Yesterday morning we continued our Reading Month festivities by having doughnuts and reading with our dads, grandpas, and special friends. It was a beautiful morning.

It was wonderful to spend time this morning reading with our moms, grandmas, and special friends. We love this Reading Month tradition. 

Happy first day of school. Despite the rain this morning there were a lot of smiling faces at Queen's today. We are looking forward to a great school year!

We couldn't have had a more gorgeous day for our 2018 Field Day. Thank you so much to Bill Richmond, and all the parents who helped make this day, a favorite of our students, so successful. 

One of the goals of last year's fundraiser was to get more iPads into the classrooms. We have been putting them to good use! Students are learning to research, create, and publish. ​The fourth graders have been creating animal slideshow projects in science class.  They chose an animal, used iPads to research and gather information and pictures, utilized a storyboard worksheet to put their facts into sentences, and finally put it all together using an app called Shadow Puppet.

The rainy morning didn't dampen our spirits. The first day of school was a huge success.

Thank you so much to Mr. Bill Richmond and all of the parent volunteers. Field Day was so much fun. The weather was beautiful, and everyone had a wonderful time. 

Our fourth graders have been studying the states all year and finished with a wax museum. Each student showed a representation of a famous person from the state they studied and shared some of their research with us. Good job, fourth graders!

A story created and illustrated by the Third Graders in Room 507.

One day, at an archeological dig site up north, government people were working on a secret project. They were digging…deeper and deeper into the earth. The hole was huge! 

But, they were having no success. They were about to give up on the project…when one night… It was Friday. Larry, the security guy, was the last one to leave. After punching out, he thought he heard something. 

It sounded like a little roar. But, since he was already punched out, he didn’t bother to go and check it out. At midnight, when everyone was gone, a claw poked out of the dirt. It was an Albertosaurus! Years earlier, a McDonalds had been built directly above his remains, which were trapped in tree sap. The yummy grease from the French fries 

slipped through a crack in the floor, all the way down into the ground where the dinosaur was and melted the sap. So, the dinosaur…named Albert…was brought back to life! Just as he freed himself from the rocky soil, a flashlight shined in his face. It was Larry! “Hey you!” said the security guard. “I thought I heard something earlier. I’m gonna…” “Oh no!” cried the dinosaur. “You’re gonna sell me to the circus!” “Noooo,” laughed Larry. “I’m going to…” “Wait! I know!” said the dinosaur. “You’re going to take me to the zoo! You just want to make money off of me!” “No…no no no,” laughed Larry. “I want to ride you! Ever since I was a little boy, I wanted my own dinosaur. When I heard about this project, I hoped that maybe my dreams could come true. I don’t have any friends, so…maybe you and I could be buddies?” The dinosaur’s eyes narrowed as it growled a deep, gurgly burpy growl. “I don’t think so,” he said. “My name is Albert. I’m a T-Rex. Well, technically I’m an Albertosaurus, which means I’m a T-Rex from Canada, eh? Anyhoo, T-Rexes don’t have friends. We only have food. And you, my chubby security guard ‘friend’, look mighty tasty!” Larry screamed like a little girl. He climbed out of the hole and ran through a field. There was a cemetery there. He was hoping that the T-Rex would get frightened and not follow. But it did. It wasn’t afraid of the ghosts and goblins inside of the creepy graveyard. It wanted one thing. Larry. The terrified security guard turned left and ran into Wonderland! He jumped on a roller coaster, but Albert also got in. It was a wild ride. As they went around the loopty loop,

the T-Rex tried to bite off Larry’s head. But he missed. Larry jumped off of the coaster and tried to run. But he was tired. Chubby will do that to you. He fell to the ground. Surely this was the end. “I guess you don’t work out much, do you?” laughed Albert. “You know, I
haven’t eaten in over a million years. I’m pretty hungry.” Albert opened his huge jaws…and then…  “No!” screamed Albert. “Not again!” The T-Rex sat back and stared at the sky. A meteor was flashing across the horizon.

“We all gonna die!” he screamed. “Me! My mama! My daddy! It’s happening again! Oh the humanity!” “Calm down,” said Larry as he put his arm around Albert’s neck. “It’s just a shooting star. We can make a wish on the star if you want.” “We can?” asked Albert, sniffling. “Sure!” Larry pointed at the flash across the sky. “What do you want to wish for?” Larry slowly put his arm higher and higher on Albert’s neck. He wanted a ride that dinosaur sooo bad! “Um,” said Albert. “I wish…I wish…for some…ketchup.” Just then, a bottle
of Heinz ketchup appeared. “Yay!” laughed Albert as he squirted some on Larry. Then, the Canadian T-Rex ate the security guard. Poor Larry. The T-Rex was captured shortly thereafter. He now lives in Animal Land, alone and lonely. On a clear night, as the T-Rex looks to the stars, sometimes he thinks he can see Larry smiling down at him from the Heavens. 

A story created and illustrated by the Second Graders in Room 405.

One day, as children all over the neighborhood were walking to school, one little boy watched from inside his house. How he wished that he, too, could go to school. But, Little Billy couldn’t go to school. He couldn’t even leave the house. You see, Little Billy was a ghost. 

He had lived in the Old Jenkin’s Mansion for over one hundred years. Every year, when school was in session, he would watch the other children walk to school. Little Billy was a very lonely ghost. One night, on Halloween night, kids were out trick or treating. One of the kids, a bad little boy named Freddy, walked up to the front door of the Jenkin’s Mansion. Instead of knocking on the door, he kicked it open. 

Yes, Freddy was a bad little boy. He had planned the break-in for over a month. On Halloween, no one would even ask questions why he would enter an old, scary house. He had heard that a diamond ring was hidden in an old desk in the house. He wanted that ring…he planned to sell it and make lots of money. Yes, Freddy was baaaaaaad. He walked through the darkness into the study and saw a big, dusty desk. He was about to open the drawers… “Hi there!” said Little Billy, startling Freddy. “What’s your name?” “Whoah!” laughed Freddy. “You scared me with your ghost costume! That’s the best costume I’ve ever seen! You actually look like a real ghost!”
“But,” said Little Billy, “I am…” Freddy interrupted him. “Hey buddy, if you help me find the diamond ring, I’ll split the money with you and we can buy lots of toys and candy!” “I don’t like candy,” said Little Billy. “You see, I’m a real…” “There it is!” yelled Freddy.

He reached back inside the bottom drawer and pulled out a beautiful, shiny diamond ring. “Let’s sell it!” “Wait!” shouted Little Billy. “You want to sell my mom’s ring?” “I don’t care whose ring it is. I’m gonna sell it!” “But, it means a lot to me,” said Little Billy. “It’s been part of our family for over one hundred years.” “I don’t care,” said Freddy, pushing Little Billy aside. Well, he tried to push Little Billy aside. You can’t push a ghost. His hand went right through him. “What…what…?” “Yes,” said Little Billy. “I’m a ghost and that’s my mom’s ring. You can’t have it.” “I’m not scared of you!” laughed Freddy. “But I am going to run! Right to the pawn shop!” The bad little boy ran toward the front door, but it slammed shut. “No,” said Little Billy. “You’re not going anywhere.” Freddy ran toward the windows, but suddenly they were covered with iron bars. 

Freddy was trapped! “Boo hoo hoo,” he cried. “You ARE a real ghost. I’m so scared. I just want my mommy.” Little Billy slowly floated over to Freddy. He was making his scary face. “Give me the ring…” he said. “Or else.” “Boo hoo hoo!” cried Freddy. “Or else, what?”
“Or else…you’ll never get McDonalds again! Hahaha!” “That’s crazy!” said Freddy. “I know,” said Little Billy. “My humor isn’t very good. I haven’t talked with another kid in a long, long time. I was just trying to be funny.” “Well, that WAS pretty funny,” said Freddy. “I mean, I do love McDonalds…and the thought of never having it again was really, really scary!” The two boys laughed. “Why don’t you come to school with me tomorrow?” asked Freddy. “It’s show and tell day. You would be a hoot!” “I can’t leave,” said Little Billy. “I’ve wanted to go to school for a long time, but I can never leave this house.” Freddy put the ring on the desk. “I’m sorry I was going to steal this,” he said. “I’ve gotta go home now, my mom will worry about me.” The front door opened and Freddy, the baaaad little boy, left. The next morning, as the kids were again walking to school, Little Billy noticed a van backing up into the driveway. It said “Big Freddy’s Painting Company”. 

Freddy jumped out of the van and ran to the window where Little Billy was standing. “My dad is going to paint this house to look just like a school house! And I’m going to ask my teacher to let us take a field trip to visit you! Maybe, lots of other schools can come, too. You’ll make lots of friends.” And so, the Old Jenkin’s Mansion was converted to the ‘Haunted Schoolhouse’ – 

​it was a hit! Kids from all over came to visit and to even get scared a little when Little Billy would make strange noises from the attic. He was so happy he had made a friend in Freddy.