A Message From Major Kane
DARE going on on many different levels this week. It is week two for second grade DARE at NSE, and it will be week one for second and fourth grades at Saint Ambrose. In the middle of all of this, I am working diligently to get everything that I need ready for the DARE graduations. I have tentatively set the Saint Ambrose graduation for March 8th, and I will be picking the date for NS by Friday. I will post both dates here and in the upcoming events next week.
After a long delay, Brook finally got to pick her monthly prize. I think the other kids were jealous! You can win too, just enter the contests.
Recess fun???
I really miss being in the sixth grade, but I do enjoy DARE in the lower grades. The second grade at NSE is awesome, and I am looking forward to meeting the younger students at Saint Ambrose. My schedule is a bit more flexible in the lower grades, and this gives me a chance to meet kids who aren’t in second and fourth grade. I get to spend some time in the Computer Lab with Kindergarten, and yesterday I met my new best friend Zander there. I also got to see my old friends Abbie O and Mike S! Brett Ennis better watch out, I think that Mike S could give him a heck of a race in running for Mayor of North Schuylkill! I also got to meet and greet the kids in first grade lunch Tuesday, that is always a treat!
Two Rachel Greens, but not related. I am actually related to the younger Rachel through marriage.
I am not sure, but this year’s sixth grade is claiming a new world record in stuffing the Cheese Truck. The old Cheese Truck stuffing record was 16, and that was set about three years ago. I can’t remember exactly which class, but it was either Alek or Auston Hummel’s year. I will have to dig out the picture of that from my archives. On Tuesday the girls orchestrated a truck stuffing and by their count they had 18 kids in the front part of the truck. That beats the old record by 2, and it is hard to tell form the picture if there are 16 or 18 kids. I know that Alex Keck is mixed in there somewhere, he was the only boy included in the picture. Look at the picture on the main page – how many sixth graders do you count?Last week was a road trip that was DARE related, but not actually a DARE event. The Travis Fan Club traveled to Lourdes HS in Shamokin to cheer on their star – Travis Hunyara. Last month the fan club had four members, this month it has six. We added two new girls to the club, and they had new shirts for the event. It was a good game and Nativity prevailed once again. This time the girls rooted for Paul “Juice” Ahrensfield as well. Juice plays for Lourdes and he is an Antler member so the girls cheered fro him, but not his team. The girls were also rooting for the Nativity seventh grade team although they really only knew Riley White and Pat Crane. I have to say that I enjoyed both games, and it was nice to talk to some Nativity and Lourdes parents.
New fan club shirts
Kali 'signing" her support.
After the game, we went to a SPORTS BAR! That is kind of shocking for a DARE related event, but Brewsers in Shamokin serves great food and all of the kids were hungry. Travis and his mom joined us, as did Tom and Kelly Lawrence. Tom and Kelly were huge supporters of the DARE program when they were in Ashland and it was nice to see them. Overall, it was a great night.
Post game wings and stuff!
Hugging a sweaty Travis after the game.
Last week when I started DARE I found that my lower grade charts were ruined in one of the past rain storms. When we have heavy rains the Cheese Truck will leak because the rain guttering on it has cracked off. I try to keep everything in plastic cases or up above the floor, but somehow the charts slipped under. I was in a panic because I didn’t have the time to order new charts so I called around to see who could help me out. Captain Steve Durkin of the Pottsville Police Department is retiring from DARE after 22 years, so he gave me his charts. Captain Durkin and I took our DARE certification training together way back in 1989 and he has been teaching in Pottsville and Saint Stevens in Port Carbon. Captain Durkin has assumed some new responsibilities with the PBP, so he has limited free time. I am sure the kids in his schools will miss him. Officer Joe Murton will be taking over for the Pottsville schools.
Second grade showing off the new DARE charts.
I have some people scratching their heads with pictures today. Kids were wondering why I had kids wearing angel wings. Those pictures will make sense when we get to the DARE graduation. I want to thank Mrs. Curry for the wings. Saint Ambrose used to use them in their Christmas pageant and I was bale to borrow them to prep for the DARE graduation. Seeing some kids in angel wings was a real stretch of the imagination, but I am not going to mention who I am thinking of. I will say though, some kids looked a lot more natural in the devil horns.
The third grade boys wearing angel wings and devil horns. Do the parents think that they are wearing the right stuff?
While I am picking dates for the graduations, I will be looking at my schedule and the pool schedule so that I can pick a date for a joint fifth and fourth grade swim. I had been considering a third grade swim (and Turtle Schell was pushing hard for one) but I have decided that third grade is just a bit too young for a group swim like that. Turtle will just have top wait until he is in fourth grade to participate in the DARE swims. If I can come out with an activity for third grade that does not involve swimming, I will let you know. In the meant time, if you have any suggestions please let me know?
Jack is a big eater - the only thing left was about two thirds of an Oreo.
We are only a week away from the second Sixth Grade Fun Night. The date for this gala event is Friday February 17th. The festivities run form six until nine, and the evening will include swimming, dodge ball, volleyball, basketball and movies - ALL FREE! We will have refreshments available however they are NOT free. They are available at reasonable rates though. The menu should include pizza, hotdogs, soda, candy, chips and water. That is subject to change, but I just wanted to let you know that if you bring a few bucks with you, you won’t starve.
Third grade was begging for pictures today. I told them if they have any picture ideas let me know and I will take them and put them on the website. Pictures of people just standing around aren’t too interesting, we need action, humor, or human interest. They also suggested that they would do a video and their song of choice is “Sexy and I Know It.” I don’t think that their video idea will be happening. I did manage to get some pictures with third grade, maybe we can try again next week.
Spring is in the air – you can tell by the signs! Not robins or geese flying back, but signs saying Little League Signups and Softball signups! I know that Ashland had their signups already and I saw signs for Ringtown signups – I assume that Frackville is having signups now too. There is still a lot of basketball to be played but outdoor sports are right around the corner. I will be spending my spring evenings at Junior High track meets. One more sure sign of Spring – there is a sign in the Lokie office stating when we will begin taking train reservations. Lokie season is one season that I really look forward to!
Up for a tough question, see if you can answer this one. Last week I asked you a question about our Sheriff Joe Groody, so let’s stick with that this week. Joe used to always that he was a “COP” – an oilman, a policeman, and a? In Joe’s version, what did (does) the “C” stand for?
If you know the answer, post it in the DARE Guestbook. The first SIX students who get this correct will get a free game of bowling at the Elks. Students in any grade at North Schuylkill, Nativity or Saint Ambrose are allowed to enter, however members of the DARE Student Advisory Board are not eligible to participate! YOUR ANSWER MUST BE POSTED BY 10:00 PM on February 13th, 2012. Last weeks answer is: Oil. Congratulations to Tyler Wolfgang and Scotty Grigas for getting it right.
