Outdoor Updates

Assistant Superintendent Sandi Novak was at Sioux Trail at the end of May and she commented on the signs that were posted by the front entrance stating that the Envrionmental Club was doing some work and to keep watching for changes. Sandi said, "I keep watching, but nothing is changing!". Well now the changes are complete and I hope these changes continue to make Sioux Trail a warm welcoming place. The benches that were added were part of an Envrionmental Club project from several years ago. Three benches were added, one on either side of the main entrance and one by the parking lot door and the project is now complete. If you are in the neighborhood please stop by and make use of these great resting places.

Where is the flag? Another change the folks in the River Hills neighborhood have noticed and comented on is the disappearance of the stone flag. This was a school project in 2001 that Sioux Trail staff and students created. I made the decision to remove it because the paint was coming off of the rocks and some of the rocks had been moved or removed. We plan to seed the area and grow grass where the flag was. A resident called, spoke with Mrs. Cenci and told her he was sorry to se the flag go as it was one of the best things the school ever did and that if he knew we needed help taking care of it he would have helped. I'm glad that we have owenership of this wonderful school in our neighborhood and volunteers are always welcome - simple call or stop in and we'll happily use your talents!

Farewell

Sioux Trail tradition calls for sending off our wonderful students with the wave. Here are two photos, first of staff getting organized and then the wave in motion.

We hope that the summer is a safe, relaxing experience for all students. It is very important that students read and get to practice math skills. There is lots of research to indicate that students suffer from academic regression (they forget what they have learned) over the summer if they are not engaged in some type of academic work. This can be anything from taking a class to reading a book, or helping plan and execute the weekly grocery shopping trip.

You can check out the Sioux Trail web page for various links to web sites that will keep helping the brain grow.

Thank you for a great school year.

I Love Burnsville

The City of Burnsville and Highland Bank sponsored the I Love Burnsville Essay Contest. The contest was open to all third grade students who reside in Burnsville and over 160 students entered the contest. Four winners were selected and those four winners were recognized at last night's Burnsville City Council Meeting. Mrs. Engdahl and I attended the meeting to recognize Dana who took first place in the contest. This is the second year of the contest and Sioux Trail students have received awards both years. Dana had an opportunity to read her essay to the Burnsville City Council, she received a $200 Savings Bond and a $100 check for Sioux Trail. Dana is meeting with Mrs. Engberg today to select the books she is going to buy with the money she won for Sioux Trail.

Congratulations Dana!

Left to right in the photo are: Mrs. Engdahl (Grade 3), Mr. Akin, Brian from Highland Bank, Dana and Mayor Kautz

The last days of the 2009-10 school year

We started of the school year with a new science teacher, Mr. Khamratthanome. He has done a wonderful job developing the skills of inquiry with our students. One of his first experiments was dropping Mentos into 2 liter bottles of pop. The post on Wednesday, September 10 featured this same experiment. Here is the experiment being done by a student and with a lot more than one Mentos.