Pi Day!

Pi Day (March 14) is Mrs. Abernethy's favorite day of the year and the Powerful Penguins celebrated in style! Below are pictures of the day. Be sure to check out their Pi Day Blog!

Building Bluebird Houses

Gnome on the Range

Discovery Education's Gnome on the Range on PhotoPeach

Journey's Response Blog

The Powerful Penguins take reading seriously. Each week, they reflect on what they have read in reading class and create a project to respond to the reading. This week's stories were particularly poignant, and as usual, the Powerful Penguins rose to the occasion. From topics such as the homeless to the plight of those handicapped and in need of wheelchair access, the Powerful Penguins found a way to connect the stories to their own lives. They pondered ways to make others' lives better. Aren't these the types of problem solvers we need for our future world?

Stop collaborate and listen | EDtalks

Watch this video to learn how education is changing in response to the way the world is changing. Did you know that a group of scientists in the United Kingdom are collaborating with scientists all over the world to learn more about dementia and how to treat it? Exposing our students to a global world that works together to solve problems is essential.

Kudos to Rebecca Power for being a speaker on EDtalks. Last year's Ponderous Pandas actually met this wonderful educator through Skype. I am hoping the Powerful Penguins can collaborate on a project with her students this year.

Stop collaborate and listen | EDtalks

Farewell to Tornado

Tornado, a very special Bearded Dragon Lizard, died this week. Bearded Dragon Lizards live 3-5 years in the wild, and 7-10 years in captivity. We are fortunate that Tornado lived twelve long years. He touched the lives of hundreds of students and became a great friend to many. We will always remember his gentle and kind ways. One student, Chase, formed a special bond with Tornado. He decided to honor him with the memorial video below.



Tornado was given a proud and respectful funeral. Former friends from sixth grade came to play taps for him, and students dropped handfuls of dirt on his grave. A concrete block and a stick cross mark his grave. Students left kind messages and mementos in the holes of the block.



A video Tornado starred in a couple of years ago:

Happy Valentine's Day