Family Dance

On Friday, May 11, 2012 we held a Family Dance at Lewis featuring our very own Lonesome Teacher Treo (Mr. Colvin, Mr. Marchyok, Mr. Jamesbarry and their friend Tim Hahn.) They lead participants in a great evening of music and dance.

Drama Club Perfomances

This past weekend our Lewis Drama Club performed their production of The Elves and the Shoemaker. I continue to be impressed with the quality of work demonstrated by our students, our staff, and our parent and community volunteers who work to make these productions possible. Under the direction of Tori Padellford, Hannah Welsh, and Debbie Keefer, our young actors put on a performance that was entertaining and inspiring. To see these students come together and work as a team is something I find very satisfying.

This year we returned to having Mr. Jamesbarry's students provide the music and under his direction, and with the help of Mr. Colvin, they added an element, that together with the student actors, made the program very special.

It was also nice to see many former Lewis students and past cast members come back to help with rehearsals, and to serve as ushers during the performances. We greatly appreciate their support and the connection we have with them.

We thank all of our parent and staff volunteers for their help and support with the production. Also a special shout out to Jen Kelly for her work with costumes, Shawn Holenstein for her work with the sets, and to Robert Welsh for his technical and carpentry support.

Photo Credit: Mr. Colvin

Lewis Garden Fair

On Saturday, April 21, 2012 the 3rd annual Lewis Elementary School Garden Fair and Plant Sale was held. The event is a fund raiser for our garden program and also provides an opportunity to invite the larger community to our school to learn about what we do. It is one of those events that come together because of work of many volunteers. It also seems to be a guarantee of good weather. This is our third year and each of the events have seen sunny skies, which with the spring we have been having in Portland this year, is a very welcome site.

Song Writers in Residence: Mrs. Zimmerman's Classroom

This year each of our 3rd, 4th, and 5th grade classrooms at Lewis Elementary School have had the opportunity to work with Rick Weiss and Kate Finn as part of our Song Writers in Residence program. Each of these classrooms were able to help write and record a song. Each student will receive a copy of their class song on a CD, and we will also have available for sale at Art Night, a CD, that includes all seven songs. We also plan to post the songs to iTunes and make them available online...

Sharing his Lego Front Loader

One of our first grade students sharing the front loader he built from a Lego kit… He said it took him and his dad two months to build…

Grandparents & Special Friends Day at Lewis

On Friday at Lewis Elementary we held our Grandparents & Special Friends Day. Traditionally we have used the occasion of Read Across America Day to invite grandparents, extended family members, and family friends to our school so that our students can share the place where they spend a significant part of their lives. This invitation provides these significant adults with a window into an important and notable part of their child's life, their experience at our school.

I enjoyed visiting rooms and watching and listening to the interaction between our students and these adults. I was particularly moved to see children guiding their grandparents and special friends throughout the building on tours. As they walked by classrooms and places such as the music room, the gym, the cafeteria, the library, and the garden, I heard children talking excitedly about those spaces, and the great things that take place in those spaces. The photo accompanying this post shows a kindergarten student guiding her grandmother on a tour of the building. I followed behind and listened as she, with a sense of pride and accomplishment, explained to her grandmother about the work and play she partakes in within these places.

Friday was a good day...

Below are some images from Friday…

Stack the States...

I visited Mr. Marchyok's class on Friday afternoon and noticed some students huddled together in the corner with their iPads. They were using their iPads to play a geography game called Stack the States. They had parked themselves under the map so that if necessary they could use it as a reference… Resourceful...

Autzen Stadium

Taken with a Canon S95 using the miniature effect… Was a beautiful afternoon in Eugene...

Reed College Chemistry Outreach

Reed College student Li Zha leads a chemistry lesson with Ms. Jen's 5th grade students. Li is the leader of the Reed College Chemistry Outreach program. The program is modeled after the Reed Biology Outreach program. Both programs provide Lewis students with the opportunity to learn science with Reed students. We thank Reed College for their continued support of these programs.

Art History Lesson

On Monday, Lewis parent Professor Dana Katz visited room 10 to help with an art history lesson. Dana is a professor at Reed College in the Art History department. She helped lead the students in an art lesson focused on portraits. Look for their work posted in the hallway.