What's Going on in the Front of the School?

Welcome Back! We hope everyone had a great Spring Break!

We are delighted to report that, during Spring Break, Sullivan County Maintenance Department worked to fix the drainage issues in front of the school. Previously, the downspouts in this area simply drained to the ground, and some were not connected well to the gutters. The County dug trenches and laid new PVC piping so that rainwater is now collected from the downspouts and channeled to the storm drain you can see in the foreground of the picture below. Some of the loose downspouts were reconnected to their gutters as well.


These improvements should greatly improve the "quagmire" situation when it rains and reduce the amount of mud that gets washed onto the sidewalks.

Once the drainage work is complete, we will be able to complete the landscaping improvement project that was voted on by the PTA at the January 29th meeting!

Thank you Sullivan County Maintenance!!

Fifth Grade Leaves a Legacy

Each year, the fifth grade class approaching their "graduation" from elementary school conducts a service project to leave a lasting legacy at Indian Springs. The PTA provides a budget for this legacy project, and this year's class had $200 to use.

The legacy project chosen by the 5th Grade Class of 2009 was the purchase of new copies of some of the most popular books in the library. These are some of the books that are very difficult to keep on the shelves!


Each of the "legacy books" was outfitted with a nice label on the inside cover commemorating the occasion.


The new books were officially presented to Mr. Dale by Laura Jennings at the PTA meeting on Tuesday this week, and they are now available for checkout in the library. Thank you Fifth Grade, from all the upcoming students who will enjoy the books you have left for them!

The Reveal!

The newly-renovated school lounge in the Kindergarten hall was officially unveiled at an open house prior to the PTA meeting on Tuesday night. Thank you to Mrs. Counts and Mrs. Lancaster for hosting and providing refreshments. And of course we thank them for spear-heading and championing this project from conception to completion!

Mrs. Counts and Lancaster are seen below in the completed lounge. The wreath they are holding will adorn the wall in the lounge soon.


The lounge renovation was one of the special projects voted upon at the 1/29/09 PTA meeting. $600 was allocated for this project, and that along with donations and a lot of elbow grease are what made the project happen!


Mrs. Counts and Mrs. Lancaster would like to thank the following people for supporting the lounge renovation project through their donations and hard work:

Cheryl Gray
Doris Benton
Arville Adams
Tim Cross
Tammy Orton
Peggy Hatcher

We would also like to thank the following businesses for their generous donations toward the lounge project:

Lowe's
DPM
Wilmer Duncan Upholstery
Target
Sherwin Williams

Kindergarten Round-Up!

Sixty-one children were registered for next year's Kindergarten during registration on Tuesday, March 10. We would like to thank the PTA volunteers who helped with the registration process and also helped provide information about PTA to the new families. We would also like to thank Cherry Weakley and Amanda Jeane for creating a welcoming poster to greet our new families, and thanks to Mrs. Phelps' Kindergarten class for the great handprints!

Art is in the Air!

March is Youth Art Month and our annual school Art Show celebrates this occasion. The halls are adorned with nearly 1000 pieces of artwork created by Indian Springs students this year under the direction of Mrs. Pam Webb. The Art Show is Monday night, March 9th, from 6-8pm. Please make plans to come by the school during this timeframe to browse the halls and admire your students' handiwork! We would like to thank Mrs. Webb and all the volunteers who mounted each piece of art on a background, attached the students' names, and hung the art in the hallways. It is always quite an undertaking!

Hearts for the House - Updated Info

The actual final total for our Hearts for the House drive was $955. Way to go Indian Springs!

Congratulations to Mrs. Jessee's 1st grade class, who raised the most money with $117 donated!

Hearts for the House Success!

On behalf of Ronald McDonald House, we would like to thank all who contributed to the Hearts for the House campaign. We are pleased to report that Indian Springs students raised a total of $930 for this worthy cause. One heart for each dollar raised is hanging in the school hallways - check it out! Below is a row of hearts in the Kindergarten hall. Thanks again for your generosity Indian Springs! And thanks also to our intrepid heart-hangers...
930 hearts is a lot to put up, one by one!

March 2 - A Date to Celebrate!

On March 2, which is Dr. Seuss's birthday, we kick off Read Across America Week. Dr. Seuss (Theodore Giesel) was born on March 2, 1904, which means this year would be his 105th birthday! To celebrate this week at Indian Springs, we will have guest readers, some small parties, and fun attire days.

On Monday, be sure to wear your PJ's or your red, white, and blue.

On Tuesday, wear your orange and white or your opposite/mismatched clothes.

On Wednesday, wear a fun hat or your Indian Springs colors of maroon and gold (this would be a great day for your ISE spirit wear)!

A history aside:
Did you know that March 2 is a notable date for another reason? Your blogmaster is from Texas, and she feels compelled to share with you that March 2 is also Texas Independence Day. On March 2, 1836, Texas declared its independence from Mexico (during the Battle of the Alamo), thus beginning its almost 10-year run as an independent country, the Republic of Texas. Texas subsequently joined the Union in 1845, becoming the 28th state.