Thursday, May 29, 2014

south haven trip

Reminders for tomorrow!

We should arrive at Wolf Lake about around 9:40.  We’ll be there in rotating groups until about 11:30 and then we’ll head to south haven.

Wolf Lake is the Fish Hatchery….The hatchery is six miles west of U.S. 131 on M-43 in Van Buren County, on Fish Hatchery Road just off of M-43 on the south side of M-43. Please park in the visitor center parking lot which is the second parking lot. The first lot is for their trucks and vehicles.

  Location: 34270 County Road 652, Mattawan, MI 49071.

From there we’ll go to South Haven’s South Beach with the light house. We usually turn up phoenix street.

PARKING FEES FOR YOUR CAR WILL HAVE TO BE PAID BY YOU!  We have had parents ticketed in the past for not paying their fees. The only exception to this rule is if the machine is out of order. (this rarely happens  but it did last year for certain spaces!)  Even I have to pay for the bus which takes up two spaces. Cost is $5.00 per space.  unless the cost has gone up since last year.

Kids can eat lunch… we’ll take them to the bathrooms in groups as it’s a small hike. Then they can play on the beach and just enjoy themselves until about 2:15 . They can  bring footballs, frisbees, catchers mitts and balls to throw, buckets and shovels for paying in the sand, just no bats for softball.

Make sure to pack your kiddos extra water bottles. There is a fountain by the bathrooms at the beach but its a hike... and we usually take the kids to the bathroom in groups.

Supposed to be a gorgeous day!  But remember with cold water temps the air coming off the lake will be colder. Bring a sweatshirt, just in case!

Tuesday, May 13, 2014

Sadowski update 5/13/14

Whew!
We're in the home stretch!  Only 21 more days of school left until your 5th graders become middle schoolers!
Reminder that the middle school will have an orientation meeting this Thursday evening from 6 - 7:30 p.m. Learn about elective choices, tour the building...this is a great introductory meeting.

This Friday is the Outdoor education center or OEC visit.  I have already received Epi pens for those kids in my class who are highly allergic to bees... if your child is also allergic, please make sure that we have those on hand for this trip.  I'll have my truck there as backup, so that if any of our sensitive kiddos gets stung we can run them straight to the ER in Vicksburg We will call you when we are in route and meet you there rather than wasting precious time waiting for you to come get them at the OEC and then take them to the ER. Temps are supposed to be cooler however, so hopefully the bees will be slow and sporadic the day we are there.

Weather is supposed to be hit or miss with rain... make sure the kids dress appropriately for the weather with close toed shoes and long pants. I will have them off the deck and doing different activities in the woods.

Then, two weeks from the OEC is our Wolf Lake Fish Hatchery and South Haven trip. Parents are allowed to drive their own child both ways on this trip.  Many of you have already let your classroom teachers know that you will be doing this. If you haven't, and you would like to drive your child, or carpool with another adult, please let us know. We'd like to only take one bus so that we don't have to be back early for the high school bus run.

Please check the copy of your permissions slips from the beginning of the year to check to see if you signed up for home lunch or school lunch for the OEC or the Wolf Lake trip. Contact your teacher if you can't remember as we have all that information on file.

On the Wolf Lake trip..... due to liability reasons and spring rip tides around the pier, we typically only allow the kids get their feet wet. The water temps due to the massive freezing of the lakes this winter was only 47 degrees as of yesterday..... so I don't think they're going to be dying to get into the water. But if you are taking your own student and they wish to get wetter than everyone else, please wait until we leave!  Otherwise we have to deal with "how come they got to...."

    Walks on the pier can only be done if parents are walking their own children.  Teachers will not be taking classes out individually.

Students are welcome bring footballs, frisbies and other things to play with on the sand, as well as a towel or blanket to sit on while they eat lunch.

Thanks so much and see you soon!