Elementary Students Learn About Neurons While Building Card Houses

Missouri Valley Elementary students and staff met last Wednesday for their monthly Family Group time. One of the main focuses during Family Groups this year has been on building a growth mindset. This month, students watched the Class Dojo Video: Episode 4, “The World of Neurons,” Mojo and Katie learn that challenging things help their brains grow stronger. 

Big Ideas Mindset, Episode 4  <-------- Watch Video Here

Students then practiced making new connections in their brains by taking on the challenge of building card houses. Teachers taught students the basic formations of creating a card house. Students were then given the opportunity to build a card house from the ground up. 

**Thank you to Missouri Valley Kiwanis for donating the brand new decks of cards to be used for this lesson! 

Freshman Seminar Teaches Mindfulness

New to MVHS this year is a 9th Grade-Freshman Seminar focusing on Social & Emotional Learning. One item of focus for this class has been the concept of mindfulness. Dr. Jon Kabat-Zinn defines mindfulness as "Paying attention in a particular way: on purpose, in the present moment, nonjudgmentally."

Extensive research has been done on the benefits of mindfulness, especially with adolescents. These benefits include greater emotional intelligence, better stress management, and the ability to understand and process emotions and awareness of ourselves. Mrs. Davie's students are currently working through some lessons from Patricia C. Broderick's "Learning to Breathe." A section of that curriculum focuses on mindfulness of body. Rachelle Pfouts, of Abundant Moon Yoga, made a guest appearance in the class to talk about mindfulness. She gave students some background, taught a mindful breathing technique, and even gave students a lesson on introductory yoga practices which incorporate mindfulness. The mindfulness and yoga presentation was an interesting and intriguing experience for all!

Journalism Class Wins "I Love My School" Contest

The MVHS Journalism class created a video submission for the Work Place Pro "I Love My School" contest. There were over 200 entries from across the country, and theirs was selected as the winner! The Journalism class received recognition and $500 from Work Place Pro, but more importantly, students got to showcase how much they love their school!

Mary Kean headed up this project, assisted by Cheyenne Thomas, with support from the entire journalism class. Stella Wilson and the kitchen staff shared this project with the journalism class which lead to their big win!

Mrs. Davie had the following to say about this project: "For me, as a teacher, the most impressive part was capturing the essence of family and togetherness in our school."

"I Love My School" Video <------ Click Here!