April Newsletter

Principal’s Corner
Spring has sprung!   We are excited about the weather and the opportunity to have the kids outside getting fresh air and enjoying the sunshine during recesses.  With this weather also comes the opportunity for families to take vacations.  Recognizing that time off from work comes at different times for each of us, I wanted to encourage all of you to minimize your children’s absences as much as possible.  Core testing begins April 23rd, and we are in a very critical time of reviewing and covering final concepts in preparation for the tests.
Speaking of testing, please talk to your students about doing their best on the End of Level tests.  It is important to our school that every child comes prepared to test and takes each test very seriously.  To that end you can help by making sure that your children get adequate rest and have a good breakfast each morning during the testing window. 
4th quarter will be the final time that students at Kanesville will be able to use the Accelerated reader program.  Our district has made a decision to move away from this program, and will no longer support it in our schools.  Please encourage your students to work hard toward their AR goals this last quarter. I think it would be great to have 100% of our eligible students make their goal this final time.
Thanks for all you do for Kanesville and our students.  As always, if you have any questions, feel free to call me at any time or just stop in.

K-town Rocks!!
Mr. Z


PTA President’s Corner
We are fast approaching the end of the year and that brings many things to look forward to. Mark your calendars May 9th for the “Family Fun Fair”. We will have our annual Fun Walk and then join us at the school for plenty of food, fun, and games! We will also have our silent auction. May 21st is our “Field Day”. I am happy to announce that we have our new PTA board for the 2012-2013 school year.
Stephanie Barney –Co President
Andrea Favero-Co President
Alicia Coats- President Elect
Betsy Ray- Secretary
Janet Freestone- Treasurer
Thank you to all who help the PTA…we have the most amazing school and we couldn’t do it without the parents, students, and faculty!!
Happy Spring!!
Janet

NOTES FROM THE SCHOOL NURSE: BEE STINGS
Spring is in the air.  The days of warmer weather and budding trees are a welcome sight to most of us, however, along with warmer weather come the bumble bees, hornets, and wasps.
Treatment of bee and wasp stings will depend on the severity of your condition.  Most stings cause only limited local inflammatory reactions consisting of pain, itching, redness and swelling.  These reactions are usually more a nuisance than a medical emergency.  However, local reactions can be extensive, involving the person’s entire limb that was stung.  When this occurs, the swelling and redness may peak two to three days after the sting and last a week or longer.
If you are stung you can treat by:
*You want to remove the stinger by either pulling it out or scraping it with a hard object such as a fingernail or credit card, as soon as possible.
*Wash the sting site with soap and water to prevent infection.
*Consider taking an antihistaminesuch as diphenhydramine (Benadryl) or a non-sedating one such as loratadine (Claritin) for itching.
*Consider taking ibuprofen (Motrin) or acetaminophen (Tylenol) for pain relief as needed.
*Ice may be applied for 20 minutes, over the sting site to slow absorption of the venom and relieve pain.A cloth should be placed between the ice and skin to avoid freezing the skin.
*A topical steroid cream such as hydrocortisone can help combat swelling and itching.
*Watch any victim closely for signs of anaphylaxis including nausea, vomiting, bronchospasm, wheezing and difficulty breathing.
If there is any concern that the victim may be developing anaphylaxis, call 911immediately, check to see if the victim is carrying an epinephrine auto-injector (EpiPen). If so, help the victim use the EpiPen.  Antihistamines, such as diphenhydramine(Benadryl), can slow an anaphylactic reaction, but will not stop it.