District office 273-6751 • HS Office 273-6301 • MS Office 273-0587 • Elementary Office 273-6741

Florence-Carlton School District 15-6, 5602 Old Hwy 93, Florence, MT 59833 Home page: http://www.florence.k12.mt.us

-a line of communication between school, parents & community members-

April 2011

Non-Profit Org. U.S. POSTAGE PAID

Florence, MT 59833 Permit No. 3

The Florence-Carlton parents, school and community will provide a safe, respectful environment that strives to prepare all students to become responsible, lifelong learners by empowering them with the integrity, knowledge and skills to contribute to a changing world.

School Board Calls for $150,000 Levy The Florence-Carlton School District will be holding a General Levy Election on May 3, 2011, at the school. Polls will be open from 7:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. in the New Gym of the Florence-Carlton School. There has been some confusion in the past for voters who reside in Missoula County. These voters need to come to the school to vote or complete an absentee ballot. Absentee ballots are available to all voters who will not be able to come in on May 3rd and vote in person. “Application for Absentee Ballot” forms are available at the District Office, at the Courthouse in Hamilton or Missoula, or can be mailed or faxed to you. Important dates to remember are: ♦ April 3 - Voter registration closes. A voter must

register by this deadline to vote in the school elec-tion. Voter registration cards are available at the District Office or at the County Election Offices in Hamilton and Missoula.

♦ May 2 - Deadline for absentee requests. Absentee

ballots cannot be requested after 12:00 (noon). ♦ May 3 - Election Day.

School Election - May 3, 2011 Florence-Carlton School Trustees held a special meeting on March 21, 2011 to set the amount for the proposed mill levy. After hearing the report form the Budget and Finance committee and considering community input, the Board decided to set a $150,000 proposed mill levy election and consider cuts of $143,000 to the district’s budget for the next school year. The district’s Budget and Finance Committee, which is made up of school administra-tion, community members and two school trustees, has been meeting for several months. At the last meeting the committee decided to recommend a balance of budget cuts and asking the voters to support a tax levy increase of $150,000 for the 2011-2012 fiscal year, which begins July 1, 2011. If a $150,000 levy were approved, initial estimates are that it would amount to an additional $27.00 per year on a property tax bill for a home with a taxable value of $100,000. This would amount to just over $2.00 per month for support of your school. According to state election law, the School Board had to set a levy amount by March 29, 2011 in order to get this levy request on the school election ballot. There is a chance the legislature could increase school funding, in which case the $150,000 levy request would be used to restore items cut from the budget and make additional repairs to our aging school facility. The district office has done the best it can at estimating where the dollars will fall and it is not anticipating any additional money from the state at this point.

Board members face many difficult situations and must often resolve complex problems quickly. Board members understand their responsibility to make decisions that have significant impact on the school district and the community. After all, they are elected to serve our community and want to be sure the decision they make are good ones. In addition, they must work through issues that involve the commitment of substantial resources and affect many people. When board members anguish over decisions, it is often because of the cost involved. Concerns about finances lead to careful personal and group deliberations in the effort to reduce the likelihood of impulsive actions. However, board members recognize and give equally careful consideration to the costs of not making a decision. Decisions related to the fiscal management and student achievement cannot be separated or delayed. As the board looks to this next school year the reality is that inflation, decrease in enrollment, and lack of state funding for k-12 schools has created a sizeable hole in the school’s budget. To fill this hole the board is considering many options including cutting supply budgets, implementing a reduction in force, and elimination of student aca-demic and extra-curricular activities. However, before any such action would occur the board decided to give voters a chance to have a say in our school. The voters know that fiscal responsibility and continued improvement of student performance are high priorities. In the end, the dilemma we find ourselves in is how the school district will continue to provide a high quality education to its students when it is faced with serious budget issues. The answer from the board is to cut areas of the budget where the school district could improve its fiscal manage-ment and ask voters for the support of a general operations mill levy. Our record in this school district is to only levy what we need. The Budget and Finance Committee has worked very hard to look over ways to tighten our budget. This hard work has resulted in what the community can trust is a fair and balanced approach to budgeting for the educational future of our students. The school district will work to cut $143,000 while at the same time ask voters to support $150,000 in additional tax support. The board understands that there are costs to decisions, but there are also costs to not making a decision. As you go to the polls to cast your vote please ask yourself, what happens if we don’t vote for this mill levy? Please weigh the cost of making the decision to support the mill levy against the cost of not making a decision to support the school’s mill levy.

The Cost of Not Making Decisions—A message from the Superintendent

Happy Easter

High School News Page 2

Nordmeier/Tafoya Scholarship Deadline: April 15, 2011 ♦ Amount: $1000 ♦ Permanent Disability ♦ Attending a Montana College or Technical

School ♦ Enrolled for at least 9 semester credits ♦ Enrolled for the 2011-2012 school year ♦ Financial need will be considered Narrative of how scholarship will help meet personal and educational goals. Horatio Alger Undergraduate Montana Scholarship Program Deadline: April 15 ♦ Amount: $10,000 ♦ Montana resident ♦ Enrolled full-time as a senior at a Montana

High School ♦ 2.0 cumulative GPA ♦ Citizen of the U.S. ♦ Planning to attend one of the University of

Montana campuses (UM, UM-COT, COT-Helena, Montana Tech, COT-Montana Tech, UM-Western)

Apply online at: www.horatioalger.com/scholarships/program_montana.cfm Rotary Club of Hamilton & Keith McCauley Memorial Scholarship Deadline: April 15 ♦ Amount: $1000.00 ♦ GPA of 3.25 for the Keith McCauley Schol-

arship and at least 2.5 for the Rotary Club. ♦ Must be attending a post-secondary institu-

tion in Montana Missoula Federal Credit Union Deadline: April 22 ♦ Amount: 9-$1000 ♦ Must be a MFCU member or child of a member ♦ Minimum high school GPA of 3.4 ♦ Rank in the top 25% of graduating class ♦ Minimum ACT or SAT score of 22 or 1530 Big Sky Eye Care Scholarship Deadline: April 15th ♦ Amount: 2-$500.00 ♦ To be considered for the award, seniors must

complete a short application including an es-say question.

Alert No deadline Amount: $500 • You need to write a 600-1000 word essay

about a personal encounter you or someone you know has had with drug and/or alcohol abuse, how it was dealt with and in your opinion what was right or wrong about the way the incident or problem was handled.

• You must be a senior in high school • You must have a GPA of 2.5 or higher • You plan on attending college after Graduation Montana Oddfellows-Rebekah Scholarship Deadline: April 7 ♦ Amount: $1000.00 ♦ Must have a GPA of 3.0 or less ♦ You be attending some type of post-

secondary education in Montana G.D. Shallenberger Scholarship Deadline: April 8 ♦ Amount: $2000.00 ♦ Incoming freshman planning on attending

the University of Montana who wants to major in physics. Black Mountain Software Scholarship Deadline: April 15 ♦ Amount: $500 ♦ Applicants must graduate from a Montana High School in 2011 and be continuing their education at an accredited institution of higher learning. Accredited institutions include trade schools, technical schools, colleges, or universities. ♦ Applications can be downloaded at: http:/

www.blackmountainsoftware.com/scholarship.cfm

Florence Civic Club Scholarship Deadline: April 16 ♦ Amount: $500.00 ♦ This scholarship is awarded based on civic

and community involvement, academics and financial need.

High School Counseling Connection by Stacy Holden

On March 10th, 2011, more than fifty teams from around the state competed at the seventh annual Academic WorldQuest (AWQ) compe-tition organized by the World Affairs Council of Montana. AWQ is a competition between teams of four high school students that tests com-petitors’ knowledge of international affairs, geography, history, culture and more. This year, Florence-Carlton High School sent two teams to Missoula. Coached by Karen Branzell, Florence-Carlton High School was represented by the following students: Kendall Cotton, Shea Hawkins, Shari Leedom, Kiarra McGee, Justin Miller, Nate Shepard, Julian Thorne, and Molly Winegart. The students had a great time and

FCS Competes in Academic WorldQuest by Karen Branzell

Ravalli County Tavern Association (RCTA) Deadline: April 15th ♦ Amount: $1000.00 ♦ Must be planning to attend a Vocational/

Technical School Youth Serve Montana Scholarship Deadline: April 8 ♦ Amount: 100-$1000.00 ♦ Must be attending a Montana University ♦ Must have 100 hours of community service First Presbyterian Church of Hamilton Wayne and Naomi Wardwell Scholarship Deadline: April 25th, 12:00 p.m. ♦ Amount: 2-$750.00 ♦ Must be a senior in high school, planning

to attend an institution of higher learning (including vocational schools), or a previ-ous winner currently in school wishing to renew the scholarship. Also available to a college student, but priority will be given to high school seniors.

♦ Need not be a member of first Presbyterian Church.

♦ May attend any high school in Ravalli County.

♦ Selection will be based on demonstrated financial need, achievement, school activi-ties, community service and strength of character. Special consideration will be given to those students who do not neces-sarily have the highest GPA but have a strong desire to continue their educational training at the college or vocational level.

Florence-Carlton National Honor Society Scholarship Deadline: April 29 ♦ Amount: $500 ♦ 3.25 GPA ♦ Do not need to be a member of NHS. ♦ Will look for the candidate who best exem-

plifies: scholarship, leadership, character and service.

The weekend of March 13-15 Pirrie Harris, Bryona Frick, and Advisor Keri Briney spent three days in Billings at the Business Professionals of America State Leadership Conference. Pirrie and Bryona both competed in Business events while at the conference. Pirrie participated in five events after qualifying at Regionals in December. Bryona participated in three events after qualifying at Regionals as well, and placed ninth at State in Prepared Speech. While participating in their events Pirrie and Bryona also attended workshops and the Opening Session Meetings, where they were inspired by guest speaker Bob Upgren. Pirrie and Bryona also went and represented our school at the BPA Dance were they applied their new dances skills learned during Dance Day.

BPA State Conference was a Success by Pirrie Harris

Page 3 Our School Pulling Together Soarin’ with the Falcons—Middle School Soarin’ With the Falcons is a place to share some positive moments at Florence Carlton School. Each month we will share moments from our elementary, middle, and high school departments. Scott Stiegler, 6th grade teacher, thanks Jeremy Belcourt, Farmers Insurance Agent in Flor-ence, for his recent donation of $250. The money will be used to replace old, worn out copies of Where the Red Fern Grows. Thanks Jeremy! Leanne Deschamps, English and French, loves the fact that we’ve had an 8th grade book club for the past 4 years. A mix of 8th grade students meet every 2 weeks during lunch to discuss a book the group has chosen to read. Everyone reads and then shares thoughts on the books. Students recommend new books for the next session. The book club is fortunate to buy books through donations from individuals that also love to read and have supported this pro-gram over the years. It is especially pleasing to watch the friendships students share through their common love of reading! Taryn Pettit, English, and FCMS are celebrating the talents of Connor Kowalski(8th grade) and Braxton McCullough (6th grade) who are representing our middle school at the State Spelling and State Geography Bees respectively. On Wed., March 23rd, we had an Academic Pep Assembly for them. Academic excellence is something to be proud of! Good luck boys!

Missoula Parks and Recreation is seeking original drawings from youth ages 6-12 for use on our youth camp t-shirts, posters, and informational flyers.

Art Deadline: 7:00 p.m. Friday, April 29, 2011

• Entrants must be ages 6-12 • Drawings must be submitted on an 8.5” x 11”

blank sheet of paper (no school lined paper) • Entrants may use crayons, markers, colored

pencils, paints, and/or ink to create their draw-ings.

• Entrant’s name, age, grade level, teacher, teacher’s e-mail must be written in pencil on the back of the drawing. • Drawings only, we cannot accept drawings with

writing on them. • The entrant should also write on back and in

pencil a one or two sentence description about the drawing.

• Entries must be postmarked on later than Friday, April 29th. • Missoula Nature Based Themes: animals in na-

ture, kids in nature, nature adventure, etc. Mail drawing: Attention MPR Youth Camps, Scott Stires, 600 Cregg Lane, Missoula, MT 59801 Drop off drawings: Attention MPR Youth Camps, Scott Stires, Currents Indoor Aquatics, 600 Cregg Lane. For more information call 552-6266

2nd Annual Art/Logo Contest

School has been moving along this year as surprisingly quickly as it usually does. There never seems to be enough time to do everything we try to do. Due dates always seem to jump up out of nowhere, as do the walls that seem to get in the way. Students scramble be-cause big projects that are not due until spring, are suddenly due because it is spring! We also see a couple serious ailments that show up this time of year-Spring Fever, and Senioritis. A quick reminder is that you can always check on your student’s grades on the PASS system. With track and softball starting up, the teachers and I are making sure that the grades are up-dated by Tuesday of each week. Senior parents, please keep track of your students! Seniori-tis always puts a few students in jeopardy of walking at graduation. One of the symptoms of both Spring Fever and Senioritis is absenteeism. Please keep track of your student’s attend-ance. Something that comes up each year that can cause big problems is when students turn 18. At that time, legal rights are turned over to the student. We have many of those students who then check themselves in and out of school, seemingly on a whim. We will give courtesy calls to parents when these students are absent, so keeping track of your student’s attendance is important. FCHS is accredited through the Northwest Accreditation Commission, one of several region-al school accreditation organizations in the United States. We must meet many standards above general state standards to maintain our accreditation. Standards include curriculum, finance, facility, staffing, administration, safety, counseling, special education, and many others. An important aspect of the accreditation process is creating a five year comprehen-sive education plan for our school. In order to evaluate that process, we go through an ac-creditation review yearly as well as an evaluation by a visitation team made up of administra-tors and teachers from other schools accredited through the Northwest Accreditation Com-mission. We had a committee of four teachers and myself who, over the past four months, put together information regarding our staff and school over the past five years. It was a very rewarding experience. Highlights from initial feedback of the visitation team are that they were very impressed with our staff, course offerings for a Class B school, and our ability to utilize every nook and cranny of our facility to use in educating our students. Our areas to work on include facilities, especially our lack of modern science labs, as well as a concern over curriculum-an area that we had self-identified as an area to focus on next year. Overall, they were very impressed and stated we have a great school.

From the office of the High School Principal, Dan Grabowski

The Army Jazz Combo visiting us today went really well! Hopefully some good inspiration happened. Alex McDowell, Senior who is plan-

Army Jazz combo Visits Florence

Mrs. McCann’s first grade class gathered to watch the Space Shuttle Discovery launch on it’s final journey to space, February 24, 2011. The launch had originally been planned for November 1, 2010! Mrs. McCann and her daughter Josie traveled to Flor-ida to experience firsthand what it was like to see, hear and feel a shuttle launch. Un-fortunately in November, the launch was delayed one day and then a second day. Mrs. McCann & Josie stayed in Florida the two extra days with hopes that all would go well and STS-133 would actually launch. It didn’t but they did get to visit the Kennedy Space Center and saw the Shuttle on the Launch pad. Mrs. McCann’s class was patiently awaiting the launch at home as well. They were going to watch it in the TV during school while their teacher was seeing the real thing. Since then the class has been watching the calendar and keeping track of postponements and updates as they occurred. Finally on February 24, 2011 Discovery took flight as the class watched via. NASA internet TV. The kids were thrilled and also relieved that “the Space Shuttle Finally launched!” The launch was Discovery’s last, with only one ad-ditional launch left in the entire shuttle program. NASA plans to scrap the shuttle pro-gram all together after STS-144 which is currently planned to launch April 19, 2011. Souvenir’s from Mrs. McCann’s trip included astronaut ice cream for the entire

1st grade and a shuttle sticker patch for each student in her class.

Space Shuttle Launch by Jackie McCann

Color Poems Written by First and Second Graders

Mrs. Bolton’s kindergarten students sent the Florence Falcons Boys’ Basketball team to the state basketball tournament with lots of wishes to “win”, “score”, and a message that “Florence Falcons are # 1” to us. We decorated paper jerseys and drew the players’ heads on basketball shapes. The characteristics of enjoying school, belonging, and feeling pride about where we spend our day are important to each student at our school. The younger stu-dents are just starting this relationship. Many of the kinder-gartners already know about the Montana Grizzlies, but are devel-oping appreciation and loyalty to our school through the Florence Falcons. It’s basketball this season, but we enjoy and learn about other sports and activities such as band, choir, art, and clubs at Florence Carlton School.

Elementary Outlook Page 4

Kindergarten Students Support Boys Basketball

What is Blue? By Clair Schneiter Blue is the color of my eyes. Blue is the sky. Blue is the ocean. Blue is the necklace. Blue is a big bag. What is Scarlet? By Layla Windsor Scarlet is a favorite candy. Scarlet is my favorite hat. Scarlet is my favorite coat. Scarlet is my nose when I get sick. Scarlet is a shirt I wear to school. What is Turquoise? By Rylie Morton Turquoise is a big shirt. Turquoise is a very big boy. Turquoise is a cool book. Turquoise is a caddie/ Turquoise is a pencil that I like. What is Green? By Grady Anderson Green is grass in my yard. Green is an alligator. Green is a lizard. Green is leaf hanging from a tree. Green is money in my wallet. What is Yellow? By Lucas Schroeder Yellow is a banana that I’m going to eat. Yellow is stars in the sky. Yellow is corn on a cob. Yellow is a lab dog. Yellow is a part in a rainbow. What is Red? By Jocelyn Henderson Red is a pretty carriage. Red is when I cut my finger. Red is a little caddie. Red is a dark shirt. Red is a medium chair. What is Violet? By Analise Migliaccio Violet is a beautiful diamond. Violet is a color of the rainbow. Violet is my favorite shirt. Violet is a beautiful ring. Violet is a color of a folder. What is Gray? By Anna Schroeder Gray is a stormy cloud. Gray is dirty snow. Gray is the sky when it is cloudy. Gray is an elephant in the circus. Gray is a rhinoceros at the zoo. What is White? By Kellen Bradt White is flat paper. White is a fluffy cloud. White is a big whiteboard. White is the cold snow. White is fully wool.

What is Copper? By Gwenyth Reed Copper is my sister’s pretty hair. Copper is a mug that I drink out of. Copper is my shoes that I wear. Copper is a pretty picture frame. Copper is a penny that I use. What is Silver? By Gabbie Reed Silver is a rock. Silver is sparkles. Silver is feathers on a bird. Silver is a soccer ball. Silver is my favorite paper. What is Orange? By Loch Tate Orange is a nice cat. Orange is an orange that I’m eating. Orange is a fluffy hat. Orange is a leaf falling. Orange is a piece of cheese. What is Pink? By Jayden Hendricksen Pink is a big shirt. Pink is a little bag. Pink is a small favorite marker. Pink is a cool long jacket. Pink is along eraser. What is Indigo? By CashLynn Wood Indigo is my favorite shirt. Indigo is a mitten that I wear. Indigo is a chameleon changing color. Indigo is my nose when I get sick. Indigo is a butterfly’s wings. What is Gold? By Ryan Coulter Gold is stars in the sky. Gold is goldfish. Gold is treasure I found. Gold is a trophy. Gold is a crown. What is Brown? By Jace Pedersen Brown is a big log. Brown is a short crayon. Brown is a little desk. Brown is a large chair. Brown is a big shirt. What is Black? By Elijah Pedersen Black is my big black eye. Black is my favorite black marker. Black is a magnet on a rail. Black is a button on a snowman. Black is a TV at my house. What is Purple? By Oliver Post Purple is a long scarf. Purple is a favorite marker of mine. Purple is a big clock. Purple is a big shirt. Purple is a cool crystal of mine.

The first grade classes will be presenting It’s All About Loose Teeth!, their musical presentation for this school year on Wednesday, April 20, 2011on the stage in the F-C Old Gym at 7:00 pm. The students will use tuned and untuned percussion instruments to accompany songs about this very widespread, 1st grade issue of losing teeth. The 1st graders will be wearing complementary, loose-tooth artwork. Free adult-supervised daycare in the elementary music room will be provided by the Florence-Carlton Parents and Teachers Group.

First Grade Music Concert

Looking for volunteers and donors to help with our 4th Annual Easter Egg Hunt. The Easter Egg hunt will be held at Hideout Mountain Park in Florence, at 11am, on Saturday, April 23rd. In past years we have had up to 750 children from the Florence, Lolo, and Stevi areas come to our event, and want to make it a fun experience again this year.

If you can help in anyway, please contact Cathy Woodward via email, cathy@florencechiro.com, or by phone 273-4686, or simply drop off your donations at our office, Florence Carlton Chiropractic 5537 Old US Hwy 93, Suite A Florence, MT. If your business would like to donate products, services or make a cash do-nation which will be used to purchase candy and prizes we greatly appreci-ate it! Any groups that would like to help fill a few hundred eggs are much appreciated, too! We appreciate new

or used plastic fillable Easter Eggs as well! Donors will be recognized on our flyers. Thank you!!

4th Annual Florence-Carlton Easter Egg Hunt

Students Helping Students Reading Buddies are Fun! By Kathryn Read Ms. Adams K/T-1 class likes the weather.

Weather The snow is soft The hail is hard

The sleet is slippery It’s all over the yard.

I like spring weather that is dry, for my birthday. Dallas Blair I like rainbow weather so I can look for the pot of gold. Brady Reed Rainbows are awesome to look at. Isaiah Babbitt I like spring because it gives our plants nutrition and water. Becca Jones I like spring and summer weather when the flowers grow. Kyla Tacker I like cloudy weather so I can find horse shaped clouds. Brianna Lindquist I like lightning because it is cool to see the shapes it makes. Justin Nelson Tornadoes are cool because they spin around. William Wagner Tornadoes can make you fly in the air. Be careful so you don’t get hurt. Sean Larson I like summer so I can go to the beach. Brandon Seeber I like to go to the river in summer so I can swim with my brothers, Conor and Jethro.

Page 5

Are you kidding me? Do we have to? No way! These are the usual responses I get each year when I announce to one of my high school classes that they will be reading to first graders. The prevalent moaning and groaning is sometimes accented by an occasional cheer as we head down the hall to Ms. Verlanic’s room to start our year of reading together. After the initial meeting my students come back to class and inevitably, even if they don’t want to admit it, their whole attitude has changed. We usually end up having a good conversation chuckling about all the crazy things the first graders said and did, and remembering all those childhood books that we loved when we were little. Our reading sessions continue on for the rest of the school year. Sometimes the highschoolers pick the books; sometimes the first graders do. Either way, the time spent reading and visiting is always a fun, positive experience for everyone. By the time June arrives, the highschoolers and first graders have developed positive relation-ships that have been nurtured through reading. I intentionally pick my class that has the most reluctant readers in it to engage with the first graders. The experience builds their confidence and makes them active participants in an activity most of them don’t feel comfortable with or don’t even like. They are able to help the younger stu-dents pronounce difficult words; they talk to them about the books; by just being there with a book in their hands, they become a role model for the younger kids, who see them as readers; and most of them realize how enjoyable the little kids can be. As a class we talk about the benefits that come when young kids are read to. Research shows reading aloud to children not only improves their reading skills, but also their written, oral and auditory skills while fostering a positive attitude towards reading (Elizabeth Qunell- Read Aloud Research). Students who read or are read to the most also read the best, achieve the most and stay in school the longest (Jim Trelease, Read Aloud Handbook). These undeniable facts are only a part of what makes this a constructive community.

In building our buddy relationships, we also undertake a few other activities. In the past few years we’ve carved pumpkins and cooked gingerbread men, made and flown paper airplanes, counted and written poems about buttercups, and written thank you cards to people who help out in the school and short stories about each other. The highschoolers and first graders, alike have only positive things to say about our time together. Here’s what a few of the highschoolers say: • “ It’s real fun to read to the first graders… even though

I’m bad at reading. It made the first graders feel more comfortable because I was still going for it, anyway.”

• “Little kids are fun to read to but I would rather have them read to me because I get to enjoy a good story, and I get to help them sound words out and learn the words!”

• “I like reading to the first graders. Why? I don’t know. I just do. It makes me think about when I’m older and when I might have kids and how I will act around them. I know I will read to them all the time!”

And the first graders say good things too: • “They show us to be smart.” • “I like it when they read us books.” • “I like them because they read books and help us read

books.” • “I like to learn books with them.” William Butler Yeats once said, "Education is not the fill-ing of a bucket but the lighting of a fire." Getting first graders and highschoolers together provides each group a spark that gets them excited about reading and ends up being a lot of fun.

Awesome Elementary News Mask and poetry writing by Mrs. Crawford's class

Page 6

Chip Jasmin recently completed a six week residency in the Florence-Carlton Elementary School. The theme of the residency was Montana. The emphasis of this study was based on a time-line: geology, tribal cultures, European exploration, territory/statehood, occupations, natural environment/wildlife, 21st century. The students experienced an integrated approach of history, geog-raphy and culture through the expressive art forms of song, dance, movement and story. Great fun was had by all! This residency was co-sponsored by a grant through the Montana Arts council, Artist in Schools/Communities program.

Ask us why? BECAUSE . . . . I liked his singing. By Jace Pedersen I liked all the dancing and singing together. By Jayden Hendricksen I liked the dancing because it was fun. By Grady Anderson I liked the dancing because we had partners. By Analise Migliaccio He taught us all songs like, ‘Big Fat Fish’. By Oliver Post He is the BEST banjo player. By Gwenyth Reed We sang, ‘Big Fat Fish’ every day. By Ryan Coulter I liked singing the ‘Big Fat Fish’ and her mom liked it too. By Claire Schneiter I liked it when he played the banjo. By Kellen Bradt I liked it when we danced boy and girl partners. By Layla Windsor I liked the Apple Tree dance because it was fun. By Lucas Schroeder I liked it when we played the Monkey in the Middle game. By Rylie Morton I liked it when we did the Apple Tree dance. By Gabbie Reed I liked it when Chip played the banjo. By Loch Tate I liked dancing with the boys. By Jocelyn Henderson I liked the dancing because you had a partner. By Eli Pedersen I liked the song, ‘Grandma Slid Down the Mountain’. By Anna Schroeder I liked the Apple Tree dance and his banjo. By CashLynn Wood I liked that we were just able to MOVE around. By Ms. Austin I liked singing the ‘Montana’ and ‘Big Fat Fish’ songs. By Mrs. Crawford That’s why. A week with Chip Jasmin was AWESOME!

A week with Chip Jasmin was AWESOME! By Mrs. Crawford & Ms. Austin’s 1-2 Combo Class

In the last issue of the Falcon View, our classroom shared an article about Katherine Fichtler helping us make clay masked. Mrs. Fichtler outlined step by step to making clay masks. She taught us to visualize our animal, put our ideas on paper and then we got to make our mask out of clay. After the mask were fired, we finished up by adding feather, beads, sea shells and etc. Thank you again, Katherine for helping us design and finish our clay masks. You are Awesome!

A letter from a former student to one of her elementary teachers “Wow, I was in your class 9 years ago…We have to write to someone who has helped us. You were the first person I thought of…I don’t know if you remember me, but I remember you. Thank you for everything. I have many dreams and goals and some I got from you! A comment from a teacher about students and behavior Before coming to Florence, I, as a student and, now a teacher, experienced many students be punished or segregated from their peers for behavior infractions. There were mostly “consequences” with little time spent figuring out what might be wrong or bothering the child who had just commit-ted the offense. My experience at FCS has completely changed my perceptions and made me think from the point of view of the student. I have watched the teachers and specialists provide support for each other and the students. The extra time students spend talking with someone and work-ing out those challenges allow them to gain the tools to deal with the issues that challenge them. Instead of students being “brushed under the rug”, they are brought to the forefront and dealt with in a manner that gives the student a sense of pride and accomplishment, not shame. Hard questions for teachers A very serious and soft spoken kindergarten student says to her teacher, “Can I ask you a question? How do we get another day?” The teacher, who is taken aback at the depth of the question, says, “Can you explain your question?” The child says, “Well, like when you go to sleep at night and then you wake up the next morning and it is another day.” After a moment of panic the teacher looks around the room and grabs the stuffed pillow world. Pointing it at the light on the ceiling she talks about when earth faces the sun; it is day, and when it turns away from the sun; it is night. That people long ago used the light and dark to mark a full “day” And then the teacher says to herself, “I don’t even know if that is a good enough answer.”

Soarin’ With the Falcons is a place to share some positive moments at Florence Carlton School

Community Information Page 7

Florence is being overrun by an outside force and is defenseless against its violent advances. No, it’s not being invaded by someone, but by something. Seemingly overnight a tasty treat called the F’real has firmly plated itself in the center of Florence, at Town Pump. In mid-January, a seemingly peaceful day, a simple stop for gas would change the world for-ever. The average trip into the Town Pump to pay for some gas is a fairly quick and easy process, although this was not the case on this particular day. At first glance all looked to be the same, but upon further inspection one strange outside force sent all patrons into a frenzy: a large fully automated machine that makes milkshakes, smoothies and cappuccinos! The invasion of the tasty treats was won long before it had even started. According to Betty Rice, a Town Pump employee, 252 F’reals sold in the first ten days. Word of the delectable treats quickly spread and the taste buds of all who tasted the F’reals were instantly indoctri-nated with their sinister plan. The F’real company, and founder Jim Farrell, publically state that they only want to “help make the world a better place one giant slurp at a time,” but they also call it “the Milkshake Revolution, a groundswell of swell, and we proudly lead the charge, F’real flag raised high.” What could this possibly mean? Total world domination! Farrell says that he started the company with a simple goal of making old, boring milkshakes into the freshest, tastiest, real milkshakes ever. And Farrell seems to have done just this, but has possibly made them too addicting. Just listen to the sad story of one Florence student taken in by the maddening effects of her first F’real. “At first I was skeptical, but once I witnessed and tasted the magical process that is a F’real my life was changed as my taste buds exploded and angles cried,” said senior Megan Leath-ers. The total takeover only continues to gain ground with added flavors reigning in even more victims of the F’real infestation. New flavors such as chocolate mint chip and cookies and cream sweep across Florence in a flood of flavor. “The first day we got cookies and cream we sold 5 cases in 24 hours!” added Rice. So what does this mean for the average Florence resident? Well my only advice is to accept defeat, and worship our new supreme overlords of taste, and now for only $2.47!

Bitterroot Bucs will be holding the Second Annual 2011 Baseball Camp on Saturday, April 23, 2011 at the Buc’s field—Florence Community Park ⇒ Ages 8 to 12 years – 9:00 to 11:30 (registration

8:30 to 9:00) ⇒ Ages 13 to 15 years – 1:00 to 4:00 (registration

12:30 to 1:00) ⇒ $25 per player ($5 for each additional player

per family) Learn from Bucs coaches and players: Fielding, throwing, hitting, bunting, base running, infield and outfield fundamentals, pitching, catching. Registrations forms available at Florence Elementary School Office or contact Tina Phillips at 370-6320

2nd Annual Baseball Camp F’real F’nomenon: Tasty treat invades Florence By Tanner Lavering

Dear Coach Baerlocher and Falcons, On Friday, March 11th a group of our Senior resi-dents were exiting the restaurant as you were enter-ing. Initially, I was impressed with the respect shown by your team to our residents. Then, as I was assisting one of the ladies (she was using the walker) your team put their hands up and formed a bridge for her to walk under. She was elated and I was impressed. That lady celebrates her 99th birth-day this week. Thank you very much, Sincerely, Pat Molloy, Great Falls, MT

A Letter to Coach Baerlocher and the Florence Falcons

A Day of Science and Math Exploration for Girls in Grades 6-8

Saturday, April 30, 2011 8:30-3:00 PM

MSU, Bozeman Fee: $20

Questions? Contact Martha Sellers, 406-994-6683, marthabsellers@gmail.com

http://eu.montana.edu/ContinuingEd/youth/

Expanding Your Horizons Workshop

What’s coming up in the Middle School? April 11-15 Indian Education Week April 13 Technology Safety Assembly April 15 MS Dance 7:30-9:00 April 20 Senior Citizen Outreach 2:00 Old Gym April 27 Special Olympics April 28 Ravalli Task Force Simulation Activities-8th grade only May 6 4th Qtr. - Midterm

From left to right: Ross Mangun,

Austin Slominski, Shea Hawkins

Remember the Senior on Monday @ 11:30 in the Florence Fire Hall. For

more information call Margie @ 273-2780.

April 2011 Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat

1A 2

3 4 5 6 7 8 9

10 11B 12A 13B 14A 15B 16

17 18A 19B 20A 21B 22 23

24 25A 26B 27A 28B 29A 30

MS/HS Line 2 Mon.—Burger Day Tues.—Pizza Day Wed.—Chicken Day Thurs.—Wrap Day Fri.—Nacho Day

Breakfast Menu Mon.—Cooks Choice Tues.—French Toast Wed.—Scrambled Eggs & ham Thurs.—Waffles Fri.—Cinnamon rolls *Cold Cereal, oatmeal, toast, fruit, or milk are available if a student doesn't want the day’s special

PIR Day –no school

Pepperoni pizza, carrots, fruit cocktail, rice crispy treats, 1% white & choc milk, skim milk

Barchetta pizza, carrots, applesauce, ice cream cups, 1% white & choc milk, skim milk

Chicken fajitas, nacho chips, oranges, graham cookies, 1% white & choc milk, skim milk

Egg rolls, fried rice, pineapple chunks, gingersnaps, 1% white & choc milk, skim milk

Hamburger, French fries, apple, 1% white & choc milk, skim milk

Chicken sandwich, macaroni salad, fruit cocktail, shape up, 1% white & choc milk, skim milk

Chicken salad sandwich, veggie beans, fruit snacks, 1% white & choc milk, skim milk

Chicken taco, mexi rice, oranges, cinnamon breadsticks, 1% white & choc milk, skim milk

Sloppy joes, French fries, mandarin oranges, 1% white & choc milk, skim milk

Turkey pot pie, apple, B-cake, 1% white & choc milk, skim milk

Hot dog, veggie beans, grapes, 1% white & choc milk, skim milk

Lasagna, garlic bread, peas, oranges, graham cookies, 1% white & choc milk, skim milk

Turkey sub, corn chips, celery sticks, oatmeal choc chip cake, 1% white & choc milk, skim milk

Pancakes, sausage, orange juice, muffin, 1% white & choc milk, skim milk

Choice day– tomato soup w/ crackers, ham & cheese sandwich or PB & J, peaches, cowboy cookies, 1% white & choc milk, skim milk

Elementary Music Concert 7:00 pm

The Florence Civic Club is currently seek-ing nominations for the annual Florence Community Service Award. We are seek-ing nominations for individuals or groups who have made a significant public ser-vice contribution by serving others in the Florence community in the last year. If you would like to nominate someone for this service award, please write a letter describing how your nominee has served others. In your letter, please include the following information – nominee name, type of contribution, results achieved, du-ration and how their service has made a positive, significant influence in the Flor-ence community. Nomination letters should be mailed to the Florence Civic Club, P.O. Box 544 , Flor-ence MT 5983 and received by April 16, 2011. The Florence Civic Club meets the first Monday of each month at the Florence-Carlton Administration Building.

Community Service Awards

Civic Club Mtg 7:00 Music Booster Mtg 7:00

Board Mtg 7:00

Booster Club Mtg 7:00

Softball @ Mission (V) 4:00

Softball vs Hamilton (JV) 5:00

Softball @ Frenchtown TBA

HS Track @ Corvallis 9:30

Softball vs Troy (V) 12:00/2:00

Softball @ Belgrade TBA HS Track @ Frenchtown

9:30

Softball @ Thompson Falls (V) 4:00

Softball vs Thompson Falls (V) 4:00

Softball vs Deer Lodge (V) 4:00/6:00

Softball vs Drummond (V) 4:00/6:00

Softball @ Frenchtown TBA

HS Track @ U of M 10:00

HS Track @ Big Fork 10:00

HS Track @ Big Sky 3:30

HS Track @ Seeley Lake 9:30

HS Track @ Big Sky 3:30 HS Track @ Corvallis 9:30

MS Track @ Corvallis 10:00

MS Track @ Corvallis 10:00

Missoula’s largest art show will be held from May 3rd to May 22nd. Southgate Mall will be filled with art work created by students in grades Kindergarten through 8th Grade. If you are interested in helping to set up or take down this art show please contact Mrs. Hartman or Mr. Stiegler. We will begin setting up the show on Sunday May 1st at 3:00 PM and will begin taking down on Sunday May 22nd at 3:00 PM. We realize that it will be in the middle of soccer season but even an hour of your time helps us tremendously.

2011 Southgate Mall Art Show

District II Music Festival in Missoula

National Honor Society and Key Club will be sponsoring their annual American Red Cross Blood Drive on May 4th in

the old gym. Donation times begin at 3pm and go until 7pm. Call 273-6301 ext 420 to sign up for a time. If you have general questions about donating go to the American Red Cross website : http://www.redcross.org/donate/give/

Early out 2:05

Annual Blood Drive Type 1 Diabetes Workshop will be held on Saturday, April 16, 2011 at the Community Medical Center from 8:30 am—2:30 pm. For more information contact Janice Tate, RN CDE @ 406-327-4323 The Parents Diabetes Research Update and Teens & Kids Pool Party will be held at Cur-rents Water Park from 6:30 pm– 8:30 pm. RSVP: Trish @ 406-549-0554 JDRF Walk to Cure Diabetes will be held on Sunday, April 17, 2011 at Dornblaser Stadi-um. 1:00 pm check in, 2:00 pm start time. For more information contact Trish Duce @ 549-0554 or register online at http://walk.jdrf.org

Diabetes Awareness Weekend

On May 21, 2011, we will be hosting a bake sale on behalf of Cookies for Kids’ Cancer at the Florence Town Pump parking lot. This bake sale is to raise awareness and funds for Pediatric Cancer Research. It is also to honor of Liam Witt, who would have turned 7 years old in May. We are in need of baked good donations for the bake sale and if you would like to volunteer to work at the Bake Sale, please contact Luci Synek @ 273-4203 or email @ c4kc59833@gmal.com for more information.

Cookies for Kids’ Cancer—Baked Good Donations Needed