Last night, the rezoning meeting was well attended. Thanks to all of you who came to express your support and concerns regarding the rezoing! I am so appreciative to my teachers who attended last night to show support for your children and our school! I also thank Mrs. Lisa Carter, Blaney Elementary School, principal, for attending. I know that she will take great care of your children if they are affected by the rezoning. Mrs. Carter is a dear friend and a great colleague. She and I have "grown up" as administrators here in Kershaw County. We actually assisted with the rezoning eight years ago when Doby's Mill opened. Please know that Mrs. Carter and I support you and are here to listen and provide feedback to your concerns. Mrs. Carter and I will truly work to facilitate this move for our students with the focus on their well-being and continued academic success!

Feel free to contact me with any concerns. Thanks again for your continued support.

Dietetic Intern, Robert Brady, speaks with 2^nd graders at Doby’s Mill Elementary about the Food Pyramid and healthy eating habits. Misha Lawyer, food service coordinator for the district, coordinated the guest speaker.

GREAT NEWS! Mrs. Norton and I just received notification from the John T. Stevens Foundation that they are funding our grant proposal, Target-MATH. The funds provided by this foundation will help provide much needed math manipulatives, materials, and resources for DME students. Thank you John T. Stevens Foundation for your generous donation!

The Doby’s Mill Elementary School’s SCUBA club (Student Council) will be sponsoring a school wide project in the next few weeks to help provide assistance for those with medical needs in Haiti. We are asking for students, parents, and staff members to donate bandages and band-aids of various sizes during the month of February. These supplies will be delivered by a doctor who will be traveling to Haiti. Look for a collection bin in the Rotunda that will be coming soon!
Thank you so much, in advance, for your help with this project!

Pictured above is DME's " Cleaner Earth 4 Better Health" club members highlighting our B2 (Breathe Better) program with our bus drivers, Billy Smith, and Dr. Frank Morgan. The Breathe Better Program (B2) at Doby’s Mill Elementary is an anti-idling/clean air campaign. The goal is to protect the health of children by reducing harmful vehicle emissions around the school campus. This voluntary anti-idling policy is for cars, school buses, and delivery trucks Parent information is being sent home in students' Thursday folders for car riders also. Doby's Mill Elementary is a "NO IDLE ZONE" so... Turn the Key. Be Idle Free!


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Today, we celebrated our annual "I Love Science Day." We started the day with a morning reception/meeting with our wonderful bus drivers where we shared information about our new B2 (Breathe Better) program. Special thanks to Mrs. Kathy Brand and Mrs. Carla Lowder for jumpstarting and organizing this great, "green" program for our school community.

What is B2? The B2 (Breathe Better) program is an anti-idling/clean air campaign. The goal is to protect the health of children by reducing harmful vehicle emissions around the school campus. Solutions involve the efforts of students, faculty, administration, staff, and community partners working together.

At Doby’s Mill Elementary we have adopted an anti-idling voluntary policy for school buses, delivery trucks, and parents/car riders. No-Idling signs are being posted around the school campus. Other projects aimed at improving air quality will be planting trees, having green plants in every classroom, and encouraging alternative modes of transportation (car-pooling and bus riding).

Our theme: Turn the Key. Be idle-Free!

FACTS:
Did You Know?
Why is idling your vehicle a problem?
Mobile sources such as personal vehicles, school buses and delivery trucks are major contributors to air pollution in South Carolina. An idling vehicle is one whose engine is running, but the vehicle is not moving (parked or standing).
One hour of idling wastes about 1 gallon of fuel and produces 20 pounds of carbon dioxide, as well a other harmful pollutants. The bigger the engine, the more fuel is wasted by idling.

Children breathe in twice as much air as adults and as a result, inhale more pollutants. Pollutants from vehicle exhaust have been linked to asthma, heart disease and certain cancers as well as other respiratory diseases. Asthma is the most common cause of school absences. More than 24 million children in the United States ride a bus to and from school every day, and millions more take personal vehicles. Reducing idling time, especially on school campus, helps protect children from harmful emissions.

Common Idling Myths and Facts:

Myth: The engine needs to be warmed up before driving.
Fact: Even on cold mornings, excessive idling is unnecessary and even damaging to the engine. The best way to warm up is to idle for no more than 30 seconds (3-5 minutes for buses) and drive slowly for the first few minutes.

Myth: Idling is good for the engine.
Fact: Idling can be hard on your engine and cause excessive wear. Restarting is easier on the engine than idling.

Myth: Idling is better than restarting the engine.
Fact: With today’s vehicles, you will save fuel by turning off and restarting the engine. Idling for more than 30 seconds wastes fuel and produces more air pollution than restarting.

Don’t be caught idling. Take Action!
Helpful Tips:
• Limit warm-up idling to 30 seconds (3-5minutes for buses), even in cold weather.
• Turn off your engine if you expect to be stopped for more than 30 seconds (except in traffic).
• Turn off your engine at drive-through windows (banks, pharmacies, and fast food restaurants). Or just park and go inside.
• Carpool, walk, or take the bus whenever possible.
• Save gas by obeying the speed limit, accelerating gradually and refueling during the cooler evening hours. Do not “top off” your tank.

Yesterday was our 100th day of school. School-wide, we collected 100 Pennies for Pets. The grand total will be announced soon! I can’t wait!

We also had SEA time yesterday for clubs to meet. I met with my Princi-PALS, and we discussed our upcoming Spring Carnival. The students gave me lots of great ideas to share with our PTA.

In Mrs. Todd’s room, students wrote 100 words, flipped a penny 100 times and tallied the results, tossed a die 100 times and tallied the results and also make 100 Day bookmarks!

In Mrs. Reno’s room, students wrote in their journals about “100!” Natalie said, “I like the 100 day because I can bring in a dollar or one hundred pennies or ten dimes!” Joshua noted that he made a timeline for the 100th day!

Mrs. Haigler challenged us all to give our students and colleagues “100 praises.” It was a great day!

A colleague of mine, Mrs. Cynthia Haigler, one of our amazing fifth grade teachers shared these praises with us. In celebration of the 100th Day of School, we shared this handout filled with 100 ways to praise a child with our faculty and staff and challenged them to set a goal and try to use as many of the 100 praises as possible by the end of the day. I guarantee this goal will be met! Our children and faculty and staff are amazing and richly deserve praise each and every day on their educational journey!

Can you use these praises today, too?

Yesterday, we had a Hats for Heroes for our Relay For Life campaign. We raised $144.00! Our students sported some very interesting hats, including straw farmer hats, birthday hats, a "Cat in the Hat" hat, and lots of NCAA sporting team caps. Mrs. Long even wore a hat that looked like it had alien antennae! We love having fun, and we love making a difference in our community! Our RFL team is a very dynamic group of cancer survivors! And, they are here to lead the charge in our school community to make a difference so that we can help find a cure to this "beatable" disease!

Our faculty and staff will wear jeans this Friday for our RFL "Jeans for a Cure" day! I wonder what we will raise???

This morning our boys and girls had the privilege of listening to a cardiologist, Dr. Ben Jones. Mr. Tinman has been talking a lot about “cardio” exercise….or “heart-healthy” exercises! Dr. Jones is a local cardiologist who talked about the functions of the heart, having a healthy heart, how a heart works, and Jump Rope for Heart, our annual charity drive for the American Heart Association.

Dr. Jones is quite accustomed to speaking with medical students, but he did an outstanding job of presenting this important information to our students. In fact, our students asked a lot of good questions, and kudos to our teachers...the students were very well behaved.

Thanks, Mr. Tinman, for providing this amazing learning opportunity for students today. What is our JRFH goal this year? I know we can beat it!

On Tuesday night, the third grade students hosted a Poetry Cafe for their parents. Artist-in-residence, Chuck Sullivan, worked with our third grade before Christmas and returned this week to allow students to share their literary creations with their parents. A special thank you to the third grade teachers - Mrs. Thrall, Mrs. Gillis, Mrs. Summers, Mrs. Bussert, and Ms. Wilson - for making this PTA presentation a truly memorable evening! Great job, students! Keep writing!

Attached is our school's winning essay for the State Superintendent's Writing Awards Program. The writer's name is Ieuan Howze. Ieuan is a fifth grader in Mrs. Angela McCall's homeroom. I am so proud of Ieuan's hard work and effort to express himself in this award-winning piece! He represents DME well!!!!
Congrats, Ieuan!