Ms. Vickers Retirement

By Casey W.

Ms. Vickers is retiring after 33 years of teaching. Ms. Vickers said, I enjoyed helping students learn study skills and helping them progress on through 5th grade. When I retire I would like to learn to play an instrument, like the bass I have sitting in my basement. I would love to learn how to play. I would like to learn how to take wool from an animal and turn it into yarn and knit. I would also help my mom because she’s elderly. I’ve been teaching 33 years plus one year of student teaching since 1975. I chose teaching as my career because really loved working with children, and this is a very fun way to work with children. I think I’ve done my time and well, we will see how retirement works. “I would like to say that I have really enjoyed working with the kids, parents, and teachers. Thanks." We will miss Ms. Vickers. She has played a big part in 5th grade and in Holmes School!

5th Grade Spelling Bee

By Tosin A. and Olivia H.

Can you spell fun? That was what all the participants had. They did their best and that’s all that counts. Who is the winner you ask? First place was Tosin A. and runner up was Maximo M. for 5th grade. I hope that the 5th grade next year will have the same excitement as this year.

Roller Skating Trip

By Olivia H.

On March 24th the 5th grade went to Lombard Roller to celebrate the end of ISATs. You had a choice if wanted to wear roller skates or roller blades or speed skates. Emma S. in Ms. Manuel’s class, said she had fun because we had the rink to ourselves and she loves to skate. Victor R. in Ms. DeVito’s class said, “The bus ride there was long and boring, but it was worth the wait.” Nancy P. in Mrs. Vickers’ class said, “I would want to go again because it was fun and I loved the Slurpees.”
I believe that this year's fourth grade will love the trip next year.

Reading Olympics

By Vicky R.

On April 8^th, we had the 3^rd Reading Olympics. This round covered all 18 books. We had a lot of groups participate. All of the groups were trying so hard until we got down to the final round to see who won. All of the 5^th graders put their best into studying and reading the books. Some of the groups didn’t have all of their teammates but at least they studied. The winning team was Olivia V., Laura B., Ady U. The winning team also represented our school by going to the inter-school competition at the Oak Park Library on April 23^rd. Everyone should be proud of the hard work Olivia, Laura, and Ady put into the Reading Olympics.

Haikus

By Kyle S.

The 5th grade students are working on a Japanese form of poetry called a haiku. A haiku has three lines. The first line has five syllables in total, the second line has seven syllables in total, and the third line has five syllables. Fifth grade students worked on this for a fun writing assignment over ISAT week. People had to write a haiku for every season of the year. After producing the haikus, 5th graders put a blob of black paint on a sheet and blew the paint with a straw to create an image of a tree. Once the paint was dry, they dabbed on paint to decorate. They then glued the haikus and trees to a black piece of paper. Tyler S. and Matthew W. both liked the haikus. Tyler said, “Yes, I did like doing haikus because it was fun to think about how the seasons feel and to paint the trees.” Matthew said, “It was okay. I like the painting although mine wasn’t very good.” Both of them would do this project again. Tyler would, but he would want to do it about the rooms in his house. Matthew said he would do it again because he messed his up and it was fun. They were displayed by the school office.

Space Center

By Vicky R.

The whole fifth grade went to a space center this year. In the space center we watched two shows. The shows gave us a lot of information about space and the history of it. After the shows, they played a laser light show. The person who was running the space center answered the questions that we had. If you want to learn about space visit the Triton College with your family.

Miss Schroeder

By Olivia H.

This trimester, Ms. Vickers has a new student teacher Miss Schroeder. She grew up in River Forest and went to OPRFHS. Miss Schroeder then went to University of Wisconsin – Madison and is now attending DePaul University. When she was in her senior year of college at Madison she majored advertising. She decided that she wanted to be a teacher because she used to baby-sit and worked well with kids. Miss Schroeder enjoys working at Holmes School because of the nice teachers and great students. She said, “Ms. Vickers is a great mentor, and I will be sad to go.” I think Miss Schroeder will be a great teacher someday because she makes science very interesting.