Principals’ Paws Family Newsletter Published by the Principals of Mary Blount Elementary School
Volume 1, Issue 3		October 15, 2008
Fall Fun!
			Mark Your Calendars Oct. 15 : Report Cards BOOMERZ fundraiser Oct. 17: Makeup/Sports pictures Oct. 27: Mon. 6pm Eagleton @MBE Oct. 28: Social Studies Fair @ HHS Oct. 30:Th @Carpenters 6pm Nov. 2: Run for Education at Heritage High School Nov. 3: No School PD Nov. 4: Election Day-No school Nov. 6: Th@Vonore 6pm Nov. 7 Christmas Pictures Nov. 10 M@Townsend 6pm Nov. 11 No School;Veterans Day- Nov. 13: Th@Porter 6p Nov. 14: F Maryville Christian @MBE 6pm-students free Nov. 18 Tu 6pmMiddlesettements@MBE Nov. 19: Progress Reports Nov. 20: Th Madisonville @ MBE 6pm Nov. 25: Tu Alcoa@MBE 6pm Nov. 26: ½ day, dismiss at 11:00 Dec. 2: Tu @Friendsville 6pm Dec. 4: 6pm Bear Night Elementary School Tournament December 5-12@HHS & HMS Dec.19- Last day before break
We hope this newsletter finds all Mary Blount families doing well and rested from an enjoyable fall break. The weeks have certainly flown since school began over two months ago, and we have plenty to celebrate as students have been engaged in classrooms that are kid-friendly and brain-compatible. Much has already taken place this year and we are excited about all that is happening here. We are very proud and excited that Mary Blount has been chosen as a showcase school for the Schools Exceeding Expectations International Conference to be held in Blount County April 29 - May 2, 2009. We will be working to update and prepare for this visit and as always appreciate our volunteers/supporters. Mr. Pierce and Sylvan Learning Center recently donated recycle bins to our classrooms to support our Going Green initiative. We appreciate their support of our students as well as our environment. We hope you help us by donating your items to be recycled in the bins beside the school! We also want to thank Topper’s Pizza, Zaxby’s, and BOOMERZ BBQ for hosting MBE as fund raisers this year. We always appreciate our supporters and hope to see you tonight at BOOMERZ!!! Mark your calendars for Sunday, Nov. 2nd for the annual Run for Education. The Blount County Education Foundation will be sponsoring the event at Heritage High School. The registration fee is $10, of which $8 comes back to Mary Blount to fund instructional initiatives and you don’t even have to be present Our school goal is $1,000! Turn in those forms! Also we appreciate your help with the fall fund raiser and you will be hearing more about that from our PTO! Please remember to read to or with your student at least 15 minutes every day. Not only will it improve reading skills it sends a powerful message that Reading is important to my parent/guardian! Appreciatively~~Mrs. Bell and Mr. Painter The vision of Mary Blount Elementary School is to encourage a love of learning, prepare responsible citizens, develop lifelong learners, and cultivate a respect for diversity.
			Mary Blount Elementary School 131 South Old Glory Road Maryville, TN 37801 Phone: (865) 980-1430 Fax: (865) 980-1428 Sandra Bell, Principal sandra.bell@blountk12.org Stan Painter, Assistant Principal Stan.Painter@blountk12.org

Media Center, by Mrs. Bivens We are scheduled to begin the Book Fair on Monday, January 26th and end on Friday, February 6th. Since our library budget was cut this year, this fund-raiser is especially important. Our Book Fair is scheduled for two weeks again to accommodate all of our classes. If you would like to volunteer, please contact Joy Bivens or Kathy Potter at 980-1430. Mrs. Bivens is taking a Tennessee Tech class on Designing Webpages. Mrs. Bivens has learned how to design a webpage using Microsoft Word, how to import clip art into the page, and will be learning how to create a webpage using software called Dreamweaver. She hopes to use what she learned in this class to help her make her wiki (the Bookbug) pages more interesting.  Want to check it out?  Go to www.bookbug.wikispaces.com. The Tennessee School Librarians Association just released the nominees for the Tennessee Volunteer Book Award for 2009-2010, Mrs. Bivens hopes to be able to find some of these books so that we can read some of them and participate in the voting next year. To see a list of these, go to the following link: http://www.discoveret.org/tasl/VSBA_2009_2010.html		Art Class,by Heather Woods Since the beginning of school, the students at MBE have worn many different artists’ hats. We had a visiting artist with us for several weeks. Annamaria Gundlach was here to help the students with clay projects, portraits, quilt making, and haiku writing. We have been able to display much of the students’ artwork in the hallways! We have also focused on our “GO GREEN” theme by recycling, creating artwork of leaves and trees. We also made posters with a “GREEN” theme that were displayed in the gym on Bear Night. I am so excited to see the students carry a theme throughout the year and be a part of reinforcing and extending their knowledge through art. Encourage your child to share their artwork or knowledge of artists, and spend time at home creating artwork together! Support MBE as we “Go Green” and learn to be good stewards of our global environment!
Keeping Fit, by Ms. Rosemary Jagels, PE Teacher G-Y-M = Get Yourself Moving Benefits of Breakfast Eating a nutritious breakfast is important for kids, teenagers and adults.  Eating breakfast provides your brain with the nutrients and energy to work properly.  Skipping breakfast hurts memory and mental performance.  Studies show that skipping breakfast has the same results for both kids and adults.  Eating breakfast also establishes a regular eating pattern that is important for weigh control throughout life. Let’s have a nutritious breakfast everyday! Thank you for your support!
Music News, by Mr. Hurst! As we conclude the first nine week period, here is what happened in music classes.  3rd, 4th, and 5th grade classes studied note values and applied this concept as they learned the "Recycle Rap."  4th and 5th grade students performed the rap at our October 2 Bear Night.  These grade levels are also reading the junior novel of "Camp Rock" while comparing the book with the DVD.  1st and 2nd grade classes learned and sang folk songs from the "Wee Sing Fun'N'Folk" songbook and CD.  1st grade classes also learned some songs for their family celebration which took place before fall break.  2nd grade extended the folk song/instrument unit by visiting The Heritage Center in Townsend.  The students were excited to tell me they saw musical instruments on the trip which were similar to the ones we studied in class.  Kindergarten classes are still learning procedures in music and have made music by singing as well as using tambourines and our colored bells.  We will continue to work with the bells and use them at our December Bear Night.	Bear Basketball News, by Coaches JenniferBoling and Jillian Evenson Tryouts for our girls’ and boys’ basketball teams were held in September. The following students were selected for the teams: Girls: Cierra Cable,Marissa Davidson,Kailey Dunn,Sydney Fann,Alayason Haupt,Crystal Hoy,Wanda Humphrey,Savannah Kawa,Jasmine McBrayer,Katelyn Trube,Alexis Wall,Managers: Ginna Bock,Christy Oliver,Sami Wallace Boys: Brady Armstrong,Bradley Boling,Seth Caldwell,Jacob Davis,Jordan Davis,Caelan Evans,Nathan Farner,Quintin Maines,Casey Martin,Logan Matthews,Logan Parsons,Taylor Perkins,Sam Taylor,Managers: Jeremiah Murrell, Kaleb Russell Check the calendar on front for upcoming games. Best wishes on another great year of Bear Basketball.