Cooleemee Elementary School’s 5th grade class had their last lesson provided by the Cooleemee Historical Association. Every year since first grade they received specific lessons appropriate for their age group.
Don Cover had visual aids to help teach the students about the Revolutionary War in less than an hour. The students’ attention span held strong to the end thanks to Don’s enthusiasm, voice inflection, and talking as if he were there when it was happening, explaining who was who and how it all played out.
Thank you Don for taking the time to educate these students about important people who were successful in gaining our freedom.
Feel free to contact me at 336.250.1133 or at cooleemeenews@gmail.com. I would love to hear from you.
Teachers dressed in blowup costumes to get students excited about End of Grade (EOG) tests.
Well, Principal Angela Burgess and Assistant Principal Emily Moore did it. On May 30th, in front of the entire Cooleemee Elementary School student body, they both kissed a pig! If they make a promise to motivate their students to reach a specific goal, and they meet that goal, they intend to keep their promise and follow through.
When the small cage was carried into the gym, I had to cover my ears because the unified screams were so loud. I thought the pig would be pretty and pink, have just had a bath, and smell like baby powder. Boy, was I wrong!
Principal Angela Burgess kisses a pig brought in by Becky Jones after students exceed May’s 95% attendance goal. Assistant Principal Emily Moore takes her turn kissing the pig. Students show their skills in the egg-carrying relay raceEgg carry winners
It had beautiful dark brown fur with black spots and smelled to the high heavens. When it was time for the big kiss, the screams intensified again, and I was surprised the windows didn’t break.
The attendance goal for May was 95%, and the student body surpassed that goal. Ms. Burgess praised each grade level for meeting certain goals, and all the students praised one another. The EOG testing was the following day. Some grades had higher goals than others, but the principal said they could do it and should aim to do their best.
Popping balloons in a chair is harder than you’d think.
Positive reinforcement was spread throughout the entire morning. Some students competed in carrying eggs on a spoon, and another involved running with a balloon and sitting on it to pop it. It was hard to tell who would be the winner because sometimes, no matter how hard they sat on the balloon, it wouldn’t pop.
When the teachers came prancing out in their blowup costumes, the students went crazy again. They had a relay race and danced around. Before leaving, they sprayed silly string on the bottom row of students, and other teachers used plastic blow-bubble machines to create a shower of bubbles on the students. Needless to say, the children and teachers had a great time.
Excited students are showered with bubbles.
This exciting pep rally aimed to help the students release anxieties and worry and open their minds with positive thoughts so they could do their best on the EOG. Thank you, staff, for being creative and always finding ways for the students to excel and love their school more.
Feel free to contact me at 336.250.1133 or cooleemeenews@gmail.com. I would love to hear from you.
Stepping back in time to 1934 to learn lessons about chores that the people of old Cooleemee performed daily was a fun morning for two first-grade classes at Cooleemee Elementary School.
Lynn Vogler helps children scrub, rinse, and wring out clothes.
Getting their hands wet while scrubbing kitchen hand towels, rinsing, and learning how to wring out the water seemed like a lot of work, but they had fun. Each had a washboard to scrub the towels, and Lynn Vogler reminded them to use soap. Tammy Lagle held a small cloth on the clothesline, then walked down to the end and back to remove any dirt. “You don’t want this dirt to get on your clean clothes,” she explained as she showed them the discolored cloth. After choosing wooden clothespins or the ones used today, which are made of metal and wood, they learned to dog-ear the ends and secure their cloths on the clothesline.
Johnathon Vizard teaches students how to use a hoe.John Chandler explains the importance of planting an onion with the tip at the top.
John Chandler and Johnathon Vizard taught the students how to hold a hoe, how to make rows in the dirt, plant seeds, and how to tamp down the dirt. Canning vegetables raised in the garden was essential for every household. Preserving some vegetables, like green beans strung on a string, called “leather britches,” made it easy to dehydrate them.
Cathy Marshbanks offering reassurance to a reluctant egg-gatherer.
All shared collecting eggs and putting them in a basket. Chickens can be skittish, which makes them cluck and move around quickly. Some children were unsure about being that close to collect the eggs, but Cathy Marshbanks’s gentle hand helped them complete the task.
Jeff Ferrell teaches the importance of each household owning a pig.
Not many grown-ups can say they have made “slop” for a pig, but the first graders can now say they have. Combining all the leftovers from the dinner table became food for the pigs. Having a chance to pet the pig was a brave moment for some but was very exciting for most. Jeff Ferrell displayed a side of pork, bacon, and sausage.
Learning they can’t get a hamburger from a pig was a fun fact for them to talk about. Visiting Madison the cow was an added bonus. Madison was gentle, so each student got to stroke her very soft fur on her nose. The students also learned why her eyes were on the sides of her head.
Teresa Bivins demonstrates how to churn whole milk to make butter.
Making butter out of whole milk sounds so simple because it is. Students have the knowledge to go home, pour whole milk into a jar with a lid, and start shaking to make their own. Tasting the homemade butter on a cracker put smiles on everyone’s faces. Susan and Teresa Bivins assisted with churning the butter.
Before returning to class, each student received a coloring book that reiterated all the things they had learned that morning. The Cooleemee Historical Association has more events planned throughout the entire school calendar, including for kindergarten through fifth-grade students.
Thank you, CHA, for providing students with hands-on experiences that give them a full picture and understanding of their heritage. Feel free to contact me at 336.250.1133 or at cooleemeenews@gmail.com. I would love to hear from you.
Cooleemee Elementary School had the gym popping with vibrations of music, twirling, jumping, and laughter, for it was the special time to celebrate Valentine’s Day. Hot pizza was brought in, and boy, did it smell good! Candy and snacks were available for the students to purchase as they went through the line to pick up a big slice of pepperoni pizza.
It’s so much fun watching girls and boys roam around the room with uninhibited manners. Two boys said they were having a good time just walking around and talking to each other, and girls dancing in a circle, holding hands or twirling in their pretty dresses. It sent the message they were happy and joyful.
Some fifth graders felt awkward and bored. I reminded them that next year, they would be with the older kids when they went to middle school, and their faces lit up.
Some schools divide the age groups up: kindergartens and first grade, second and third graders, and fourth and fifth graders. The times are divided among the total.
This may take additional planning and organization but all in all, the majority had a great time this year.
Thank you, teachers and volunteers, for giving the students another event to create more memories that they will remember for a lifetime.
The fifth graders at Cooleemee School were honored with a grand walk through of students on both sides of the walkway, who were clapping, cheering, blowing horns, bubbles were floating in the air, special posters were held high with shouts of goodbyes to the end.
The last day of school is filled with mixed emotions that can lead to tears and many hugs. Ms. Tatum praised her 4th grade by saying it was the best year ever. “This was a great good of kids, they worked very hard, test scores were great, so I’m very proud of their work.”
The music director, Erin Penley, had a great year. During COVID, she was forced to push around a cart to the classes, so this year the students were excited they could go to her classroom, which meant they could do more with less limitations.
Principal, Angie Burgess, said the staff decided at the beginning of the school year they would focus on a school mission: Creating excellence for students. Every student received a packet of Marigold seeds which encouraged being positive and helping them find their positive self and to be a Marigold to everyone.
If the student became negative or discouraged the unopened seed packet would remind them of their ‘why’. The teachers stayed focus on their students because they are their ‘why’. As the end of school was approaching, attendance increased with reduction of COVID numbers, growth occurred in social, behavioral, emotional areas and academics.
Burgess is excited about where they were ending the year.
