The month of December is extra special . Our Holiday traditions such as the Lower School Musical, the Band Concert and especially Kid’s Yule Love ensure that Christmas spirit is in abundance.

The season also brings us more great news.

Mrs. Christie guidance program for Lower School this year is called ” Giraffe Heroes”. Heroes are people who “stick their necks out for the common good of others.” They traveled to giraffe country to learn about heroes and read “Stan and Bea’s Tall Tales.” Our third grade students created illustrations for the stories they read and their drawings were selected by the National Giraffe Heroes Organization to be featured on their website. The illustrations will bring to life these tales to students all across the world. Stop by the elementary school building to see Tattnall’s own giraffes! These students have been recognized for “sticking their necks out” and their pictures are located outside Mrs. Christie’s office and also on the second floor.

Also, Mrs. Laura Green, 5^th grade teacher, submitted a recipe that was selected to be served in the dining halls at University of Georgia to over 8000 students. The recipe was her now famous Chicken Parmesan. Mrs. Green was a guest of honor along with the other recipe winners and was treated to a sampling of all the recipes in Athens. Her Chicken Parmesan will be served in the UGA dining halls this year and next. Laura’s daughter Whitley is a freshman at UGA.

You can read more about these stories by clicking on the links above.

December brings to a close a great first semester. Much has been achieved but as always there is more to be accomplished. We look forward to our lasting partnership with you, the parents, as we continue to guide our students towards achievement and success.

I look forward to seeing you in 2009 for what will truly be an outstanding year. From my true family at home and also my family at school, I wish you a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

I hope your year is going well and you are looking forward to a learning filled November and December.

Several weeks ago we applied for a grant through the Foundation for Innovative Teaching. The grant is given yearly to one elementary school, one middle school and one high school that are members of the GISA. This includes not only the schools we compete against interscholastically but also independent schools that compete in GHSA. The grant rewards innovative teaching which the Foundation defines as ” containing original and innovative ideas and involving significant numbers of students. The proposal should also have an impact which continues over time.”

Tuesday, November 11th, we were notified that our proposal for the creation of an “Outdoor Living Laboratory” had been awarded the $1000.00 grant as this year’s elementary winner. We are very excited not only about the opportunities this will provide for all of our lower school students but to be selected from such an elite pool of independent schools from all over the state is also very rewarding .

Past winners can be viewed at this website-http://www.gisa-schools.org/tch_grant1000_pastwinners.asp

This project was the brainchild of a collaborative Lower School with many of us contributing to the final plan. The plan for a garden” laboratory” will begin to take shape in the coming weeks and more information will be forthcoming but I wanted to share this great news with all of you.

The holiday season is fast approaching and that is definitely an extra special time with the K-5 presentation of Thanksgiving at chapel, November 19th, the Lower School Christmas Musical December 4th, the Band Concert December 11th, and Kids Yule Love December 12th, just to name a few of the upcoming events. I encourage you to join us at these traditional events as we demonstrate our true Christmas spirit. Thanks for being a part of our academic community.