A Message from Mrs. Stolarz

Don’t Blink

Do you remember that popular

Kenny Chesney song? In addition to this famous chorus, I love the following

line: “Best start putting first things first. Cause when your hourglass runs out

of sand, you can’t flip over and start again.”

My son, Patrick, turned 23 yesterday and is graduating from UIC tonight. It

seems like yesterday I was enrolling him in kindergarten, going on field trips

to the apple orchard, and receiving homemade Christmas ornaments. A few

hours ago, I received the following text from him: “No longer a student.

Soon to be a Graduate.” I’m getting the Kleenex ready.

Last night when I got home from work, my 14 year old was learning a new

song on his guitar and asked me to listen. My job can be stressful and I work

long hours; I often feel when I get home at night, I have nothing left to give.

(I know this is sad, but it is true!) However, I sat with him in the living room,

put down my phone, and truly listened to him for over an hour. I noticed

that every minute or so, he looked up at me for validation, to make sure I

was truly paying attention. It struck me that even though our children are

getting older, they still crave our undivided attention. Do you remember

hearing “Watch me Mommy, watch me Daddy, look!” While they may not

always ask, they still want us to notice them and engage with them. Some-

how, amidst the busyness of life, we need to take a pause from our crammed

schedules and intentionally be with our children, not just doing stuff with

them, but just being with them. I hope my moment of clarity inspires you to

take time this weekend to set your stress and to-do lists aside to be fully pre-

sent and live in the moment with your chil-

dren. These moments are both fleeting and

priceless.

Mom and Patrick at a Monster Truck show during the 1998 Lake County Fair. He loved Monster Trucks, but was afraid of the noise!

Have a wonderful weekend, Mrs. Stolarz

Jerry Ross Elementary School 11319 Randolph Street Crown Point, IN 46307

Phone: 663-3010 Fax: 662-3529 Website: www.cps.k12.in.us/ross/ Phone: 663-3010/Fax: 662-3529

“Home of the Rockets”

UPCOMING EVENTS

Holiday Show

Thurs., Dec. 17 @ 6 PM

Holiday Vacation

Dec. 21—Jan. 3. School will resume on Mon., Jan. 4, 2016

Winterfest

Friday, February 5th 5-9 p.m.

Jerry Ross is accredited with AdvancED

Watch us GROW!

G–Gain Knowledge

R–Reach our Goals

O–Overcome Obstacles

W-Work Hard, Play Hard

(but work comes first!)

Friday, December 11, 2015

December

Life Skill of the Month

Caring

Attendance Rate for the Week:

96%

Lunch Menu

Monday 12/14

Pizza

Cheeseburger Deluxe

Silly Dilly Green Beans

Crinkle Cut Carrot Sticks

Pears/Oranges

Tuesday 12/15

Breaded Chicken Sand-wich

“Special Lunch to Go Turkey Torpedo Sub”

Baked Beans

Fresh Broccoli

Apples/Pineapple

Wednesday 12/16

Spaghetti & Dinner Roll

Quesadilla

Corn Niblets

Crispy Garden Salad

Bananas

Applesauce

Thursday 12/17

Chicken Nuggets

Chicken & Gravy

Dinner Roll

Mashed Potatoes/Gravy

Cherry Tomatoes

Fruit Medley/Apples

Friday 12/18

Bosco Sticks/Sauce

“Special Lunch to Go Trix Yogurt Meal”

Tiny Tree Top Broccoli

Fresh Cucumber Slices

Peaches/Grapes

Jerry Ross Club Corner

Monday, Dec. 14: Math Bowl 3:45-5:00 PM

Tuesday, Dec. 15: Math Bowl 3:45-5:00 PM

Wednesday, Dec. 16: Engineering Club 3:45-4:45 PM

Thursday, Dec.17:

Friday, Dec. 18: Student of the Month Breakfast 8 AM Wear your Jerry Ross/CP Spirit Wear

PE Tip #5

Little things do make a difference! Remind your child that teach-ers really appreciate the little things that students do. When stu-dents do the little things they have more time to learn, enjoy school more, and aren’t getting into trouble.

Here is a list of things that will help your child be more successful in PE:

1. Never forget your tennis shoes. Plan ahead. 2. Be on time for PE! When you are late you miss the directions for the activity. 3. Be honest when reporting your PE scores to Mrs. Yurko. You lose trust when you

lie. 4. Say you’re sorry when you make a mistake. Lying only makes the problem bigger

and more complicated. 5. Listen to all of the directions before starting an activity. Students that rush to do

something don’t hear ALL of the directions. 6. Follow basic procedures right the first time. 7. Don’t quit an activity because it is hard for you…maybe try a different strategy.

Top Level Bowlers at Jerry Ross (10 is the highest level possible)

Adam Pierson & Ethan Jones=Top Level Bowlers of 2015

Third Grade:

Level 6: Adam Pierson

Level 3: Dawson Arter, Saelor Guistolisi, Kolby Henderlong, Alice Maloney, Kylie Bailey, Tommy Gikas, Zaid Safadi, Mark Rowland, Brady Clark, Ellyana Gruett, Alli Luka, Emer-son Stamper

Fourth Grade:

Level 5: Ryan Tiernan

Level 4: Angel Diaz, Caitlyn Nitcher, Landen Delich, Morgan Ellenberger, Justin Hilliard, Kerrigan Bachand, Austin Leeming

Fifth Grade:

Level 6: Ethan Jones

Level 5: Vanessa Del Real, Holly Williams, Fernando Balderas, Jack Vogt, Riley DanielsLevel 4: An-

drew Kelsey, Kaitlynn Kula, Anneke Hoekstra, Nicholas Szidik, Keaton Buuck, Julian Klein, Abigail

Foster, Andrew Kaminsky, Evan Keiser, Aiden Torres, Zoey Wells

Save the Date

Aloha Winterfest!

Friday, February 5th from

5-9 pm at Jerry Ross Elementary School

Raffle tickets and information went home this week!

1st prize: $500 cash, 2nd prize $250 cash, 3rd place: $125 cash. Donation $2 per ticket. Amazing student incen-tive to sell!

Two $200 Best Buy gift cards will be awarded (1 per school). For EVERY 20 tickets sold, the student gets 1 entry into the drawing. The more tickets sold, the better the chance to win. Sell to family and friends during Holiday break!

Contact Stephanie Owen - stephowen18@gmail.com (Winfield) or Kim Neff -kimneff31@yahoo.com (Jerry Ross) if you have any questions about raffle tickets.

Raffle Baskets

Your teacher chooses the class theme and you collect items and package them together to make a cute basket for auction. You also get to involve the kids to make the homemade class item.

If you are interested please contact Grace Pendleton (Winfield) at curiousgrace@att.net or Jennifer Manz (Jerry Ross) at jmanz@cps.k12.in.us. They can let you know if there is a representative already assigned for your teacher. Thanks for your support!

Box Tops

Along with turning in 2,860 Labels for Education points, our schools collected a total of 16,833 box top points (which will equal to $1,683.30)! Thank you for your participation!!

The classroom winners for Contest #1 were as follows 3rd-Thompson 4th- Trapp 5th- Horan

The NEHS has started their annual pop tab collection for the Ronald McDonald House! RMHC can help address many issues families face when they have a sick child, whether it involves housing that’s near a hospitalized child, the expense of staying together in another city, or even getting basic medical

and dental care in a vulnerable community.

NEHS will be collecting the pop tabs now through January 29th. The pop tabs will be counted by grade level and the staff will also have a bucket to fill. Save those pop tabs!

The Student Council would like to say Thank you, Thank you, Thank you!! We had so many food items donated for the food drive! We have such

caring and giving families here at Jerry Ross!

Child Care Announcement

Child Care during Winter Break and School Cancellations

Winter Break

During Winter Break, child care will be available from 6:00 a.m. – 6:30 p.m. at

Solon Robinson Elementary and Jerry Ross Elementary Schools.

Child Care is open 6:00 a.m. – 6:30 p.m.

December 21, 22, 23

December 28, 29, 30

The cost to attend is $7.00 per session each day.

Session 1 6:00 – 10:00 a.m.

Session 2 10:00 a.m. – 2:00 p.m.

Session 3 2:00 – 6:30 p.m.

Child Care is closed for the Holidays below.

Christmas Eve and Christmas Day (Dec 24 and 25)

New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day (Dec 31 and Jan 1)

School Cancellations

For School Cancellations, child care will be available from 6:00 a.m. – 6:30 p.m. at

Solon Robinson Elementary and Jerry Ross Elementary Schools.

The cost to attend is $7.00 per session each day.

Session 1 6:00 – 10:00 a.m.

Session 2 10:00 a.m. – 2:00 p.m.

Session 3 2:00 – 6:30 p.m.

Key Club’s Annual

Breakfast with Santa

When: December 13 Time: 11 a.m.—12:30p.m.

Where: CPHS small cafeteria

Free of charge

What’s going on?

· Breakfast items to enjoy

· Meet Santa and Mrs. Claus

· Crafts

· Write a letter to Santa