A Letter from the Health Office

Susan Martin LPN/Health Assistant and Liz Lynch, BSN, RN, NCSN

Enjoy the beauty of the season, surround yourself with the love of family and friends, and cherish the memories throughout a happy and healthy New Year.  

Cold and Flu Season

Washing your hands is the first and best defense to protect yourself against germs.  Use Hand Sanitizer to help stop the spread of germs.  Avoid touching your eyes, nose and mouth.  Clean and disinfect common surfaces that are frequently touched that may carry germs.  School age children should get between 9 to 12 hours of sleep a night.  Drink lots of water to keep your body healthy and safe.  Talk to your Pediatrician about yearly vaccinations to protect against diseases. 

Fire Safety (Smoke Detectors and Carbon Monoxide Detectors)

Practice fire safety. Most residential fires occur during the winter months, so don’t leave fireplaces, space heaters, food cooking on stoves, or candles unattended. Have an emergency plan and practice it regularly.  Smoke Detectors and Carbon Monoxide Detectors should be checked on a monthly basis and change out the batteries.

Healthy Eating Tips

Prepare food safely. Remember these simple steps: Wash hands and surfaces often, avoid cross-contamination, cook foods to proper temperatures and refrigerate foods promptly.  Eat healthy, stay active. Eat fruits and vegetables which pack nutrients and help lower the risk for certain diseases. Limit your portion sizes and foods high in fat, salt, and sugar. Also, be active for at least 2½ hours a week and help kids and teens be active for at least 1 hour a day.

Holiday Family Bucket List Inspiration

Holiday Bucket List 

If your student will need to take medication during the school day, please have your child’s provider fill out and sign the appropriate form below. These can then be returned to the office or faxed by the provider to: 920-424-7583.

• Over the Counter Medication Form *parent signature only required*
• Prescribed Medication Form 
• Inhaler/Asthma Action Plan  
• Epipen/Allergy & Anaphylaxis Form

REMINDERS:

Directions on the medication bottle/box must match the written order on the medication request form.

• Stock Epi-pens do NOT go on field trips. 
• Please fill out an Emergency Epi-Pen/Anaphylaxis Plan even if you don’t have a personal Epi at school.
• PRN medications (Ibuprofen, Tylenol, Tums etc.) must come in a new and unopened bottle.
• Is your child up to date with their immunizations? Please contact the doctor for physicals and immunizations! All students at Jefferson are required to have their Tdap, Polio, MMR, Varicella and Hep B! Please check with your doctor to see what wellness requirements are needed for your child.

Phy-Ed Update from Mr. Schneider

This month in Physical Education, we’ve had so much fun staying active and learning new skills!

Our Kindergarten and 1st-grade students enjoyed a variety of activities, including brain break follow-along games, tag games, and practicing their use of scooters. We also brought in the holiday spirit with some festive-themed games that kept everyone moving and smiling!

Students in 2nd through 5th grade focused on learning and practicing basketball skills such as dribbling, passing, and shooting. To wrap up the month, we joined in on the holiday fun with exciting themed games that encouraged teamwork and active play.

We’re looking forward to keeping the energy high as we head into the New Year. Thank you for your continued support in keeping our students active and healthy!

Music Update from Mr. Flaugher

Our K-5 Music Showcase was a resounding success! Thank you to everyone who attended and supported our young musicians as they shared their creativity, hard work, and love for music. From student compositions to engaging performances, it was a joy to see the energy and pride our students brought to the stage. A big thank-you goes out to the families, staff, and community members who made this event possible, as well as to our students for their dedication and passion. Your support truly makes a difference! I’m already looking forward to next year’s showcase and the new opportunities it will bring for our students to shine. Stay tuned for more musical adventures ahead! 

Art Update from Ms. Keefe 

This month in art we are making a lot of progress on our art show pieces! We will be all prepared for March when the show is presented, students are so excited for their families to see! When we move on from those projects we will start our wintery art lessons. Kindergarten will be learning about painting with different textures and objects to create a large scale snow person. First and second grade will be making winter murals, which will be our first introduction into community art and group work. Third, fourth and fifth grade will be making large scale, mixed media winter gnomes!

Media and Technology Update from Ms. Kese 

Help Kids Make Friends and Interact Safely Online

This month's digital citizenship topics are relationships and communication. Soon after kids start reading and writing, they often begin interacting with others online. Whether they're chatting within games or texting family members, kids need the skills to interact respectfully. These skills will help kids -- and the people they're communicating with -- have positive experiences online.

Check out these 4 tips:

1. Give them the right words.

Kids learn about appropriate verbal and physical communication from watching you. But online conversations can be invisible. Occasionally, narrate as you're writing texts or social media comments when your kids are in earshot.

2. Play a game of telephone.

Discuss how a message can change depending on the person delivering it or the delivery method. Read a question like "What are you doing?" with different tones of voice. Talk about how emoji and punctuation can help communicate tone and emotions.

3. Help kids navigate online friendships.

In the beginning, you might limit all communication with strangers online. As kids get older, you can monitor any online chatting. And once they're more independent, you can discuss which methods of communication are appropriate as well as which types of information to keep private from online-only friends.

4. Develop their instincts.

Help kids trust their guts so they can exit iffy or inappropriate online conversations. Discuss different scenarios and ask how they would feel and what they would do.

“K–5 Family Tips: Relationships & Communication.” Common Sense Education, 18 Dec.. 2024, https://www.commonsense.org/education/family-tips/k-5-relationships-and-communication.

School Counselor Update from Mrs. Brown

Hello families I hope this note finds you well and healthy. The end of the year holidays can be a busy season. The holiday season can also bring lots of feelings, comfortable and/or uncomfortable feelings. Please make a conscious effort to take time to breathe, and slow down a little to appreciate small moments and make connections with your kids (read a book together, drink some hot cocoa, play outside, cuddle, etc).

In the last month in our KG-4th Grade we focused on teamwork and being a good sport, we learned about what teamwork and sportsmanship sounds like, looks like and feels like. We learned that a team is a group of people working together to achieve a common goal and together we can achieve more. 

3rd-5th we learned about the Golden Rule (treating others the way that we may want to be treated) students discussed and concluded that they like to be treated with respect and kindness. 

5th grade had a lesson on Kindness. As a class we received scarves from community members as a random act of kindness and they were given to the students. We learned how practicing kindness can positively change the way we feel and that it makes a positive difference in our lives and those around us.  Each class started a Kindness Challenge and students are being encouraged to notice acts of kindness in their classroom family. They have started a Kindness Tree.

Wishing you a safe and re-energizing winter break.

Mrs. Brown

Math Update from Mrs. Bauer 

☃️Do you want to know how you can keep your child’s math-brain growing over winter break? 

🥣Cooking and baking: Bring your child into the kitchen with you and whip up your family’s favorite holiday treats! Read recipes out loud together and familiarize young learners with fractions and units of measurement.

🎲Playing games: Playing games is a great way to experience math in a fun and low pressure environment and practice a variety of math skills and strategy. Set up family game nights, play mental math games in the car, and grab an extra controller when your kids sit down to play video games!

🚙Planning travel: Heading off to visit the relatives tops the list of many family holiday activities, so include your students in the planning. Have them help make a schedule, plan a route on a map, and even get involved in bus, train or other public transportation decision making if they’re older!

❄️Decorating and holiday crafts: Introduce younger kids to geometry by exploring basic shapes found in seasonal decorations. Make beautiful paper snowflakes together and explore symmetry. Use measurement and estimation to get a sense of how many decorations you need for the perfect touch of holiday flair!

*These are some suggestions from Mathnasium.

Literacy Update from Mrs. Boettcher and Mrs. Vollbrecht 

A new year means a chance to start a new reading challenge. A reading challenge is a great way to get children to grow the kinds of books they read. Even as adults, reading challenges help us discover new genres and authors that we come to love. The following URL is a January reading challenge to help children find a new book they may not pick out themselves. Feel free to give it a go and attempt a couple or all of the items: Bookish Fun for Winter.

Another way to discover new genres and authors is through “best of” lists. The New York Times just released the 25 best children’s books of 2024.  Ask children to pick out a couple of books they’d like to check out from the library from this list, as well.