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.

A story created and illustrated by the Fourth Graders in Room 506.

One day, deep inside of a cave somewhere in eastern Europe, there was a bat. A big bat. A really really big bat. His name was FatBat. This was not a nickname. His mother gave it to him when he was born. She said, ‘wow, that’s a fat bat’. As FatBat grew up, he didn’t have a lot of friends. Sure, there was that Larry kid, but he was odd. So, FatBat spent most of his day sleeping…

at least that’s what all of the other bats thought he was doing. You see, FatBat had quite and appetite. Bugs just weren’t enough for him. Sure, beetles were pretty good, an occasional tarantula, grasshoppers tasted like chicken – of course he avoided the stinkbugs. They gave him gas. And bad breath. FatBat hoped that one day he might fall in love, so he kept his fangs brushed and stayed away from the nasty stinkbugs. But, as for his love life, it wasn’t going so good. Since he was always hungry, during the light hours while everyone else was sleeping, FatBat would sneak out and go to McDonalds! He loved McDonalds! Especially the new GRAND MAC. Today, while at Mikkidees, FatBat saw a breaking news story. Dundundun! People in all of the major cities were crashing their cars into each other! They were screaming about flies…billions and billions of flies…all flying into their windshields…kamakazi style.

It was horrible. But it got even worse! Flies were infesting all of the Walmart stores! They were eating all of the vegetables! And the frozen pies! Then it got even worse! The flies were flying into jet engines and causing airplanes to have problems in flight. This was dangerous! Just then, the TV stopped. Then it got fuzzzzzzzy. Then, an image of something horrific came on the screen. It was a fly. A HUGE fly! “Hello!” said the creature. “All hail Eddie the evil fly! Mwhahahaha! Oh, that’s me. Yeah, all hail me!” 

FatBat heard people screaming all around him. They started calling 911 and running out of the restaurant. Some even called pest control, but their lines were…disconnected. FatBat turned his attention back to the TV. The monster was talking some more. “The hideous creature you see before you was just like you. Yesterday. But, I went to Walmart and bought a banana. When I ate it, little did I know that there was a fly inside. Not just any fly. It was a mutant fly that came from a plant in Japan. The Fukushima plant. Who knew bananas could be bad for you? Hahaha. Now that I’m a ginormous fly, I’ve decided to take over the world!” FatBat kind of wanted to help…but why? No one had ever been nice to him before. Except for Larry. But he was odd. Just then, FatBat noticed the french fry girl. She took some french fries and an extra burger that was laying around and gave it to a man who was sitting in the corner. A homeless man. “Ew,” thought FatBat. “That’s probably stale.” But then, his little furry heart was stirred. This was a random act of kindess. It made him want to save the world. He knew that he wasn’t good at many things. Like Karate or stuff like that. But, he was good at one thing. Eating. FatBat took off from the McDonalds and started doing what bats are supposed to do. Only he was like a superhero. He was eating ALL of the flies in Europe. He was saving countless lives. As FatBat was flying past the Eifel Tower, he was confronted by the evil Eddie the fly! 

“Stop eating my minions!” shouted the fly. “You’re ruining my evil plan.” FatBat took a big breath. This was going to be one huge fly. He flew over and bit the evil villain the nose. It was gross. And it was poisonous. FatBat fell from the sky.

Surely this was the end. Right before he landed, a beautiful vulture swooped down and caught him. Her heart broke for this would-be hero. Then, she noticed that he was kind of cute. She puckered up and did it. Yes. Love’s true kiss! FatBat was alive. The vulture turned toward evil Eddie. “She hissed at him. Oh, now you’re gonna get it!” The villain was so scared he turned and flew into the sun. Evil Eddie was no more. The world was saved. In Paris, they even threw him a parade. But FatBat didn’t care about all of the adulation. He didn’t even care about the certificate he got for free McDonalds for life. All he cared about was Violet. The vulture. 

​Yes, they fell in love and were married and lived happily ever after.

A story created and illustrated by the Kindergarteners in Room 508.

One day, out in the ocean, fishermen had cast a big net into the sea. They were trying to catch tunafish. Unfortunately, a dolphin had been caught in the net and was being pulled up to the ship. This wasn’t good. The dolphin started to cry. “Somebody help me,” she said. “I’ve got to get back to my baby.” 

But the net continued to go higher and higher…it even went above the water. The poor dolphin thought this was the end. Just then, a big, red turtle head popped out of the water and bit through the net! 

It freed the dolphin! “I saved you!” said the red turtle with a smile. “My name is Ruby. Maybe we can be friends.” The dolphin didn’t say a word. She just swam away. So, Ruby swam to the beach to do something very, very important. She crawled up on the beach and dug a big hole next to a palm tree where she laid one hundred eggs. Then, she covered the eggs with sand and went back to the water to eat. She was very hungry. Just as she was getting to the water, she heard something! Hissssss! It was a snake, and not just any snake! It was an Anaconda!

The biggest snake in the world! It had smelled the eggs and was digging them up next to the palm tree. “Oh no!” cried Ruby. “Don’t you eat my babies!” The mommy turtle crawled as fast as she could toward the snake, but the giant snake attacked her! It coiled around her and started squeezing! Luckily, her shell was very strong and she wasn’t hurt. But, she couldn’t move. The snake started digging again…it was almost to the baby turtle eggs when a high pitched sound rang out. Ruby saw something flying through the air. She couldn’t believe it…it was the mommy dolphin she saved earlier! “Go away!” she yelled to the snake. “Ruby is my friend!” But, the snake was too quick. It grabbed the dolphin in its massive mouth and was going to swallow her. “Hey!” came a high pitched voice. “That’s my mama!” It was the baby dolphin, and boy was he mad! The little dolphin slithered up on the sand and bit the snake right on the tail. 

“Ouch!” cried the snake. “You’re dangerous!” The big anaconda decided that this meal was too difficult to eat, so he let Ruby and the mommy dolphin go and crawled into the jungle. “Thank you!” said Ruby. “You both have saved me and my babies!” But the dolphins did not reply. The couldn’t talk. They had been out of the water too long and were starting to dry out. They were dying. Ruby tried to push the dolphins into the water, but she wasn’t strong enough. Just then, a cracking sound could be heard. The turtle babies were hatching! Somehow, they knew that they needed to help. They all pushed together and helped the mommy dolphin and her baby back into the water.

After their great adventure, the dolphins and the turtles were friends forever and ever.