May 2019 Newsletter

The May 2019 newsletter is now available.

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Get to Know a Mighty Hawk: Mr. Moore

Each month, The Mighty Hawk Messenger profiles a Lucas staff member to help our community get to know him or her better.  This month, we talked to fifth grade teacher Mike Moore..

The Mighty Hawk Messenger:  I understand that you’re the longest-serving teacher at Lucas.  How long have you been here?  Have you always taught fifth grade? 

Mr. Moore:  27th year and I have always taught 5th grade.

The Mighty Hawk Messenger:  What did you do prior to teaching at Lucas? 

Mr. Moore:  Substitute taught, coached, worked as an electrician's apprentice, and played a lot of golf and softball.

The Mighty Hawk Messenger:  You’re famous for your passion for social studies.  How did you become interested in that subject? 

Mr. Moore:  I have always enjoyed history because of my father and mother's interest in history. Being an only child I went on every vacation with my parents and we stopped at every historical site possible. I saw some really memorable places, like; Ford's Theater, The Oval Office, Gettysburg, Jamestown, Yellowstone National Park, The Vatican, The Colosseum, Venice  and many more. 

The Mighty Hawk Messenger:  What do you enjoy most about your students’ work in that area? 

Mr. Moore: I think the Pioneer Unit and the student's Challenge Projects are really cool. The kids really enjoy this unit.

The Mighty Hawk Messenger:  If you could travel to any time and place in history, where and when would you choose?  

Mr. Moore:  I would like to have been living before, during and after the Revolutionary War. I believe I would have been a Patriot and been right in the middle of the conflict. Ha, strange???

The Mighty Hawk Messenger:  What is your favorite part about being part of the Lucas community? 

Mr. Moore: It has been my home for 27 years. All the families that have come through my classroom will always be part of my growth as a person, husband, father and teacher. I can't imagine being somewhere else.

The Mighty Hawk Messenger:  What is something Lucas families might not guess about you? 

Mr. Moore: I am a Star Wars and Monty Python fan.

Teacher Appreciation Week

Our Lucas teachers work hard to engage and educate the minds and hearts of our kids and we want to give them a big THANK YOU. 

Teacher Appreciation Week is May 6-10, and we will have several opportunities to let our teachers know how much their hard work means to us. We will need Lucas families and students to help us Chalk the Walk on Sunday, May 5 at 5 p.m., and we will be asking parents to sign up to bring in food and treats during the week. Look for the sign-up emails in your inbox!

Other ideas for Teacher Appreciation Week: thank you notes, small gifts and goodies that your students can deliver any day of the week to their teachers.

Don't forget to thank our amazing staff and specials teachers too!

April 2019 Newsletter

The April 2019 newsletter is now available.

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2019 Team Spelling Bee

Spellers, start your engines...er, brains! The annual Lucas Spelling Bee is right around the corner, and you won't want to miss it. This is a fun way to challenge yourself and your friends in a friendly, non-intimidating competition.

The 2019 Spelling Bee will be held on Monday, April 22 (grades 3-4) and Thursday, April  25 (grades 1-2 and 5-6) from 6:30 to 7:30 p.m. on both nights.

This is a team spelling bee, in which groups of 2-3 students will work together to spell words in both a written and oral round.  Members of the winning team from each of the bees will have their names added to the plaque in the front hallway at Lucas. It’s an exciting Lucas tradition!

To participate, please sign up via this online form:   http://tinyurl.com/LucasSpelling

Then start reviewing the spelling lists provided for each grade level:

1st & 2nd grade lists

3rd & 4th grade lists

5th & 6th grade lists

Note that the challenge of this event comes from learning words at a higher grade level. Thus the 1st & 2nd grade list includes 3rd grade words; the 3rd & 4th grade list includes 5th grade words; the 5th & 6th grade list includes 7th grade words.

We will make every effort to ensure that each team includes members from both grade levels in the bee.

Please contact Mary Kenyon (mgkenyon8@yahoo.com) with any questions or for the complete rules.

Get to Know a Mighty Hawk: Ms. Crowe

Each month, The Mighty Hawk Messenger profiles a Lucas staff member to help our community get to know him or her better.  This month, we talked to ELL teacher Lydia Crowe.

The Mighty Hawk Messenger:  How long have you worked at Lucas, and what did you do prior to joining us?

Ms. Crowe: I have worked at Lucas for 5 years. I started working here in January of 2014. Before that, I had just finsihed student teaching in Atenas de Alajuela, Costa Rica. Prior to student teaching, I worked at the University of Iowa Press, in the exciting world of copyright! 

The Mighty Hawk Messenger: Can you describe your role as an ELL teacher?  

Ms. Crowe: I work with all kinds of different students. What they all have in common is that they can speak two different languages -- or sometimes three or more! I teach small groups of students and we do lots of fun activities to practice our reading, writing, listening, and speaking in English. My students each have a unique set skills and knowledge because of their different backgrounds, so they also teach each other and teach me a lot about the world. 

The Mighty Hawk Messenger: Describe a day in your work life.  What kinds of activities do you and your students do?

Ms. Crowe: I see 10 different grade level groups of students for about 30 minutes at a time. The day moves fast!  We study units centered around different science or social studies themes. For example, right now in fourth grade we are learning about the power of wind and water, and in fifth grade we are learning about what risks people have taken for justice. We learn vocabulary words that are important to the theme, and we read fiction and nonfiction stories to help us learn more about it. We also talk about the theme to practice various speaking skills, such as making an argument, and learn about grammar topics, like how to form the plural. There's a lot to do!

The Mighty Hawk Messenger: What are some of the language and cultural backgrounds from which your students come?

Ms. Crowe: There is a lot of linguistic and cultural diversity at Lucas. Some of the languages spoken by our students are Spanish, Portuguese, Vietnamese, Lao, Swahili, Arabic, French, Ewe, and Fulani. I have had families that came from Honduras, Guatemala, El Salvador, Mexico, Colombia, Brazil, Congo, Tanzania, Togo, Ivory Coast, Guinea, Liberia, North and South Sudan, Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, and more.

The Mighty Hawk Messenger: What are some of the interesting things you’ve learned as you’ve worked with kids and families from different cultures?

Ms. Crowe: I love it when students share some of their home traditions with me. One of my Vietnamese students a couple years back showed me mesmerizing videos on YouTube of lion-costumed dance performances at Tet (the new year). Other students have brought me food from home, like arepas from Colombia -- and I love learning through my stomach.  I also enjoy learning from families about how different school looks from one country to the next, or even from one area to the next in the same country. There are so many different ways to "do" school, and many things that we take for granted here aren't necessarily part of school in other places.  

The Mighty Hawk Messenger: Any plans for the summer?   

Ms. Crowe: Well, I'm having my first baby in June! I'm told that will take up a lot of my free time, but I'm skeptical. Babies love rock concerts, right?