The tragedy of the recent earthquake in Haiti leaves many speechless.  The magnitude of the destruction, the lack of supplies and infrastructure, and the sheer human toll defies our understanding.  Our chapter of the National Honor Society (NHS) developed Partners in Education several years ago and has sponsored a Haitian school and two of last year's seniors went to Haiti for their Senior Project.  This tragedy touches Rivermont.

Student groups at Rivermont have been meeting and planning fund raising activities to provide aid.  NHS has placed water jugs in the Mansion and Becherer Hall to receive loose change, dollar bills, and even checks.  Proceeds will go to the Red Cross and the GHESKIO Clinic in Port-Au-Prince.  Rivermont has a direct contact with the clinic through its Partners in Education outreach.  Several other projects will take place over the next few weeks so please check the website and ask your students for details.  Please respond generously!

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We have been informed by the Scott County Health Department that they will be at Rivermont Tuesday, February 2 to vaccinate K-12 students and staff.  (Early School students were vaccinated before the Holiday Break.)  The consent forms from the Health Department have been sent home with student report cards.  Please be sure to return the form to School immediately.

If you would like to have your child vaccinated earlier, you may contact your family physician to schedule an appointment or contact the Health Department at 4th and Gaines by calling 326-8618. 

Scott County Health Department

The Rivermont girls' volleyball players participated in the Iowa State University Youth Volleyball tournament in Ames, Iowa on January 9. The tournament is an annual event that attracts schools from the Ames and Des Moines area. We were the first school from the Quad Cities to participate. The girls participated in the 16 and under division to allow our 7^th- 11^th graders to play together.  The competition was outstanding and featured girls almost exclusively from the high end of the age group.  The Rivermont girls' determination and quality of character earned them a Sportsmanship Award for the tournament.

On Friday, January 8, the third grade class braved the cold and went to the QCCA Expo Center to learn more about bald eagles.  Ranger Samantha visited the class back in December to tell the class about the bald eagles in this area.  This helped prepare the students for Kids' Day presented by the US Army Corps of Engineers and several other organizations.  The class read several books and stories about birds as well.  They were excited to see a real peregrine falcon after reading about how they live on tops of buildings in large cities (including Davenport.)  It was so exciting when the Harris hawk flew over the tops of the heads of several students.  The highlight of the show was seeing the golden eagle and the bald eagle.  The actual size of those birds was amazing.  The students also participated in several learning activities before and after the show.  Each student made a necklace with beads and an arrowhead that they had to find in the sand using a sifter just like a real archeologist.  Each student also received an educational book about eagles.  Keep your eyes open; you never know when you will see a bald eagle overhead.  

The Iowa Brass Quintet presented a musical program to the student body on Friday, January 8, as part of the Quad City Symphony Orchestra's School Outreach Tour.  Students listened to fanfares, the Overture to William Tell by Rossini, Handel's Water Music, and other selections ranging from Mozart to Dixieland jazz.  They enjoyed demonstrations of ancient horns such as a conch shell, an antelope horn, and a Tibetan long horn duchen, 12 feet in length, used by the monks.  Explanations of each instrument in the quintet were provided along with demonstrations of horns with and without valves, and horns of different lengths and coils.  A very innovative instrument made out of garden hose, a mouthpiece and a funnel was played by each musician for a hose-o-phone ensemble.  It was a delightful and informative musical experience for everyone.

Junior Achievement's Finance Park is a six week long economics education unit provided by Junior Achievement and taught by our social studies teacher, Tracy Paxton.  The unit reinforces the importance of economics - personal, business and international - in students' lives through a sequential business and economics curriculum.  By using a variety of hands-on activities, students better understand the relationship between what they learn in school and their successful participation in the economy.  The final step of this program takes students to JA Finance Park's facility.  While there, students work through a real-life simulation utilizing what they have learned about economic options and the principles of budgeting over the last six weeks.  Our students enjoyed the opportunity to use the skills they learned in the classroom.  Who knows, some of our students may make their mark on Wall Street!

Special thanks to:  Lori Moran, Ella Fly, John Telleen, Alton Barber and Matt Newsome for their participation in this fabulous learning experience.

Come show off your mathematical genius and earn points for your team.  Imp/Tiger points awarded for each family member who attends!

Junior Kindergarten through Grade Five and their families are invited to join us for Family Math Night.  There will be math games, pizza, and great fun!

The family that does math together earns Imp/Tiger points together!