News from Principal Burg

Thank you for your increased attention to ensure a safe and efficient system for pick-up. As you've noticed, double parking has been excluded in order to allow students to enter vehicles without crossing the traffic of double parked vehicles. We have received overwhelmingly positive feedback from parents, students, and teachers and will continue to implement the new system indefinitely. In addition, it is imperative that we do not block the two parking spaces reserved for drivers with handicapped registration. You may notice that we will continue to highlight these spaces with bright orange cones. Many parents have found it to be more efficient to park on 56th or further east on Robertson and walk to the front doors to meet a student. Other parents of older students have simply identified a general area on either street where the student will always walk to upon dismissal. Regardless of your individual plan, students are safer and pick-up has been much smoother as a result of your efforts. Thank you for your continued attention to this positive adjustment.

Merrill Transition Activities for Incoming 6th graders:
Spring and Fall 2011

Date	Event
April 19th 9:30-10:00am	Merrill staff will visit Hanawalt students to talk about life at Merrill and answer questions.
April 25th & 26th 9:30-10:30am	Fifth graders will visit Merrill to meet the staff, take tours and become familiar with the building.
May 5th 7:00pm	Fifth grade students and parents are invited to attend an informational meeting at Merrill.
August 25th 1st day of school	Team building and transition activities will be scheduled to help students become acclimated to the building, staff and students.
Open House	To Be Announced

Please note that “Success 4 Sixth Grade” has been cancelled for Merrill Students due to construction at Merrill this summer. If you have any questions, please contact Carla Ridgely-Turner at Merrill, 242-8361 or email her at carla.ridgely-turner@dmps.k12.ia.us Thank you.

Letter from the PTA Co-Presidents

April means May is coming and that means we only have about two more months of school left. Yikes! How did it go so fast? The last day of school is June 3.

Your Hanawalt PTA is already looking ahead to next year and already has its new leaders and board in place. Mary Mouw and Rose Green have kindly offered to co-chair the PTA for the 2011-2012 school year and they been meeting for weeks with Principal Burg and others so they get off to a roaring start. Mary and Rose will greet new parents at Kindergarten roundup on April 20 here at school.

Here is the Need-to-Know List for April:

• Plant sale orders were taken and the delivery date is set for May 13. You can pick up your flowers and plants at school. If you did not get an order in, we should have some extras that day so please stop by and see what is available.



• We need your school photos! The Hanawalt yearbook is being put together now. If you have any photos, either on your digital camera or your phone of school events or gatherings, please send them to teacher Kelly Carpenter at Kelly.carpenter@dmps.k12.ia.us. The deadline for yearbook orders has been extended to April 11. Standard yearbooks are $15 and personalized (student name and photo on the over) are $20. If you have lost your form, please write your student’s name, teacher and amount enclosed on an envelope and place in the PTA mailbox. If you have questions, please contact Lisa Russell at lisa@scubacreative.com.



• Check backpacks soon for information about Hanawalt Spirit Wear. Samples have been ordered and will be hanging up at school in mid-April.



• The next RIF distribution will be Friday, April 8. All students will have a chance to select a book of their choice to take home. There will be one more RIF day before the end of the year for a total of three distributions. RIF is a federally subsidized program that is supplemented by PTA funds to put books in the hands of students.



• Send in your spring school photos or send the images back with your student. They are to be returned to classroom teachers.


• Order forms for school supplies will come home in the registration packet in May. This allows you to pre-order all the supplies your child needs for the year and it arrives at his/her desk on Meet-the-Teacher night in August. Parents who have done it in the past loved it and it’s a fundraiser for the PTA.



• Kid Striders will be wrapping up this month with a celebratory run at the Drake Relays. More information will be coming home soon about the event.

If you have any questions about upcoming events or anything about life here at Hanawalt, please don’t hesitate to ask. You can contact Martha Miller Johnson at 480-1583 or marthamillerjohnson@gmail.com or
Lisa Russell at 210-3052 or Lisa@scubacreative.com

Fourth Grade News

On Tuesday, March 1st, the fourth graders at Hanawalt Elementary School took a field trip to the Science Center. They enjoyed learning about the great artist, scientist, and inventor, Leonardo DaVinci. “I didn’t know that he invented that much,” said some of the fourth graders. Students were able to experience many “hands-on” activities in the Discovery Room, connecting their learning to several different scientific topics. The trip was concluded with a visit to the planetarium where students were able to learn about stars and constellations they should be able to see from their homes. Students were able to connect this information to the solar system unit they have been studying in school. Fourth grade thanks its PTA for providing the funds so students could have this enjoyable learning experience at the Science Center.

Fifth Grade Celebration News - photo deadline April 13, 2011

Gorgeous 20-page full color Creative Memories Storybook of our Oscar-winning 5th graders will be given as a gift at graduation to each student....and we'll be showing a "Feature Film" (aka slide show with music) on June 3 at the ceremony. If you have a current 5th grader, your Hanawalt images and pictures of that child at school from Kindergarten to 5th grade are WANTED! If you have five pictures or less, email them full-size to HanawaltPhotos@gmail.com by April 13. If you have 5 or more photos, copy them to a disk (that will not be returned to you) and place in the PTA mailbox. Deadline to be included in the book: April 13. We'd love to have YOUR CHILD featured on many pages of this keepsake memory book! Questions: Beth Steffensen bethsteffensen@dwx.com or 515-313-3930.

Structured Learning Classroom

The Structured Learning Classroom is incorporating computer technology for learning hand writing skills. The program is called TV Teacher and teaches upper and lower case alphabet writing. The children are engaged in learning how to form the letters by following verbal and visual stimulus to independently write letters on a white board. The students are actively engaged in their skill development.

Music News

Spring has sprung in the music room. We are singing, moving and playing instruments to the sounds of spring. Rain songs, rabbit stories and kite flying poems. Watch for Mallet Madness coming soon for 3rd, 4th, & 5th grade music classes.

You may also hear about a new person in the music room. We are pleased to welcome Miss Kness, our student teacher.

April is also the time for the Des Moines Public Schools All City Honor Chorus. Students must be in 4th or 5th grade in order to participate. Hanawalt has thirteen students who auditioned and also were part of the Hanawalt Chorus this Fall. They are; Isaac Anderson, Katie Baumert, Karsyn Beers, Jessica Bolten, Wyatt Johnson, Arielle Ozimek, Anne Percival, Ben Russell, Opal Rustad, Emma Shanahan, Rylee Sievers, Brooklyn Starkey, and Hailey Zugg.
The Honor Chorus festival takes place on Saturday, April 16th. Students practice all day with guest conductor Heather Nail and then share a concert at 3:00 with their families.

Kid Striders Reaching the Finish Line...

We are wrapping things up with the Kid Striders program for 2010-2011. Our final day for tracking the runners will be Friday, April 15th. We have been running our regular winter schedule so far this year, but as the weather gets warmer and the grounds get dryer, we will be running outside. That means more running possibilities for everyone.

Those that have completed their 26 mile marathon by Friday, April 15th will have earned a free t-shirt, and are invited to run their victory lap at the Grand Blue Mile on Tuesday, April 26th at 5:00. Check in time is from 4:30 to 5:00. Those that have completed 13 miles by April 15th will also be able to join us in running the Grand Blue Mile, but do not get a t-shirt. There will be many activities going on after the Grand Blue Mile. Please take time and enjoy this too.

Those that are participating in the Grand Blue Mile will need to have a parent-signed waiver turned in to Mr. Baker or Cathy Kramer by Friday, April 15th. More information and the waiver will be provided for those that are participating. Please watch for this to be coming home with your child.

Spelling Challenge Results = S-U-C-C-E-S-S

Thank you!!!!!! Due to your generous contributions, and our talented spellers, the Spelling Challenge raised over $8,200 this year. All of the money raised is used to pay for field trips, additional books for the library, Day in the Arts and other programs that support Hanawalt students and teachers.

Thanks again for your support!
Kristi Kiefer and Cindy Gilbreath, Spelling Challenge Co-Chairs

Camp Invention June 13 - 17, 2011

CLEVER KIDS WANTED! Camp Invention® at Hanawalt Elementary School needs your sleuthing powers to find out who is sending mysterious coded messages to the Curious Cypher Club. Then, explore intriguing information about the inventors of the animal kingdom, and experiment with chemistry as you discover the science behind bouncy balls!

You’ll find lots more fun things to do at Camp Invention. Camp will be held on June 13-17 from 9:00 a.m. to 3:30 p.m., and will be presented by local teachers for girls and boys entering grades 1-6. Camp director: Kerry Esch. This national, non-profit science and creativity enrichment program is offered by Des Moines Community School District in collaboration with Invent Now Kids and the United States Patent and Trademark Office. For more information, call 800-968-4332 or go to www.campinvention.org.

Scouts Recognized with Award from Reggie's Sleepout

Hanawalt’s Cub Scout Pack 75 was presented with a Group Participation Award from Reggie’s Sleepout Charity Event. Way to go Pack 75 from Hanawalt!