Greenwood Laboratory School

Greenwood K-5 students recently read Marvelous Mabel during library. It is a beautiful true story about a homeless eight-year-old girl living in a segregated NYC during 1913 who finds her passion for ice skating through the help of strangers in her community. Inspired by the book, we are going to help neighbors in our community. From now through Friday, February 14, we will collect new and gently used items for our friends at the Boys & Girls Club of Springfield. Maybe an outgrown pair of ballet shoes, soccer cleats that are too small, or a pair of baseball pants that will no longer be worn can provide that spark for another child to find their passion. They are also accepting items for their vast after school program which helps so many children in our area. What a great opportunity of our students to give of themselves and from their hearts. Drop-off bins outside of library doors. Contact Mrs. Oliver with any questions. Thanks for your generosity! Items Needed: *Baseball: cleats, pants, gloves, socks, tees, catcher’s equipment *Soccer: cleats, shin guards, socks, soccer balls, *Volleyball: Knee pads, shorts, volley balls, nets *Flag Football: cleats, flags *Dance/cheer: shoes, tights, undershorts/tops, bags, hair supplies, ribbon *Basketball: cones, youth-sized basketballs *Tennis rackets *Ice skates/Hockey skates/equipment *Other: Water bottles, flip chart scoreboards, ball bags, crayons, markers, colored pencils, construction paper, dry erase boards, markers, gym bags, new whistles, office supplies *They are also ALWAYS looking for coaches!

The First Grade Helpful Hedgehogs celebrated Chinese New Year today with Dr. Peng Zhang, Elis dad, and Mrs. Lu Medina, Graces mom. The Lunar New Year (農曆新年) is an important Chinese traditional holiday and celebration. Lunar New Year is also known as the Spring Festival (春節), or Chinese New Year. Chinese New Year marks the beginning of the year according to the traditional lunar calendar. This year festivities begin on Wednesday, January 29, 2025, marking the arrival of the Year of the Snake. Students listened to a presentation, practiced making Chinese symbols used in writing, made a snake, opened special Red Envelopes containing Chinese coins, and had a traditional snack. The color red, of the Red Envelopes ( Hongbao), symbolizes energy, good luck, and happiness, in Chinese cultures and are decorated with calligraphy and symbols. Thank you Dr. Zhang and Mrs. Medina!

Congratulations to the Zaner-Bloser Handwriting Contestants for Kindergarten through Fifth Grade! The contest is celebrating its 34th year and focuses on legibility, shape, size, spacing, and slant of each letter. Students competed in their classrooms and School Grade-Level Winners were selected to represent Greenwood Laboratory School. The Grade Level Winners move on to compete at the regional and national levels. Grand Level National champions are awarded cash prizes and trophies. This year we have sisters as Grade-Level Winners, Saanchi and Prachi. Congratulations Greenwood Grade-Level winners: Victoria Barreda, Jason Kamel, Isabel Thomas, Saanchi Jagarapu, Beverley Yu, Prachi Jagarapu

Girls on the Run registration opens up tomorrow! Both Girls on the Run for 3rd-5th grade, and Heart & Soul for girls in 6th-8th grade open tomorrow. Check out the attached fliers for more information. There are limited spots so sign up soon!

Congratulations to Mary Gabriel and Tristan Khoshyomn for winning 1st Place in Policy Debate at the Jack Tuckness Winter Classic Speech and Debate Tournament held at Springfield Central last weekend!! 26 schools from across Missouri participated in the tournament. Mary and Tristan were the undefeated, top seed after preliminary rounds and scored big wins against Lee’s Summit West, Truman, Willard, and Kickapoo on their way to the championship. Their weekend record was 7-0! Mary was also awarded 2nd place in United States Extemporaneous Speaking (out of 70 competitors) and 3rd place in Informative speaking (out of 50 competitors). Tristan also placed 6th in International Extemp and was a Top 12 semi-finalist in Original Oratory. Laila Ozturk continued to demonstrate that she is one of the best sophomore competitors in the state as she won 3rd in International Extemp, 5th in Informative Speaking, and with her partner Mohan Grewal was the 10th place team in Policy Debate. Mohan was also a top 12 semi-finalist in International Extemp. The freshman team of Ilyaan Khan and Taaha Khan was also in the top 10 of Policy Debate. The team will compete in their final regular season tournament of the year this weekend in Columbia, MO at Rockbridge High School, before beginning district competition in March. So proud of these Blue Jays!!

The Middle School Scholar Bowl team competed on Jan 18th in the Greater Ozark Conference tournament. They beat Spokane in the finals to be Conference Champs. The team consisted of 8th graders Ruby, Madison, Elia, Amelie, and Salma and 7th graders Binisha, Lillian, and Bennett. One the 20th of January the Middle School and High School Novice Scholar Bowl teams competed in the Skyline Scholar Bowl Tournament. Out of our 9 team members 5 made the top 10 in their division. Elia, Salma, and Binisha placed in the top 10 for Middle School and Cullen and Kai placed in the top 10 for the 9th and 10th grade. Our teams were -Novice team- Cullen, Kai, Katie, and Nikhil. The Middle School team- Binisha, Salama, Amelie, Bennett and Elia.

First Grade Helpful Hedgehogs are learning beginning research skills using a selected animal. Students are learning about animal habitats, what groups of the animal are called, diet, characteristics, and offspring. At the conclusion of the research the students work will be turned into a book. The published book is a first grade tradition. Copies of previous class books may be checked out from the Hazeltine Library.

First Grade Student Connor invited his dad, Dr. James Slotto, to visit the classroom today for Connor’s student of the week presentation. Dr. Slotto is an Anesthesiologist. Students learned that an Anesthesiologist is a doctor who supervises, evaluates, and monitors patients before, during, and after surgery. The anesthesiologist works to ensure patient safety and comfort throughout procedures. Dr. Slotto and Connor brought a special friend Elvis the Skeleton. Elvis helped students learn interesting facts about the body and bones. Students learned that they have 213 bones while adults have 206 bones. Additionally that our skeleton has two very important jobs, to hold our body up and to protect our body and organs. Dr. Slotto drew a life-size outline of Connor and used this to draw and share about the various bones and body parts. Students asked terrific questions and have one question that they will be searching for the answer to as they conduct animal research. Do Tadpoles have bones? Thank you Dr. Slotto and Connor for such an interactive presentation!

Video: https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=1686934288551489 (Ellie presents the United States flag and Eli sings the National Anthem and the Canadian Anthem) Ellie Wilson was nominated for two categories in the Arabian horse times year end awards! "Performance youth of the year" and "Special moment of the year" Eli Wilson is included in this moment as well as he sang the national anthem while Ellie presented the flag. Ellie and Eli will be attending the gala in Scottsdale, Arizona and would love to win in these categories. Let’s help make this happen! Please click the link and vote . Help rise up these Greenwood kids in the voting!! https://ahtforms.com/readers-choice/?fbclid=IwZXh0bgNhZW0CMTEAAR3I3ym_mbJq5UDdk9bJphr02Wno5UJAquE2X3Ny0Rme-rZwCTOAeXb1lVg_aem_zYV44lmgWwN0_f8QpE53sw

Congratulations Coach Percival! Greenwood is proud to have you as their Girls Basketball Coach!

Thanks to the talents of Adelaide Cimino (7th), the library has some amazing new bookmarks to share. They are already flying out of here as the students LOVE them!

Some more photos of the Mystery Reader fun from first grade before break!

1-3 grade read Yetis Are the Worst! Using green screen technology, they became part of the book!

Second graders concluded their study of Holidays Around the World by learning about the celebration of Hanukkah. Many students enjoyed learning to play Dreidel. Each student got to take home their very own dreidel so that they could share this fun activity with their family.

Our talented art teacher, Jennifer Grace, painted a beautiful canvas snowman scene for the students to enjoy before the break. The second graders took their pictures and made them into bookmarks to share with their parents for Christmas.

Dandan Liu, executive Director, international partnerships at Missouri State University , came to second grade to present about the Chinese New Year before the break. She brought with her visiting scholar from Liao Ning University, China, Professor Ma along with two Chinese students. The students each received a red envelope with the traditional gift of money inside, white rabbit candy, rice crackers, and learned to write words in calligraphy. What an amazing experience.

Holiday Sweater Showdown in 4th Grade! Congrats to our creative winners - Lillian, Ridhima, Aarush, and Casper. These students brought serious style and holiday spirit with their fun, festive, fashionable, and funky sweater designs! We love seeing their artistic talents on display!

First grade students have spent the last two weeks studying about measurement. After completing several wonderful stories about snowmen students created Snowmen Houses putting their measurement skills to use! The Life Cycle of a Snowman by Gwendolin Reader was a favorite.

First Grade Students have been eagerly awaiting the clues and the Mystery Readers each day. We have been surprised by several wonderful grandparents and parent Mystery Readers. Students listen to the clues and try to figure out who the Mystery Reader is that is wearing the purple cape. Mystery Readers have included: Hannah Allhands, Jennifer Yates, Blair Usery, Krista Slotto, Chase’s grandma, James Slotto, Marty Snow, Tatum’s Papa, Steven Raphael, Skylar Davis, Bryan Musgrave Courtney Albritton, Norhan Youssef, and Betsy Bean. Students have been asking great questions: What is your favorite thing to do? Where do you like to travel? What do you like to do with your family? We will have more Mystery Readers in the spring!

A couple weeks ago, 5th grade science students got a taste of the Zoo in class! Mr. Crocker has been with the Dickerson Park Zoo for 48 years and was the director for 36 years. His specialty is reptiles! He talked to students about ecosystems, habitats, and food chains. The students then got to see, touch, and hold snakes, a bearded dragon, a Guinea pig, and a blue-tongued skink!