Grass Valley Elementary

Grass Valley Elementary News We want to welcome you to the 2023-24 school year. We are busy preparing with much excitement!We know students are anxiously awaiting to reconnect with frien...

Wow! Our Vocal Jazz choir, led by music teacher Natalie Wilson, was just honored in Downbeat magazine's student music awards! Not only did they win Outstanding Performance in the Junior High Division, but three students, Layla, Aubrey, and Grace, also won Outstanding Soloist awards. Bravo! 👏

There's one more chance to hear this group perform: 6 PM Tuesday, June 6, in the GVE cafeteria.

Congratulations to our fifth-grade math team! 👏 They took second place at the regional Math Is Cool competition earlier this month and qualified for the state competition in Moses Lake. In addition, students Alekhya and Andrew placed sixth and seventh among the top-scoring individuals in their division.

Special thanks to the Sosnowski family, who have been coaching and mentoring our Zebras in math for many years, hosting weekly practices for all interested students. You are amazing!

Twelve students from Grass Valley and Woodburn Elementary schools recently got to sing in our regional Elementary Honor Choir. Sponsored by the Lower Columbia River Music Educators Association, 92 students from 10 local schools rehearsed and performed five songs under the direction of a guest conductor. Our students were top notch in behavior and musicianship. Happy Music In Our Schools Month!

CSD School Resource Officer Scott stopped by our Smart Start transitional kindergarten class this week to read "Pete The Cat" and answer questions from the students about how he helps our schools. It was a fun and informative time for all! ☺️

Our Zebras got a special treat last week as part of our continuing celebration of Music in Our Schools Month: Bassist/vocalist Kristin Korb stopped by, on tour from Denmark, to perform for a schoolwide assembly. Very cool.

Here's a cool project: As part of their studies for Black History Month, our fifth-graders read “The Great Migration” by artist Jacob Lawrence (1917-2000). The book features 60 paintings and captions telling the story of the movement of more than 1 million Black Americans from the rural South to the North after World War I began.

Students recreated Lawrence's depiction of the greater educational opportunities available to Black people in the North. (Interesting fact: Lawrence painted all 60 panels simultaneously, color by color, to ensure visual unity.) If you're in the building, check out their work upstairs!

New link for OMS Webinar

Please move to this ZOOM link: https://camas-wednet-edu.zoom.us/my/nicoleorourke

What a great night! Grass Valley's champion reading team, the Falcons, won the first Great Book Bowl matchup with Dorothy Fox at the public library last night. Both teams did an amazing job, never missing an answer. That meant it all came down to the final question, and our Zebras buzzed in first and answered correctly. Thanks to everyone who participated in this program. You're all winners to us! 💚

Our own Natalie Wilson recently returned from the international Jazz Education Network (JEN) conference in Orlando, where she also signed copies of "Rehearsing the Vocal Jazz Ensemble," to which she contributed a chapter.

In addition to being our music teacher, Mrs. Wilson directs GVE's impressive Vocal Jazz choir and holds a leadership role on JEN's Education committee. We applaud her commitment to music education!

Our Green Team not only helped reduce waste, but also helped others and modeled generosity and sharing by gathering 110 pounds of leftover Halloween candy from fellow students. The candy will be donated to Blanchet House, which supports homeless people in Portland. Sweet! 🍬

Look what some of our students got to see close up on a recent field trip to Steigerwald Wildlife Refuge!