Heart River Elementary School :: Monthly Newsletter

I am grateful for the opportunity to be working with the Heart River’s students, parents and teachers. It is a joy to be part of Heart River’s TEAM I welcome your call or visit if you have questions or concern,. Sincerely, Barbara Danks, School Counselor

? Feb. 5-7, several DPS Counselors are attending the ND State Counseling Conference in Bismarck.
? Feb. 8 is “STFA” Day
? February 10th is Kindness and Caring Day, with Smiley Heart Stickers.

School Counselors hold Masters Degrees and are licensed and accredited by the state, as long as they continue updating their education. Barbara Danks is the school counselor at Heart River Elementary since 2007 and brought a “number of years” counseling experience with her. Referrals to the school counselor come from parents, teachers, and students. What best serves a child’s needs, is determined through discussion and meeting with those involved.

School Counselors work with students, parents, and teachers focusing on positive ways to enhance students’ social/personal, educational, and career development. A School Counseling Program is for all students. All students may have difficulty focusing on learning or getting along when various life situations arise. Some life situations may include family changes of moving, divorce, new baby, death. Other situations may be conflicts, friends, bullying, behavior concerns, and drug/alcohol abuse. School counselors serve all students.

? Classroom guidance lessons focus on the three domains of personal/social, educational, and career development.
? Small group counseling may focus on friends, self esteem, social skills, etc.
? Individual counseling
? Meet with parents, teachers & students to help plan for students’ success.

1. STFA is a skill students in K-2 have learned. Kelly Bear, a Green Bear on a video, taught the students this skill. I invite you to practice this with your child.

S = Stop and Observe
T = Think - What is happening?
F = Feel – How is the person feeling?
A = Act in a kind way.

? “Stop, Go, and Tell” skills on how to handle inappropriate touch, behavior or talk.
? What is Abuse and What to do.
? Personal Space and Boundaries
? Ok and Not OK Secrets

1. Stop, Relax, and Take deep breaths.
2. Stand or sit up straight.
3. Calm and Confident facial expression.
4. Give no eye contact unless you are talking or listening.

Think COOL
1. “I am going to stay calm and listen.”
2. “I’m a good person even if they are angry.”
3. “Is this anger fair unfair?”
4. Decide if the angry person is dangerous.

a. Talk It Over - Like, “I am sorry you’re angry. I think we can work this out.”
b. Explain Your Side - Like, “I didn’t know you wanted me to … .”
c. Take a Break –
i. To allow the other person or yourself, time to calm down.
ii. Meet with the angry person later and explain your side calmly and listen.

February is American Heart Month
Take care of your heart by going easy on the salt!
Too much sodium can play a role in raising our blood pressure.

Think fresh.
?? Eat highly processed foods less often and in smaller portions.
Ready-to-eat foods such as canned chili and soups often are high in sodium.
Enjoy home-prepared foods more often.
?? Preparing your foods lets you limit the amount of salt that you add.
Fill up on veggies and fruits.
?? Enjoy a vegetable or fruit at every meal. They are naturally very low in sodium.
Choose dairy and protein foods that are lower in sodium.
?? Get your calcium from low-fat milk and yogurt more often than cheese. Choose fresh
beef, pork, poultry and seafood more often than sausage, bacon and luncheon meats.
Adjust your taste buds.
?? Cut back on salt little by little. Your taste for salt will lessen as time passes.
Skip the salt.
?? Use spices, herbs, garlic, vinegar or lemon juice to season foods. Try black or red pepper,
basil, curry, ginger or rosemary.
Read the label.
?? Compare the amount of sodium listed on Nutrition Facts labels. Look for foods labeled
“low sodium,” “reduced sodium” or “no salt added.”
Ask for low-sodium foods when you eat out.
?? Some restaurants will prepare lower-sodium foods at your request. Some will serve sauces
and salad dressings on the side, so you use less.
Pay attention to condiments.
?? Choose lower-sodium ketchup and soy sauce when possible. Have a carrot stick instead
of a pickle for a crunchy side dish.
Boost your potassium intake.
?? Potassium may help lower your blood pressure. Potassium-rich foods include
potatoes, tomato juice and sauce (choose lower-sodium versions), sweet potatoes,
beans (white, lima, kidney), bananas, yogurt, orange juice and milk.

Adults and children should reduce the amount of sodium in their diets to 2,300 milligrams of
sodium daily (a total of 1 teaspoon of salt from all sources). People over age 51, African Americans and
those with high blood pressure, diabetes or kidney disease should reduce their sodium intake to
1,500 milligrams per day.

I pack lunches for my children, but I sometimes worry that the foods won’t stay at a safe temperature until lunchtime.
What can I do?

Invest in an insulated, soft-sided lunch bag, which will help keep cold foods cold. If you use paper bags, double-bag the lunch to help
insulate the food. Freeze juice boxes and use them to keep the food chilled. Your child will appreciate the cold juice at lunchtime.

If you pack warm foods such as soup or chili, use an insulated container. Before adding the food, fi ll the container with boiling water and let it stand for a few
minutes. Empty the water, then add your hot food.

Homemade Meat Sauce
• 2 tsp. salad oil (such as olive, canola or sunfl ower oil)
• 1 large onion, fi nely chopped
• 1 large carrot, fi nely chopped
• 1 stalk celery, fi nely chopped
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 Tbsp. Italian seasoning
• 1 pound lean (90 percent or leaner)
ground beef
• 1 28-ounce can crushed tomatoes
• ¼ c. chopped fl at-leaf parsley
(optional)
• ½ tsp. salt (optional)
• ½ c. grated Parmesan cheese
• 1 pound whole-wheat spaghetti

Rinse and prepare vegetables as indicated. Heat oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add onion, carrot and celery, and cook, stirring occasionally, until the onion
is beginning to brown, fi ve to eight minutes. Stir in garlic and Italian seasoning; cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add beef and cook, stirring and breaking
up with a spoon until no longer pink. Drain grease. Increase heat to high. Stir in tomatoes and cook until thickened, four to six minutes. Stir in parsley if desired
and salt. Keep warm. Cook pasta according to package directions. Drain. Serve the sauce over the pasta and sprinkle with cheese.

Makes eight servings. Each serving has 389 calories, 9 grams (g) of fat, 53 g carbohydrate, 28 g protein, 9 g fi ber, 416 milligrams (mg)
sodium and 709 mg potassium

.
Yes, opening a can of spaghetti sauce is easy, but you may enjoy this fresh-tasting sauce even more. Your meal will be ready – and homemade – in about 30 minutes.

Just for Fun
What do you call two banana peels on the floor?s!
A pair of slipper

Steamed broccoli
Garlic bread
Baked apples
with cinnamon
Low-fat or fat-free milk

For Tuna or Hamburger Helper-style mixes, I add extra meat and noodles, plus the amount of water needed to cook the noodles, into the recipe. The meal still has
plenty of fl avor but provides additional servings.

These mixes tend to be high in sodium. By extending them, the sodium per serving is lowered, which makes them more healthful.

Family Nutrition Program
Please call for more information on nutrition, food purchasing or food safety.

Extension Agent
NDSU Extension Service
Stark/Billings and Golden Valley Counties 1340 W

What is self-esteem? Self-esteem is a person's core belief about him or herself. Self-esteem affects all aspects of a person’s life, personal, family, school, and work. Although building self-esteem is a life long process, the foundations of self-esteem are established in childhood, and parents have the greatest influence on their child’s self-esteem. Here are some ways to help your child’s self-esteem grow and develop:

? SHOW AND TELL YOUR LOVE: Let your child know you love him or her. Tell them you love them. Give them hugs. Let them know that you love them no matter

what they do. Make it a habit to show and tell them several times a day.
? WATCH WHAT YOU SAY: Avoid put downs, even as jokes. Kids take them seriously. Never ridicule or shame your child.
? LISTEN TO YOUR CHILD: When your child has something to tell you, give them your full attention. Listen carefully. Show them what they have to say is important.
? FAMILY TIME!!!! Have regular times set aside for family time. Play board or card games. Have dinners together as often as possible. HAVE FUN!!
? DON’T COMPARE: Never compare your children to others. This only encourages resentment and discouragement. Remember, each child is unique and special.
? PRAISE, PRAISE, PRAISE!!!! Be sure to make positive comments about your child ‘s behavior at least 2 times as often as negative comments. Notice strengths. When you focus on the behavior you like, your child’s behavior will improve. Praise helps build self confidence. Some examples are:

WOW! FAR OUT! SENSATIONAL! SUPER! WELL DONE! GOOD FOR YOU! WAY TO GO! YOUR’RE DOING A LOT BETTER! THANKS FOR BEING HONEST! THUMBS UP! AWESOME! THANKS FOR TRYING! YOU’RE A BIG HELP! YOU ARE A SHINING STAR! THANKS FOR HELPING! YOU’RE A PLEASURE TO KNOW! WHAT A GREAT LISTENER! YOU’RE SO KIND! GREAT EFFORT! YOU’RE A GREAT EXAMPLE FOR OTHERS! RIGHT ON! YOU’RE #1! GOOD WORK!

February 2012 Discovering Literacy on the Western Edge North Dakota Reading Month – Dickinson

SUNDAY	MONDAY	TUESDAY	WEDNESDAY	THURSDAY	FRIDAY	SATURDAY
			1 Introduce Reading in the Badlands – Gushing with Great Ideas! 100 day of school!	2 What are you reading? Post on the bulletin board outside the lunch line to share what you and your students are reading.	3 Team Up for High Energy Reading. Wear your favorite team jersey. It is Super Bowl Sack Lunch Day.	4
5	6 Show your stamina! Read for more than 20 minutes!	7 Mark your way through a good book! Create a book mark.	8 Crack open a good book! Read while eating Cracker Jacks. Early Release/Mentor Groups	9 Color Day! Read a book that matches your shirt.	10 Hard hats off to a good book. Wear a hat	11
12	13. Oil in the Badlands, Read “Oil” by Christin Ditchfield	14 Haul in a good book. Bring your favorite book to share.	15 Map out a good book. Create a story map of your favorite book.	16 Light up your site. Read with a flashlight!	17Don’t Spill! Read “Oil Spill”, by Melvin Berger Wear Black and Gold Day!	18
19	20 Drill Deep, into a good book!	21 People in the Badlands: Read “Oil Rig Worker” by William Thomas	22 Feel the power of a good book, read “From Oil to Gas” by Shannon Knudsen.	23 Pull someone into a good book. Write a book recommendation to a friend.	24 A barrel of good books. Fill your book basket with good fit books!	25
26	27 Guest Readers Week! Invite a guest to read to the class.	28 Use your resources wisely! Read The Lorax by Dr. Suess	29 Celebrate Success! Have a book talk party. Celebrate the Birthday of Dr. Suess! Dress in Dr. Suess Colors – Red, White and Black.	No school	No school