Getting Ready for Christmas

 I love this time of year.  We crank up the Christmas music and the kids quietly make ornaments for our classroom tree.  Okay, maybe it isn't so quiet, but it seems peaceful somehow. 

Kickball ... Minnesota Style

I looked out the window at recess today, and this is what I saw... a bunch of fifth and sixth graders playing kickball in the deep snow.  How they got the ball to roll on that fluffy white stuff, is beyond me.  I love when the kids come in from recess with rosy cheeks and covered in snow.  It just seems so healthy!

Christmas Concert

It was another wonderful Christmas concert at Hill City Elementary School.  I have been teaching here for 19 years and have witnessed 19 of these concerts.  I am always amazed how Mr. Kneeland can pull this together from 25 minutes of practice a day, every other week.  I am also amazed at the talent and courage of these kids.  I know I would never have been able to sing a solo in front of a gym of parents when I was 10 years old.

Kachina Dolls

 The 5th graders have been studying Native American tribes from across the United States.  One of the tribes they have studied is the Hopi.  They read about the Hopi tradition of using kachina dolls to teach their children.  Today we made our own kachinas using paper mache.  Check these out in the downstairs showcase the next time you visit the school.

School Forest in Late Fall

The weather has been unseasonably warm these last few days, so we took another little visit to the school forest to check out what is happening.  All of our adopted trees are leaf-less and we noticed how bare everything seemed.  We could see a lot farther through the trees and a few kids even found some softballs hit into the woods last spring by the girls softball team. 

Soon it will snow and our trips to the forest will be less frequent.  We will go out there a few times in the winter to check out animal tracks and other winter wonders.

Honoring our Veterans

Presentation of Colors

The band plays the National Anthem

Veteran Wayne Weller

Reading our letters to Veterans

Hill City had its first Veterans Day program in many years today.  It was a wonderful program full of remembering and patriotism.  Our community is honored to have many Veterans living among us, and it was nice to have the students show their respect to these important people.

Climbing Mount Everest

David Lien climbed Mount Everest a few years ago and came in to talk to us about his exciting and dangerous adventure.  We learned all about the tremendous effort it takes to prepare for a journey like this.  He showed us photos of the beauty of the mountain and the dangerous conditions he faced.  The class got to try on his gear to get a feel for what it takes to be a mountain climber.