ite dish. There are a lot of re-

sources that the school offers to

help your child improve in reading

and math. You can drop by your

child’s classroom and ask for books

that your child can take home dur-

ing the holidays. You may encour-

age your children to practice writ-

ing “Thank-you” notes to their fam-

ily members and friends. We can let

our children keep a journal and let

them write what they are grateful

for each day. Again, the best way to

teach our kids is by example. We

need to continue nurturing and

sharpening their brains in order to

be ready when they come back to

school after the holidays. Already,

we appreciate and thank you for

your continued support in all our

endeavors to ensure your child’s

academic success. Happy Holidays

to one and all! - Ms. Dagnalan -

Welcome to December!

This month is surely one of

the exciting months of the

year for most of our kids. It is

the holiday season and this is

a fitting time for all of us to

teach our students to be

thankful and show them the

value of generosity and kind-

ness. This is also the month

that we have more days out

of school. Parents, let us use

this time to bond more with

our kids and to continue

helping our children in their

learning. As you already

know, we have shifted to

using the Common Core

State Standards this school

year in all our core content

subject areas. As it is, the

standards are more challeng-

ing particularly in the areas of

Mathematics and language

Arts. There are a lot of fun

ways that we can teach our

kids the literacy skills that

they need to acquire and

master. We can read with

our kids or share wonderful

stories to each other. We

can use number and measure-

ments when we prepare in-

gredients to cook our favor-

Season’s Greetings to our Dawson Family!

During this season of peace and goodwill it is with

pleasure that we pause and express our best holiday wishes

and deepest appreciation for your support.

May the warmth and love of the season fill your hearts and home.

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Live, Love, and Laugh. Spend all the time you can with your Family.

Most of all Remember, that Jesus is the REASON FOR THE SEASON.

Look forward to seeing everyone in 2013.

Have a safe and blessed Holiday.

Love, Mrs. Amiee Richardson

Home of the Lions Celebrates the Month of December

I N S I D E T H I S

I S S U E :

Dawson Celebrates

December

1

Message From Our

School Principal

1

SGA Induction 2

Student of the Month 2

Principal’s List 3

Employees of The

Month 4

Classroom News

Pony vs. Lions

Newsletter Name

Contest

5

-

6

7

8

Message From Our School Principal

H A L I F A X C O U N T Y

S C H O O L S D I S T R I C T

Dawson Elementary

School Newsletter D E C E M B E R 2 0 1 2 V O L U M E 2 , I S S U E 2

Mrs. Amiee Richardson

School Principal

Dawson School Prepares Students for Leadership

P A G E 2 V O L U M E 2 , I S S U E 2

President - Olivia Castro

Vice President - Maijoi Smith

Secretary- Lizbeth Valdez-Carrillo

Treasurer - Fatima Rueda-Martinez

Class Representatives

Dongilli Class - Meosha Graham

Norman Class - Tony Anthony

Moore Class - Ulises Lubiano

Klein Class - Ty'Teana Harris

Seward Class - Jaliyah Hill

Honing leadership skills and making the students play an active role in the school are just few of the many

positive transformations that students have gone through this school year. True enough, the Dawson Elemen-

tary School Student Government Association Officers are inducted into office during the December 3, 2012,

PTA Meeting at 6:00p.m.

Below is the list of elected officers:

STUDENT OF THE MONTH

Front Row from left to right: Olivia Castro, President, Maijoi Smith, Vice President, Liza-

beth Valdez, Secretary, Fatima Rueda-Martinez, Treasurer, Class Representatives Kearston

Higgs, 2st Grader in Ms. Valenzuela’s Class, Angel Moore 1st Grader in Ms. Wraase’s

Class. Second Row from left to right: Tony Anthony Jr., 5th Grader in Mr. Norman’s Class,

Meosha Graham, 5th Grader in Mr. Dongilli Class, Ty’Teana Harris, 4th Grader in Ms.

Klein’s Class, Ulises Lubiano, 4th Grader in Mr. Moore’s Classs, Emante’ Faison in Ms.

Lester’s Class, and Jaliyah Hill 3rd Grader in Mrs. Jones Class. Not pictured Za’Cariyis

Pittman, Kindergartner in Ms. Licona’s Class.

The student of the month is

Stephanie Valdez. She is

one of the most hardworking

students in the class. She is

always willing to help other

students and as she says

she never gives up. Anytime

she faces a challenge, she

never gives up and tries dif-

ferent ways to solve it. We

are very proud of your hard

work in second grade!

STUDENT GOVERNMENT ASSOCIATION NED YO-YO

WINNERS

Tony Anthony in the fifth grade, William Lagunes in the fifth grade, and

Nayseth Pablo in the 4th grade.

P A G E 3 V O L U M E 2 , I S S U E 2

l

William Lagunes Khalya Evans Mikella Pittman

Lamarion Lloyd Salone Luviano-Carrillo Maijoi Smith

Jaliyah Hill Tremya Rudd Fatima Rueda-Martinez

P A G E 4 V O L U M E 2 , I S S U E 2

l

Dawson Elementary School Employees of the Month

November

Ms. Veronica Davis

Computer Lab Teacher

Ms. Shannon Williams

Teacher Assistant– Exceptional Children’s Class

December

Mr. Troy Moore

Parent Leader

Ms. Erika Klein

4th Grade Teacher

Ms. Licona’s First Grade Class

P A G E 5 V O L U M E 2 , I S S U E 2

For the month of October on the 31st, we had a

fall festivity in kindergarten where we had a day

all about pumpkins. We learned about their life

cycle and had parents and family come to our

class to help us do activities with the pumpkins.

We measured their circumference and made pre-

dictions about how long our yarn needed to be to

go around it. We weighed our pumpkins and

compared the weight, and we made predictions

on whether the pumpkins would float or sink in a

bin of water (they float because thy are hollow in

the inside). Then we used our senses to describe

the pumpkins from the outside and then the in-

side. It got very sticky! The kids had a great time

with their families! We ended the day by allow-

ing our students to dress up in their Halloween

Happy November and December! Here in the fourth grade

students’ worked on multi-digit multiplication and measure-

ment to advance their math skills and get ready for that big

EOG! Below are pictures of a few students investigating

measurements of fall items!

In science, students explored the role of ecosystems and adap-

tations. Students investigated different biomes around the

world. (Check out their projects in the hallway!) Students also

participated in a bird beak shape experiment about how bird

beaks have adapted overtime

In Second Grade we are learning about Folktales around the

world. Students are learning about Argentina, Uganda, and

Norway. They are figuring out what the moral and lessons

are of each folktale. We will continue to read more Folk-

tales, Fairy Tales, and Tall Tales. In math, we are learning

about estimating and rounding numbers. They are also do-

ing a wonderful job in their math centers. Second Grade is

a critical year and I can tell that our class is working hard

everyday.

Ms. Valenzuela’s 2nd Grade Class Ms. Klein’s Fourth Grade Class

Ms. Licona’s class proudly displays their class project.

Classroom News

4th-grade students in Ms. Klein’s class are engaged in

Ms. Valenzuela’s Class is hooked on books! measuring objects!

Ms. Dagnalan’s Resource Class

P A G E 6 V O L U M E 2 , I S S U E 2

Greetings everyone! Here at room 116, students

attending resource classes are focused on Read-

ing Mastery and Reading Milestone program.

The students from First Grade to Fifth Grade

share their passion for reading and are eager to

improve on sounding out vowels, letter sounds

and consonant blends. Our Fifth Grade students

look forward to doing spelling tests daily so they

can use those new vocabulary words when writ-

ing their journals. Samples of their completed

work are being displayed outside the classroom.

So, please check them out!

Ms. Lester’s Class

Classroom News

Ms. Lester’s class takes pride in maintaining the flower beds!

Fun and exciting changes are occurring in Miss Alli's classroom. Recently, Miss Alli's class raised over $3,000 on Donors

Choose and Amazon Wish List to receive new Touch-Talk materials, center activities, school supplies, as well as leveled

readers to be used in the classroom. Donors Choose is an organization that allows school and classrooms to raise funds for

field trips, school supplies, and variety of projects. Miss Alli's students are having a blast in centers using the new Touch-Talk

devices!

In October through November, Miss Alli's class planted roses and flower bushes in front of the school and in the flower beds.

Her students are excited for the next round of plants to arrive! Anyone is welcomed to help plants flowers, please contact Miss

Alli Lester, 812-3403050.

P A G E 7 V O L U M E 2 , I S S U E 2

The third graders (3rd) at Scotland Neck Primary and Dawson Elementary School will compete

during the 3rd six weeks to see who can earn the most Accelerated Reader points starting

December 3, 2012 until March 4, 2013. The goal is for all students to earn at least 10 points

each. All students will receive the following items from the Pick Up a Book and Read Carolina

Hurricane Program. Bookmarks and Reading Scorecards, certificates of accomplishment, the top

reader will receive a special certificate. The top Pick Up a Book and Read student reader will re-

ceive four tickets to a predetermined Carolina Hurricane hockey game.

The top student at each school will receive 2 movie tickets. The class who earns the most AR

points will have a cup cake and ice cream party, or a pizza party, a picture of the winning class will be

in the local newspaper. Ms. Taylor, School Counselor will work with Mrs. Williams, Media Coordi-

nator, at Scotland Neck Primary and Mrs. Ross, Media Coordinator at Dawson Elementary School

to collect the data for both bulletin boards so that everyone can see the students’ progress.

5th Grade Dongilli

Stalin Garcia 13.3 points Khalya Evans 13.0

points

Norman Olivia Castro 13.5 points Malik

Batts 11.0 points

4th Grade Klien

Mikella Pittman 5.6 points Breonna Clark 3.1

points

Moore Omarion Williams 2.3 points Lizabeth

Valdez-Carrillo 2.2 points

3rd Grade Seward Class

Jaliyah Hill 9.1 points Tremya Rudd 6.8

points

2nd Grade Valenzuela Class

Stephanie Valdez 1.8 points Jamaal Coles 1.3

points

Students Topping Accelerated Reading Scores

Ponys vs Lions 3rd Grade AR- Pick Up a Book & Read

You can help raise money for our school by collecting

BoxTops for Education, Campbell Soup Labels,

Caprisun Containers, and Empty Print Ink Cartridges.

The class that brings in the most items listed above

will have a pizza party at the end of the school year.

We are tracking the points on our Educational Bar

Graph on the bulletin board in the hallway every

Tuesday. If you would like to help, please contact Ms.

Jennifer Taylor, School Counselor at 252-826-4413.

We are also collecting soda can tabs to show our chil-

dren that donating to charities are very important.

The tabs will be donated to the Ronald McDonald

House while a loved one is hospitalized.

Check out the following websites:

www.boxtops4education.com; www.caprisun.com;

campbellsoup.com; http://www.ronaldhouse.org

Raise Money For

The School

Note:

The winning

newsletter name will

be used on the next

edition of our school

paper. Thank you

for your support!

Newsletter Name

Suggestion:

______________________________________________

Student Name:

______________________________________________

Grade Level:

______________________________________________

Teacher name:

______________________________________________

6878 Old 125 Rd.

Scotland Neck, NC 27874

Phone: 555-555-5555

Fax: 555-555-5555

E-mail: someone@example.com

Our Vision

As a diverse community of life-long learn-

ers, all students, staff, parents, and com-

munity members of Dawson Elementary will

collaborate to provide a nurturing environ-

ment of high expectations that fosters

student engagement and academic achieve-

ment!

Our Mission

As a diverse Dawson Elementary develops

students who believe in their own educa-

tion and personal success now and in the

future. We give our best and expect the

best.

Our Motto

We Can Succeed! We Will Succeed!

Ms. Amie Richardson

School Principal

NEWSLETTER NAME CONTEST

Ms. Andrea G. Dagnalan

Newsletter Editor

We are on the Web!

dw.halifax.k12.nc.us

PLEASE CUT THIS PORTION , FILL IT OUT AND

GIVE IT TO YOUR HOMEROOM TEACHER NO

LATER THAN JANUARY 15, 2013.