Category Archives: Special

Fifth graders traveled to Chadron State Park to participate in the Trout in the Classroom field trip. We first learned the basics of baiting and casting a line, and then tried out our skills. Many of the students are experienced fishers, while others were first-timers. We only caught two trout, but there’s never a bad day of fishing, right? Next, we said goodbye to our trout and released them into the pond. We then collected macro invertebrates from the pond and identified the various organisms from damselfly nymphs to snails to determine the water quality of the pond. Finally, we went on a little nature walk along the creek before having lunch and heading home.

Pranu Pradhan was the guest speaker on Thursday, March 2nd for the cultural presentation at Hay Springs Elementary School. Pranu introduced the students to her husband, son, mom and aunt. Pranu is originally from Kathmandu, Nepal. Some interesting facts that Pranu shared: Nepal’s population is 30.5 million people and the country is similar in size to Arkansas. Popular Nepali foods are rice and curry. She shared examples of the Nepali alphabet, numbers, and common phrases. The Nepal Flag is triangular to represent Mt. Everest. She showed the students some Nepali currency. One Nepalese Rupee is equal to .0076 US dollar. It is the year 2079 in Nepal and the students were able to see a Nepali calendar. The cow is considered sacred in Nepal so they do not butcher or consume beef. Pranu and her family all dressed in traditional attire. She showed the students a sari cloth. A sari cloth is over 6 yards long and is wrapped around the body and then draped across one shoulder. After the presentation, the Kindergarten Class played rhythm sticks and drum on a stick to some Nepali music. The students also received the “I See the Sun in Nepal” book and butter cookies for a snack. Thank you Pranu for taking the time to come and share about the culture of Nepal. Thanks also to the Snow-Redfern Foundation for the project grant that makes these cultural presentations possible.

On the 100th day of school, 4th grade and 2nd grade engineered paper airplanes and were challenged to fly them 100 inches. Many of their planes were successful.

This week’s cultural presentation for the elementary was about Sweden. Some of the things the students learned about included:

• Children dressing up for Easter similar to Trick or Treating on Halloween.
• Lordagsgodis is the tradition of eating candy, ice cream, and cake ONLY on Saturdays.
• Different types of Swedish crafts including felting, dala horse, cookie stamps.
• Allmansratten which means everyone has access to nature and can camp nearly anywhere.
• Fika is a relaxing coffee break with Swedish pastries.
• Swedish money is called the Krona.
• Some inventions/businesses from Sweden are Minecraft, Skype, Spotify, Ikea, GPS, seat belt, and the zipper.
• According to Swedish Law, every worker has the right to 4 consecutive weeks of holiday between June and August.
• Christmas is celebrated on December 24th in Sweden with smorgasbords, St. Lucia Day, and a Yule Goat.

Mrs. Wellnitz read “The Tomten”, a book about a little gnome that is dedicated to helping out on the farm. After the book, the students watched a short video about the history of Sweden, a crayfish party, the Royal Palace, and the Speed Lottery. In Sweden, it is a tradition to watch a Donald Duck cartoon on Christmas Eve so the presentation ended with a short Donald Duck cartoon.  The students received Swedish Apple Cookies for a snack when they returned to their classrooms.

After the presentation, the preschoolers enjoyed dancing to music by the Swedish group, Caramell.

Thank you to the Snow-Redfern Foundation for their generosity. It is through their project grant that makes this cultural program possible.

Kathy Willnerd was the guest speaker yesterday for the Ireland cultural presentation at Hay Springs Elementary. Some key points that Kathy discussed were: Ireland’s flag, the national symbol (harp), the potato famine, stone fences, tin whistle, the Blarney Stone, and the Shamrock. Kathy’s husband Steve Willnerd’s great grandparents immigrated from Ireland to America after the potato famine. Kathy made soda bread for the students to try. She also read the book “How to Catch a Leprechaun” and encouraged the kids to go home and build a trap. After the presentation, Jeanie Snyder and Bev Wellnitz went to the 3rd grade classroom and helped the students write limericks. When they were finished writing, they read their limericks to their classmates. The students received the book “Maisie McGillicuddy’s Sheep Got Muddy” and banana bread muffins for a snack. Thank you to the Snow-Redfern Foundation for your generosity that makes these cultural programs possible. Thank you also to Kathy for taking the time to share with the kids about Ireland!