THE PIRATE PICAYUNE - Vic A. Pitre Elementary School

The Pirate
Picayune
January 2016
Vic A. Pitre Elementary School
1525 Spruce Street
Westwego, Louisiana 70094
Phone: (504) 341 – 6517
Fax: (504) 341 – 9527
Mr. Wesley P. Taylor, Jr.
Principal
School Website:
http://pitre.jpschools.org
From the Principal’s Desk
Greetings Pitre Family,
Welcome to 2016! I want to take the time to wish
everyone “Happy New Year”!
I would like to
thank everyone for the special Christmas gifts. We
begin this New Year with a renewed sense of purpose
toward our students. There is much work to do in
order for our students to be successful. We will
begin to prepare for standardized testing in the
spring and will be specifically focusing on Science and
Social Studies concepts. You can do your part to
assist by ensuring that reading and reading
comprehension are a number one priority at home.
Make sure that students are attentive during
instruction and ask plenty of questions.
The Christmas musical was a tremendous treat!
Thank you for coming out to enjoy the beautiful
music from our students. The students in the music
MISSION STATEMENT
program worked very hard on the presentation. Mr.
Brown and Mrs. Earls did a great job with the
students. We have started our Farm to School
Vic A Pitre seeks to create a
culture of learning that
promotes high expectations
and mastery of academic
content through effective
instructional practices that
engage and challenge the
learner.
garden project. Thanks to Mrs. Cobb, we had our
first community “work day” right before the break.
We will plan more dates soon, so that you will have
a chance to participate. Thanks to your
commitment to student excellence, we will be able
to reward a lot of students with gold coins for their
perfect attendance during the month of December!
There are many positive things going on at Vic Pitre
which makes me proud to serve as the leader of such
an awesome school! We are looking forward to more
great things during the second semester of school!
1
~Mr. Taylor
The Pirate Picayune
Page 2
CLASSROOM NEWS & NOTES
Pre K
Ms. Lambert, Ms. Bouie, Ms. Sue, Ms. Megan:
Tye'Rell Franklin, Johnathan Mencia, and Brandon Foret, have been working hard to get all of their pizza
slices to earn a free pizza through Pizza Hut's Reading Program. They each completed their first whole
pizza this week by reading 4 books. Great job boys! Keep on reading!
3rd Grade
Mr. Rhoden, Ms. Lotten, Ms. Stewart:
Happy New Year! Our third grade math students are currently working on fractions, and in January we
will begin working on equivalent fractions. Everyone will be working on an across the curriculum
Louisiana Unit in early January, and on the eighth we will be taking a field trip to the Chalmette
Battlefield to view a reenactment of the Battle of New Orleans. Third grade is very excited about this
Louisiana Unit!
4th Grade
Mr. Hastings, Ms. Larche:
4th Grade is finishing up reading The Whipping Boy. The students are really enjoying the story. We are
also working on the classification system of living organisms. Kingdom, Phylum, Class, Order, Family,
Genus, Species are the seven groups to classify any living organism. After winter break we will be
focusing specifically on plant life and parts of the plant.
PE
Coach Auzout, Coach Dana:
Happy New Year! We are excited about some upcoming events that will be taking place in PE. One big
event that we will be hosting is Jump Rope for Hearts. This fundraiser kicks off on January 28 and will
end on February 29. This fundraiser is in efforts to help raise money for the American Heart Association.
Any student who raises $20 will have the opportunity to slime Coach Dana
and Coach Auzout! This is for a good cause. The Jump Rope for Hearts fundraiser uses their
funds to educate children and adults about healthy living and maintaining healthy hearts. Our heart is an
extremely important organ in our body! Be on the lookout for more information very soon!
The Pirate Picayune
Page 3
CLASSROOM NEWS & NOTES
2nd, 3rd, 4th, and 5th Grade
Led by: Ms. Ricky
I am so excited to announce that grades 2nd through 5th will immerse their students in an upcoming
Louisiana Unit. This unit gives the students a brief snapshot of Louisiana History and Culture, and
includes several projects.
 2nd and 3rd grade students will participate in creating masks based on a particular theme.
 2nd, 3rd and 4th grade students will study the material from a Social Studies perspective
 3rd graders will create floats based on a specific theme
 3rd grade will visit the Chalmette Battle Field and watch a special reenactment of the Battle of
New Orleans.
 5th graders will create Louisiana Great trading cards using Power Point
 5th graders will use the Informational Texts and project for English Language Arts study and
enrichment.
 The culminating activity will include a visit from the historical New Orleans Society of Dance
Baby Doll Ladies on January 14th--with breakout sessions
 A Fais Do Do (Cajun Celebration) will be held the Friday before the Mardi Gras Break.
 Students across the grade-levels will also attend field trips organized by their teachers.
 Special thanks to Mr. Taylor for allowing this vision to come to fruition.
Vic A. Pitre is proud to introduce the Mini Dolls
Dance Team.
They will be performing and introducing the
NOSD Baby Doll Ladies on January 14th. This
will be their first performance.
The Pirate Picayune
Smoothie Days
Page 4
Pirate Corner
$ 3.00
January 8 & 22
 Thanks to Blake Norris and his
grandmother, Ms. Norris, for helping
set up the Christmas light display at
the park.
~ Coach Dana
 Thanks to Ms. Lambert, Mr. Carl,
Ms. Golden, Coach Auzout, Ms.
Joann, and Melissa Arabie for
helping set up the Christmas light
display at the park.
~ Coach Dana
January Birthdays
Melvin Briscoe, Maleah Gilmore, Keiosha
 Congratulations Shanya Jones –
Excellent behavior and persistence
for academic achievement
~ Ms. B. Stewart
Francis, Ireayan Williams, Ta’Naj Castle,
Serenity Fatty, Mya Leyva, Desmond
Chase, Ashton Broome, Christopher
Jones, Abygail Johnson, Monea
Golman, Michael Green, Genesis
Jackson, Hayden Harding, Railyn
Westley, Ke’nia Webber, Nicholas
Student of the Year
LeBouef, David Watkins, Brian Riggins,
Jah’ki Harry, Harvell Rose, Landon
Jenkins, Joya Patterson, Nicholas
Coleman, Christhian Wyatt
Brent
Taylor
The Pirate Picayune
Page 5

Important Dates & Events
Pitre Café
to
Remember
Have an adult help you make this fun snack!
January
On the menu this month:
Potato Chip Chicken
4 : Records Day – No school for
students
Ingredients:



8 : Report Cards Issued


18 : Martin Luther King, Jr. Holiday,
No school

4 boneless chicken breasts
1 bag plain potato chips
garlic, minced
lemon juice
1 egg
cheddar cheese, grated
Instructions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
2. Put potato chips in sealed plastic food storage
bag and crush to make crumbs. Put egg in a
bowl and mix. Put potato chips in a second
bowl. Dip chicken in egg and then in potato
chips.
3. Spray pan with non-stick spray. Put chicken in
pan. Sprinkle minced garlic on chicken. Squirt
lemon juice on chicken. Bake for 20 minutes.
4. Take out and sprinkle with cheese. Put back in
oven for another 5 minutes.
Parents, please sign and return this bottom portion to your child’s teacher for
them to receive 2 Tickets !!!
Child’s Name ________________________________________________________
Parent’s Signature ____________________________________________________
The Pirate Picayune
Page 6
PBIS
Student of the Month
Pre K - 2nd Grade
3rd - 5th Grade
Diamond Banks
De’Triah Cowart
Soon
PBIS RULES
1. Be Safe
2. Be Respectful
3. Be Responsible
4. Be a Problem Solver
The Pirate Picayune
Page 7
http://pitre.jpschools.org
Fun Interesting Facts for Kids
Clip those box
tops and turn
1. Martin Luther King, Jr. skipped two
grades in high school, 9th and 11th
grade.
them in to

Lots of information
~ District events
Mrs. Stewart
2. It wasn’t until the year 2000 that all
50 states officially observed Martin
Luther King, Jr. Day.
~ Useful resources
Happy Clipping !!!
3. Over 700 streets in the US are
named Martin Luther King, Jr. with
~ Faculty directory
one such street in almost every
major city.
~ Important phone
numbers
www.todayifoundout.com
Something to think about……
Something to talk about……
Something to research………
Have you ever wondered about this ????
1.
What animal is a zebra related
to?
2. How big were dinosaur eggs?
3. What is the cartilage in your ear?
www.highlightskids.com
The Pirate Picayune
Page 8
Fun
Days for
Pirates
Upcoming events
January 14 : Gold Coin Event –
Computer Time
January 15 : Movie Day (Ballroom
Dancing Fundraiser)
January 21 : Gold Coin Event – Art Day
January 22 : Gold Coin Event – King
January 12
Cake Party
January 27 : Gold Coin Day
January 28 : Gold Coin Event – Movie
Time
January 29 : Jean Day $1.00
PTO CORNER
Elected officers:
Ms. Sholana Frazier-Johnson : President, Treasurer
Ms. Theresa Wiley : Vice President
Ms. Tori Hoffman : Secretary
[email protected]
PTO is looking
for parent
volunteers!
The Pirate Picayune
Page 9
PBIS Field Trip:
NOLA Games on Wheels
This field trip was for the students who earned all
5 Good Behavior Tags for the months of August to
December. This was a special day for these
students. They had 4 hours of fun filled activities. They played video games
and danced in the game trailer, participated in fun art activities, and watched
a movie. These students had an awesome time! Check them out!
*****************************************************************************************
End of 2nd 9 Weeks PBIS
Ceremony
Throughout the day, students can earn many
PBIS tickets for modeling positive behavior.
At the end of each 9 week marking period, we hold a PBIS ceremony. We take
all the tickets throughout the 9 weeks and dump them into a big container.
Tickets are drawn out the container for various prizes. Some prizes this time
were: a bike, a pizza party, a Saints football, a basketball, and a Vic A Pitre sun
visor.
The Pirate Picayune
Page 10
Pitre Shows Off Talent
Mr. Brown’s music class and Ms. Earls’ 2nd grade class hosted a
holiday music performance.
very hard.
The students have been working
They played holiday tunes on their recorders.
They
sang. Ms. Earls even performed a beautiful solo. The entire show
was amazing. A special guest joined us for the festivities.
American Idol Finalist (4th Season), Mike Liuzza sang some carols
with us.