. ayuda en la traducción de este documento, por favor llama la especialista de ELL del distrito a 374-7014.

A Note from Mrs. Lesneski

Growth Mindset The teachers in the TASD are working hard to help all students be successful. Research has shown that individ-

uals who believe their talents can be developed (through hard work, good strategies, and input from others) have a growth mindset. They tend to achieve more than those with a more fixed mindset (those who believe their talents are innate gifts). As parents, there are things that you can do at home to develop this belief too.

*Pay attention and verbally praise your child for skills that don’t sound predetermined: hard work, persis-tence, rising to a challenge, learning from a mistake, etc. rather than being “smart”, “brilliant” or “gifted”. If your child has worked really hard on something and it now is perfect in their minds, be sure to praise the persistence it took to perfect it, not just the final product.

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A Note from Mrs. Gerke

Miller School will be working throughout the year to help kids self-regulate. One tool we are using is the Zones of Regulation. Zones of Regulation has four colored "zones" in which emotions can be grouped: The Red Zone is used to describe intense emotions. A person may experiencing anger, rage, explosive behav-ior, or terrified when in the Red Zone. The Yellow Zone is also used to describe elevated emotions, however one has more control when they are in the Yellow Zone. A person may be experiencing stress, frustration, anxiety, excitement, silliness, the wiggles, or nervousness when in the Yellow Zone.

The Green Zone is used to describe a calm state such as happy, focused, content, or ready to learn. This is the zone where optimal learning occurs.

The Blue Zone is used to describe low feelings such as when one feels sad, tired, sick, or bored. In addition to learning about the different zones, students will also learn what tools they can use to manage their feelings and states.

Katy Gerke

School Counselor Miller Elementary

Warrens Elementary

*Be a growth mindset role model: Be honest: how often to you say “I can’t (cook/sing/balance my bank account)” or “I’m terrible at (sports/math/spelling)” as if there’s no hope for you? Make sure you’re send-ing the right message to your child.

*Encourage your child to forget taking the easy route: (where little learning is done) and instead embraces challenges. A sheet full of questions he already knows the answers to won’t “grow the brain” like one deeper problem to solve (even if he doesn’t get the correct answer).

*Remember growth mindset isn’t just academic: it applies to many areas of life (athletic, musical, social). Having trouble getting the basketball into the net? Keep making mistakes on a guitar cord? Tried to initiate conversations with someone, but it didn’t go well? Discuss the next steps for improvement.

*Discourage envy of peers: and talk to your child about what he or she can learn from others who appear more successful. While skills may come more easily to some, most often there’s a (possibly unseen)

element of practice, persistence, and hard work which leads to that achievement.

Embracing a growth mindset isn’t always easy, but it can have a huge impact on your child….and perhaps you too!

Be Sure to like “Miller Elementary School” on Face-book and watch for your chance to win a Subway gift card!!

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Wait for next month’s Miller Messenger to see which class wins these

GOLDEN AWARDS:

Golden Cereal Box – class that brings in the most box tops

Golden Pop Can - class that brings in the most pop can tabs

Golden Milk Jug – class that brings in the most milk jug caps

Golden Gym Shoe – class with the fewest forgotten gym shoes

Golden Coat Hook – class with the neatest coat racks

Golden Trash Can – class that has the cleanest classroom at the of the day

Golden Whistle – class with the best behavior at recess

Golden Music Staff – class with best behavior in Music

Golden Books – class with the fewest late books

Golden Palette – class with the best behavior in Art

Golden Spoon – class with the best behavior in the lunchroom

Golden Hall Pass – class with the best behavior in the hallway

CHARACTER EDUCATION

Each month at our assembly, we will be introducing a character trait.

Students and staff will be sharing a skit, video and/or demonstration

September –Respect

Each week on Friday we

have a school paw drawing;

paws are earned

when students are being

PAWSitive at school.

PAWSitvily PBIS

Backrow: Ms. Burchell, Ms, Schmid, Ms. Gerke, Mr. Cleary, Ms. Schwartz, Ms. Limberg

2nd Row: Ms. Zingler, Ms. Dow-son, Ms. Moore, Ms. Perkins, Ms. Wagner

3rd Row: Ms. McNamara, Ms. Fasbender, Ms. Heimermann, Ms. Weber, Ms. Olson, Ms. Puzach, Mr. Kryshak, Ms. Blount, Ms. Wells, Ms. Stanek, Ms. Lesneski

Front Row: Ms. Eng, Ms. Brummond, Ms. Backhaus, Ms. Stoffregen, Ms. Monfre

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PTO NEWS PTO news and updates: Nominations for the 2018-2019 School Year are as follows: Nicole Steen (Co-chair), Danielle Anderson (Co-chair), Nathan Johnson (Treasure), and Bobbi Scholze (Secretary). Voting will take place at our next meeting which is sched-ule for October 9th at 5:30 refreshments will be provided. What is PTO: We are a group of parents and teachers who organize fundraisers to make the school a fun and safe environment. With fundraisers we buy things for the school like the playground equipment, basketball hoops, and sound proofing in the gym. We also assist with field trip funding. Don’t forget to volunteer when you can for movie night, fluoride, and Popcorn Friday. Mark your calendars! Mardi Gras will be on February 8th. Have a great fall!

Miller Math Scavenger Hunt

Grades K-5 Thursday, November 8th

5:00-6:00 P.M. (Must be accompanied by an adult)

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