Lucas Family In Need of an Electric Dryer

If you have an electric dryer that you can donate to a Lucas family in need, please contact our Family Resource Director Yolanda Spears at Spears.Yolanda@iccsd.k12.ia.us.

Box Tops Make a Difference at Lucas

The Lucas PTO and Big G Label Chair Mara Goodvin are happy to report that we recently received a check for $675.00 for our most recent Big G Label Box Top collection. We also received $552.50 in January, bringing our total Big G dollars to $1227.50 this year. Keep saving those box tops and labels for education. Every dollar makes a difference.

Kernels Summer Reading Program

The Cedar Rapids Kernels will be kicking off their summer reading program on Friday, May 20 at 9:15 in the Lucas MPR.

HyVee Features Lucas Door Decorations

Earlier this year Lucas students decorated their classroom doors as part of our Read Across America Celebration. The doors have been transported to the First Avenue Hy-Vee. Many of the door decorations are hanging throughout the store as Hy-Vee promotes the love of reading. Hy-Vee continues to be a fabulous partner for Lucas.

Borlaug Elementary Boundaries Meeting is April 27

The public is invited to attend the Norman Borlaug Elementary Draft Boundaries Community Comment Meeting at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday, April 27, at Roosevelt Elementary Gym, 611 Greenwood Drive, Iowa City.

Iowa City Community School District Assistant Superintendent Ann Feldmann will seek input regarding a draft Borlaug/Horn/Weber/Mann boundary plan for the 2012-2013 school year. Community members from Roosevelt, Weber, Horn, Hills, and Mann are especially encouraged to attend.

Group discount available for Tim Dwight Football Camp

Lucas Family Resource Center Director Yolanda Spears would like to hear from parents who are interested in registering for an upcoming football camp led by former Little Hawk, Hawkeye and NFL player Tim Dwight June 15, 16 and 17 at South East Junior High School.

The cost per camper (which includes a t-shirt, shorts and a bag) is $200, and the deadline for registering is May 31. But a group rate of $150 is available for groups of 10 or more students. Yolanda is hoping there is enough interest among Lucas families to get the price break. Please email her to let her know if you're interested at Spears.Yolanda@iccsd.k12.ia.us.

Meanwhile, more information about the camp is below:

Tim Dwight Camp Details

Children attending camp will experience football fundamentals taught by the best collegiate and high school coaches from the Midwest-along with hands on instruction throughout by former NFL player, Iowa Hawkeye and City High Alum Tim Dwight.

Cost: $200 per camper (includes t-shirt, shorts, bag)

*Registration required and no walk-ins allowed. Deadline to register is May 31, 2011. A late fee of $25 will be added on to registrations received after that time.

NEW THIS YEAR Campers will bring sack lunch Wednesday and Thursday. Camp BBQ on Friday!!

Discount Rates available:

• Group registrations are welcome: A minimum of ten campers is considered a group and all forms must be mailed together w/ accompanying payments. Cost reduced to $150 per camper! No on-line registration is available for groups.
• Sibling Discount: A third child in the same immediate family who registers for camp pays only $100 registration fee- ½ Price!

Date: June 15, 16 & 17th 2011

Time: 9:00am- 4:00 pm (approximate )

Location: South East Junior High School – Iowa City, Iowa

Volunteers needed to help hang student art

[CORRECTED VERSION: The original post listed the Lucas fax number, not the voice line.]

The annual Lucas Art Show takes place on Tuesday, May 10. We start displaying student art on May 3. We desperately need more volunteers to help hang the students’ work. Please call school at 688-1140 and let us know if you can help hang art any time (before, during or after school) on May 3 or May 4 or May 6. An hour or two of adult help will make the show possible.

Julia Burton
Lucas Principal

Congratulations to John Bacon for Educational Accomplishment Award!

News from the University of Iowa this morning:

Bacon honored with College of Education's Yager Educational Accomplishment award

Iowa City High School Principal John Bacon will be honored with the inaugural Yager Educational Accomplishment Award, the University of Iowa College of Education's highest honor for a graduate. Bacon will receive the award at an invitation-only banquet Friday, April 22, hosted by the college.

The award, which comes with a $2,500 prize, is made possible through the generosity of UI Science Education Professor Emeritus Robert E. Yager, who received his Master of Science in 1953 and his doctorate in 1957, both from the UI College of Education. The college established the award to recognize graduates who have demonstrated significant accomplishment or innovation in the K-12 setting.

Bacon received his bachelor's degree in elementary education and his master's degree in educational administration, both from the UI College of Education. His said his experiences in the college helped shape his beliefs about teaching and learning, and ignited a passion for public education.

School District launches new blog

The Iowa City Community School District has launched a new blog to increase communication. This interactive tool will provide parents and community members with information, good news and answers to their questions about the district. To visit the blog and sign up for updates on a weekly basis go to http://iowacityschools.wordpress.com

Students invited to Bike Rodeo May 23 at Lucas

Students can have their bicycles inspected and adjusted (seat height, handlebar placement and tire inflation), test their skills riding through an obstacle course, learn important safety tips and win fun prizes during the free Lucas Elementary School Bike Rodeo from 5:30 to 7 p.m. Monday, May 23, on the Lucas playground. In case of rain, the event will be cancelled.

In addition to the activities and drawings, the University of Iowa Children’s Hospital will sell bike helmets for $9 each.

Lucas Dads Engaged in Engineering Dreams (DEED), Bicyclists of Iowa City (BIC), AAA and the Bike to Work Week Committee is sponsoring the event.

Similar Bike Rodeos have been offered at other area elementary schools in previous years, including Horn, Hoover, Longfellow, VanAllen and Wood.

"This is a great chance for kids to get their bikes ready for summer, to learn some safe riding skills and to have a lot of fun," Lucas physical education teacher and Lucas Bike Rodeo organizer Chad Lowry said. "I hope we get a great turnout!"

For more information on BIC, visit http://www.bicyclistsofiowacity.org/. For more information on the Lucas event, contact Chad at Lowry.Chad@iccsd.k12.ia.us or DEED member Joe Bell at jk.bell@mchsi.com.

Summer math review resources available

Dear Lucas Family,

Parents have asked about opportunities for summer math review.  The following Everyday Math resources are available: 

1.  All students can complete remaining problems in their student math journals. 

2.  Students will receive Everyday Math online games information in the end-of-year report envelopes.

3.  Parent(s)/guardian(s) of students in grades 1-6 can choose to order an additional summer math resource called the “Skills Link” book.  This grade-specific book provides extra practice on basic facts, computation, word problems, mental math, and estimation skills.  This is an optional book that parents/guardians can consider purchasing for use over the summer.

To print an order form, click here for a PDF version or here for a Word document version.

If you choose to order, please select the Skills Link Book for the grade your child is completing.  (For example, students completing first grade would choose the First Grade Skills Link Book, etc.)  Please use one order form per family.

Please return this form and payment to your child’s teacher by Friday, April 22.  Please send cash in the exact amount OR make checks payable to Lucas PTO.

Questions? Contact Ann Kessler at Kessler.Ann@iccsd.k12.ia.us

Lucas Art Teachers Seeking Volunteers for Sewing Project and Art Show

Lucas art teachers Suzanne McNiel and Cerina Wade are seeking volunteers to help sew pillows for their Artist-In-Residence project, as well as volunteers to hang pictures for the upcoming Art Show.

For the sixth-grade Artist-in-Residence project, we will need three volunteers to sew pillows on three sides during the week of April 19.

Suggested schedule for volunteers doing sewing:

McNiel's 6th grade class on Tues. April 19 - volunteer gets a class of pillows (approx. 24), sews up three sides on each pillow. Return the pillows to Lucas by Monday, April 25 for the class to stuff them. Then on April 26 the pillows go back to the volunteer to sew the last seam keeping the stuffing in. Pillows returned by Monday, May 2.

Wade's 6th grade class on Thurs. April 21 - two volunteers get pillows (approx. 18 for each). Sew three sides and return to Lucas by April 26. Students stuff pillows, and pillows are picked up by volunteers on May 5. Since the Art Show is May 10, we would like those pillows by May 10.

For the Art Show coming up on May 10, we need volunteers to hang student artwork on the walls of the Multi-Purpose Room during school hours (up to 5 p.m.) between Tuesday, May 3 and Monday, May 9.

Each class has an art piece going up from all students. It takes a minimum of an hour, or more, per class to get the masking tape on the artwork and the work up on the walls. Walls will be sectioned into areas for each class and some pieces need to go up high enough that a ladder will be needed; this is available in the school. If a person can do a 2-hour stint it is more efficient.

Please contact Heather Roth, PTO volunteer coordinator, at hadroth@gmail.com or 319-321-8155 if you are interested in helping our art teachers with these projects.

PTO Meeting Starts in Lucas Media Center Tonight!

All:

We will be starting our PTO meeting at 7 p.m. tonight in the computer lab (library area), where Mike Haverkamp will be giving a 15-minute presentation on Power School, the grade- and attendance-tracking Web portal used by parents of junior and senior high school students that may soon be available for elementary school parents.

Following the presentation, we'll move into the Art Room for the remainder of our meeting. We have a lot of ground to cover tonight, so please try to make it if you can!

Fantastic Fun Night!!!

A great big thank you to our Lucas Fun Night chairs, Amy Greazel and Sarah Holmes, and all the room leaders and other volunteers, for making the 2011 Lucas Family Fun Night a huge success last Friday! Not only were we busy as ever, but we even brought in more money than last year -- despite cutting the night by 30 minutes.

Last year, we made $26.65 in Bingo; $2088.33 in Raffle tickets; and $3,831.27 in games ticket sales, for a grand total of $5,941.25.

This year, we made $4236.35 in ticket sales and $2,105 in raffle ticket sales, for a grand total of $6341.35.

That is a $401.10 increase over last year, and it doesn't include the $500 in Kohls money we expect to receive, which would put us at $901.10 over last year!

Way to go Mighty Hawks!

Bring Your Big G Box Tops to Fun Night!

Bring your Big G Box Tops to Fun Night! We want to see how many labels we can collect in one night. You can find these box tops on hundreds of products, including General Mills, Betty Crocker, Yoplait, and Ziploc, to name a few. Each Box Top is worth .10 cents. Please place Box Tops in the collection box near the Lucas office. 

Friday is deadline to order Lucas Cookbooks!

Please remember that your order forms and checks for the new Lucas Elementary School cookbook are due tomorrow, Friday, April 8. Each cookbook cost just $10, and a portion of the proceeds go to support Lucas.

The cookbook is being produced by third-grade Teacher Tres Brown and parents Paula Everleigh and Deb Manning and will feature Lucas family recipes and student artwork. The cookbooks will be available in mid- to late-May.

If you didn't receive an order form in your child's backpack, you can download and print the form by clicking here. Return the order form with payment to your student’s teacher: Make checks payable to: Lucas PTO.

Questions: Contact Ashley Cahoon at 351-4024 or d_cahoon@mchsi.com.

Lucas Family Fun Night is Friday!

Lucas Family Fun Night starts at 5:30 Friday and runs until 7:30 p.m. This popular event is a great community builder and fundraiser for our school. We want to encourage you to invite your neighbors, family, and friends to this Lucas event. Purchase tickets at the door. They are .25 cents each or 45 for $10 (5 free). Join us for fun and games such as: cake walk, nail decorating, tattoos, pictures, bouncy house, football toss, fishing, candy walk, Plinko, bingo, raffle, pick-a-pocket, ben bag toss and more. Pizza, drinks, popcorn, and cookies will be in the lunch room. The Fun Night theme is "Mighty Hawks" so don't forget to show your school spirit by wearing black and gold.

There is still time to contribute cakes for the cakewalk. If you want to donate a cake or have any questions about Fun Night email Amy Greazel at dagreazel1@msn.com or Sarah Holmes at smhsmh1919@yahoo.com.

City High Lady Liberty Statue Rededication Ceremony April 10

You are invited to a rededication ceremony of the new Lady Liberty statue at City High School at 2 pm on Sunday, April 10. Please join us to welcome our new landmark figure and learn about the history of the original Lady Liberty. Our event will include speakers, music and refreshments on the beautiful grounds of City High, 1900 Morningside Drive.

Thank you,

Julie Eisele
City High PSTO