Union-north School Board recognize and celebrate Laville Elementary School
LAKEVILLE—THE Union-north School Board was pleased to celebrate students from Laville Elementary School (LVES) for their achievements. Principal Hope amor emceed this portion of the meeting, introducing the different teachers who presented their students and their accomplishments. “they’re the ones who areall really putting in the timewilliams, and energy with these stu-matthews. dents; in particular after school hours,” amor explained.
Mrs. alex Remble presented Maisy Matthews and Kaytlin Gramza, who competed in the Young author’s Conference and won for LVES in the K-2 and 3-6 divisions respectively. this is a county-wide writing contest is hosted by the Marshall County Reading Council for elementary students in the county. “Each year, there’s a winner from the lower grades and one from the upper grades,” explained Mrs. Remble. “they are given a writing prompt and the teachers choose the winners.”
Mrs. Marylynn Christy presented the winners from another writing competition, the Bill of Rights contest hosted by the U.S. Courts within the seventh and eighth circuits. During this competition, elementary students are asked to write an essay or create artwork about the importance of the Bill of Rights. Christy proudly announced that two Laville students, Lucas Maenhout competing in the essay division and aunesti Russel competing with artwork finished in the top eight at the district level, winning a $50 virtual gift card, and went on to compete in the national level against students from 15 other states.
Mrs. tami Bowman spoke about the Spell Bowl competition that LVES competed in virtually last fall. the top two students from Laville were Caden Christy and Zaela Schaefer.
Mrs. Marylynn Christy and Mrs. Melissa Duerksen presented the student council, comprised of fifth and sixth graders, to the school board. these children have organized several community service events, like a food drive last fall that collected over 3,500 items for the local food pantry, are in charge of certain sports events, like the volleyball games, school community events like Grandparents’ Day Parade and others. “We have a wonderful group of student council members. they have done great things for our elementary school this year,” said Duerksen. “We want to honor them and thank them for all of their hard work.”
Mrs. amor also reported on three community events that the elementary school has put on this year. Last fall, the school’s Parent-teacher Organization hosted the first ever fall festival. Hundreds of people from the community came out to support the school and Mrs. amor asserted that it would become an annual event. the school also hosted Mornings with Mom, events where mothers were invited to come spend some time with their kids at the start of the school day. Hundreds of mothers came out for the event, during which 90 dozen doughnuts were consumed. “We had a lot of people. that’s a lot of doughnuts over three days!” Mrs. amor assessed with a chuckle.
Grandparent’s Day Parade was another event of note. Grandparents of Laville students were encouraged to come out for the socially distanced event. “a student counted for us; 130-ish cars came through. that was kind of our COVID-SAFE way to celebrate our grandparents. People went above and beyond decorating their cars. the kids had a blast,” Mrs. amor reported.
Mrs, amor also reported on Kindergarten Roundup as the most recent school community event. Last year, 50 students come with their parents to sign up for the next school year. However, this year, 70 students were signed up. “We’re almost a class ahead right now as far as registration goes. It was another incredible event,” amor said.
Dr. Piazza congratulated the elementary school on a job well-done. “I just want to again congratulate the elementary for everything that they’ve been doing. tonight was just a small, little snapshot of all the great things that you do every single day,” she said. “I just want to say that I appreciate that. I know that we all appreciate the work that you do every day. It’s not been easy the last few years. But you do dynamic work, and you put the smiles on the kids’ faces today, and that is so fulfilling. I appreciate it. thank you for all your efforts and everything you’ve done. We appreciate it.”