1. education
2. school

Buzzin’ in- 2 015
the Hive
M AY
From the Principal...
Dear Graden Families:
Thank you for your support during our busy month of
testing in April. Our students showed great effort,
attendance and perseverance. Our 5th grade will
round out their busy assessment calendar, testing on
science content, May 5th and 6th.
The week of May 11-15, provides us a formal opportunity to recognize all staff, which the National PTA
has designated as Teacher/Staff Appreciation Week.
The theme this year is Red Carpet. This is a time for
honoring staff and recognizing the lasting contributions they make to our lives. We are truly fortunate
at Graden to have such a wonderful and caring staff.
I encourage you to take time to write a personal note
to your child’s teacher(s), thanking them for their dedication to your children. Thank you to Jill Kells for organizing the school-wide events for staff appreciation.
I know that many of you were able to visit the
Graden Art Show Wednesday, April 22. Mrs. Kharatyan certainly put together quite a display of student work. Graden is certainly full of talented artists.
Don’t worry if you were not able to attend, the art
work will be on display through mid-May. The silent
auction yielded $865. Proceeds from the auction will
be used to purchase additional art supplies.
We are also looking forward to our final event with
our incoming future hornets on Monday, May 4, at our
official Kindergarten Round-Up from 12:30 – 7pm.
Mark your calendar for the many important end of
the year celebrations:
 Friday, May 15 – 5th grade track meet at Park Hill
District Stadium, from 9 – 2 pm
 Tuesday, May 19 – AM, 5th grade CHOIR ONLY to
Park Hill South, 2 pm – 4th quarter Leadership Assembly, come one, come all! 7 pm – 5th grade choir
performance, Park Hill South
 Wednesday, May 20 - All-school field day and
yearbook signing from 9 – 3 pm
 Thursday, May 21 – 5th grade promotion in the
Graden gym, 1:45 pm
 Friday, May 22 – 9 am – Graden Talent Show,
11:45 am – Dismissal, last day of school
Thank you to Mrs. Smith, Graden’s music
teacher, and to Mrs. Elisa Neilson, who are coordinating this event on behalf of the PTA.
The Park Hill Board of Education has amended the
school calendar. The final student attendance day
will be Friday, May 22 and it will be a half day, with
early dismissal at 11:45 am. You are welcome to
attend any or all of the many activities and celebrations planned for the end of the school year. You
wouldn’t want to miss any of the fun! Summer School
will begin at 8:45 am Monday, June 1. Our Graden
Hornets will attend Summer School at Graden Elementary. Bus services will be provided, and you must
return the enrollment form in order for your child to
attend. Each summer school day will end at 3:45 pm.
The following additional staff changes will occur for
the 2015-2016 school year:
 Mrs. Ali O’Grady, 2nd grade teacher, will be relo-
cating to Kansas, where she will be teaching kindergarten. We appreciate her years of service
to the Graden community.
 Ms. Suzie Weber, will be joining the 2 nd grade
team. Suzie has spent the past 18 years teaching
2nd grade at Prairie Point in the Park Hill School
District. We are thrilled to have her skill and expertise at Graden.
As we move into the last weeks of school, I want to
extend my sincere appreciation for your loyal support as we conclude our 80th academic year. We
would like to thank you for attending all our events
and for being an active participant in all our projects.
Your support makes the difference! We are very fortunate to have such caring families, involved PTA and
delightful students. Have a wonderful summer and
don’t forget to seize the many opportunities to extend
the knowledge gained in the classroom. We look forward to seeing our returning hornets back for the
2015-2016 academic year on Thursday, August 13.
It’s a great day to be a hornet!
With hornet pride and appreciation,
LuAnn Halverstadt,
Principal
P AG E 2
Calendar of Events for May
1 Happy Hornet Spirit – Twin Day
4 Journalism Club (broadcasters-AM)
4 Kindergarten Round-Up (12:30 – 7:00 PM)
5 4H’s JDRF Walk (4PM)
5 Girls on the Run (3:30 PM)
6 Café Leader Board luncheons
6 Summer School enrollment deadline
6 Tiger Transition Tours for incoming 6th graders, Plaza
Middle School (5-6:30 PM)
7 Choir Club (7:45 AM)
7 3rd grade field trip – School Day at the K (8AM)
7 Girls on the Run (3:30 PM)
8 Spirit Day – Dress Like A Teacher
10 Mother’s Day
11 Journalism Club (broadcasters-AM)
11 Buddy Assemblies (9 AM)
11 7 Habits Leadership Luncheons
11-15 Teacher/Staff Appreciation Week
11 Plaza Middle School Parent Orientation (6:30-7:30 PM)
12 Student Lighthouse meeting (3:30 PM)
12 Girls on the Run (3:30 PM)
The Art Fair
By Trenton Ballard and Hayden Flynn
“Hello Dr. Halverstadt.
My name is Evan Weuve
and right now we are
working on reading and
responding in our notebooks.” This is something
Evan Weuve might say, a
Greeter Leader in Mrs.
McClung’s class, to a visitor. Greeter leaders introduce all
the adults who come into the classroom. This is just a class
greeter leader, there is also a school Greater Leader.
They help in the car line. The class greeter leaders inform
all the visitors what they are doing at the minute or later on
in the day. It takes a lot of practice and courage to be a
greeter leader and you can't be shy. Even if you haven't
met the person.
We interviewed a past school greeter leader, Evan Weuve.
He said he wanted to be a greeter leader because he has
been a class greeter leader and he wanted to try to be a
building leader. He likes meeting new people every day in
the car line, but he said it can be really cold outside. Finally, he said he would gladly want to be a greeter leader
again.
Let’s take a look at the school Greeter Leader. They help
with the morning and afternoon car lines. They introduce
themselves and say, “Have a nice day!” During Leadership
Day all the Greater Leaders had a big job, there were
over 50 guests! As you can see Greater Leaders have a
very important job in Graden Elementary. They can greet
anyone that comes in the class. Thank all the Greeter Leaders in Graden for always having a smile on your face so
our school is a friendlier place in Parkville.
V OL UME 5 , I SSUE 11
12 Tiger Transition Tours for incoming 6th graders, Plaza
Middle School (5-6:30 PM)
13 4th grade field trip – Steamboat Arabia Museum (9 AM)
14 Choir Club (7:45 AM)
14 5th grade transition assembly (2 PM)
14 Girls on the Run (3:30 PM)
14 Board of Education meeting, District Office (7 PM)
15 Spirit Day – Class With Your Buddies
15 5th Grade Track Meet, District Stadium (9 AM)
17 Girls on the Run 5K, Corporate Woods (8 AM)
18 Journalism Club (broadcasters-AM)
19 5th grade choir practice, PH South High School (7 AM)
19 4th Quarter Leadership Assembly (2PM)
19 5th grade choir performance, PH South High School (7 PM)
20 Field Day and yearbook signing
21 5th grade promotion ceremony, gym (1:45 PM)
22 LAST DAY OF SCHOOL – early dismissal 11:45 AM
22 Happy Hornet Spirit – Beach Day
22 Talent Show, gym (9 AM)
25 Memorial Day
June 1 – July 2 Summer School at Graden
Graden Art
News
The Parkville Coffeehouse is now exhibiting Graden student artwork! Check out
our work on the upper level next time you
stop in!
Parents, please remember that feedback
from the art room comes as a rubric sent
home with each project when it’s completed. If you ever have questions about the
rubric, please feel free to e-mail me. Also, please remember that while I do my best to teach students to be responsible with art supplies, mistakes happen
and some materials are simply not washable (oil pastels,
glazes, printing inks, etc.). Please make sure your child is
dressed appropriately for art days.
Check out the Artsonia gift shop.
Family members can order customized products printed with student
artwork (mugs, t-shirts, etc.) 20% of
the profit made from these purchases
comes back to Graden. This is a
wonderful source of fundraising for
the art room, so please consider purchasing items in the gift shop!
The Park Hill District Arts Fest will be
on May 2nd-3rd at Park Hill South
High School this year. Participants
will receive a flyer and a note indicating which piece will be on display.
Jammin’ J-Club!
By Ellie Eason and Avery Guthrie
“Hey Ellie, what is all of
this jammin’ about?”
“YOU HAVEN’T HEARD!
J-Club is like, TOTALLY
JAMMIN’!” “What on
Earth are you talking
about?” “Well, as you
know, the end of the
year is coming, and J-Club wanted to inform everyone of
what we do since we won’t be here next year.” “Oh yeah,
everything we do is very exciting!” “Ya, for example the
writing, and the interviews.” “Also, making the morning
PowerPoints for the morning announcements.” We hope
everyone will want to join this awesome club in fifth
grade!
J-Club writing is a very important role as a J-Clubber!
Writers have to be responsible because they have deadlines for their interviews and articles. Writers have to be
able to Put First Things First so they can get their work
done on time and be respectful to their peers” says Mrs.
Emmott, a fifth grade teacher and our J-Club writing
teacher. Speaking of interviews, we have a lot of interviews, and they are very important to a good article.
First, we come up with the questions we will ask and get
them approved. Then, we schedule a time and date to
meet. Lastly, we put them into our papers so we can have
a quality paper for the newsletter. As for how we choose
what we write about, we look at the school calendar each
month and figure out the most important
things coming up that month. We plan and
write the articles the month before they’re
due. That is how we do our J-Club writing.
Another job that is very important is the
broadcasting side which is when you do the announcements and provide the PowerPoint and script for the
broadcast. We have Mrs. Simmons, the computer lab
teacher and one of the broadcasting J-Club teachers,
here to answer some questions. “We look for somebody
who has really good organization skills, someone who is a
team player with a positive attitude. We look for someone who is not afraid to make mistakes. We produce the
script using Google Docs and use PowerPoint for the slides
you see on the announcements. We also use broadcasting
equipment which allows our announcements to be viewed
live! Responsibility is a key role in J-Club because you
need to know how to obtain all the information needed
for our students and staff. Working as a team each
morning helps us to be able to learn from each other and
work together to make the best production possible.” The
steps of being a good broadcaster is to first figure out
who's working on the PowerPoint and who's working on
the paper without arguing, that is one way that J-Club
Leaders Think Win-Win. Also, you need to be able to use
a lot of amusing expressions when you are announcing so
that all the students are engaged with you. You also
need to be very organized so we can start the broadcast
on time. Lastly, working together is important because if
something goes wrong we need to Synergize so we can find
a solution. As you can see, J-Club is very important to this
school!
“I get it now! J-Club IS really jammin’!” “Yep. J-Club is very
important and takes a lot of leadership and dedication.”
We hope everyone will give their best effort to join the club
and help Graden. Applications come out at the beginning
of the year for fifth graders!
End Strong
By Alex Bozung and Kate Eason
Pump, pump, pump, it up!
Pump that Hornet happiness up! It’s almost the end
of the year and we need to
celebrate! Make sure
you're still doing your work
though and end the year
strong. The last few weeks
of the year bring field day, the talent show, and many more
amazing things! Are you ready? The first thing to come is
field day, when all grades get a chance to go outside and
play, play, play! This means, that while you and your fellow
classmates are outdoors, you will be using many of the 7
Habits, and have a lot of fun while doing it. It will be like an
all day recess! What fun! We interviewed Coach
Munsterman, and he said, “Field day is very special because students get a chance to show all the
skills they’ve learned throughout the school year.”
Coach also added, “This day is important to our
Hornet’s fourth quarter experience because it’s a
chance for all students to work together and to have fun day
doing many different types of physical activities. One thing I
love most about field day is seeing all of the excited faces!
I really enjoy doing all of the setup and planning for this
day.” We are so very excited for this awesome occasion!
On the last day of school comes the
talent show, where students who want to
show off their talents, actually can! All
acts have to be appropriate and no
longer than 3 minutes. We interviewed
Mrs. Smith and she commented, “It’s a
Win-Win! People get to show off their
talents and others get to watch!” Mrs.
Smith also loves the gymnastics! “There
are always a lot of people who want to
sing solos, but its nice to have groups do
things together. The more creative the better!” She thinks
that there are no events that could replace the Talent Show
and that it takes a lot of organization and people to make it
happen.
In conclusion, the end of the year is so much fun, but you
have to make sure that you end the year strong. Remember,
the talent show and field day are privileges, not rights. So,
make sure that those scores stay high, you still have good
behavior, and that you end the year strong!
Leading in the Office/Library
By Symiah Bradley and Celia Cooper
Attention Hornets! It’s
Symiah and Celia here!
We want to talk to you
about Office and Library
leaders. You're probably wondering what
does a office leader or
a library leader do?
Well that is what we are here for! Office leaders go to
the office and help the ladies in the front. They help with
things like passing out extra papers or putting papers in
teachers’ mail boxes. The Library leaders help Mrs. Whisman keep track of the Mark Twain Nominee books that
students read.
We interviewed Mrs. Whisman, the librarian. She said
that her students show all of the seven habits that can be
used as a Media Center Leader. They are Being Proactive for accepting the job and
are also Seeking First to Understand then to be Understood
during job training. During training, they Begin with the End in
Mind learning the steps required to complete the job. She
observes the leaders Putting
First Things First completing assignments. It is a definite
Win-Win for both the students and the Library Staff to
have the support for the various library duties. The Library Staff certainly is Synergizing as they are working
to make the Graden Media Center the very best it can
be. She thinks it is also the hope and it appears true, that
the leaders are sharpening the saw and enjoying the
work they have accomplished. She feels that the library
leaders are truly using most of the habits all of the time,
but certainly being Proactive, Thinking Win-Win, and Synergizing are the habits demonstrated the most. She would
like to see past leaders train the new leaders in the future. She has already started that with the fifth grade
leaders and would like to involve the other grade levels
before the end of the year.
We also interviewed Marin Zink, a third
grade, Office Leader in Mrs. Brown’s class.
Marin says that it is fun helping with office
papers. She loves filling others buckets,
and she feels good that other people fill
her bucket. Marin feels that Mrs. Fornadel explains her
job very well. She also fills everyone’s bucket, and she
helps everyone greatly. Ms. Zink loves this job, and she
loves helping others.
In conclusion, we should thank the Library Leaders and the
Office Leaders so much. Office leaders are the ones who
help with papers and the office duties. The Library Leaders help with finding books, and help Mrs. Whisman with
special tasks she needs done. So thank Office and Library Leaders for all the things they do!
PTA Finishes the Year
with All Stars!
Staff Appreciation Week
We will be celebrating all the amazing work our Graden
staff does all year for our students. Our theme for the week
is “You are a Star!” We will roll out the red carpet for our
staff when we honor them the week of May 11th-15th. Each
day staff members will receive goodies, lunch, and gifts all
week long. See the below for the week of events. Pay special attention to Friday, May 15th. Your child can dress like
their favorite star/celebrity. Watch for an email/sign up
genius from your room parent or if you would like to help
donate items or help out please contact Jill Kells,
[email protected].
Staff Appreciation Week Schedule - You’re a Star!!
May 11-“Treat yourself like a star day”-teachers will receive a gift from their class & have lunch from Dr. H.
May 12-“Behind the scenes day”-teachers will get a chair
massage during break & enjoy snacks in lounge.
May 13-“Walk the red carpet”-pop, popcorn, candy in
lounge.
May 14-“VIP Luncheon”-All staff will eat together in gym
from Cascone’s & receive “fan mail” from their students.
May 15-“The Star you are Day”-all staff and students
dress like your favorite movie star-prizes given to all staff
and larger prizes for the 3 best staff costumes.
Talent Show
It's that time of year! The Graden Elementary
Talent Show, will be held on the last day of school.
We all look forward to watching our talented hornets and ending the school year with such soaring
stars and absolute fun. Any questions contact:
Elisa Neilson, [email protected]
New PTA Board Members
Just FYI…we have some new PTA Board Members for next
year:
President: Elisa Neilson
Treasurer: Juli Vaupell
Fundraising: Blake & Kelli Pryor
Secretary: Angie Palermo
Corresponding Secretary: Erin Hladik
Also, Blake Pryor has been so kind to take over our newsletter production! We want to send a great big Hornet thank
you to Rowena Appel, who has been so incredible making an
outstanding newsletter for us and we will miss her dearly.
Stay in Touch
Please stay in touch with us over the summer on our
Facebook page: Graden PTA
Congratulations
The PTA would like to congratulate all of our 5th grade Hornets, who will be moving on to Plaza or other adventures.
You may not be in the Graden halls, but you will always be
HORNETS!!
Jimmy John’s High Five Club - May Recognition
Reinforcing personal development and leadership - that is what Jimmy John's "High Five" Club is all
about. This program was introduced in December 2012 to recognize personal development and
leadership. Students who are selected each month will receive a certificate which they can redeem
at the Tom Watson Parkway Jimmy John's location in Parkville, Missouri for a free sandwich. A "High
Five" handprint with the child's name will be displayed on the wall inside Graden Elementary. At the
end of each month, the High Five Hands are taken down and replaced with the High Five hands honoring students for the
next month. The hands are then put up on a special bulletin board at Graden Elementary and remain up until the end of
the school year. This list recognizes all students who received High Fives between September and May of the 2014-2015
school year. Please join us in congratulating all of the members of the Jimmy John's High Five Club!
Kindergarten
Cameron McCleary
Devyn Gaar
Eva Estrada
Ana Muller
1st grade
Erin Hagan
Diya Nath
DJ Kuttler
Grant Windmeyer
2nd grade
Tyler Davis
Thomas Sargent
Austin Mascarenas
Ella Keschinger
The Fifth Grade Transition
3rd grade
Layla Martinez
Madi Sylvester
Kimberlin Ballard
Matt Barber
Caden Fields
4th grade
Natalie Day
Olivia Burns
Alexander Jones
5th grade
Payton Padilla
Jack Bjorn
Ben Linder
By Chris Appel
It’s that time of year again, it’s the Fifth Grade Transition, Promotion, and Graden
Track Meet where all of the fifth graders will pack their bags and head off to sixth
grade. But with the sadness of the students leaving there is also some very big
privileges for the students such as the track meet and promotion.
For the fifth grade transition, students will prepare themselves with an informational assembly about
sixth grade with the principal of Plaza, Dr. Ivy. For more information on the event I interviewed Mrs.
Ecton, a fifth grade teacher, about the transition, and I got some good information. She said that, “I will
miss teaching the students new math concepts and seeing Hornets learn new things.” Also, she has prepared
students for sixth grade by, “Having high expectations and letting students take responsibility for their actions.” One of the many privileges for fifth graders is the track meet where all the schools in the district go to
Park Hill to participate in races, shot put, javelin, etc. Here, students will Synergize with their groups to take
home the gold. All year Coach has been preparing the fifth grade for this fun event. During the track meet
Graden and four other schools compete in all of the events. This event sure uses Habit Seven,
Sharpen the Saw. Also, another big privilege is promotion event, where students get complimented on what a great year they had and the teachers can say goodbye. All students and their parents will attend this event. This will take place on May 21st from 1:45-3:15 P.M. Finally, when teachers
are looking for quality students they look for someone that tries their best, respects others, and has integrity.
In conclusion, everyone will miss the fifth graders of 2014-2015 and will remember them in so many ways. But now the
fifth graders can try new things and meet new friends from other schools. Students have the chance to win a track meet,
be honored at promotion, and move on to greater things. But the fifth grade will always remember The Seven Habits
and all the things they learned. These fifth graders will be Forever Hornets.
Media Center News - Scholastic Book Fair
Parents, thank you so much for your support during our recent Scholastic Book Fair. Because of the
generosity of our parents, students and staff, this book fair was one of our best spring book fairs
ever!! I would like to add a special thank you to our parent volunteers: Lisa Kobayashi, Tiernan
Good, Tanya Balandran, Erin Manley, Elisa Neilson, Jenny Guthrie, Racheal Blackburn, Erin Hladik,
Julie O’ Gara, Kristin Johnson, Charity Tillery, Kevin Smith, and Carri Powell —your generous gift of time given to the fair
for our children was deeply appreciated and was certainly one reason for the success of this fair. The book fair profit will
continue to provide funds to meet the needs of our library including additional technology purchases, adding new books to
our collections, and supporting author visits or skypes. The fair also allowed our teachers to receive a $5 book for your
child’s classroom, as well as providing Mrs. Van Slyke $25 worth of books for her classroom. Congratulations to Mrs. Van
Slyke for having the most students in attendance at our fair! The library also received through Scholastic dollars new incentive books for those students participating in our Take, Flight and Read and Library Trivia programs.
Please look for information coming to you soon about Summer Reading Programs in our area. Reading during the summer
provides more opportunities to read and to improve such a valuable skill. Students that read during the summer do not lose
those gains made during the previous school year and provide the foundation for success the following year.
Music News
The kindergarten is trying something new in music. They
are practicing their pitch matching skills using the iPads
Graden makes available to check out from the media
center. It's a hit!
The fifth grade choir will perform their spring concert May 19 at 7:00 p.m. They will
perform that evening along with 4 other elementary school choirs at Park Hill South. It
will be a great way to end the year!
Ms. Mills’
Counseling
Connection
The Hornets have had a busy and productive school year.
We are winding down our year by discussing careers.
This may come as surprise to you, but this is the children’s
favorite subject. They love the idea of learning about
what jobs they might be able to do one day. Some of the
most common questions they ask are:
Will I have to go to college?
How long will I have to go to college?
How much money will I make?
During the month of May, we play Career Bingo for K-4
and Graden Trivia for Grade 5. As this school year comes
to an end, I realize it is hard to start thinking about the
next school year but I thought I would put in an article by
The Parent Institute for preparing your preschooler for Kindergarten, titled “Prepare your preschooler to be a responsible member of a group.” “Your child needs to learn
that you cannot pay attention to her all the time. This is a
lesson she needs to learn for school, too. Everyone in a
classroom has needs and one child cannot be the center of
attention. To prepare your child for the give and take of
the classroom, teach her to:
 Take it easy. Sometimes at school she will need to wait
patiently for her turn. Slow down and teach your child
to relax, too. Not everyone works at the same pace.
Graden Field Day
It’s that time of year again – our Field Day is
coming up very quickly! Our K-5 all day Field
Day will be May 20, 2015! Students should wear shorts and tennis
shoes for Field Day. Please send
sunscreen, water bottle, and a hat
with your child. Students will have
the option to bring a sack lunch from
home or choose a special Field Day
option from the cafeteria.
Fifth Grade Track Meet
All fifth grade students will travel to the Park Hill
School District Stadium Complex located at Park
Hill High School for the District-Wide
Track and Field Day. The meet will
be held on May 15, 2015 with a rain
make-up date of May 18, 2015.
Students will need to bring a sack
lunch from home along with a water
bottle. Students will not be permitted to leave the
premises for lunch. The buses will depart from
Graden at 9 AM and return by 2 PM.
 Entertain herself. She will need to work and play with-
out interrupting others when she is in school. Give her
some undivided attention, then expect her to settle down
with her own activity while you read or relax.
 Be helpful. She’ll need to help out with chores in the
classroom when she starts school. Invite your child to
help around the house by dusting and cleaning her own
room.”
Wonderful advice for our new incoming Hornets! Have a
wonderful summer and thank you for allowing me to be
with your children for the last 17 years.
You make a difference! A special thank you to
our outgoing PTA Board Members and to our
many parent volunteers who make special
things happen at Graden each and
every day!