Spring cleaning? Wellness Wednesday edition!

 Spring cleaning? Consider contributing to South

Mrs. Joyce, one of our 6th grade Math teachers, has long used Lego bricks to help students visualize fractions. This year, she excitedly told me about the breakthrough of using MagnaTiles to visualize geometry in 3D. How many sets of magnetic blocks do you have sitting in box in your attic?? If your family's days of playing with magnetic tiles are a distant memory, please consider donating them to your friendly Math teacher! Once they're here, we find they are also a great way to spend indoor recess.
It never ceases to amaze me how quickly middle school kids let their inner child run free as soon as certain things happen:

• You give them something to color,
• You read aloud to them, or
• They have downtime and toys like fidgets, MagnaTiles, Lego, etc.

It never fails! 30 seconds in, and suddenly the kids are giggling and chatting--or attentively following along with a story--entirely engrossed in their activity!
As you know, the faculty & staff at South have been focusing on how we use our time and devices at school. Teachers remind students to put phones away for the day in their lockers, and in study halls they are discussing how to use devices as a tool for study--and how to put it aside when it's not needed for work. In classes, lessons are planned to use devices when they are helpful, but teachers are also choosing activities that benefit from these hours when kids are together with one another. More group work and social activities can happen in some classes, while others might plan computer work for classtime so they can give immediate feedback and help kids limit screentime at home. What we're finding is, with more social activities at school, teachers are hungry for more opportunities to let kids play structured games and develop important communication and social skills.

How can you help?
Donate toys & social games for indoor recess:
Lego, Magnetic Tiles, sets of blocks (like Jenga)
Board games (especially classic games or relatively simple-to-learn games)
Puzzle games (like Zentangles, pattern recognition, Rubik's Cube)
Card games (no gambling please!)
Fidgets, like Aaron's Thinking Putty

Donate toys & games for outdoor recess:
Jump ropes for individuals & groups
Hula hoops
Basketballs
Soccer balls
Volleyballs
(No footballs please... that always ends in a scrum, which our blacktop surface doesn't play well with!)
Cleaning out your garage, attic, basement, or shed? Send us any equipment in usable condition. We appreciate your support!With all best wishes,
Damon Rainie

P.S. Cold & flu season is hopefully winding down, but allergy season is just starting to show its head. Kleenex donations will be gladly welcomed by all teachers! Antiseptic wipes, pencils, and Expo markers, too!