Happy Birthday Dr. Seuss!!

Park Creek celebrated Dr. Seuss's Birthday on March 3, 2008 by participating in "Read Across America" sponsored by the National Education Association.  Classes experienced a variety of activities to mark the occasion honoring our most famous children's book author and illustrator.  Students read Dr. Seuss books, wrote "Hat Poems", read a biography of Dr. Seuss, wrote stories using only the 236 words Dr. Seuss used to write The Cat in the Hat, made Cat in the Hat red and white striped hats, ate "Green Eggs and Ham", and painted portriats of the Cat in the Hat.  Mrs. Kathy and Mrs. Anna gave each student a Dr. Seuss bookmark and a participation certificate from the media center.  The celebration ended with videos of Dr. Seuss's books.

 

 

 

 

 

Miss Mosteller's Kindergarten class                             Mrs. Langford's 4th graders model

poses in front of their Dr. Seuss portraits.                  their "Cat in the Hat" hats.

                           

 

 

 

Mrs. Rowland's 4th grade students display their "Hat Poems" outside their classroom.

 

Astronaut Dr. Roger Crouch dazzled the students at Park Creek with his stories about being in outer space on the space shuttle Columbia.  Dr. Crouch demonstrated how astronauts eat, sleep, and take a bath while being weightless in space.  He stressed to students that being able to get along with fellow astronauts is essential to space travel, as astronauts are living together for days in a VERY small space on the shuttle.  Dr. Crouch told students to follow their dreams and never give up.  After trying for years to become an astronaut, Dr. Crouch finally flew two space shuttle missions at the age of 57 as a payload specialist.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Dr. Roger Crouch, NASA astronaut, enjoys talking with students in Mrs. Angela McCaslin's class during Young Astronaut Day at Park Creek School.

 

 

Students check out a collared lizard from Petland of Dalton.

 

 

 

First grade classes went on an "Animal Safari" with some very interesting pets from Petland of Dalton.  Students were able to examine and study the basic needs of a green iguana, a collared lizard, hermit crabs, a golden hamster, rabbits, ferrets, a silky terrier puppy, and a miniature schnauzer puppy.  Representatives from Petland also shared fun and interesting facts about each pet.  The event was coordinated by Ms. Dowdey, first grade teacher.

 

 

 

Jim Gerard, NASA Educational Specialist, is working with students and teachers for three days each month at Park Creek, as a component of the NASA Explorer School Program.  In October, fourth and fifth grade students visited the NASA Explorer School web site. They discovered many educational activities designed especially for kids on the site.

 

Teachers received "Moon Rock" and "Meteorite" handling training from Jim Gerard.  As a result of the training, Park Creek teachers are certified to have the moon rocks and meteorites visit the school. 

Teachers participated in a experiment that simulates a meteorite's impact on the surface of the moon.

 

                            

                           

Dr. Karen Roark recently participated in training at the NASA Ames Research Center in Yellowstone National Park.  The weeklong event consisted of weather experiments with snow and ice, as well as studying the animals of Yellowstone.  It was so cold they were able to look at snowflakes under a microscope before they melted!  Dr. Roark video-conferenced with fifth grade students one morning from Yellowstone, sharing pictures and answering student questions.  Upon her return, Dr. Roark will be visiting each fourth and fifth grade classroom to make snowflakes with the students.

                                                       

 

Park Creek School received several awards from NASA during "Young Astronaut Day" on November 14, 2007.  Joe Dowdy, Special Operations Manager at the Kennedy Space Center, presented Ms. Mosteller with a wooden model/plaque of the space shuttle, a NASA Explorer School flag to fly at the school, and a framed print of a space shuttle launch.  NASA representatives also "pinned" the Park Creek NASA team, as well as Dr. Orval Porter, school superintendent, Steve Williams, school board chairman, Mark Orr, vice-chairman of the school board, Butch Sanders, city administrator, and Dr. Don Thomas, state senator.

       

       The Park Creek Team is pictured with the 

        NASA Explorer School flag.                                                            

 

Congratulations to the Park Creek cafeteria staff for winning the Gold Star Kitchen Award for the second year in a row!  Linda Lock, cafeteria manager, and her staff are very excited and want to thank everyone for eating with them.

 

Park Creek Ribbon Winners - North Georgia Fair 

Student Art Competition

Lizbeth Rodriguez - First Grade - Mrs. Phillips - oil pastel

 

First Place & Best in Show

Omar Ortiz - First Grade - Mrs. Phillips - oil pastel

Second Place

Maria Pimentel - Second Grade - Mrs. Haws - oil pastel

Third Place

Marlynn Serrato - Fourth Grade - Mrs. Langford - collage

Third Place

Joe Huynh - First Grade - Mrs. Phillips - ink drawing

Fourth Place

Congratulations to all the winners!

 

A team from Park Creek School, a NASA Explorer School, spent two weeks this summer training at the John F. Kennedy Space Center in Florida. 

Pictured l to r:  Clarence Bostic, NASA trainer, Dr. Angela Finn, fifth grade, Teri Townsend, fifth grade, Dr. Alan Martineaux, fifth grade, Chris Harton, EIP, and Dr. Karen Roark, assistant principal.

     

 

 

Teri Townsend is ready for a ride on the Space Shuttle!

 

Park Creek School has been named a Title I Distinguished School for the fifth year.  Congratulations!