John Latimer's Spring Visit

John Latimer came to visit us for the last time this year. John is a retired mail carrier who has been following changes in nature (phenology) for the last 30 years. He has a Tuesday morning radio show on KAXE radio, 91.7 fm in Grand Rapids. We have been calling in our nature notes for the last 10 years.

Today John took us on a little walk through the woods to look for signs of spring. We noticed emerging ferns (fiddleheads), blooming bloodroot and hepatica, and almost blooming cowslips.  We saw a few warblers and found mayfly and mosquito larva in the creek flowing through the forest. We also observed the trees that are finally budding out. John said the aspens are almost 3 weeks late.  Spring is finally here!

Operation Minnesota Nice

We have been sending care packages to a soldier overseas through the Operation Minnesota Nice program. These care packages are full of little items the kids bought with their own money including toothpaste, candy, books and food items. Yesterday we received this package in the mail. It contained a flag that had been flown on a mission in Afghanistan, a certificate, a patch from a uniform and a letter from Major Goodard - the soldier who had received our package.  The kids were very excited to read about Major Goodard's life as a helicopter pilot stationed in Jalalabad. We will be sending him letters and one last package before school ends.

Hill City Hornets Hustle for Hunger

The second annual Hill City Hornets Hustle for Hunger 5K race was yesterday. There were about 30 people participating and raising money for the Hill City Food Shelf. It was a beautiful day for a run or walk!

DARE Field Trip

Hanging out on the bus

Our very cold lunch

Krazy Kars

Mini Golf

Batting Cages

I think they were having fun...

Waiting for laser tag

Nice teeth!

Arcade fun

The fifth graders headed to Minneapolis for our annual DARE Twins game.  Unfortunately, the weather just didn't cooperate this year. We stopped at a park in Maple Grove for lunch and dined under a picnic shelter with a 20 mph wind, pouring rain and 35 degree temperatures.  Ugh!  A quick parent meeting brought us to the conclusion that the Twins game just wasn't a good idea and we had to go to plan B.  Unfortunately, we didn't have a plan B.  A quick Google search found this indoor adventure park called Grand Slam. The kids spent the afternoon playing games and eating pizza, and in the long run, I think they had more fun than they would have at a baseball game.  Thanks to all the parents who came along and were willing to be flexible.  Jeff and I appreciated it!

Math Masters

The Hill City 5th grade Math Masters team finished our season with the regional meet in Grand Rapids. The Purple Pi Eaters (our name) worked hard and had a lot of fun throughout the four month season. We came in 20th out of 35 teams today, which isn't bad considering we are competing against schools much larger than ours.

Skeletal System

In health class we have been busy learning about the body systems. This week we have been studying the skeletal system. We had two special guests this week.  Mr. Bones is the headless skeleton pictured above. He actually does have a skull, but it isn't attached.  The other guest was a Hill City junior. Brittany had bone cancer when she was in 6th grade and has made a full recovery. She shared a lot of interesting details of her ordeal and even showed us the cool trick she can do with her scar. She is an amazing girl with a heartwarming story. Thank you for coming in, Brittany!

Electrifying!

We have been studying electricity in 5th grade science. We started out by exploring the simplest form - static electricity. The 5th graders then made simple circuits with a wire, battery and light bulb. We then moved on to more complex parallel circuits, conductors/insulators and electromagnets.