Angie Windheim

Joe’s 5th Grade Promotion celebration was a great finish to a fabulous year at Edy Ridge Elementary. A surprise highlight of the morning was his receiving the President’s Award for Outstanding Academic Excellence.  I am so proud of all that Joe has accomplished this year.  He’s shown himself to be a self-motivated, lover of reading and learning. That’s going to take him far in this world. Many thanks to his teacher, Kelsey Moore, for creating such a strong sense of community in her classroom this year. The kids were incredibly  bonded with her and each other. All of them are well-prepared for the next challenge…middle school!

Yesterday I had the pleasure of chaperoning Joe’s 5th grade class to PCC-Sylvania for the annual Clean Water Festival. The Clean Water Festival is designed for 4th and 5th grade students to learn about water and how it relates to our world. Water experts from Oregon and Washington work with 4th and 5th graders to explore water science and watershed ecology. It was very fun and educational day. We played a salmon migration game, wetland bingo, watched a “green” magic show, learned about the Missoula Flood that created the Willamette Valley and found out how much water we use just by brushing our teeth. It was pretty cool. During lunch, the kids got to be inside a giant bubble. We also played with the worms in a worm bin, saw the bacteria in a drop of unfiltered water and laughed at a giant jar of the objects found in sewer pipes (the guy at the booth said that all sewer guys keep collections…too funny). Of course, all of that was a hit with the kids.

The festival is every year, but there is a limited amount of space. I highly recommend applying to attend if you have a 4th or 5th grader.

My good friend, Trina, is an extremely talented owner and teacher of The Neighborhood Preschool in Sherwood.  Her energy and creativity seems to have no bounds. Today, she posted on Facebook that leprechauns have been peeing green in her toilets today! Can you imagine the kids’ eyes when they went to look? And then they all had green mac ‘n’ cheese and green OJ. Wish she had been doing this when my guys were little…what fun they would have had.

You can follow Trina’s antics by being a fan on Facebook of “The Neighborhood Preschool and Daycare” or by checking out her new blog

I just spent a full day volunteering at Junior Achievement’s Biz Town in Portland. Our Edy Ridge fifth graders prepped for this day for multiple weeks, teachers attended a 3 hour training and about 30 parent volunteers (I’m guessing) attended a 1 1/2 hour training to get ready for this special day. We had over 15 businesses open this morning with kids in the roles for worker bees, CFO’s, CEO’s and even a Mayor. Each business had the goal of repaying the loan they had acquired for payroll and operating expenses.

It was so detailed. The kids had a day full of tasks and also had breaks in which to manage their own accounts and make purchases.  We had TV interviews of various company representatives broadcast to each business, web advertising, phones being hooked up, meters being read, remodeling consultants making plans in various businesses, an extremely busy cafe, an animal shelter, medical check ups provided by employers, lawyers, insurance claims, retail outlets, etc.

Overwhelming at first? Oh yeah. Did we get the hang of it? Pretty much. A few issues here and there. A few grumpy staff faces that should have had more patience. But, boy, the kids had fun. They were jazzed when they came in and jazzed when they left. They worked together in teams and just had fantastic attitudes all day long.

If your school hasn’t done this…check it out. If you aren’t sure you want to volunteer, just do it. Biz Town is well worth your time.

Ben was inducted into the Laurel Ridge National Junior Honor Society (NJHS) last night. It was a very impressive group of 7th and 8th graders and a very well-done ceremony. To be eligible, Ben had to have a 3.65 GPA or higher (he has a 4.0 right now!), get 4 recommendations from teachers at Laurel Ridge and commit to performing 5 hours of community service/leadership every trimester (he already serves on the Sherwood K-12 District Math Committee).  Needless to say, I am so proud of Ben. And, I love that he is being acknowledged for his academics and service.  It’s also such a great thing to have the kids truly own their success now. They are striving to achieve the good grades for themselves, because it means something to them, not just to their parents.

The ceremony was done really well. I liked that both current NJHS members and our Sherwood NHS vice president all had chances to speak and congratulate the new members. And, of course, our principal Steve Emmert gave the ceremony that emotional touch that he’s so good at.

I’m hoping to see great things from these kids. Congrats to them all!

I’m spending my school volunteer time a bit differently this year. I’ve joined both the Site Council and the Sherwood School District Math Committee as a parent representative for Laurel Ridge Middle School.  Both assignments are stretching me in new directions and I’m learning a lot about the great things and people who are so invested in making our school and kids successful. The level of debate and thought behind the curriculum decisions being made in Math Committee is exciting…and overwhelming. Lots of good things are already happening, but there is lots of work to do to fulfill the vision. The district will adopt a new curriculum this school year for 6th through 12th grades. It will be fascinating to see how we get to a consensus and school board recommendation early next year.

Perhaps the most important discovery in both groups is how much school leaders appreciate having parent and student input. We are repeatedly thanked for our involvement. Yesterday in the Math Committee meeting, the teachers were so excited to have students (including my son, Ben) be involved in analyzing potential textbooks. And the kids really seemed to get into it as well. They had strong opinions/reactions and it was clear that their comments were valued. Student input will be a vital piece of the pilot programs to take place in the near future.