The students of Spanish Oaks Elementary had the opportunity to help raise money for New Life Orphanage in Ghana. Students were asked to collect used shoes and bring them to school. They are then the shoes are shipped to Africa where they are sold cheaply to street vendors, who then clean and repair the shoes to sell them in the market. The grade levels that collected the most shoes were fifth grade and sixth grade. Thank you to our student council for collecting and sorting the shoes and thank you to our students and their families for supporting this great charitable fund raiser.

Fifty Nifty United States Fifth grade students from Spanish Oaks Elementary performed for their families and friends. The performance was a culmination of their studies of United States history. The program was a combination of songs, narration and skits which students have learned and rehearsed throughout the school year. The program started with Christopher Columbus and included other events such as the signing of the Declaration, Eli Whitney, the Emancipation Proclamation, the Titanic, Rosa Parks on the bus and many other important historical events.

Day of Service at Spanish Oaks Employees from U.S. Synthetics, a polycrystalline diamond oil and gas exploration company in Orem, volunteered at Spanish Oaks Elementary for the National Day of Service. The volunteers were excited to be able to give back to their community and demonstrate their commitment to improving the quality of life for all of us. The volunteers helped in individual classrooms and unpacked and stamped newly purchased student reading textbooks. We appreciate U.S. Synthetics and their employees for the time spent at our school. Photos of U. S. Synthetics employees

Kindy 500 at Spanish Oaks Life is a highway for the kindergarten students at Spanish Oaks Elementary. The students created a vehicle to travel to different destinations and learn about national symbols and famous people in history. Some of the destinations the students visited were The White House, Lincoln Memorial, Betsy Ross’ home, and the Statue of Liberty. Students and parents lined the halls of the school while the kindergarten students took a few laps around to show off their Kindy 500 creations. Photos of Kindy 500

Author Julie Wright visited Spanish Oaks recently. She is the author of the Hazzardous Universe series. Ms. Wright shared with students her experiences as an author and got the children excited about writing. She spoke about the influence of one of her teachers in middle school, Mrs. Brown, who helped her to realize her talent and potential as a writer. She had the students in the audience help write a story using their imaginations by choosing characters from objects in a trunk, creating a plot and resolving a conflict.

This year’s recipient for the Crystal Apple Award from Spanish Oaks Elementary is Jerika Terry. Jerika has been teaching third grade for the past 3 years. She graduated from Brigham Young University. The teachers on her team have commented on how well planned and organized she is. Jerika demonstrates professionalism by having a positive attitude and a great relationship with her students, the parents of her students, as well as the teachers on her collaborative team.

The fifth grade students at Spanish Oaks just culminated a unit on Social Injustices with a Freedom Fair. Students researched groups of people from the United States who have suffered a social injustice. Social issues depicted included slavery, women’s rights, child labor, the Indian Removal Act, the Civil Rights Movement for Black Americans, and the Japanese Americans’ internment during World War II. The Freedom Fair included groups of students performing skits that represented the different social injustice groups for family members and the student body.

Last week the PTA sponsored Teacher Appreciation week and, wow, did the teachers get spoiled! The theme was a country western theme, “Our Teachers are the Best in the West.” Each teacher had a “wanted” sign outside of their door that was decorated by room parents. There was a waffle bar breakfast that kicked the week off on Monday morning. The students were involved in a basketball “shoot out” and dancing in the gym.

Spanish Oaks Students Honor Dr. Seuss On Friday, March 2nd , the students at Spanish Oaks celebrated the birthday of Dr. Seuss by doing many fun literature activities. Some classes read books with friends, dressed up as different characters in Dr. Seuss books, and classes were visited by Maple Mountain High School Honor Society students who read to the students. It was a fun day! Photos of Students celebrating

3rd Grade Science Fair The third grade students in Mr. Rigby’s class participated in a class science fair. The students had to form a hypothesis, observe and gather data. There were a great variety of project topics. Some of the projects included raw power, trapping moisture through humidity and homemade lava lamps. The students displayed their projects for other classes and parents to walk through and enjoy.