Tuesday, April 27 is Volunteer Drive Thru or as the sign says Community Thank You! Sioux Trail staff set aside an hour of the morning to pass out Donut Star donuts and Caribou coffee to anyone who helps make Sioux Trail the wonderful school that it is. We're optimistic that we'll get more folks to stop in so we bought more donuts and coffee this year. Students have prepared thank you cards that will get distributed along with the breakfast treat.
I'm sure that many of you have been checking the blog frequently for updates on the "wooden guy" make-over! It is complete and two of our "wooden guys" have retrofitted bases and a brand new coat of paint. The "green guy" was blue and the "orange guy" used to be a peach color, but it was also splattered with something blue!
I hope no one filed a missing persons report! On Friday I absconded with two of our "wooden guys". Sioux Trail has four of these creations and they are wonderful tools. We've used them for a wide-variety of things, from helping display lost clothing, promoting the food sold during carnival and welcoming students back to school. I don't know who made them, but they become an invaluable part of Sioux Trail.
Shadow celebrated his 2nd birthday on January 29. Shadow originally arrived after Sioux Trail students named the panther, which is our school mascot. With the help of folks at Lakeville North High School (they are also "The Panthers" and they also have red and black as their school colors) a full sized Shadow arrived to be a part of the Naming Ceremony. I joined the Sioux Trail community shortly after the Naming Ceremony and Shadow was all the buzz. At a PTO meeting Mr. Glende shared an idea as to how Sioux Trail could have our very own full sized Shadow. The idea was an instant hit and Sioux Trail now has it's very own full sized panther! Shadow emerges from his cat cave and makes appearances at a wide variety of Sioux Trail events - his most recent event was for the I love to Read month kickoff on February 1. This year I love to Read Month has an Olympics theme and Shadow brought in the torch to get us fired up. He is very popular with students and the investment has paid for itself many times over.
It appears that there is an ominous connection between Sioux Trail and water pipes. Several years ago, the pipes inside the building broke. The water main on River Hills Drive broke as well and then a leak was discovered this morning. ISD 191 maintenance staff, along with crews from the City of Burnsville responded right away and assessed the situation. Based on the amount of water flowing from the ground it was determined that there was a leak not a broken pipe and repairs could be postponed until after school was over. The pipe leaked throughout the day and contractors were outside of Sioux Trail by early afternoon waiting for dismissal. After the students left the water was shut off and contractors had located and repaired the cracked pipe by 4:30. I know that several students were hoping for a day off of school, but with the help of city crews and the contractors the pipe is fixed and were ready another great day at Sioux Trail.
Yes, those are your teachers, nurse, principal and a Panther on the roof of the school. Friday was Tropical Day at Sioux Trail. The Sioux Trail Student Council sets up a series of theme days throughout the school year. Several years ago Mr. Glende and I started welcoming students to school on Tropical Day from the roof of the school. This year it meant that Mr. Glende had to shovel a path for us and we were fortunate to have several folks join the welcoming party. We even added a pool and a fan to keep everyone cool. As all Minnesotans know from the recent weather it could have been much cooler up there. The theme days are fun ways to ingrate a little something extra into days that are full of hard work. The next theme day is Comfy Days on February 19.
