Welch and MinBorg Crews getting ready to board the Amtrak to Sacramento.

Welch and MinBorg Crews getting ready to board the Amtrak to Sacramento.

Expedition Express

I’ve Been Working on the Railroad: The start to our 2015-2016 school year began with many exciting fieldwork adventures. On September 17, our crew walked to Donner Memorial State Park to kick-off our fall expedition. We met with Ranger Steve and began our learning of the historic Transcontinental Railroad. On October 6, our crew, along with the MinBorg crew, headed up to Donner Summit to experience the famous tunnels and snowsheds built by Chinese laborers. We learned about the longest tunnel built, Tunnel #6 and how the Chinese worked on that tunnel for 18 months from 4 different directions. Our most recent fieldwork included a train ride from Truckee to Sacramento on Amtrak with a visit to the California State Railroad Museum. These in-field experiences cannot be replicated by reading text in a book. Our students get hands on learning by visiting these historic locations and seeing actual locomotives from the 1800’s.

Questions to ask your child about their learning:

  • Why did people call Theodore Judah “crazy”?
  • Who was the BIG 4  and why were they important to the Transcontinental Railroad?
  • Who built a majority of the railroad for the Central Pacific Railroad from Sacramento through Truckee?

Crew News

Calling all Volunteers: If you signed up to volunteer in the classroom, I will be contacting you in the next couple of weeks to confirm your days and times.

Goal Setting Conferences: The first week of November is scheduled minimum days to meet with students and parents to set goals for the upcoming year. Be on the lookout in your child’s yellow folder for preparation materials for these conferences. Sign-ups will be coming out on a Google Doc in mid-October.

Library Visits: We have started our visits to the Nevada County Library. Thank you for sending in your child’s public library cards. Each student is allowed to check out 3 books per visit. We visit the library every 2-3 weeks, depending on the school calendar and holidays. Our scheduled visits will be listed in the Daily Planners. If your child forgets their books, no worries, we can renew them once. Please help your child with their RESPONSIBILITY for LEARNING by treating these borrowed materials with respect and returning them to school on time.

Visiting Author:  Our crew was fortunate enough to have author Jimetta Mayne visit our crew to read her book What If to the students. This book discusses the power of positive thinking and making good choices. We really enjoyed her visit.

Jimetta Mayne reads her book What If to students in the Welch Crew

Jimetta Mayne reads her book What If to students in the Welch Crew

SELS NEWS

Picture Re-takes and Make-ups: Your school photos will be sent home this week. If you would like your child to re-take their pictures or they were absent on picture day, send them with their best smiles on Wednesday, October 14th.

SELS Summit Day: Friday, October 16th is our 2nd annual SELS Summit Day. Please send your child to school ready to hike with a healthy lunch and snack, water bottle, hat, sunscreen, good hiking shoes, and their SELS t-shirt. This was a highlight last year and I predict will become one of the favorite ALL SCHOOL activities in the years to come.

BEAR Walk: October 30 is our annual Bear Walk fundraiser. Students compete in a walk-a-thon, collecting pledges and donations for the total number of laps walked. Costumes are encouraged for the fun-filled event. Parents – keep an eye out for food opportunities to keep our little bears well fed. This is one case in which we want to FEED the BEARS!

Truckee River Day: Our crew participated in a SWEP activity a couple of weeks ago making Lahontan Cutthroat Trout. This was to excite our students about a Service opportunity on Sunday, October 18, Truckee River Day. If you are interested in participating, please check it out.