Lower School

SCHOOL NEWS BRIEFS

Lower School News

Valentines for the Homeless

Grade 1 teacher (and former St. Johns student) Ms. Katie Nimitz enlisted help from the whole school in a Valentine’s Day community service project. Nimitz invited students, faculty, and staff to help her create Valentine’s Day cards for the community organization, Blessing Others All The Time (BOATT), on whose Board Nimitz serves. Together, the School created 310 valentines, which the organization distributed over the Valentine’s Day weekend, along with candy, toiletries, and other needed items. “We had a ton of involvement from all divisions,” said Nimitz, “and I love showcasing the amazing things that St. Johns students do.”

Grade 3 Germ Lab

This spring, Grade 3 scientists put their knowledge of the scientific method to the test with a guest speaker, Lynnette Chakkaphak, who is the director of labs and imaging at St. Vincent’s. Ms. Chakkaphak led the student scientists through a timely experiment to test how well disinfectant wipes work killing germs on surfaces. The students were super excited to use real petri dishes with agar and to see their results.

Grade 4 has been busy

Grade 4 was busy this spring with research projects for Women’s History Month and on European Explorers. As they dove into Women’s History, they were presented with options of more than 30 different packets, each including information about a particular person. They chose a packet/person who they wanted to learn about, read it, and then completed supplemental research before creating a Google Slides deck, which they presented to the class.

They underwent a similar process when learning about various European explorers. “The project was a written paragraph, handmade 2D/3D project, and presentation to their peers on a topic of their choosing,” said Grade 4 teacher Jennifer Keller. “I am so proud of each and every one of them for the time, effort, and enthusiasm they showed throughout the entire project.”

Kindergarten Portraits

In March, our Kindergarten students were thinking about and drawing “people around campus.” They had several categories to think about, for example, people who are older, someone who works for our school, or a buddy who is a friend of theirs. Here is some of their artwork (and the subjects of their artwork)!