The Hawk Happenings: Pennoyer Staff Newsletter

Hawk Thoughts & Happenings

Team Pennoyer,

I hope everyone had a good first week back after our Thanksgiving break! I have to say, things were a little more dramatic and crazy around the old Greenberg house than Pennoyer this week, which I guess is probably a good thing. We learned this week that we have many little friends joining us in our new home...mice! On Wednesday night, around 9pm, my daughter Sadie let out a blood curling scream that I seriously thought was because there was somebody in our house trying to hurt her. I was upstairs at the time and raced down the stairs as fast as I could. Sadie was in the kitchen when she saw a little brown field mouse scatter across the floor and run down under the doorway to the basement. Shaking and standing up on a chair with tears rolling down her cheek, I picked up my 6th grade daughter, which isn't so easy these days anymore, and had to carry her upstairs to her room so her feet didn't hit the floor. I will say this occurrence ended up being inevitable as I've come to learn this week and maybe a good thing in the end, because after having a professional come out yesterday, we found out that we have whole families of mice and possibly other things that have been living in the soffits and insulation throughout our basement for years and years. It's a bigger issue than I thought I guess, and my wife is ready to literally move to a hotel, but I think we got it under control. I sent the photo below to my wife yesterday, and let's just say she didn't it was that funny. Not easy to live me and my constant jokes sometimes. We'll catch all these little guys soon enough though.

Enjoy your weekend everyone in the comfort of your homes and whatever might be lurking around!

Interested in some new Pennoyer Spirit Wear...check out this LINK, which is also featured on our PTC website. Everything can be shipped directly to your home!

Newcomer Support Guide for Staff - With the support of Monica, Melissa, and Rachel, we've been looking to gather up resources that would be helpful for our staff with newcomer students at Pennoyer that come in with very limited English. I know it's been a difficult adjustment for many of our students, along with our staff, and we're always looking for better tools and ways of helping our students feel comfortable, engaged, supported, and part of daily lessons. Please feel free to look this GUIDE over and add anything you'd like along the way this school year. You can bookmark the doc and use anything in it as needed. I thought it would be helpful to have one place to look for resources that could be helpful. I'll continue to reach out to colleagues in West 40 and other areas to see what I can gather up and I welcome any ideas and collaboration on this. Thanks everyone!

HERE is the Staff Meeting Agenda in the MPR for Monday, December 5th.

Hawk Action Items

West 40 - Newcomer Item Drive - Think about supporting this initiative. HERE is more information if you're interested.
Eisenhower Library Story Essay Activity for Students! If you think you may have some students at any age that would be interested in something like this, please pass it along. It looks like a real cool opportunity for any creative writers! There is no deadline I'm aware of to turn these in, but I'm sure the sooner, the better. HERE is the information!
Interested in SEL Professional Development...check out what West 40 has to offer!

Weekly Hawk Playlist/Lyric

"He came from somewhere back in her long ago. The sentimental fool don't see tryin' hard to recreate what had yet to be created. Once in her life, she musters a smile, for his nostalgic tale..."

What a Fool Believes by the Doobie Brothers

Hawk Celebrations

This week we're celebrating our amazing art teacher, Kajsa Meyer! Ms. Meyer is amazing with our students at Pennoyer. She puts so much thought and creativity into her lessons and connecting with each and every student. There's always positive vibes coming out of her classroom and she has encouraged our students to explore so many different facets of art. Ms. Meyer has collaborated with Artsonia to showcase all of the incredible work our students do and stay connected to families. She also runs a thriving art club for so many of our students that share in her obvious passion. We're lucky to have her here at Pennoyer!