School: Brina & Karlie’s 4th Grade Awards Ceremony!
Proud of my girls!
Brina and Karlie had their 4th grade Awards Ceremony on Tuesday, June 2nd. Jake and I knew the girls did really well this year and worked very hard, but we were still blown away by the amount of awards they received. I honestly don’t think Jake was in his chair for more than 5 minutes throughout the entire Awards Ceremony (seriously). Every time he sat down one or both of the girls names would be announced to receive another award. The grandpa sitting next to me said “Wow, you most be doing something right with those kids. They are very talented!” Both girls did worked hard all year even when it wasn’t always easy so it is something exciting to celebrate with them!
They both had great teachers this school year. The teachers encouraged them to learn a lot! Their Homeroom Teachers, Gifted & Talented Teacher, Reading Teacher, and STEM Club Coaches were all good about communicating with the parents which is always key in helping the kids be successful. Thankful for all the teachers and all energy they put into our kids this school year.
We are VERY PROUD of the hard work these girls did and the amount they were able to accomplish throughout the 4th grade year! The girls have the biggest class in the school so it is a huge honor to get these awards. Their classes are large and it takes a lot of work to get these honors. Way to go girls!!!
Karlie and Brina received 13 Award Certificates + 10 Award Medals + 2 Award Pins:
- 2 – Highest Math Achievement Awards (Both girls were the highest in their classes)! (Received 2 Award Certificates & 2 Award Medals)
- 1 – Highest Social Studies Achievement Award (Received 1 Award Certificate & 1 Award Medal)
- 1 – Highest Reading Achievement Award (Received 1 Award Certificate & 1 Award Medal)
- 1 – Highest Science Achievement Award (Received 1 Award Certificate & 1 Award Medal)
- 1 – Highest Language Arts Achievement Award (Received 1 Award Certificate & 1 Award Medal)
- 1 – “A” Honor Roll Award (Received 1 Award Certificate & 1 Award Medal)
- 1 – “A/B” Honor Roll Award (Received 1 Award Certificate & 1 Award Medal)
- 1 – 1st Place Accelerated Reading Award (Received 1 Award Certificate & 1 Award Medal)
- 1 – Pickens County Youth Arts Award (Received 1 Award Certificate)
- 1 – Children’s Book Award (Received 1 Award Certificate & 1 Award Medal)
- 2 – STEM Club Awards (their STEM Club Team – Solar SySTEM went to state) (Received 2 Award Certificates & 2 Award Pins)
Here are some of the pictures from their big Awards Night! Very proud of our girls!
Way to go Brina and Karlie
Brina’s Honor Roll
Karlie’s Honor Roll
Highest Reading Achievement Award
Highest Language Arts Achievement Award
Highest Math Achievement Awards – Brina and Karlie!
Highest Science Achievement Award
STEM Club Awards
Highest Social Studies Achievement Award
Children’s Book Award
Pickens County Youth Arts Award
Talking with friends after the Awards Ceremony!
Brina showing us her cool projects in the hallway!
Brina and Karlie’s certificates, medals, and pins literally filled our kitchen table!
STEM Club, Highest Achievement in Math (for their class), and Honor Roll Awards & Medals for both girls!
Below are some of the pictures of their medals from their 4th Grade Awards Night (I didn’t take pictures of all of them or they didn’t turn out plus some were similar, but this will give you the idea of what they brought home on their 4th Grade Awards Night)!
2 of these Medals for Highest Math Achievement Medal (1 for Brina and 1 for Karlie)
All “A” Honor Roll for the Entire School Year
Highest Social Studies Achievement Medal
Highest Reading Achievement Medal
Highest Language Arts Achievement Medal
Multiple ones of this medal – 1st Place Accelerated Reading & Children’s Book Award
Highest Science Achievement Medal
All “A-B” Honor Roll for the Entire School Year
We are super excited to see all that the girls have accomplished this year. We are thankful for all their effort and hard work. It is evident that they can do a lot and learned a great deal this school year. They finished strong. It is still hard to believe that this is their last day of 4th grade, they are growing up too quickly.
We are looking forward to a fun summer full of learning, memories, and catching up with family and friends! It is our hope that they continue to enjoy learning and growing as they get older. Thankful for our girls. We are very blessed! LOVE YOU BRINA AND KARLIE!!!
School: STEM Club & First Lego League (FLL)
An awesome and delicious brownie cookie made by one of the Mom’s!
As the school year comes to an end I want to share with you a few highlights over the last couple of months. I was going through my pictures recently and realized I hadn’t posted on some of the kids big activities for the school year. We have been so busy trying to wrap up everything that needs to be done with the end of school some things just got away from me.
It is hard to believe that my babies will be finishing up 4th grade in just a couple of days. Although they put in a lot of work, time, and energy this school year we managed to learn a lot and have some fun along the way too. I am thankful for the teachers and administration who helped our girls throughout the school year.
The girls had a blast in STEM Club this year! It was a great year of learning, working together with other students, competing, and many other wonderful activities. It was a big time investment especially at the beginning of the year when they were meeting twice a week after school, but it paid off and they won a trophy and the golden ticket to state competition (a picture below)! Very proud of their hard work!
First Lego League: Robotics STEM Competition – Solar SySTEM!
Party celebrating their achievements at district level!
They went on to compete at State and did very well. This was their first time at state (the club started last year). They competed not against a lot of other elementary schools, but also against middle schools as well. It was neat seeing all the kids work so well together. The coaches did an amazing job encouraging the kids. Grateful for this opportunity to our kids to learn and compete!
They won the judges award at State Competition! First Lego League (FLL): State STEM Lego Robotics Competition
Cute treat made by one of their coaches for their Congratulations Celebration! STEM Club & Lego Robotics
Thankful that the girls had the opportunity to participate in STEM Club and First Lego League competitions this year. It was a lot of fun yet big learning experience. They couldn’t have done it without the assistance of all their coaches who invested a lot of time into the kids. It has sparked the girls interest in robotics and technology as well as developed more team building, life skills, and so much more!
Teaching Our Children: About Solar and Lunar Eclipses
Jake teaching the girls about eclipses!
Recently the girls were learning about eclipses for their science unit in school. Even though we had studied that section for a couple days they were not consistently getting the concept. Jake came up with a great visual tool to demonstrate the solar and lunar eclipses so that the girls to remember it more easily. Thankful for a husband who is creative and invests time in teaching our kids! Thanks Babe!
The orange is the moon and the balloon is the Earth. We used a flashlight for the sun!
For kids who are visual learners this is an easy way to help them grasp the differences between a solar and lunar eclipse!
We shut off the room lights so they could see how the sun (flashlight), moon (orange), and Earth (balloon) aligned to make a solar and lunar eclipse.
Solar Eclipse:
During a solar eclipse the Moon will cast a shadow on the Earth. When a solar eclipse happens the moon is in between the sun and the Earth. You can demonstrate this by placing the moon (orange) between the sun (flashlight) and the Earth (balloon). When the Moon is between the Earth and Sun it will block some of the sun from hitting the Earth and cast a shadow. Only the people directly in the shadow can see the entire eclipse of the Sun.
Lunar Eclipse:
During a lunar eclipse the Earth will cast a shadow on the Moon, therefore no light will be hitting the Moon. The Earth will cast a shadow on the Moon because it is between the Sun and the Moon. You can demonstrate this by placing the Earth (balloon) between the Sun (flashlight) and the Moon (orange). Since the Earth is bigger than the Moon the entire Moon will be in its shadow. Anyone on Earth that is on the night side can see the lunar eclipse.
If you really want to “show” the kids more about the Solar and Lunar Eclipse you may be able to catch the next one depending on where you are located and if the weather cooperates for you!
Next Lunar Eclipse: Saturday, April 4, 2015 – It will be a Total Lunar Eclipse and will be visible before dawn from the Pacific Ocean, Americas, Asia, and Australia.
Next Solar Eclipse: Friday, March 20, 2015 – It will be Total Solar Eclipse and will be visible from Iceland, Europe, North Africa, and Northern Asia (unfortunately, we will not be able to see it in North America). It looks like the next one we’ll see from the United States will be on August 21, 2017 which will be visible from North America and South America.
First Lego League: Robotics STEM Competition – Solar SySTEM!
Very excited! Their team won a 1st place Trophy and a Gold Ticket to the SC State Robotics Competition!
The girls Solar SySTEM Lego Robotics STEM Club team went to the regional competitions this past weekend! It was a long and busy Saturday day. We left the house before sun up so we could be in Seneca by 7:20 am and didn’t get home until after 6 pm that night. The girls team had several rounds at the competition. They were scored in multiple areas and did well!
Three rounds of their robot completing tasks on the map which they scored pretty high on. Another part of the competition was their core values which is their team spirit and how they interact with the other teams. They have to give a presentation on this piece as well in front of the judges. Another piece of the competition was their research, project, and presentation which the kids presented in front of the judges on their own. They won the first place trophy in this category (on their research, project, and presentation).
The work is done by the students from the logo design, research, development, presentations, and so much more! The team worked so well together and put in a lot of hours working on their research, development, robotics, and project. They do the majority of their work in front of the judges with no coaches or parents in the room (we can’t even watch, but thankfully they had it video taped). The only piece the parents and coaches can watch is the one when they do their robotic map missions otherwise they are on their own once in the room and in front of the judges.
The team pick a solar system theme. They named their team the Solar SySTEM and the catch phrase is “Stay in Orbit”! The research project they decided to do was to build a computer game that would help kids learn more about the solar system. They named their robot, SpaceBot!
It was a super busy and long day for the kids, but they were awesome. There were 21 teams competing that day so it was a real honor to win a trophy and get the opportunity to move forward. Their hard work really paid off with the trophy and qualifying for the SC Competition! WooHoo! Very proud of the girls and their team!
Playing a hangman game before competition starts!
Karlie all smiles after the first robotic map round when they scored all 100 points!
Their robot going through the tasks on the map!
Brina hanging up their spirit posters.
Their team going through the tasks on the robot map!
Watching carefully to make sure the robot goes through all its tasks!
Gathering some of the props for their presentation!
Karlie ready to go speak!
Coming back after their presentation! They rocked it and got the 1st place trophy!!!
Getting their trophy!
Karlie with Mrs. Johnson one of their coaches who also teaches STEM Lab and her GT class!
Solar SySTEM team and coaches! They did AWESOME!!!
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