the buzz Honey island elementary

500 s. military road, Slidell, Louisiana 70461 985.641.3557

November-december 2014

Mrs. Smith’s Scoop

Thank you students and parents for a SUCCESSFUL job with our Fundraiser! We earned almost $12,000. That is a lot of cookie dough, cheesecakes, popcorn, and pizzas! These proceeds have been used to fund technology equipment and PTA Teacher Mini-Grants. We had over 100 students who participated in the Lone Star Action Sports BMX Bike Show! The Honey Island Community is such a generous one! You – parents, students, teachers, and staff members – gave over $3000 to the United Way fund and almost $500 to the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation! Students are encouraged to wear their “Black & Gold” on Friday, November 7 and donate $1 for the Parish Children’s Museum. Thank you for your pocket-book participation with these charitable organizations. During the week of November 3, we will be collected canned foods and other non-perishables. All contributions will go to the Mt. Olive Food Bank, a local ministry in our community. Tuesday, November 11 is Veteran’s Day. We will celebrate this special day with a student presentation on WHIE-Live that morning. We are inviting VETERANS who have a student at Honey Island to join us for lunch. If your child has a parent, grandparent, aunt, uncle, or other special person who is a VETERAN, please encourage them to attend. Information will be coming home soon. This time of year is invigorating! As the weather cools and the holidays approach, take time to enjoy your child and family! Plan some time to listen to your child read a seasonal story, take a walk in the neighborhood, or play a board game. Remember - The best things in life are not things. As the Thanksgiving Holidays draw near, I want to give thanks for all of the members of our school family. I am blessed to work and have fun with our community! SAVE the DATE – April 18! We will have our 4th Annual Art Festival on Saturday, April 18, 2015. This event will showcase the talent of the Honey Island students and will provide a tasteful and enjoyable experience for the Honey Island community. More

information will be coming home soon. You are always welcomed to come by and have lunch with your child, volunteer in your child’s classroom, or meet with me. Our website - http://honeyislandelementary.stpsb.org/ - is a great way to keep informed. Your support helps make Honey Island the school where Every Day, Every Child Succeeds! Mrs. Smith

Third graders from Mrs. McGee's class presented the morning news on WHIE. Pictured with Mrs. Smith: Gianna, Taylor, Callie, Meredith, and Rachel.

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Our cool weather has finally arrived!

Along with the nice weather, there has

been much learning and excitement going on at Honey Island! In October, we

celebrated Bus Safety Week, Bus

Appreciation Week, and National School

Lunch Week.

During the week of October 27th, as part of our Positive Behavior Support Program,

we celebrated Red Ribbon Week with the

theme “Love Yourself – Be Drug Free,” and

participated in our annual Storybook Character

Parade! The students also celebrated a school-wide Champo goal and enjoyed popcorn and a

movie. Hundreds of school to home connections

have been made with our “Good News Calls!”

Making those calls to you is a favorite part of my

week, and the students are thrilled when they get

one. Make sure to celebrate with your child when he/she gets a Good News Call!

At Honey Island, our faculty identifies monthly

behavior goals based on the data we have. Our

student monthly behavior goal for October has been to “to show respect by following adult

directions the first time they are given.” I must say

that I am proud of both our teachers and our

students in working hard to teach our students

how to make good choices. Overall, our students

maintain excellent behavior, which allows us to focus on the job at

hand – educating our students! We know that

much of this comes from what they learn at home,

and we thank you for the continued partnership

we share with you in teaching your children.

As we approach the holiday season, I want to say

how thankful I am to be living in Slidell, Louisiana

and working at Honey Island Elementary! It is

such a wonderful community! Please take time in

the next few months to reflect on all the things you are thankful for! Have “thankful” discussions with

your children, too! I know that I am thankful for

every child, parent, and colleague here at Honey

Island, and I am most thankful for the opportunity

to “touch” the lives of our students each and every day!

Enjoy the holiday season with your family! 2015

will be here before we know it!

Mrs. Gina Ward Troyer

Assistant Principal Spotlight

Every week, Honey Island celebrates two of our

“Rodeo Stars.” They are announced on our Friday WHIE broadcast and their pictures are posted in the front hallway. This is one more way our students can get to know more about our faculty and staff. Here are the Rodeo Stars we have celebrated so far this year! Mrs. Felicia Bridges, our Gifted Third Grade teacher, has one daughter, Laci, and loves to travel to Disney World! Mrs. Crystal Elliers, a second grade teacher, loves reading the Harry Potter books and is a HUGE fan of the Mississippi State Bulldogs! Mrs. Melissa McDaniel, one of our Special Education teachers, has two children, and she loves being a dance and baseball mom! Mrs. Danel Petry, a second grade teacher, is in her 36th year of teaching children. She would love to travel to Tahiti one day! Ms. Katy Lloyd, a third grade teacher, is a HUGE LSU fan! She was also a Girl Scout for 12 years! Mrs. Stephanie Buchanan, a third grade teacher, has two boys, and she spends her Saturdays at the soccer field watching them play! Mrs. Chelsey Brandt, a third grade teacher, is a newlywed! She loves to visit the beach! Coach Wes Leake, our PE teacher, coaches soccer and enjoys watching his wife’s triathlons. Mrs. Diane Wallace, our secretary, loves being a grandma. She is especially proud of her children, who all have at least two college degrees! Ms. Melina Traill, one of our paraprofessionals, enjoys going to Hobby Lobby because she loves crafting. She is proud to be a cancer survivor. Mrs. Amy Abney, a second grade special education teacher, enjoys putting on her camouflage and hunting with her three boys. Mrs. Wendy Varnado, a third grade teacher, loves to shop, loves to watch reality TV, and would love to travel to Italy one day! Mrs. Angie Bonner, a second grade teacher, is one of eight children! She enjoys watching the LSU Tigers and the New Orleans Saints from her hot tub! Mrs. Sharon Watson, our librarian, enjoys fishing and she loves Rock and Roll music!

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!

FundTag is the new way to donate. Open the app, choose the business, and take a snapshot of your receipt. You've just helped the cause of your choice. Download the app today on your iphone or Android phone!

We have 4 classes that have reached/exceeded their PTA membership goal of 25!

Conway - 38 McGee - 29

Varnado - 28 Elliers - 27

We are currently at 536 memberships with a school goal of 600. Keep sending those forms in! Each class who reaches their goal will receive a class popsicle party!

2014-2015 HIE Junior First Lego League with Special Guests, their teacher-coaches and NHS's Beta Club students.

Cultural Arts News

Reflections Program themed entries for "The world would be a better place if..." are due Friday, November 7th. Entries are to be turned into the HIE office. Entries and Rules can be found atwww.pta.org/reflections.

HIE PTA Board Members 2014-2015

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View this newsletter, and past newsletters online!

honeybeenews.blogspot.com

Community Meeting for Parents

7:00 p.m. – Boyet Jr. High Cafeteria, just off Pearl St., off East Gause Blvd.

Upcoming Dates: November 10 December 1

Hope to see many of you join us throughout the year!

Mary K. Bellisario District 15 | St. Tammany Parish School Board 985.641.2268 facebook.com/Mary.K.Bellisario Twitter: @bayouduo

www.stpsb.org

thanks to our 2014-2015 corporate sponsors

Airey Blanchard Law Office

All American Title Agency, LLC

ARS Technologies

Chip Carter, Robert Levis Chevrolet-Cadillac

East Gause Goodyear

E & R Repair and Remodeling

Esther Livaccari, Inc.

Keller Williams, Jennifer Chiasson

Law Office of Rita Ekenta

Leighann Photography

Masker Family McDonald's

NOLA Southern Grill

Sam Inflatables

Therapy Charters

Box Top News

Ms. Randall's class sent in the most box tops/labels for the first nine weeks and will be getting an ice cream party! Check out their totals below!

Box Tops - 1610 Campbell's Labels for Education - 860

Community Coffee labels - 122 (Each box too and CC label are worth $0.10!!)

Way to go!