Hello

The food tasting went very well.  The focus was on healthy local foods.  A local farmer from Crystal Springs farm showed us a slide show and gave a talk before the tasting.  It is amazing that they grow 50,000 pounds of vegetables every year.  I would have loved to see a bit more manners, especially when I felt like I had prepped them pretty well.  I felt like last night's homework story about a fisherman's wife who is not satisfied with the gifts that she received was fitting.  We had a little talk about that.  Please ask your child about the different foods that they had an opportunity to try.

Our class adoption kit finally arrived.  We received a stuffed animal version of a dugong, an adoption certificate, a photo, and a reusable tote bag.  The class voted our dugong to be a male and that we would take turns taking him home.  I'll give him a journal so we can keep track of his exploits.  (That earned a groan from many boys.)  I learned from the information card that the dugong is the only marine mammal that is solely an herbivore.  We will vote on a name for our class dugong tomorrow.

We will be taking the NWEA MAP tests over the next two weeks.  The math portion will be taken with your child's math class.  My math class will take it next Tuesday.  Let me know if you want the exact day of your child's math test.  We will take the reading test as a homeroom on the Tuesday after that, March 13.  This is the test that Brunswick has chosen to measure yearly progress.  Each school in the state is required to measure student progress with beginning and end of the year benchmarks.  I wish our end of the year test wasn't taken during the first week in March.

Thanks for reading,

Mr. Shea