Chatter 3.10.2021

First Lutheran Church Sunday Services: 9:00 Sunday School: 10:15 a.m.

Church: 580-762-1111 www.flcspc.com

11:20 Dismissal THIS FRIDAY March 12!

David Birnbaum, Principal School: 580-762-9950 website: flcspc.com E-mail: lutheransecretary@yahoo.com Child Care: 580-762-1124 No School FastDirect: fastdir.com/flcspc

Next Week; Enjoy your Spring Break!

March 10, 2021

CARDINAL CHATTER 3/23

Basketball/Cheer End of Season Banquet – See details below 3/11 TALENT SHOW; 2:00 & 5:15(time change) 3/24 Covington/Douglas Track Meet; 5th & 6th 3/12 Staff versus 8th Grade Volleyball Game, 10:15 3/29 Picture Day! Watch for flyers coming home soon 3/12 End of 3rd Quarter; 11:20 dismissal 4/6 Mandatory FLCS Cheer Parent Meeting, 5:30, 3/14 Daylight Savings Time Begins (Spring Forward!)

Youth House (see below) 4/12-15 Cheer Clinic 3/15-19 Spring Break – No School.

4/16 3:30 FLCS Cheer Tryouts for 2021-2022 Daycare open for those 4/24 FLCS “Best Friend Happening” (see below) who signed up 5/1 2nd Annual Paul Schatte Memorial Cook-Off, 9-4; 3/22 Covington/Douglas Track Meet; 7th & 8th watch for more details soon Covid Update - Praise God that the nation's Covid cases are decreasing but we will keep diligent with temperatures and health concerns while trying to be a little more lenient.

COVID UPDATE

3/8-12 Lutheran Schools Week

5TH – 8TH GRADE TRACK: Boys track practice will start tomorrow (Thursday), for boys grades 5-8! Practice is Tuesday’s & Thursday’s from 3:30 – 4:30. Girls track practice (for grades 5-8) starts this Wednesday (TODAY) and will be on Monday’s & Wednesday’s from 3:30 – 4:30. Meet by the outdoor court by the cafeteria. I encourage athletes to do this in their off season! If you would like your student to participate, please message Coach Amanda on FastDirect.

STUDENT COUNCIL – MRS. HARBESON: Hello, Everyone! The second semester student council representatives have been busy planning for National Lutheran Schools Week March 8 - 12! We hope you will join us in celebrating NLSW with these remaining fun dress-up days:  Thursday, March 11: Mismatch Day (No matching today!)  Friday, March 12: Hat Day (Wear your favorite hat!)

Remember! Thursday (the 11th) is the Talent Show and Friday (the 12th) is our annual volleyball game. Student Council will be selling snacks and drinks at both events so bring some extra cash!

GOOD FIREWOOD! We are trimming & removing some of our oak trees Monday, 3/15. If you would like some free firewood, or just want to help, be here at 8:30 a.m. with a chainsaw and a trailer/some way to haul your firewood.

CHEER TRYOUTS FOR 2021-2022 SCHOOL YEAR! A MANDATORY cheer parent meeting, for parents of current 6th and 7th Graders who want to try out for Cheer, will be Tuesday, April 6 at 5:30 p.m. in the Youth House. The tryout clinic will be April 12 – 15, and tryouts will be Friday, April 16 at 3:30 p.m.

PICTURE DAY — Spring Portraits and Class Picture day is scheduled for Monday, March 29 (all in one day). New flyers will be sent home soon. If you want to order online, our Picture Day ID is EVTMS3C4V. BASKETBALL/CHEER END OF SEASON BANQUET will be held on Tuesday, March 23 at 6:30 p.m. The meal will consist of meat, sides, salad, and a dessert, and will be $12; athletes do not need to pay, but they do need to RSVP. Dress is semi-formal, or dress to impress. You may sign up through Coach Amanda or Connie in the office.

TEACHER SEARCH - Mrs. Schatte (5th) and Mrs. Powell (2nd) have decided to retire this summer after teaching here for 41 and 36 years, respectfully. Mrs. Harbeson (Language Arts) and Mrs. Hanson (Science) have served here 13.5 and (1)

10 years respectfully and feel that God is moving them on from here also. Ms. Tane Kester will be taking the Language Arts position. We have several great prospects for all of these positions, but if you have someone for us to consider for 2nd grade, 5th grade, science, and social studies, PLEASE let Mr. Birnbaum know ASAP. LOCAL NEWS: Do you take the newspaper? If so, if there are pictures or articles about First Lutheran Students, and you aren’t keeping them for yourself, would you send the articles in to the office? We would love to keep extra copies in our scrapbook. Thanks!

A BEST FRIEND HAPPENING is scheduled for Saturday, April 24, 2021, 8am-11:30am for all the mothers, grandmothers, daughters, and friends. This event is sponsored by LWML. MARK YOUR CALENDAR AND WATCH FOR FURTHER DETAILS. RE-ENROLLMENT REMINDER: Are you coming back in August?! We need to know! Enrollment is now open to the public for next school year! Attached to a prior Chatter were your enrollment papers for the 2021/2022 school year; you can print an additional copy from the “links” tab on FastDirect, or stop by the office to get a new one. To hold your students’ spot for next school year, be sure to return your enrollment forms and 1/3 of the enrollment fee (if applicable). We are still limiting class sizes due to COVID, and some classes were already full this year, so please don’t wait until the last minute to let us know if you plan to return next year.

If you know a family new to First Lutheran School that is interested in enrolling, have them call the school office for enrollment information. If they have a student in 1st – 6th grades, make sure to ask them to list you as a referring family on their enrollment sheet. If they remain enrolled through the first semester, in January of 2022 you will receive a $200 credit towards your tuition account! ELEVEN families earned credit last month just by referring friends!

Can I have your grocery receipts instead of trashing them?? Since the BoxTop program has gone virtual, we are missing out on BoxTop Rewards. If you are willing, after you go shopping for groceries, home, or office, could you (*) put your receipt in the black box in front of the office, (*) bring them to Connie in the office and I can scan it and give it right back, or (*) put them in an envelope addressed to “Connie – office” and put it in your child’s backpack / take home folder / have them give it to their teacher? I’ll scan them with the BoxTop App, and then I will trash them or return them via your child (if you write your name on the receipt). Don’t worry about checking to see if there are any applicable products in your cart—it just takes a second to scan it, and if we get nothing, at least we tried.

BUT…sometimes there are BoxTop Rewards associated with non-food items like Ziploc, Hefty, Paper Mate, etc. You just never know, so it’s worth a shot! Of course, you can download the app yourself and scan the receipts if you would rather. Thank you!

OH! We always would like to use the numbers on the bottom of your Staples receipts to get extra Staples rewards for the school. In addition to you putting the receipt in for your own rewards; they’ll apply the Rewards to both your account and to a registered school! I just need the barcode and total spent.

SCHOOL OFFICE—TAX STATEMENTS: If you would like a printout of your payments to First Lutheran during 2020 for tax purposes, you can print them off by logging into your FastDirect account, click on the “finances” button on the top, click on “tax report” on the left-hand side, then choose the year you want and click on “Tax Year Printout”. It will bring up a page to print with your payments to First Lutheran categorized and totaled, and it will have our Federal Tax I.D. number on the top (it’s 73-6083110).

Alternatively, you can request a tax statement from the office by calling 580-762-9950 or sending a FastDirect email to Connie Erickson. This will include school-related expenses only; summer daycare tax statements must be requested from daycare by sending a FastDirect email to Heidi Daley or calling daycare at 580-762-1124. Not all payments to FLS are tax deductible, and you should contact a tax advisor to find out what can be written off, and what cannot.

PRINCIPAL – Mr. Birnbaum: WOW! Thanks for all the great teacher name options. Please keep praying as we continue interviewing!

PRE-SCHOOL – Mrs. Colvin: It's one-half week till Spring Break!! I can't believe the year has gone by so fast! This week we are learning all about the letter P and the sound it makes, and reviewing all the skills we have learned. Have a great week!

PRE-KINDERGARTEN – Mrs. Kelly: Happy National Lutheran Schools Week! Thank you student council for the fun dress up days! Tomorrow is mismatch day and Friday is hat day. Friday is a half day and we dismiss at 11:20. Next week is spring break-no school. Mark your calendars! We are planning a trip to New Life Trails in Ponca City for our Easter Egg Hunt. Look for the note in folders today. The permission slip and money will be due by Wednesday, March (2)

24th (the week we come back from spring break). Our Bible words this week are Hosanna in the highest! Matthew 21:9 We are finishing up our Alphabet clusters this week with the letters Yy and Zz. We will start over on a letter each day after spring break. I hope you all found the note about our Letter Master Challenge and the flash cards! I will do our first assessment for this challenge on Friday. I know we have some Letter Masters in our class! Have a Blessed week and an awesome spring Break!

KINDERGARTEN – Mrs. Miller: I hope everyone has a great Spring Break next week! We are planning a field trip on Wednesday, March 31 for an Easter Egg hunt. Please look for a special note in your child's backpack soon that will have all of the information. It will be for all of the ECE and we will need drivers. With COVID it would be awesome if all the children have a parent to drive and take them. Thank you, and have a great week!

FIRST GRADE – Mrs. Birnbaum: I can't believe that we are about to start the 4th quarter of the school year!

Keep up the good work! Our Class Book has been shipped off to the Publisher! We can't wait to see our book! Memory verse for Friday is the 3rd Commandment - Remember the Sabbath Day by keeping it holy. We are running low on Clorox Wipes. If you are able, please bring a container after Spring Break. Thank you! Book orders were sent home today. These are due on Thursday, March 25 either online or to me with a check. We are planning a field trip on Wednesday, March 31 to New Life Trails for a picnic and Easter Egg Hunt. Field Trip form and information also came home today. Happy birthday to Kennedy yesterday, March 9! Have a wonderful Spring Break!

SECOND GRADE – Mrs. Powell: Happy Lutheran Schools Week! Do you realize that in nine short weeks these bright second graders will be third graders? I'm proud of their reading improvement. We're working hard on math facts.

On Friday we will say the 10th commandment. This has been a busy quarter. Remember to set your clocks ahead this Sunday. If you're traveling for spring break, be safe, relax, and have fun! Thanks to all of the parents who shared our Level Up Arcade trip with us. Your children received compliments for their excellent behavior! Way to Go! Remember that we dismiss early on Friday. Blessings on your break!

THIRD GRADE – Mrs. Steichen: We did it!! We made it through the third quarter. This one sure had its ups and its downs. The kids have made so much growth. This week: No Memory, Reading test, or paragraph. We still have a spelling test on Friday. We finished up How to Eat Fried Worms and the kids loved it. Remember we dismiss at 11:20 on Friday. Have a wonderful Spring Break and I cannot wait to see what the 4th quarter holds for us! Lots of fun (I do know that!).

FOURTH GRADE – Mrs. Sibley: We are wrapping up the 3rd quarter for the year. Don’t forget to Spring your clocks ahead over Spring break next week. I hope that we all come back from break refreshed and ready to share the LOVE of Christ! Book Orders that went home Monday are due the 23rd when we get back. I can really see big light bulbs come on when division is practiced properly at home to reinforce what happens at school with the process of questions being asked to be successful. There is an extra division set due on the 23rd to help with the steps. We will have a reading test on Friday and memory due by Friday. Keep studying for states and capitals West region, the test is on the 24 th. Keep reading for AR, you can make it!

FIFTH GRADE – Mrs. Schatte: We're almost to Spring Break! Yea! I can't help but think back to last year when 3rd quarter was our final quarter for the year due to Covid. I'm so thankful we are getting on the other side of all that. (At least I think we are.) We're enjoying celebrating National Lutheran School's Week. Thanks to Mrs. Harbeson and Student Council for planning fun activities for us. Just a reminder that state report packets are due this Friday, March 12. I hope you all have a wonderful break and can enjoy time with your wonderful kids. Blessings!

MIDDLE SCHOOL F.L.Y. – Mrs. Heitman: FLY (First Lutheran Youth) Wednesday night in the gym! All students 6th grade and older are invited to join us for devotions, food, and fellowship! During Lent, F.L.Y. will run from 5:30 – 7:15 p.m.

Mrs. Scott: 5th Grade Math took their 12th math test yesterday. We will move on to Lesson 66 on Thursday.

6R Math has reviewed Chapter 8 for 3 days. We had our Chapter 8 Test yesterday and will move on to Chapter 9 on Thursday.

6A/7R Math had their Chapter 9 Test yesterday. We will move on to Chapter 10 on Thursday.

7A Math took their Chapter 9 Test today. We will move on to Chapter 10 on Thursday.

8R Math is working on Linear Equations this chapter.

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8A Math took their Chapter 7 Test earlier this week. Corrections were made and we have moved on to Chapter 8.

I pray everyone has a restful Spring Break and that the parents, kids, teachers and staff all come back from break with a clean slate, ready to conquer the last quarter of this school year!

Mrs. Hanson: Wrapping up the quarter with some assessments. 6th and 8th grade will take tests over their content this Thursday. 7th grade's research/writing stage of their inquiry project will need to be complete and turned in

by Friday. This includes 3 resource reviews and 9 questions/answers.

I hope all have a wonderful Spring Break. I pray everyone gets what they need out of it; whether that be relaxation, entertainment, family time, or productivity. Me, I will be packing up the house and putting it on the market.

If you know anyone in need of an amazing, unique, adorable house, send them my way. If you or anyone you know loves garage sales, send them my way. If you wanna help a girl pack, come on over.  Ms. Kester: Hello again! We've wrapped up Quarter 3 French with a baking day - Peach Frangipane Galettes! As the recipe's sugar content was low, there were mixed reviews on the recipe, but UNANIMOUS agreement on the fun!

Perhaps next quarter we could do a bake-off with each team making their favorite dessert with Mr. Birnbaum as the judge. Sounds like fun! Regardless, we'll dig more into the French language and culture next quarter. I can't wait!

History classes wrapped up a lively teacher's review this week about our chapter. Congratulations to the winning groups, and good job to the other ones who gave them stiff competition. FLCS students know their history! That's a good thing because they took tests today. We will finish off the week with current event discussions then hop right into the next chapter after Spring Break. But, before we break, don't forget about our 7 th grade bowling outing Friday. We will meet at 11:30 a.m. sharp.

Lastly, Religion classes will perform their skits on the story of Job or Jesus tomorrow, and then pick up speed on the book we've been teasing titled Chasing Love where Christian ethics takes the spotlight. The book's author Sean McDowell (well-known Christian apologist and son of Josh McDowell) will join Religion students as my guest speaker when we return from Spring Break. More information forthcoming in our next Chatter! In the meantime, enjoy these last few days before our break!

Mrs. Harbeson: Happy Wednesday, Everyone! I hope you're doing well on this final Wednesday before Spring Break. I pray that you all have a wonderful week of rest and fun! Please remember that for all classes, extra credit folders are due Thursday, March 11. I will not be able to take them after that date, so be sure to hand them in. I hope to see you all at the talent show on Thursday and the volleyball game on Friday! Don't forget that school is out Friday at 11:20! That's all for now...blessings to you all!

First Lutheran Church & School—Growing up into Jesus, Reaching out with Jesus, Walking together in Jesus * - * - * - * - * - * - * -* - * - * - * - * -* - * - * - * - * -* - * - * - * - * - * - * - * - * - * -* - * - * - * - * - *

DUE TO COVID, we will NOT be awarding Perfect Attendance Awards this semester.

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ARE WE HAVING A SNOW DAY?! IS SCHOOL OR DAYCARE CLOSED? It’s only March, so it’s still a real possibility!

Right now, before the next weather event, please make sure that you have your FastDirect Login I.D. and password. In the event that school may be cancelled due to inclement weather, we will send a message on FastDirect. It will email and text you the message also, if you have chosen that option; however, FastDirect is limited in how many characters will be sent and you won’t get the whole message, so PLEASE…if you don’t know your login i.d. and password, contact the office at 580-762-9950 to get set up and get the complete message.

FastDirect is also useful for checking grades, viewing missing assignments, emailing staff, printing tax statements, accessing forms, seeing what’s for lunch, etc.; if you haven’t tried it, and are curious, stop by Connie’s office and I’ll show you some of its’ many features!

We have outside recess every day, and some days are VERY cold. Please send a jacket with your student to school EVERY DAY! Also, please make sure their name is in the jacket. They will have a much more enjoyable recess period if they are warm, and so will the staff who is supervising them! (If you cannot afford a jacket for your student, please contact the office, and we will work to find one for your child(ren).)

Well, some of it! First Lutheran collects and earns credit for recycling ink and toner cartridges (full or empty) and electronic devices like old phones and tablets! (No monitors or desktops, please.) Please bring them to the office or pull up out front and call us, and we’ll come get them. Please help us keep our costs down!

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Thursday, March 11: Mismatch Day (No matching today!)

Friday, March 12: Hat Day (Wear your favorite hat!)

Remember! Thursday (March 11) is the Talent Show and Friday (March 12) is our annual volleyball game. Student council will be selling snacks and drinks at both events so bring some extra cash!

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