As you have heard from your students and teachers, we are going to the Capitol tomorrow (2/9) for a special presentation to our school for winning the National Blue Ribbon School of Excellence by our Representative Kraig Powell and Senator Kevin VanTassell.  It is a wonderful opportunity and honor for all of us, including you, who have contributed thousands of volunteer hours to help your students be successful in school which inevitably brought us to the great honor of winning the Blue Ribbon award.

We will be planning a special presentation of the certificate that we receive in a meeting where our parents will be present and other relatives that may be available and other guests before we find an appropriate place to hang it in the school.  We hope this will make it a special occasion for all involved.

For those involved tomorrow, we will travel to the Capital to arrive as close to 9:15-9:30 am as possible.  They will take some groups on a small tour of the Capitol at this time.  They will enter the chambers of Congress at approximately 10:00 am for opening prayer and message and we will then be 1^st on the agenda for our presentation.

The parking will be on the east side on the Capitol and we will enter the building on the east entrance. We will be met by either Representative Powell’s wife or Senator VanTassell’s wife.  The younger grades will be leaving for another field trip immediately after the presentation, or returning directly to school depending on what their teacher has planned.  Grades 4^th through 8^th will be staying for a more extensive tour and visit at the Utah Daughters of the Pioneers Museum.  We should all be returning to the school around 2:30 pm.

Hopefully, it will be a wonderful and memorable experience for one and all.  Once again, we thank all of you for your assistance in driving and all other help that you provide.

Utah Olympic Park Ski Program:

Attention Alpine Skiers Age 7-10 years old ~ Are you looking for something new to try?

Checkout the Utah Olympic Park Explorers Ski Program.  By participating in the ski explorers your child will have a unique opportunity to be introduced to and reinforce ski skills in Nordic Ski Jumping, Alpine Skiing, Freestyle Skiing (moguls) and Freeride (boxes, rails and jumps) all in one program.

Our goal is to create an environment that is FUN, dynamic and inherently teaches well rounded ski skills.  Our curriculum is heavily alpine based as we feel this is the foundation to open doors for children to participate in a variety of ski sports.  The program is not meant to replace ski schools, as we require all participants to have at least an intermediate level of skiing, but to give youngsters the opportunity to try other ski sports, build their foundation of ski skills and possibly introduce them to a sport they would like to pursue in the future.  We will send home a skill card at the end of the session that will note the skills that were introduced and how your son or daughter progressed with those skills.  We will also have a fun “ Ski Meister” competition on the last day where the kids will run gates for time and ski jump distances that we encourage you to come out and cheer them on! The Utah Olympic Park runs programs in ski jumping with the Park City Nordic Ski Club and freestyle/Freeride with FLY freestyle.  If at the end of the session your son or daughter would like to try one of these sports we can arrange for 1 – 2 free sessions with the perspective club.

The explorer’s program runs for 5 weeks starting Monday February 6^th to Monday March 5^th from 5:00 – 7:00 pm.  The cost is $120.00 and includes lift ticket and coaching.

Please feel free to call me with questions and hopefully we will see you on the hill! — Matthew Terwillegar, Sport Program Manager  www.UtahOlympicLegacy.com

Kindergarten Aide: Ms. Kaara is looking for a part-time aide in her kindergarten class.  Hours are flexible.  If you enjoy helping and spending time with amazing young children, please contact Kaara Peterson.

Rewards Program: Box Tops, Campbell’s labels, Sunny D labels….how many did you collect over the Thanksgiving break?  We have a new class leading our ongoing competition. Drum roll…….Ms. Mary Ann’s class has taken the lead with a total of 320 tops/labels, Mr. Reinhart’s class is in 2^nd with 316, and Mr. Gallo’s class has 311.  Way to go!! This could be a close race all year.  Individuals leading are Samantha Devine, Sean Gilboy and JD Broadhead. Nice work!  It’s COMPETITION TIME! From now until December 16 we will be competing. One winner per grade.  Whoever brings in the most labels/box tops wins.  Ready, set, GO!!!

EE News from Kelly Gallo:

• Do you have straw bales you are trying to get rid of? Mrs Gallo is in need of straw bales for the gardening program. Drop them off at school or contact Mrs Gallo for pick-up. Thanks! Kelly Gallo.
• Looking for volunteers hours and a challenge? GreenCouncil will be collecting cans to raise funds and to participate in the Great American Can Roundup! We will need a collection system and are looking for help in designing and building this system. Up to the challenge? Contact Kelly Gallo. Also, save those cans and start sending them in! Thanks!

USU Master Gardener Program: If you have any interest in gardening this is wonderful program to help you garden in our unique location. 2012 Summit/Wasatch Master Gardener program.  Classes will start Feb 2nd and end on April 26th.  Registration deadline is January 27th.  Details concerning class schedule, topics, locations, cost, how to sign up, etc.. can be found at our web site: http://extension.usu.edu/summit/

Also, if you have any interest in the helping the school revamp their gardening program, this would be a wonderful learning opportunity for you to prepare for helping with the school garden. Kelly Gallo is currently fund-raising and grant-writing to continue the move of the old garden to its new location and to acquire the materials necessary to allow us to try for a four-season harvest.The school is also starting a 4-H Junior Master Gardener Club at lunch that is open to all students. Students may sign up to receive a handbook of lessons they can complete along with volunteer hours in the garden to work towards earning their Junior Master Gardener Certification. Parent volunteers and leaders for this program would be greatly appreciated! If you want to be involved in the planning, fund-raising, and/ or just getting your hands dirty in the garden contact Kelly Gallo at 570-764-2609 or TeachingGreen@yahoo.com.

Hoodies

SHCS hoodies are still available for purchase.  The old prices of $30/youth and $35/adult are being reduced just in time for the Holidays.  The new prices will be $20/youth and $25/adult.  We have a limited selection available (see chart below) and you can pay Joan in the office if you would like to purchase one.

Chess Club: The Soldier Hollow Chess Club is meeting on Wednesdays, from 3:00-4:00, in Mr. Sproul’s classroom. The cost is $15 per semester/ or $25 for the entire year.  If you have any questions, please contact Karla Willis.

Provo River Watershed Festival: Rock Cliff Nature Center on Sept. 24, 2011. Our school started this festival four years ago and hosted it with State Parks. It has grown to include many more entities and while we no longer organize the festival, we are still a very active part of the festival. This year’s festival celebrates the Provo River and all the land that drains into it (what an amazing natural resource!) and National Public Lands Day. The goal of this year’s festival is to make the public aware of this natural resource! The festival will offer live music, clowns, informational and educational booths by non-profit organizations and our students, kayaking, birds of prey show, Utah wildlife presentation by Hogle Zoo, Living Planet Aquarium van, crafts, fly fishing, dutch oven cooking, wildflower identification hikes, geocaching, a duck derby, and much more!  Please plan to bring the whole family out for a free day of fun at Jordanelle State Park.

As with any festival there are tons of things that need to be done! Volunteers are needed for the day to help:

-   Help with the Soldier Hollow Charter School booth.
-   Run educational games (already made and set up).
-   Run the Duck Derby (sell ducks, catching ducks in the race, recording winners)
-   Help at the Welcome Booth and direct visitors to the fun!
-   Staffing the nature center (checking out GPS units, starting movies, answering questions)
-   Set-up and take down

This is a great and fun way to get some of those volunteer hours in, especially if you have trouble getting into the school on weekdays. If you can volunteer for the day or any part of the day, please contact Kelly Gallo.

The Duck Derby: A fun fund-raiser  (for EE Week) that our school coordinates at the festival. Participants pay $2.00 to decorate a blank rubber duck. The numbered duck is entered into the Duck Derby at noon and 3:30pm (two chances to win!). Ducks are dropped into the Provo River and race to the finish line (where they are collected and returned to the designer). Winning ducks are eligible for prizes. Please send your friends and family to the festival to enter the Duck Derby!

Donations of prizes for the Derby would be GREATLY appreciated! Past prize donations have been field guides, binoculars, bird houses, t-shirts, books, gift cards, etc. Any level/ size of prize is GREATLY appreciate and will make our fund-raiser grand! Please bring these donations to Kelly Gallo in the yurt or call me and I will pick them up. Kelly Gallo.

Envirothon Team Bake Sale: The Soldier Hollow Envirothon Team is holding a bake sale on Saturday at the Provo River Watershed Festival! Last year, our team of 6th and 7th grade girls won 1st place in the oral presentations. They won 2nd place over all among groups of high school contestants. If students or parents are interested in donating a batch of homemade cookies, muffins, brownies, or other yummy treats, students can talk to Bryn Dayton, Ingrid Norton, or Stella Trincado in the 6th through 8th grade portable from 11:30 to 12:30 this week. If you decide to donate treats, please drop them off at the yurt on Friday before school ends. The proceeds from the bake sale will go to travel expenses from the Envirothon team. Thank you so much for helping to send our team to Zion National Park for the state competition this year

Look Out SHCS!!  Annual Student Fundraiser: We’re still finalizing all the details, but expect to be ready to launch our Annual Fall Gala Student Fundraiser on Tuesday, September 27^th.

We do have one secret we can reveal:  Once again, we’ll be giving away an i-Pad to one of our top fundraisers!!

We’ll try to make this a really fun and friendly competition to help the school.  To spice things up, we’ll be adding some fun new class incentives, etc  (so, look out Mr. Weber and Mr. Gallo!)

Another new twist:  Half of the funds raised by each class (3^rd grade, 4^th grade, etc.) will be set aside in a fund to be used for multi-day trips (such as Moab, Washington DC, etc) for that grade.  Since fifth and sixth grades are now left scrambling to raise enough for their DC trips on a short timeline, 100% of the funds raised by those classes will go into their respective funds.  The remaining funds will be used to purchase additional technology equipment.

Last year’s funds were used to purchase additional technology equipment for the school – including 10 i-Pads that are currently on backorder – and to help the 5^th (now 6^th) in their Washington DC field trip fundraising.

We hope parents will support their children in helping the school (and their own opportunities for enrichment) through this fundraiser.

Soldier Hollow Charter School Fall Gala, October 15^th: It is that time of year.  Autumn is in the air and the Annual Fall Gala preparations are in full swing.  For those of you who do not know what the Fall Gala is; it is the largest fundraiser of the year. This is an amazing event with good food, great people, and silent and live auctions with proceeds benefiting the school.

Each year we ask each family to participate in a number of ways:

• Attend and Invite. This is a fun social event, all who attend will be happy they did.  Tickets this year will be $15, and we will begin selling them soon.
• Donate or Solicit.  Traditionally we ask that each family donate or solicit a product or service that can be auctioned off.  In past years we have had so many wonderful items i.e. Teacher dates (these are always a very coveted auction item,) great gift baskets, a Lake Powell private house boat rental, a helicopter tour of the beautiful Heber Valley, snow boards, Provo River rafting trips, Moab adventure trips, hand-made scarves, jewelry, birthday parties, lots of great gift certificates to restaurants, hotel stays, ski resorts, massages, manicures and pedicures, etc.
• Support your child in selling “raffle-style” drawing tickets to family, friends, and neighbors.

So, give your students, faculty, Principal, and yourself a pat on your back. With hard work and a love for learning, we all made this possible.

Please celebrate with us this Friday by wearing blue.

To read more about SHCS being a Blue Ribbon School, go to The Deseret News.

• Jacqui Jespersen

• Prima Zipp

If you are interested in joining the Board and making a difference at Soldier Hollow, please complete the online form.

Please complete by this Thursday as voting will take place Friday.

Thank you.

The Heber Valley Pow Wow at Soldier Hollow: is having a fundraiser that includes dinner, live music and fantastic auction items on May 21^st at 6:00pm at the Lodge.

Bring gently used bikes, scooters, balls, bats, skates, skis, boots, helmets, goggles, life preservers, and other youth and adult sporting equipment to our swap.  Find a broad array of affordably priced equipment that reflects the interests of our outdoor-oriented families and neighbors.  Invite your friends and neighbors to participate in this fun event, both as sellers and buyers.

Drop off equipment before and after school on Thursday, May 19th.

(Equipment only – we’re not set up to receive clothing)

More details forthcoming.  Questions?  Contact Karla Willis (801-864-7190, karla.willis@gmail.com) or Kim Gilboy (435-654-5156, kim@4specs.com)

This year’s sale will be run by 5^th grade parents and students in support of their never-ending quest to visit the nation’s capital.   (30% of sale proceeds will go towards supporting this project.  70% of sale proceeds will be repaid to the sellers.)

Please turn in all of your other reward items by Monday, May 16^th.  This includes Box Tops, Campbell’s labels and Cream O’Weber milk caps. Thank you!

School Board Openings: It is election time and the Soldier Hollow Charter School Board has four member positions open.  We are looking for qualified individuals to throw their hat into the ring.  Besides having a passion for making our school better, we’re looking for candidates with law, finance, academics and/or management and fundraising experience.

It is a job that requires responsibility and commitment but, for the right person, is an important way to help set the directions and growth of the school.

What does the Board do? The Board of Directors is a seven-member group that governs the school.  Their most important function is to provide oversight while staying true to the school’s unique educational focus and charter.

• The term of office for each board member is two years.
• The Board meets the second Tuesday of each month at 6:00pm at the school.

If you are interested in running, please go to the Soldier Hollow Charter School website and fill out the board candidate sign-up form. http://myshcs.wufoo.com/forms/2011-shcs-board-candidate-signup/

If you have any questions please contact Claudia Heusch, SHCS Board Secretary, at Claudia.heusch@att.net or (435) 654-7019