Dear Family and Friends of Orchard Center Elementary,

Every spring brings with it an excitement of the summer months ahead as we look for-ward to spending extra time with our loved ones. Summer can be a time to catch our breath and enjoy the little things in life that make memories. Summer is also an im-portant time to spend with our children helping them retain all of the learning that has occurred over the school year. When all else fails, a good book can ensure quality time together, create ways for children to be curious, and foster important conversations. I encourage you to get to our local Argonne library and check out books all summer long! Maybe my son and I will run in to you there. Reflecting on my second year at Orchard Center brings with it happiness and gratitude. This year has provided me so many opportunities to better get to know our amazing stu-dents, staff, and our OC families. I am consistently impressed with the dedication from our families in supporting our children. I am grateful for the relationships we have be-gun to build and I look forward to strengthening them with each and every OC family. Believe it or not, I am already looking forward to next fall! The OC staff and I are con-tinually looking for ways to support our students and engage our families in the educa-tional endeavors of our school and community. We have some exciting new things planned for next year and can’t wait to share them with you! As always, the talented and devoted staff at Orchard Center have worked incredibly hard this year and dedicated their energies to helping your child grow and learn. May you en-joy plenty of time this summer watching your children continue to grow and learn and create many new memories together. Thank you for sharing your children with us. Happy summer—We will see you next fall! Barb

Volume XII, Issue VII June 3, 2016

DATES TO

REMEMBER:

JUNE 7, 2016 Student of the Month Breakfast 7:45 am JUNE 8, 2016 Talent Show—1:00 pm Cafeteria JUNE 9, 2016 Awards Assembly 9:30 Play Day —1 :00 pm JUNE 10, 2016 Last Day of School Early Dismissal at 12:15 pm

Orchard Center Elementary

Student of the Month

“DILIGENCE”

March 2016

Kaleb Hagen

Kindergarten

Miss Claire

Journi Schofield

Kindergarten

Mrs. Schweda

Sofie Mays

Kindergarten

Mrs. Wolfe

Ava Adams

1st Grade

Mrs. Cebriak

Piper Hancock

1st Grade

Mrs. Miller

Ava Alderman

1st /2nd Grade

Mrs. Andres

Chelsea Anderson

2nd Grade

Mrs. Lamberson

Trey Bohr

3rd Grade

Miss Corning

Ciorsdan Donaghy

3rd Grade

Mrs. Stoyko

Ayla Parker

3rd Grade

Ms. Williams

Solomon Brenner

4th Grade

Mr. Maloney

Karley Ingram

5th Grade

Mrs. Henriksen

Kicea Lopes

5th Grade

Ms. Owens

Kian Tomimatsu

Bus 17

Ms. Carmen Jensen

Bus Rider of the Month

Victor Celli

4th / 5th Grade

Mrs. MacDonald

Dillian Horn

4th Grade

Mrs. Kivett

Orchard Center Elementary

Student of the Month

“TRUSTWORTHINESS”

April 2016

Emma Kennicutt Kindergarten

Ms. Claire

Payton Johnson

Kindergarten

Mrs. Schweda

Haylo Dana

Kindergarten

Mrs. Wolfe

Kristina Brown

1st Grade

Mrs. Cebriak

Jacquelyn Bohr

1st Grade

Mrs. Miller

Chayan Brumfield

1st /2nd Grade

Mrs. Andres

Jenny Aquino

2nd Grade

Mrs. Lamberson

Dakota Hansen

3rd Grade

Miss Corning

Isaac Stewart

3rd Grade

Mrs. Stoyko

Joseph Balabanov

3rd Grade

Ms. Williams

Bobby Bailey

4th Grade

Mr. Maloney

Rochelle Rogers-Svoboda

5th Grade

Ms. Owens

Breeanna Guarisco Bus 81

Mr. Doug Salter

Bus Rider of the Month

Breeanna Guarisco

4th / 5th Grade

Mrs. MacDonald

Tanner Hancock

5th Grade

Mrs. Henriksen Gracie Kennicutt

4th Grade

Mrs. Kivett

Orchard Center Elementary

Student of the Month

“COURAGE”

May 2016

Hunter Thomas

Nimerah Glover Kindergarten

Mrs. Schweda

Tucker Lochten Kindergarten

Mrs. Wolfe

Brooklyn Peterson 1st Grade

Mrs. Cebriak

Josh Brakke 1st Grade

Mrs. Miller

Daisy Framstad 1st /2nd Grade

Mrs. Andres

Jacarie Webb 2nd Grade

Mrs. Lamberson

Conner Jessel 3rd Grade

Ms. Corning

Sara Taylor 3rd Grade

Mrs. Stoyko

Kameron Person 3rd Grade

Ms. Williams

Dani Smith 4th Grade

Mr. Maloney

Ava-Grace Ruppert 5th Grade

Mrs. Henriksen

Addy Palmer 5th Grade

Ms. Owens

Aneti Viyoleti Bus 28

Mr. Craig Reasoner

Bus Rider of the Month

Abram McKinnon 4th / 5th Grade

Mrs. MacDonald

Karlee Whan 4th Grade Mrs. Kivett

The West Valley Beginning Marching Band placed 1st in the Elementary Band Division in the 2016 Junior Lilac Parade. They played a song entitled, “School Spirit,” from their beginning band method book. Ironically, the melody is the same as the West Valley High School Fight Song (“On, Wisconsin”), so this generates enthusiasm for these students as they look forward to one day being a part of the award-winning high school Marching Band. Ten WVHS Band students volunteered to help as chaperones, and most of them marched in the Junior Lilac Parade as beginning Band students, too.

This is the fifth (5th) year in a row that they have taken first place. Special instruction is placed on three things:

1) Memorizing the music

2) Marching in straight lines

3) Adding horn “visuals” that look really cool, but are fairly simple

Excellence in performance is what we strive for and the students always step it up to continue the tradition. The multi-tasking required in this parade is very advanced for this age group.

Orchard Center Elementary Group night is on Saturday, June 18th at 6:30 pm. Tickets are $5.00—please order

at least 72 hours in advance to be guaranteed tickets. The game will be at Avista Stadium, 602 N. Havana.

Yoke’s $1 Family Feast Night will also be held that night. To order your tickets call (509) 343-6886.

The new Spokane Valley Summer Theatre hosted by the Central Valley Performing Arts Center invites your kids

to participate in summer courses and put on a play in a week with a performance for friends and family at the

end! You should have received a Conservatory Registration Form in Thursday packets back in March. The 2016

curriculum is as follows:

June 27 — July 1: The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe July 11 — July 15: Frozen

July 18 — July 22: Adventures of Peter Pan July 25 — 28: Charlie and the Chocolate Factory

Set Making Course: sign your kiddo’s up to work on the set and props for the play they choose to participate in!

Please email Ashley Gunn if you have any questions or you would like to sign your student up at Ash-

ley@svsummertheatre.com.

LAST DAY OF SCHOOL—FRIDAY, JUNE 10

EARLY DISMISSAL AT 12:15 PM

HAVE A FABULOUS SUMMER!

FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL - (2016-2017)

WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 7, 2016

On April 21st all West Valley strings students performed for the community at West Valley High

School. The elementary students played “Allegro.” Thank you to Strings Teachers Mary Beth Wag-

staff and Melissa Biele!

Jamie McMurtery from Mrs. Kivett’s class plays the viola. “My favorite song is “The Jurassic Park” theme. I like it because it’s the theme of my favorite movie. I like the viola because it’s in the alto clef and has a different sound. My teachers are really nice. After concerts we get cookies and get to watch fun music videos of piano and cello. They’re called The Piano Guys.”

Callie Hansen, also from Mrs. Kivett’s class, plays the cello. “I really like the low sound of the cello. It can play some high notes, but it mostly plays low notes. I like holding the cello, because I can rest it on my shoulder when other people are playing. It’s very comfortable. I loved playing “Allegro.” It has some quick notes, and it has some soft notes, depending on what line you do. You can do a D on the A-string and a F-sharp on the D-string. My favorite sound is open G.”

Here are some comments from our first and second grade students about their choral concert:

Josh Brakke: “I liked doing the Irish dance. I had a green bended-up hat. Mrs. Strauch put something inside the

hat so it wouldn’t fall off when I bowed. I had a shamrock on my hat.”

Ansley Gower: “The concert was fun. I liked all of the songs. I wore a sparkly green headband with clover in it. I wore a green necklace with clovers. It was pretty. I liked singing “A Little Green in Everything.”

Vincent Mraz: “I liked the Chinese Dragon the best. My friend Yanick was in the middle of the dragon!”

Josh Sells: “I also liked the dragon. I liked it because dragons are my favorite animal!”

On April 19th, Orchard Center staff participated in the “McTeacher Night” fundraiser at the McDon-

ald’s on Argonne. Families were able to enjoy a meal out with other Orchard Center families and min-

gle with school staff. McDonald’s generously donates a percentage of the profits from that evening to

our school programs. Here’s what our students had to say about the event:

Ikaika Shumaker: “I just had French fries, tartar sauce, and water. I had fun, but I thought I better follow the rules. I thought maybe I couldn’t run but then I remembered we weren’t at school.”

Sydnie Hurley: “I had a quarter pounder with cheese. It was awesome. I also had a Sprite. I saw Mr. Simmerer and Mrs. Lamberson. I’m pretty sure Mrs. Lamberson gave me a hug.”

Jovani Fijalka: “I had a hamburger with pickles and ketchup and cheese and root beer. I played in the playhouse with Johnny. I saw Mrs. Wolfe at McDonalds. She said “Hi, Jovani” and gave me a hug.”

Ezekiel Pruitt: “I had breakfast for dinner. I played in the playhouse, and a preschool boy kept chasing me down the slide. He was tiny.”

Oliver Forrester: “I played with Josh in playland. I had a chicken nugget happy meal. It was delicious. I saw a lot of teachers, I just don’t know their names.”

Heather Phillips: “I had chocolate milk and a hamburger and French fries. I saw Mrs. Wolfe, and I gave her a hug. I played with my brothers Isaac and Zachary.”