WILD About Reading

What do singing beetles, storytelling, a Chinese praying mantis, free books, snakes, reading, snapping turtles, Ben and Jerry's and Predator World have in common?

Give up? They are all related to our new WILD About Reading at-home reading program!

Students received new green folders to keep track of their reading progress about a week ago along with a free book from last year's Target Store Grant and a letter explaining the rules and procedures of the program. Hopefully all of our students have started reading to meet the program goal for kindergarten and first grade of reading 100 books by April 23 or to reach the second and third grade program goal of reading 2000 minutes by April 23. Students who meet the reading goal will be invited to attend a special field trip to Predator World in Branson West and a trip to the Landing for ice cream donated by Ben and Jerry's. Last year we had two classrooms with 100% participation. Wouldn't it be something if we had 100% participation schoolwide?

What about the singing beetles, Chinese praying mantis, snakes and snapping turtles? Watch this quick Smilebox show of our WILD About Reading kickoff assembly featuring guest speaker, Randy Dietz and a few of his WILD friends.

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Tires to Tiles

KES students had the opportunity to learn more about the process of making our new playground tiles from guest speaker, Ernie Knight of the National Playground Compliance Group. The students learned that scrap tires are a hazard as they can catch fire creating pollution and can be a breeding ground for rodents, reptiles and insects. To make the tiles, the tires are ground into small pieces, the metal is removed with powerful magnets and the tire pieces are mixed with an adhesive and pigment and poured into molds to make the tile shape.

During the presentation, the students had the opportunity to share information that they knew that related to recycling, helping them connect their prior knowledge with this new learning. Students at all grade levels understood that recycling items helped reduce the amount of trash we produce and could help save money. I was especially impressed that we had a first grader who was able to explain how pollution affected the ozone layer and the function of the ozone layer and a third grader who related information that she had learned during the electrical safety presentation (that it was the law that electric companies have to replant trees to replace the ones they cut down to allow for power lines) to this new presentation.

To learn more about the environment, recycling, health and much, much more with your child visit the EPA Environmental Kids Club.

Electrical Safety

KES 3rd grade students recently learned about electrical safety with Louie the Lightning Bug and Mert Bancroft, Director of Information from Sho-Me Power Electric Cooperative. The presentation included an entertaining video and hands-on demonstrations.

To learn more about electrical safety and renewable energy with your child visit the Touchstone Energy Kids Zone.

First PTO Meeting

The Kirbyville Parent-Teacher Organiziation (PTO) will hold its first meeting of the year at 3:45 on Thursday, September 10 in the elementary cafeteria. The PTO serves both schools in the district by providing the "extras" that make our schools an even better place to learn! Come and join us! We can use lots of volunteers!

Kirbyville School District Receives DNR Grant

The Kirbyville School District recently completed playground upgrades that were financed in part by a grant from the Missouri Department of Natural Resources in the amount of $10,000. The Scrap Tire Surfacing Material Grant awarded from the Solid Waste Management Fund, was used towards the purchase of rubber tiles that are used as a safe, resilient playground surface.

The district replaced the former loose fill surfacing with over 2,300 square feet of DuroMat Extended Life Rubber Playground Safety Tiles under a new piece of equipment and an existing piece that met the standards of the Americans with Disabilities Act. The total cost of the playground-surfacing product including delivery and installation was just over $26,000. With these playground improvements and others completed during the previous school year, the elementary playground is completely accessible with the exception of one playground area and much safer than it was with its previous pea-gravel surfacing. The future goal is to continue improving the playground until it is completely accessible.

Besides providing complete handicapped accessibility to the playground equipment, research shows that these safety tiles reduce serious injuries on the playground by 75%. The surface does not freeze, dries quickly and stays cleaner increasing the number of days the playground is usable by the students. Finally, the DuroMat Extended Life Rubber Playground Safety Tiles are made through a patented process using 100% Missouri scrap tires, which turns an environmental problem into a useful product.

Elementary principal, Addie Gaines, commented that the district has been pleased with the tile surfacing, adding, “While careful adult supervision and appropriate use of playground equipment are always key components to keeping students safe on a playground, this surfacing has added another dimension of safety to protect our kids from injury when the inevitable slips and falls that are a part of childhood happen.” No students were seriously injured on the Kirbyville Elementary playground last school year.

Gaines stated, “Each year we train our students about appropriate playground equipment use on the first day of school. Last year I told the students about how our new tiles were made from recycled tires that no one could use anymore. I was pleased when we toured our new areas and I asked students that were here last year if anyone remembered what the tiles were made of and the students who volunteered to answer the question recalled the fact they were made of recycled tires. I think it is great that they can personally experience the benefits of recycling through the daily use of this product.”

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112 K-5 Students Complete Summer Reading Program by reading over 112,000 minutes total

112 students X 1000 minutes of reading equals a summer of literary fun and maintenance or increasing of student reading levels! It also equals an afternoon of wet, wet fun known as the Splash Bash for those 112 summer readers! Students spent an extra week of anticipation after a disappointing rainout on the original date, but the beautiful day on Thursday, Aug. 27 was worth the wait!


This could not have happened without our summer readers, but it also could not have happened without our sponsors that paid for 4 books in each summer reading packet and the equipment for the Splash Bash! KES thanks: Target Stores, J.J. Marketing (Star-Walk Entertainment), Scholastic, Inc. Ozark Mountain Bank, The Presley’s and The Track Family Fun Parks for their grants, donations and discounts! Also, the Splash Into Summer Reading Event is now part of the Center for Summer Learning’s National Summer Learning Day!

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Open House Invitation

Open House for the Kirbyville School District is scheduled for Thursday, August 13, 2009. The middle school hours are 6:00-7:30 p.m. and the elementary hours are 6:30-8:00 p.m. to allow ample time for families with children in each building to visit both locations. We look forward to seeing you!

Floored by progress...

Construction continues on the PAT and preschool building. Painting is complete and cabinets and plumbing have been installed. As of Saturday evening the tile was installed in the preschool room. The plan is that the tile in the entryway, hallway and PAT room will be completed today.

The rooms will not be ready for Open House. Preschool parents should meet the teacher in the elementary cafeteria. Parents as Teachers will have a table set up in the elementary building.

We anticipate starting preschool on the 17th in the new room. There will be some furnishing items and details that will be completed in the next few weeks, but nothing that we cannot work around. The plan is to move in on Saturday, August 15th.

We are looking for volunteer help, as this is a large task to accomplish over a weekend. There are jobs for any willing adult: lifting and moving boxes and furniture, assembling new furniture, unpacking, organizing and decorating. If you are able to help with this, please call the elementary office and ask to speak with Lynna Blevins.