You're the Apple of My Eye

Today the Hospitality Committee hosted an Apple Day. And what fun it was! The tables in the teahers lounge were covered with apple treats, paper mache apples...

Something You May Not Know
The expression “apple of my eye” is a linguistic marker of something cherished with the greatest regard. Sons and daughters are often the apples of their parents’ eyes. Sweethearts, too, may use this fond phrase. The phrase is an ancient one, appearing in print as early as A.D. 885. It reflects the ancient belief that the eye’s pupil was not just circular but spherical, like any type of round fruit…say, an apple. The pupil, or “apple” of the eye, the essential seat of vision, is precious and fragile and must be cherished and protected. We shield our faces and close our eyes when physically threatened, reflexively guarding our vision. So, whoever is as precious to us our eyesight is metaphorically the apple of our eye.

Something You Know
Because teachers are precious to us, the Hospitality Committee wants to remind our teachers with some tasty and timely reminders that you are “something cherished with the greatest regard.”

You're One Smart Cookie!

Just to say a sweet thank you for all they do, Parent Hospitality Committee brought a dozen cookies for each teacher and boy were they surprised!

All day long we have been getting emails thanking the hospitality committee!

It is truly the least we can do for these amazing professionals that love on our kiddos all day!

Creamy SW Soup Recipe

After I had our 4th baby a sweet friend of ours brought us supper... and this amazing soup! You'll love it

Creamy SW Soup

1 can chicken broth
½ can water
1 knorr bouillon cube (chicken flavored)
1 cube light cream cheese
8 oz light sour cream
1 can rotel, pureed
1 can cream of mushroom soup with roasted garlic
1 can of corn, drained
1 Tablespoon cumin
1 Tablespoon chili powder
½ head cilantro, chopped fine

Directions: Melt cream cheese in stock pot, add all ingredients except cilantro, and simmer for ½ hour. Add cilantro and simmer for another ½ hour.

Can be prepared in a crock pot – just melt your cream cheese before putting it in the pot –as it doesn’t melt well in the crock pot. I leave on low all day and add cilantro about 45 minutes before you want to eat.

Lunch Box Boost

I'm all for stealing others great ideas. I think that it started when I was a teacher. You see something someonelese is doing and... really, why reinvent the wheel, right?

I love to include little notes in my kids lunch boxes and I've found some great ideas

Adorable! Fruit Lables

Too Cute! Custom Lunch Box Notes

Lunch Box Joke and Printable Notes

Lunch Mail

Do you have any tips or tricks to share?

Help Shallowater Elementary Say 'Thanks!'

Help Shallowater Elementary Say 'Thanks!'

Thank you notes
We hope everyone will take a few minutes to write a personal card, letter, or email (address list online at http://www.shallowaterisd.net/default.aspx?name=contact.masterlist) thanking your student’s teachers. Encourage your students to do the same, or include their personal thanks with yours.

We also need your help to host fun-filled monthly events for our SES staff throughout the year!

Volunteers
Please check one of the areas listed below and submit to your child’s teacher as soon as possible if you are able to assist with any of the specific tasks listed below. If you have questions, more ideas, or other donations, please contact Heather Medley at heathermedley@hotmail.com, phone 806.441.3757

THANK YOU! -- Heather Medley, Hospitality Committee

I would like to help! I’ve checked below the area(s) I’m interested in:
o I can help with anything; just let me know where you need help!
o I would love to help on the Hospitality Committee
o I can help with the staff “Breakfast of Champions” mornings
Cooking Setup Serving Cleanup All Other
o I can help with staff luncheons
Cooking Setup Serving Cleanup All Other
o I will donate a gift card, a gift, or funds to purchase items that can be used for luncheons or in "tokens of appreciation" bags for our teachers
o I can help assemble and/or distribute "tokens of appreciation" to staff mailboxes
o I can help with special activities during Teacher Appreciation Week May 3-7 2010

Tell us How to get in Touch With You

Parent(s) Name __________________________________________
Phone________________________________________

Email __________________________________

Childs Name__________________________________

Teacher ________________________________

Childs Name__________________________________

Teacher ________________________________

You're a Smart Cookie

In September the Hospitality Committee for the Elementary School is planning to bless the teachers with COOKIES! It is such a treat to have them love on our kiddos, we want to give back to them!

We need parents to bring homemade cookies for our teachers to enjoy. We are going to package and give each teacher a dozen to take home and share with their families. We will also leave a few in the teachers’ lounge for them to enjoy throughout the day.

If you would be willing to bake some cookies, please let me know how many dozen you would be willing to make.

Just package them by the dozen and then label them as to what kind they are. I’ve made a fold over card (attached) for you to print, if you’d like – and I will have extras in the lounge that morning. You might even want to include the recipe for the teacher that receives your treat.

Drop the cookies off in the lounge in the morning when you drop off your child.

First Day of School

ME: It's school time again!

C: I know. But there aren't a lot of kids I know in my new class.

ME: You're probably feeling excited and maybe a little sad that summer is over too. Lot sof kids feel nervous or a little scared on the first day of school because of all the new things: new teachers, new friends, and some kids are even in a new school.

Advice for The First Day
Most teachers kick off the school year by introducing themselves and talking about all the stuff you'll be doing that year. Some teachers give students a chance to tell something about themselves to the rest of the class.

When teachers do the talking on the first day, they often go over classroom rules so you'll know what's allowed and what's not. Pay close attention so you'll know if you need to raise your hand to ask a question and what the rules are about visiting the restroom.

You might already know a lot of people in your classes on the first day. But it's a great day to make a new friend, so try to say hello to kids you know and new ones that you don't. Make the first move and you'll be glad you did and so will your new friend!

Freecycle

I was told about freecycle by a freind at the univeristy. Her daughter had gotten some neat things and had some freecycled some of their gently use baby things. Come to find out the Freecycle Network™ is made up of 4,780 groups with 7,127,000 members across the globe. It's a grassroots and entirely nonprofit movement of people who are giving (& getting) stuff for free in their own towns.

It's all about reuse and keeping good stuff out of landfills. Each local group is moderated by a local volunteer (them's good people). Membership is free. To sign up, go to freecycle.org, find your community by entering it into the search box ...the rest is green

Have fun!

G-Force

Yes, it has cute little guinea pigs who are actually tough special agent wannabes for the FBI. Yes, it has cool, high-tech spy gear. Yes, it has the requisite butt jokes all kids’ movies apparently must have. Yes, it has car chases and robots and every cliche from the secret-agent-super-spy genre. And yes, it has cute animals and cool gadgets, and what mom of small children could pass that opportunity up?

I will say this for G-Force: it stays firmly within family-friendly territory. Aside from the butt jokes and some very mild playful innuendo among the guinea pigs (as weird as that sounds), this might as well have been a Saturday morning cartoon.

G-Force is silly, innocent fluff that even delivers a wholesome message to kids about believing in self and understanding that no matter who you are, you are special. It’s easy to understand why the guinea pigs learn this lesson because after all they can talk, use computers, drive, know kung-fu, and they save the world. But what about the rest of us? What makes us special?

Take time to think about what makes you special, your family special, our town special...

G -Force Cookies
Stars and Stripes Drive in

History

according to wikipedia.org, Shallowater is on State Highway 84 and the Santa Fe line, twelve miles northwest of Lubbock in Lubbock County. As early as 1909 J. C. (Jim) Bowles, whose ranch was adjacent to the site of what is now Shallowater, persuaded Bob Crump, a member of a ranching family, to help form a townsite company and attract a railroad to go through the area.

Land was purchased for the townsite on May 18, 1909. A school was built at that time. After Santa Fe railroad officials received a bonus from rancher George W. Littlefieldqv of the Yellow House Ranch,qv negotiations were finally completed. The originators of the plan, and other interested individuals, formed the Ripley Townsite Company, which was named after a Santa Fe railroad official and was incorporated on May 22, 1909.

The company decided to name the new town Shallowater to attract settlers. On June 26, 1913, a celebration was held to note the founding of the town and completion of the railroad. By the time the town was established, the ranching industry in the area was waning and many of the large ranches were being divided into smaller lots for farmers. Cotton became an important cash crop. During the 1920s Shallowater grew rapidly, and the town had a hotel, a lumberyard, and various filling stations, grocery stores, cotton gins, drugstores, barbershops, garages, blacksmith shops, and other businesses. Several churches and schools were also built.

A county park with a clubhouse was established, a public well was constructed, and a real depot building was built to replace the boxcar the town had been using for years. From 1920 to 1922 the railroad station was known as Pacita. In 1928 the town had an estimated population of 250. In 1955 Shallowater was incorporated with a mayor-council form of city government,qv and during the 1960s the town had five churches, a school, a bank, a library, and a newspaper. The community in 1970 had thirty businesses, including one of the largest hatcheries in the county. The population of Shallowater was 1,001 in 1960 and 1,339 in 1970.

In the late 1980s Shallowater had a post office, seventeen businesses, and a population of 2,107. It was a farm marketing center with processing and storing facilities. In 1990 its population was 1,708. [4]