Elementary students bear their class flags at the Opening Ceremonies to kick of March is
Reading Month.

This year, to celebrate March is Reading Month, our CTA Elementary students exercised their minds as they worked to reach a building-wide goal of filling their olympic “torches.”

For every book read at home or in school, each student filled out an olympic flame and placed it on his or her grade level olympic torch. When they finish filling their olympic torches at the end of March, students will celebrate at their closing ceremonies. CTA has hosted several guest readers throughout this month in an effort to foster an enthusiastic love of books and motivate our CTA CHARGERS to be lifelong readers! CTA is on a mission to CHANGE THE WORLD as Olympic Readers!

USA chanting with the K-2 students.

Upper elementary students incorporate motions into their songs

On Wednesday, May 3, CTA elementary students presented their final concert of the year. This concert was patriotic-themed. Students were dressed in a sea patriotic colors. All K-5 students started off the concert with the a salute to our country by singing the national anthem. K-2 students then energetically chanted “USA” to some music followed by a version of “Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star” called “Twinkle, Twinkle, 50 Stars”. Other highlights of the concert included a bucket drumming ensemble, a recorder ensemble that played “My Country ‘Tis of Thee”, an xylophone ensemble, and some students rapping the 50 states in order. Everyone enjoyed the patriotic theme and students enjoyed the unique aspects of the performance.

Kindergarten and second grade students are excited to read with Red Flannel Festival Royalty!

This year, to celebrate Reading Month our CTA Elementary students read their tails off as they filled our Reading Fish Tank!

Elementary students sit in front of their “Fish Tank” on the wall that they filled with books they read.

For every book read (or chapter if it was a chapter book) AT HOME or IN SCHOOL, students cut out a colored fish and hung it up on the fish bowl. CTA Elementary filled the fish tank in two weeks – that is a lot of reading. To celebrate, they watched Finding Dory and ate ocean-themed snacks with their reading buddies.

The Red Flannel Festival Queen and court also made time to visit CTA and read to the kindergarten and second grade students. The queen read one of her favorite books and then took time to answer questions from the students.

CONGRATULATIONS CTA on another successful March is Reading Month!!!

Senator Peter MacGregor read to young students.

Senator Peter MacGregor stopped by Creative Technologies Academy for a visit the morning of March 13 and read to the kindergarten, first, and second grade students. He read Bobby Bramble Loses His Brain by Dave Keane. Senator MacGregor discussed the difference between fiction and nonfiction books with the young students and encouraged them to read with their peers, siblings, and adults. He made sure to allow time to answer the many questions the students had, such as: How did you get elected? Who’s your boss? What do you like to read? What’s your favorite color?

Players from the Ferris State University Girls Basketball team take time to pose with third grade student, Aiden Dood, after reading with his class.

Ferris State University’s women’s basketball Coach, Kendra Faustin, and Assistant Coach, Sharonda Hurd, brought a few of their players to the CTA elementary in order to spend time reading with students during March is Reading Month. The coaches and players also visited with the middle and high school students in an assembly to share powerful lessons about the importance of personal responsibility and accountability in everyday life.

CTA’s middle school students were visited by the Grace Bible College Tigers basketball team. The students watched a video, produced by MAPSA and Buddy Morehouse, about the story of Curtis Jones. Jones was widely considered the greatest basketball talent ever to come out of the city of Detroit, but his dreams died and his life spiraled downward because he couldn’t read and write. After viewing the video, team members led small group discussions with CTA students about lessons to be learned from Curtis Jones, specifically, about the importance of getting the best education possible.

Players from the Ferris State University Girls Basketball team pose with several middle school students.

Second grade students Issabell Barr and Leda Gitchel reading with flashlights during Camp Out Day.

In the CTA Elementary, we celebrated reading all month long in March! Our celebrations included:  dressing up for Beach Day, “camping out” in our classrooms, having special visitors share their favorite books, and having a grand Battle of the Books showdown for students in grades third through sixth!

Beach Day occurred on the wettest day of the month, so all activities were forced indoors. Students took it all in stride though and still donned their sunglasses while reading their favorite books on beach towels. We at CTA don’t allow a little rain to bring us down!

The Hard Covers team (L to R): Sage Sidlauskas, Jack Fulkerson, Kate Norman (5th Grade teacher), Kylee Turoski, Austin Fisk and Ethan Slock.

Camp Out day was a very cool day, too! We had many students bring in their favorite camp-out flashlight to read as though we were under the stars! Classrooms were pitch-black dark, except for the glowing of the flashlights. You could hear a pin drop throughout the halls except for an occasional “This is so cool!”

We had a few very special visitors throughout the month of March. On March 11, we had the Red Flannel Queen and Court come and read their favorite story books. Then, on March 25, the very busy State Representative Rob VerHeulen visited our school to share one of his favorite books, Duck for President!, with the students. Thank you Representative VerHeulen for your very informative visit!

State Representative Rob VerHeulen read to Kindergarten and First grade students during National Reading Month.

As the end of National Reading Month drew to a close, we celebrated by having a Battle of a Books competition. Mrs. Norman, the fifth grade teacher at CTA, worked endlessly to make the battle a huge success. Five teams – The Book Hoarders, The Readinators, The Book Wizards, The Hard Covers, and The Book Dominators – went head-to-head to answer really tough questions about pre-selected books. The battle lasted seven rounds and ended with a tie breaking question, pushing The Hard Covers forward with the win; The Book Dominators came away with the second place win!

It was another great Reading Month at CTA! We can’t wait to see what next year’s celebration brings.

Davenport University Basketball players Nick Gamble (L) and John McCloud (R) read to the CTA second grade class.

Friday, March 4 was “Sports Day” in the CTA elementary and students received a visit from some famous West Michigan athletes. The nationally-ranked Davenport Men’s Basketball Team, stopped by to spend time reading with the students a few days before they embarked on their trip to play in the NAIA National Tournament. The Davenport team came in to play games and interact with the students before breaking out into the classrooms for some small group time where they read their favorite books and shared their knowledge of basketball and life. “It was pretty cool to have the team here because they were talented and very tall,” said CTA second grader Gavin Olsen. “I really liked when they came back and read to our class, but most of all their dance moves at the assembly.”

This visit was part of CTA’s March is Reading Month program, which has weekly activities for the students, as well as extra time to get lost in a good book.

The school-wide Hula Hoop Challenge paired each leadership group together to stand hand-in-hand and pass the hula hoop down the line without releasing their partner’s hand. Photo credit: Aspire Photo and Design

Students stroll the red carpet heading to their first day of class.

Hoots, hollers, high-fives, and “paparazzi” were awaiting the CTA elementary students as they strolled the red carpet to their classrooms on the first day back after summer break.  Superintendent, Dan George, and Dean of Students, David Oldebekking, treated the students to granola bars to make sure they were well-fueled for for the full day of education and activities.

Leadership is a school-wide area of focus for the 2015-2016 school year. In order to emphasize this character trait, the elementary created small groups by mixing grades together with the plan to empower the older elementary students to serve as mentors to the younger students. Within the groups, the students will participate in teambuilding activities, have discussions on leaderships and the “WE ARE CHARGERS” initiative.

On February 6, the CTA Elementary ushered in the 100th day of school! Mrs. Honeysett and her first grade students really showed CTA what the 100th day of school should look like! She and her students counted, graphed, sorted M&Ms, played “The Mystery Number”, and showcased their abilities of writing 100 different words! These first graders are a force; they can make, write, and celebrate 100 different ways of learning!

These kids are excited and ready for another 100 days of first grade! (Oops, should we tell them they don’t quite have 100 days left of first grade?) They are 100 days smarter and 100 days goofier!

Grinchly CTA Elementary 

This month, the elementary building has focused on being kind. Every Monday we meet together in the elementary building and celebrate our efforts from the week before; also, we spend time looking toward what we can do to be kind in the week ahead. As a building, we celebrate those students that have shown kindness toward their peers or staff members. Mr. David Oldebekking, our Dean of Students, leads the elementary with hoots and hollers to make every student a “Charger,” and then we exit our meetings with a chant of “WE ARE CHARGERS!”

Our two newest teachers, Miss Kristi Norman and Mrs. Kayla Campbell, have gone above and beyond the elementary weekly celebrations and have started celebrating their students who have displayed kind acts on a daily basis. They have taken the story How the Grinch Stole Christmas written by Dr. Seuss and brought it into their classrooms. The character of the Grinch in the story started-off being a “grinch” towards Christmas, but in the end he learns that the true meaning of Christmas is celebrating love and kindness. Our newest additions have been on the lookout for finding those same traits within their students. Mrs. Campbell mentioned one of her third graders, Morgan, because she has shown the most kindness within her classroom. Miss Norman said that her student, Alex, has shown the class a lot of kindness in the form of “Grinchly” actions.

Mrs. Harwood

Ms. Norman

Mrs. Campbell

The 2014-2015 school year has started with some changes and additions, but CTA Elementary is stronger than ever. We welcomed new teachers for third and fourth grade. Mrs. Kayla Campbell is our new amazing third grade teacher and Miss Kristi Norman is our new outstanding fourth grade teacher. We also have a long term substitute teacher for fifth grade, Mrs. Miranda Harwood, who is filling in for Mrs. Kate Norman while she is out on maternity leave. Our CTA family sends a big welcome to these teachers.

With these changes and additions, CTA Elementary has had a fantastic start to the 2014-2015 school year! We have wonderful returning and new students and families. This year is shaping-up to be one for the record books! As a school, we have decided to focus on four key features of our character education program this year: Be safe, be responsible, be respectful, and be accountable; the fourth key feature is new to us this year. All students and teachers have agreed to follow these traits when at school and beyond. To honor this pledge, each student and teacher signed the “WE ARE CHARGERS” board pictured below.

Fourth Grade performing at the Christmas concert.

On December 19^th CTA Elementary had a choir concert for an audience including the middle school, high school and parents.  The auditorium was packed with many family members who were there to support their children.   Each grade, kindergarten through fifth grade, chose two Christmas songs to perform.  The classes prepared diligently during the month of December by practicing their songs.  Lilley Smith, 3^rd grade, said “I think all of the classes did a really good job.”   Jaden Sancho, 5^th grader, “It was really good and it was fun getting to perform in front of an audience.  It took a lot of work preparing for the concert but it was worth it.“ Mrs. Honeysett, first grade teacher commented, “It was fun to see the kids in the holiday spirit.  It was neat to see all of the support from the parents who filled the house.  I look forward to having another holiday concert next year.”

Dean of Students, Dave Oldebekking, reviewing with students the three traits of a Charger

The CTA Elementary school has been working on a school wide initiative of being a Charger.  They met as a school and determined that the three most important characteristics of being a Charger were to be respectful, be safe, and be responsible.  Every Monday morning the Elementary school meets to review the trait of emphasis for the month.  This time is also used to spotlight students who are being great Chargers.  During one of the morning meetings a student was recognized for helping to pick up trash and being respectful of the playground.  At another meeting a couple of students sang a song talking about how to be a Charger.  Dave Oldebekking, Dean of Students, leads these meetings every Monday morning.  “These meetings are great because they help to promote school unity and our common goal of being a Charger,” said Mrs. Honeysett, first grade teacher.