Greenwood Laboratory School

The Math Club students took the MATHCOUNTS Ozark Chapter competition on Saturday, Feb. 1, at Drury University. There were 89 students from 12 schools took the competition, including Central High, Nixa Junior High, Ozark Junior High, Cherokee, Pleasant View, Greenwood, and others. I am pleased to report that our team (with members Dylan, Sarina, Arjun, Jodie) got the second place! Dylan also got the second place in individual competition and the first place in the count down round. Our team members will be advanced to the state level competition and are working hard to prepare. Huge thanks to Mr. Anderson and Ms. Burch for teaching them so well! Proud of our Bluejays!

Greenwood Debate Success in Columbia! The students competed at their last ‘regular season’ competition of the year at Rockbridge High School in Columbia, MO last weekend. 30 schools competed from across Missouri and the tournament included 824 total entries. Congratulations to Mary Gabriel and Tristan Khoshyomn for finishing 2nd Place in the Championship Division of Policy Debate! Tristan also won 3rd place in International Extemp. Laila Ozturk finished 4th in International Extemp and 3rd in Informative Speaking! Laila and her partner Mohan Grewal were the 7th place team in open Policy Debate. Ethan Duff was a top 12 semi-finalist in Original Oratory, and with his partner Gyan Grewal also earned 7th place in the champ division of Policy Debate. In the novice division of Policy Debate, Ilyaan Khan and Taaha Khan were the undefeated top seed after preliminary rounds and finished in 2nd place overall. Connor Manzardo and Josie Matkowski were the 3rd place team in novice policy debate. The team will compete in MSHSAA and NSDA District competitions in March. Good Luck Jays!

Arav’s parents, Mona and Vinit, came today to celebrate Arav’s student of the week. Arav’s parents own hotels and rental properties. A hobby of Arav’s father is flying airplanes. He is a trained pilot and has been flying planes since he was in school. Arav’s dad shared about all the different types of airplanes and their functions. Students learned how the wing shape helps the airplane fly. The class loved the Beluga Cargo Plane and Seaplane. Students asked a lot of great questions. Arav’s mom treated the class to a variety of different cupcakes and juice. Thank you Arav!

Click here to get your yearbook for $65 before the price goes up February 15: https://yearbookforever.com/

Greenwood K-5 students recently read Marvelous Mabel during library. It is a beautiful true story about a homeless eight-year-old girl living in a segregated NYC during 1913 who finds her passion for ice skating through the help of strangers in her community. Inspired by the book, we are going to help neighbors in our community. From now through Friday, February 14, we will collect new and gently used items for our friends at the Boys & Girls Club of Springfield. Maybe an outgrown pair of ballet shoes, soccer cleats that are too small, or a pair of baseball pants that will no longer be worn can provide that spark for another child to find their passion. They are also accepting items for their vast after school program which helps so many children in our area. What a great opportunity of our students to give of themselves and from their hearts. Drop-off bins outside of library doors. Contact Mrs. Oliver with any questions. Thanks for your generosity! Items Needed: *Baseball: cleats, pants, gloves, socks, tees, catcher’s equipment *Soccer: cleats, shin guards, socks, soccer balls, *Volleyball: Knee pads, shorts, volley balls, nets *Flag Football: cleats, flags *Dance/cheer: shoes, tights, undershorts/tops, bags, hair supplies, ribbon *Basketball: cones, youth-sized basketballs *Tennis rackets *Ice skates/Hockey skates/equipment *Other: Water bottles, flip chart scoreboards, ball bags, crayons, markers, colored pencils, construction paper, dry erase boards, markers, gym bags, new whistles, office supplies *They are also ALWAYS looking for coaches!

The First Grade Helpful Hedgehogs celebrated Chinese New Year today with Dr. Peng Zhang, Elis dad, and Mrs. Lu Medina, Graces mom. The Lunar New Year (農曆新年) is an important Chinese traditional holiday and celebration. Lunar New Year is also known as the Spring Festival (春節), or Chinese New Year. Chinese New Year marks the beginning of the year according to the traditional lunar calendar. This year festivities begin on Wednesday, January 29, 2025, marking the arrival of the Year of the Snake. Students listened to a presentation, practiced making Chinese symbols used in writing, made a snake, opened special Red Envelopes containing Chinese coins, and had a traditional snack. The color red, of the Red Envelopes ( Hongbao), symbolizes energy, good luck, and happiness, in Chinese cultures and are decorated with calligraphy and symbols. Thank you Dr. Zhang and Mrs. Medina!

Congratulations to the Zaner-Bloser Handwriting Contestants for Kindergarten through Fifth Grade! The contest is celebrating its 34th year and focuses on legibility, shape, size, spacing, and slant of each letter. Students competed in their classrooms and School Grade-Level Winners were selected to represent Greenwood Laboratory School. The Grade Level Winners move on to compete at the regional and national levels. Grand Level National champions are awarded cash prizes and trophies. This year we have sisters as Grade-Level Winners, Saanchi and Prachi. Congratulations Greenwood Grade-Level winners: Victoria Barreda, Jason Kamel, Isabel Thomas, Saanchi Jagarapu, Beverley Yu, Prachi Jagarapu

Girls on the Run registration opens up tomorrow! Both Girls on the Run for 3rd-5th grade, and Heart & Soul for girls in 6th-8th grade open tomorrow. Check out the attached fliers for more information. There are limited spots so sign up soon!

Congratulations to Mary Gabriel and Tristan Khoshyomn for winning 1st Place in Policy Debate at the Jack Tuckness Winter Classic Speech and Debate Tournament held at Springfield Central last weekend!! 26 schools from across Missouri participated in the tournament. Mary and Tristan were the undefeated, top seed after preliminary rounds and scored big wins against Lee’s Summit West, Truman, Willard, and Kickapoo on their way to the championship. Their weekend record was 7-0! Mary was also awarded 2nd place in United States Extemporaneous Speaking (out of 70 competitors) and 3rd place in Informative speaking (out of 50 competitors). Tristan also placed 6th in International Extemp and was a Top 12 semi-finalist in Original Oratory. Laila Ozturk continued to demonstrate that she is one of the best sophomore competitors in the state as she won 3rd in International Extemp, 5th in Informative Speaking, and with her partner Mohan Grewal was the 10th place team in Policy Debate. Mohan was also a top 12 semi-finalist in International Extemp. The freshman team of Ilyaan Khan and Taaha Khan was also in the top 10 of Policy Debate. The team will compete in their final regular season tournament of the year this weekend in Columbia, MO at Rockbridge High School, before beginning district competition in March. So proud of these Blue Jays!!

The Middle School Scholar Bowl team competed on Jan 18th in the Greater Ozark Conference tournament. They beat Spokane in the finals to be Conference Champs. The team consisted of 8th graders Ruby, Madison, Elia, Amelie, and Salma and 7th graders Binisha, Lillian, and Bennett. One the 20th of January the Middle School and High School Novice Scholar Bowl teams competed in the Skyline Scholar Bowl Tournament. Out of our 9 team members 5 made the top 10 in their division. Elia, Salma, and Binisha placed in the top 10 for Middle School and Cullen and Kai placed in the top 10 for the 9th and 10th grade. Our teams were -Novice team- Cullen, Kai, Katie, and Nikhil. The Middle School team- Binisha, Salama, Amelie, Bennett and Elia.

First Grade Helpful Hedgehogs are learning beginning research skills using a selected animal. Students are learning about animal habitats, what groups of the animal are called, diet, characteristics, and offspring. At the conclusion of the research the students work will be turned into a book. The published book is a first grade tradition. Copies of previous class books may be checked out from the Hazeltine Library.

First Grade Student Connor invited his dad, Dr. James Slotto, to visit the classroom today for Connor’s student of the week presentation. Dr. Slotto is an Anesthesiologist. Students learned that an Anesthesiologist is a doctor who supervises, evaluates, and monitors patients before, during, and after surgery. The anesthesiologist works to ensure patient safety and comfort throughout procedures. Dr. Slotto and Connor brought a special friend Elvis the Skeleton. Elvis helped students learn interesting facts about the body and bones. Students learned that they have 213 bones while adults have 206 bones. Additionally that our skeleton has two very important jobs, to hold our body up and to protect our body and organs. Dr. Slotto drew a life-size outline of Connor and used this to draw and share about the various bones and body parts. Students asked terrific questions and have one question that they will be searching for the answer to as they conduct animal research. Do Tadpoles have bones? Thank you Dr. Slotto and Connor for such an interactive presentation!

Video: https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=1686934288551489 (Ellie presents the United States flag and Eli sings the National Anthem and the Canadian Anthem) Ellie Wilson was nominated for two categories in the Arabian horse times year end awards! "Performance youth of the year" and "Special moment of the year" Eli Wilson is included in this moment as well as he sang the national anthem while Ellie presented the flag. Ellie and Eli will be attending the gala in Scottsdale, Arizona and would love to win in these categories. Let’s help make this happen! Please click the link and vote . Help rise up these Greenwood kids in the voting!! https://ahtforms.com/readers-choice/?fbclid=IwZXh0bgNhZW0CMTEAAR3I3ym_mbJq5UDdk9bJphr02Wno5UJAquE2X3Ny0Rme-rZwCTOAeXb1lVg_aem_zYV44lmgWwN0_f8QpE53sw

Congratulations Coach Percival! Greenwood is proud to have you as their Girls Basketball Coach!

Thanks to the talents of Adelaide Cimino (7th), the library has some amazing new bookmarks to share. They are already flying out of here as the students LOVE them!

Some more photos of the Mystery Reader fun from first grade before break!

1-3 grade read Yetis Are the Worst! Using green screen technology, they became part of the book!

Second graders concluded their study of Holidays Around the World by learning about the celebration of Hanukkah. Many students enjoyed learning to play Dreidel. Each student got to take home their very own dreidel so that they could share this fun activity with their family.

Our talented art teacher, Jennifer Grace, painted a beautiful canvas snowman scene for the students to enjoy before the break. The second graders took their pictures and made them into bookmarks to share with their parents for Christmas.

Dandan Liu, executive Director, international partnerships at Missouri State University , came to second grade to present about the Chinese New Year before the break. She brought with her visiting scholar from Liao Ning University, China, Professor Ma along with two Chinese students. The students each received a red envelope with the traditional gift of money inside, white rabbit candy, rice crackers, and learned to write words in calligraphy. What an amazing experience.