Deer Run Tracks

Home of the “Bucks” Mr. Eric Elmore, Principal Mr. Nathaniel Jones, Superintendent of Schools Ms. Raykisha Robinson, Asst. Principal

Important Dates:

Winter Musical

Dec. 9th @ 2:00pm

(DRES GYM)

__________

PTA Meeting

Dec. 13th @ 6:00pm

(DRES)

___________

Academic Celebration

Dec. 19th @ 7:00am

(KG-2nd grade)

Dec. 20th @ 7:00am

(3rd-5th grade)

___________

Winter Break

Dec. 22nd-Jan. 6th

(No School)

Friday, December 2, 2016

DearParentsand/orGuardians,

ItishardtobelievethatThanksgivingisbehindusandtheHolidaySeasonis

justaroundthecorner.Howtime!liesbywhenyouareworkingwithwon-

derfulstudentswhoareeagertolearn,andadedicatedandconscientious

staffdedicatedtoelevatingtheacademicperformanceofeachstudent!

Ourgoalistohelpprepareyourchildandourstudentsforabrightfuture,as

we!illtheirheadswithknowledge,con!idence,andmotivationtoachieveat

thehighestlevel.Ourexpectationsarehighandwewantyoutopartnerwith

usasweprepareforthesecondsemester.

Winterhas!inallyarrivedandtheweatherisgettingcolder!Pleasemake

sureyourscholariswearingacoattoschooleachday,andbringsahatand

gloves.Allgradelevelswillhavesomeoutdoorrecessunlessitisbelow0de-

greesatthetimeofrecess.Itisimportantourstudentshaveachancetoex-

erciseandgetsomefreshairduringtheschoolday(ifpossible).Students

musthaveanotefromtheirdoctortoremaininsideduringwinteroutdoor

recess.Asalways,pleasecontactusifyouhaveanyquestions.

WearehavingourAcademicCelebrationforthe1stsemesteronMonday,De-

cember19th(Kindergarten–2ndgrade),andTuesday,December20th(3rd

grade–5thgrade).Wewillbecelebratingourscholars’academics,citizen-

ship,andperfectattendance.Keepaneyeoutforinvitations!

HaveawonderfulHolidaySeason!

Sincerely,

Mr.Elmore

ATTENDANCE LINE

317-216-5292

Winter Musical: Stormy the Singing Snowman

Please join us for our

Winter Musical, Stormy the Singing Snowman (presented

by the Second Grade Students)

And Holiday songs from the choir.

December 9 at 2:00 in the DRES Gym.

BOX TOPS!

It’s easy to help your school earn money for

fun activities, events, & supplies!

Buy your favorite Box Tops Foods!

Cut out the Box Tops from the packages!

Send the Box Tops to school with your child!

We get CASH for every single Box Top that is collected for things we need the most! Our goal this year is $1,500 and we need you to send in those Box Tops for that to

happen! All those Box Tops

really add up!!

PTA Calendar of Events

PTA Meeting:

When: Tuesday, December 13, 2016 Time: 6:00pm-6:45pm Location: Community room

Little Shopper Shop - December 12- December 15

The PTA Is In Needed of Volunteers for the Little Shop-per’s Shop: Volunteers will receive $10 in Little Shop Merchandise . Little Shopper’s Shop- is a small gifts shop that allows stu-dents to shop for the Holidays. When: December 12- December 15 Time: 9-2:30pm (volunteer time needed at least 1 hour) If you are interested Please email ptadres2016@gmail.com

Introducing Character Strengths

The character strength for the month of De-

cember is GRIT. Below is the definition and some of the behaviors attached to the character

strength of grit.

The goal of each of the character strengths is

to build these words into the students vocabu-

lary and for them to be able to apply these

character strengths in their lives not only at

school, but out in the community as well.

GRIT

Definition: You work through problems and

you don’t give up no matter what .

Behaviors Associated with Grit:

• Finished whatever he/she began

• Stuck with a project or activity for more

than a few weeks

• Tried very hard even after experiencing

failure

• Stayed committed to goals

• Kept working hard even when he/she felt

like quitting

Transportation Changes

All transportation changes should be in writing and be sent to school with the stu-dent. We do not accept transportation changes over the phone. This is only to un-

sure your child gets home safely.

Front office doors closes at 2:30pm.

Thank you for you understanding!

Special Visitor at Deer Run

Former Mayor Greg Ballard visited Deer Run Elementary School on November 29th, 2016. He spoke to 3rd grade students about citizenship, 4th grade students about the United States government, and to 5th grade stu-dents about the many different mayoral duties. Mayor Ballard took time to answer the many questions our scholars had regarding his former position as mayor, how he became mayor, and his current career. We were

honored to have Mayor Ballard visit our school he takes pride in giving back to his community.

DRES Presents the Annual…All

All canned and non perishable items will be collected in the classrooms.

The class with the most cans will earn a pizza party.

November 14th

to

December 16th

Pike News Continued…

Pike Lions Club Pancake Breakfast

The Pike Township Lions Club will host their famous Pancake Breakfast on Saturday, December 10 from 7:30 to 10:00 a.m. in the Pike High School Cafeteria. The cost for the all you can eat menu, which includes pancakes, sausage, biscuits

and gravy, apple sauce, milk, coffee, and orange juice, is $5.00.

Pike Hosts First Lego League Tournament

On Saturday, Nov. 12, Pike Township hosted one of thirteen state qualifying tournaments for FIRST Lego League. The event was held at Lincoln Middle School and welcomed 14 teams from the Indianapolis area, as well as Mount Vernon and Anderson. Prior to attending the tournament, teams worked on a scientific and real world challenge on which they re-searched and presented an innovative solution. Additionally, they built, tested, and programed an autonomous robot using LEGO MINDSTORMS®

technology to solve a set of challenges. During the competition, they were then judged on their

work and competed in robot games.

Five Pike teams came ready to compete! Representing Fishback Creek Public Academy were two teams; Robofish Red and Robofish White. Guion Creek Elementary brought the Gatorbots. Representing Eagle Creek Elementary were the Engineer-ing Eagles. Pike’s first FIRST Lego League team, the NanoDevils from New Augusta South, rounded out list of Pike teams. In the end, the Beaver Bots from Zionsville Community Schools were the tournament champions. However, all

teams did an outstanding job and showcased the hard work they had done!

The tournament would not have happened without the volunteerism of Pike teachers, administrators, and parents, all of whom gave their time to make the event successful. Special recognition goes out to members of the Pike High School ro-botics team, Pike RoboDevils, who mentored teams throughout the season and worked countless hours setting up and run-

ning the tournament.

Superintendent Jones' Retirement

After more than 13 years of serving as the leader of the Metropolitan School District of Pike Township, Superintendent Jones will retire this December. The Pike Township Educational Foundation has established a scholarship to honor Superin-

tendent Jones and we are in the process of collecting well wishes and/or words of appreciation.

If you would like to make a donation to the Nathaniel Jones Scholarship Fund, which will benefit a Pike High School grad-

uating senior, you may contribute by check to:

Pike Township Educational Foundation, 5353 W. 71st Street, Indianapolis, IN 46268

Please include "Jones Scholarship" in the memo line

If you would prefer to donate online by credit card, you may visit www.pike-ef.org and click the "donate now" button on the upper right corner of the home page. On the final check out page please select "add instructions to the seller" and type

"Jones Scholarship."

Contributions are tax deductible to the extent allowed by law and Mr. Jones will be notified of your gift. Questions regard-ing contributions to the Nathaniel Jones Scholarship Fund may be directed to executivedirector@pike-ef.org or (317) 387-

2545.

If you would like to submit a card or note to express your well wishes and appreciation, please feel free to drop it off at the Administrative Services Center between the hours of 8:00 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. M-F (the office may be closed during school

holidays).

Pike township News

PHS State Spell Bowl Results

Pike’s Spellers competed at Purdue this past Saturday and finished fourth in the state! Senior Breanna Steiff had a perfect round. Jalynn Carter, Katie Danforth, and Jada Johnson each missed just one word. Kennedy Steele, Makenzie Phillips, Emily Hyatt, and Samantha Dennis missed two words. Other valued spellers, Christina Houtzer and Joy Morounfolu, missed three words. They successfully spelled words such as: prorogue, bourgeoisie, parti pris, Tsimshian, zooxanthella, and dermatomyositis (just to name

a few). Please congratulate these fine spellers on their successful season!

Superintendent Jones' Retirement

After more than 13 years of serving as the leader of the Metropolitan School District of Pike Township, Superintendent Jones will retire this December. The Pike Township Educational Foundation has established a scholarship to honor Superintendent Jones

and we are in the process of collecting well wishes and/or words of appreciation.

If you would like to make a donation to the Nathaniel Jones Scholarship Fund, which will benefit a Pike High School graduating

senior, you may contribute by check to:

Pike Township Educational Foundation, 5353 W. 71st Street, Indianapolis, IN 46268

Please include "Jones Scholarship" in the memo line

If you would prefer to donate online by credit card, you may visit www.pike-ef.org and click the "donate now" button on the up-per right corner of the home page. On the final check out page please select "add instructions to the seller" and type "Jones Schol-

arship."

Contributions are tax deductible to the extent allowed by law and Mr. Jones will be notified of your gift. Questions regarding

contributions to the Nathaniel Jones Scholarship Fund may be directed to executivedirector@pike-ef.org or (317) 387-2545.

If you would like to submit a card or note to express your well wishes and appreciation, please feel free to drop it off at the Ad-ministrative Services Center between the hours of 8:00 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. M-F (the office may be closed during school holidays).

Congresswoman Brooks Visits PHS

Pike High School enjoyed a wonderful visit from Congresswoman Susan Brooks, who used her experience in workforce develop-ment to inspire, inform and encourage PHS Sophomores in the Youth Career Connect Program to pursue STEM careers in IT,

Biomedical Science, Engineering and Advanced Manufacturing & Logistics.

Teacher TechConnect

On Thursday, November 10, thanks to our incredible YCC grant program we had the privilege of hosting the first Teacher Tech-Connect gathering. The event, which was held at our Pike Freshman Center gave Pike teachers the opportunity to hear from and speak with a wide array of tech industry leaders from companies including Bluelock, Angie's List, Interactive Intelligence, Nextech, Finish Line, TechPoint Foundation, and Project Lead the Way, about the wide variety of jobs available in the tech field and the diversity of skills needed. The emphasized the importance of communication, collaboration, critical thinking, creativity,

curiosity, and the willingness to learn.

Celebrating PHS Educator Success

PHS educator Deborah Calhoun was recently honored at the National Association of Biology Professionals Conference in Den-

ver, Colorado for her selection as the state Outstanding Biology Teacher of the Year.