Reading Month, electricity rules, and flying the coop

 What a month! What a week! What a day! What a moment!

Wait a minute!
I'm done! The kids are gone, the power is all unplugged from every electrical appliance in our building! (I'll tell you more about that in a bit.) And now I'm finishing up on a couple things and I'm off to Florida tomorrow afternoon.

Remember at the start of March we decorated our building with beautiful artwork? Well the finale was last night. We hold Stars on Stage every March. This is a time for each classroom to perform for the families. There were songs, plays, and poetry and it was very well received. Also in each room there is another activity going on so the families have something else to do while they are waiting for their child's turn on the stage. One room has tattoos, one has A Minute to Win It games, one had bingo, one was a dance party with disco ball too! One room you could make a book mark, and also one room set up with snacks and tables full of lost and found items for parents to identify. Our library is also open with computers on for kids to show parents what they can do on them. We have a book mobile outside which is a local book store brings a trailer filled with books (new and used) for the families to buy.

I know it was a hit, because the weather cooperated and we had 450 people who signed in. . . keep in mind we are a small school with only 150 students. It was a great night. . . . . a long one. . . home by 8:30, but a great night for families.

Today was a piece of cake. . . couple of specials and a read a thon, plus our principal dressed up like a clown because our students met the challenge to read 5,000 books. However, they read 8,800 books instead! Remember that number of only 150 students. . . that's a whole lot of reading in one month!

Oh, the electrical thing. . . Several years ago they did a study of how much electricity we could save if we turned things off every night and if we turned EVERYTHING off on long breaks. It was a pain at first, but now it's a habit and it has really saved us a lot of money. Every night all computers and monitors must be shut off, anything with a light on it must be off. On long breaks they are not only shut off, but they must be unplugged too. You see even a monitor pulls some electricity when it's still plugged in.

So you may be wondering. . . ok, so I don't turn it off, who cares? What's the big deal?

Well that's called the Energy Natzi!!! He is a retired teacher (that we truly all love!) and he has been hired to come in after hours especially when it's dark, to see what's been left on. If he finds something still on, he puts a smiley face ( A SMILEY face? like he's happy? Nah, like he's gotcha!) on it so you know he's been there and found the something that you left on. Then a report is given to our principal showing who isn't doing their part. .. So all in all we do try to help out and turn things off as much as possible. If it saves more money so they can pay me more, all the more reason, I'm willing to do it!!!

Have a great week. . . I will try not to blog while on vaca, but I will at least be reading yours. . .
Until Easter
Happy Happy!


Patty