What a great week!

I began this week in Memphis, Tennessee! Becky Faulkner, our lower school technology director, and I had the opportunity to visit two schools in the Memphis area on Monday and Tuesday of this past week. I love visiting other schools, and it is a must for a school that is growing and changing daily, however, I love coming home to Trinity! I miss our students and faculty/staff every time I am off campus and am reminded to be so thankful for our learning community. Thank you for your encouragement and support as we strive to be the best we can be for our students.

I returned to so many wonderful learning experiences taking place on our campus. Third grade shared with me their iMovies that they are working on at this time. I was blessed to be able to sub a bit for my first grade friends! I certainly enjoyed seeing the growth that occurs in first grade! Our second graders kicked off the theme, "Talent Show", in their reading program and decided to actually have classroom talent shows on Friday! Our second graders have been working on good questioning skills and they asked wonderful questions of each participant concerning their talent. I heard the following questions asked:

*How did you choose this talent?
*How long did it take you to learn this talent?
*How did you become so good at this?

What a great way to end our week. Please enjoy the following pictures from second grade.











Third Grader, Emma Pittman, Places in Essay Contest!

Some of our third graders recently entered a Weekly Reader "eyewitness to history" essay contest in which they interviewed a person who lived through a historic event. Third grader, Emma Pittman, placed runner up in this contest and won a cash prize of $50. We are so proud of her interview and essay written about her great-grandmother who was an eyewitness to history. Congratulations, Emma!





Upcoming Events in Lower School:

*Class Group Pictures will be Thursday, March 31st, 8-10:45 a.m. (approx.)
*April 4-8 Standardized Testing and early dismissal on Friday, April 8th, 11:30 a.m.

Recent Happenings at TPS!

Giving from the Heart!

Thanks to all of our students and parents for helping with our recent local ministry outreach projects! Our K-2nd grade students collected items for the Nehemiah Project and our 3rd-5th grade students collected items for the Giving Center. A special thank you to Becky and Phil Pouncey and Suzanne and Larry Chapman for helping deliver those items!


Science Fest

Thank you to Mrs. Teresa Henderson, our science lab teacher, for putting together a super science fest afternoon! Our students enjoyed a wonderful afternoon full of hands on science based activities as well as guest speakers. Mrs. Henderson was assisted by several parent volunteers (and this was the Friday before spring break!) as well as our Trinity teachers! Great team work!






















Recent Wildcat Spotting


Many TPS Wildcats were spotted at the recent Duathlon (biking and running only) held at the Wilson YMCA. There was a children's event and an adult event. We had many families that not only participated in the events but also worked as volunteers to make the race possible. I grabbed two of them for a picture--a current kindergarten student and an '03 graduate!
You never know where you will find Trinity Wildcats!

Be Vigilant and Be Intentional!

We all know that parenting calls us to be vigilant and intentional. In today's world of social media, it is more important than ever for us to be made aware of the pitfalls that can trip up our children. Tonight, Monday, March 7th, at 6:30 p.m. in Willett Hall, Trinity will host, Liz Carter, a local attorney and social media law expert in a step toward helping educate our parents concerning potential problems involved with social media. Please click here for more information on the Trinity website.

Please remember to check out Common Sense Media site by clicking here! This is another great tool to help you investigate movies, books, websites, and the latest apps that children may download to help you guide your children in making wise choices!


Read Across America Day!

Thank you to all of our guest readers last Wed., March 2nd, for helping us celebrate Read Across America Day! A big thank you to Mrs. Osmer, lower school librarian, for all the arrangements to make this happen for our students in K-5!

Report Card Reminder!

Report Cards go home this Thursday! We are now officially in the the last nine weeks of our school year!

Science Fest!

We will once again enjoy Science Fest on Friday, March 11th, 12 noon - 3 p.m. Thank you to Mrs. Henderson, our science lab teacher, for all the effort and planning that goes into that special focus on science!

Spring Break

I probably do not have to remind anyone that March 14-18 is our Spring Break! Please have a safe and restful week!

Special days: Col. Burks shares at chapel, fifth graders tell about their recent space camp trip, and Valentine parties were a big hit!

Accelerated Reader Top Points for January!

Our AR luncheon was this past week and what a great time we had eating lunch together! Students shared about the books they are currently reading. I am always amazed at how many tips for comprehension our students share with each other at these luncheons. One student mentioned that "visualizing" the story was extremely important. Students discussed reading books as a class (classroom trade book or novel) and how much they enjoyed the discussion of these books in class. A student made an interesting and insightful observation concerning this type of reading. He said that listening to others tell their point of view about a part of a book forces you to "situate" the information in your brain!

Upcoming Dates in Lower School

Upcoming dates:

*Mon., 2/7 --Midterm Reports
*Mon., 2/14--Classroom Valentine Parties (approx. 1:45-2:45 p.m.)
*Mon.-Wed., 2/14-2/16--Fifth Grade Space Camp Trip
*Mon., 2/21--School Holiday
*Wed., 2/23--Lower School Chapel 8:15 a.m.

Reminder that we will be in school on Friday, 2/18, to make up a weather day.

I wish all of you could experience what I get to experience each day as I visit classrooms. I thought about this a great deal this past week because for two days I had the honor of speaking to incoming kindergarten parents about Trinity. It is extremely exciting to speak about Trinity but it is beyond exciting to be in the actual classrooms on a daily basis. I get the honor of watching planning and preparation come together for your students. I get to see the excitement in their eyes as they share their points of view on a reading selection or ask questions about the hands on science experiment. I get to be there when they remind the teacher about the Bible memory work for this week and how it can be applied in the novel they are reading. I get to be there to watch a teacher demonstrate a math procedure one more time and the light bulb come on for a student. I get to be there when students use technology to bring their presentations to life. Yes, I wish you could all be there. It truly is an honor.

Please take time in the next weeks to visit the hallway and investigate some of the wonderful hall displays. These truly reflect a community of learners seeking higher order thinking skills for your students. I look forward to seeing you in the hallways!

Have a great week!

January and February are fun filled learning months!

Trinity School is making the most of January and February! January began with our First Semester Celebration where we gave thanks for a job well done and prepared ourselves to take full advantage of all learning opportunities in Second Semester. Kindergarten celebrated 100 days of school while our first graders celebrated 101 days of school. These celebrations both involved learning activities full of fun, excitement, and memories! Our second graders honored their grandparents at a special ceremony on Friday, Jan. 28th. The month of February is just as packed with learning experiences. Our fifth graders will make their annual trip to Space Camp and lower school will worship together in a chapel at the end of the month. What an exciting time on our campus!

*Note: Incoming Kindergarten Testing for 2011-2012 School Year will be Feb. 2/3.