Dr. Seuss' birthday party tomorrow night!

Tomorrow, the library is throwing Dr. Seuss a birthday party! Meet us here on Tuesday, 3/6/12, at 6:30 pm in the cafeteria. We'll enjoy a silly Seussy story rotation, followed by cookies and milk. Then, we'll dim the lights and enjoy some short films based on the work of Dr. Seuss, directed and starring Forest North students and staff! Please watch this preview for the staff's version of "Horton Hears a Who." The preview is a Photostory, but the actual film itself is entirely live action and the directorial debut of Mrs. Lajaunie! Watch the whole movie tomorrow night!

Mrs. Fournier on Bluebonnet Selection Committee!

Mrs. Fournier is proud to announce that she has been chosen to serve on the 2012-2014 Bluebonnet Book Award Selection Committee. That means she and a group of fellow librarians will choose which books will be the 20 nominated to win the top honor of being the most well-loved children's book in Texas. The Bluebonnet Book Award is a library program for students in 3rd-6th grades that encourages students to read for pleasure, to develop their powers of discrimination, and gives them access to various genres. At Forest North, we design our fall programming largely around this Book Award due to its high quality of nominated titles. Students who read 5 or more are qualified to vote, and some qualify to attend our Bluebonnet Wii party.

FNE Battle of the Bluebonnets

On Thursday, 2/23, 12 dedicated readers competed in our campus level Battle of the Bluebonnets. These 12 readers showed exceptional dedication and drive in reading all 20 of the Bluebonnet Book Award nominees. They individually answered questions and digitally submited their answers with a remote control. on 2/23, we focused on all 12 participants- they each won a medal laser-engraved with their name, and got a free custom Battle tshirt.

On Friday, the morning after the battle, the top 5 competitors were announced on Broadcast. These top 5 finishers were eligible to move onto the RRISD Battle of the Bluebonnets at Sommer Elementary. Last year, we won 3rd place- this year, I hope to take home the Traveling Trophy to Forest North!

The scores were incredibly close. First place was Isabella Guerra, who only missed 6 out of 40 questions! Andy James, Alex Pertile & Brett Dick all tied for 2nd place, only missing 7 questions. There was a tie for 3rd place between Ezana Sileshi and Stephanie Ro, who only missed 8 questions each.





Ezana and Stephanie competed in an additional paper tiebreaker round, in which they both got perfect scores. Mrs. Fournier quickly created an additional four question round with super duper extra difficult questions. In this round, Stephanie beat Ezana out by one little question. Ezana will serve as our alternate, and Stephanie Ro has officially qualified for the 2012 RRISD level Battle of the Bluebonnets. Way to go, Steph!

Students and staff are welcome to attend our event and root for our Eagles on Thursday, 3/8, 4:00-5:00 PM. Competitors will enjoy a free snack, and will earn another medal for their participation in this elite level of reading excellence.

Another round of applause for all 12 of our Battle compeititors! You were wonderful! I am so impressed by your perseverance and love of reading. You must be very proud of yourselves.

Bluebonnet VIP Breakfast

Twenty five dedicated readers found that hard work really does pay off this morning. Students who read 15 or more Bluebonnet Book Award Nominees were invited to a special VIP Breakfast this morning. They were treated to a smorgasbord of delicious and nutritious breakfast foods. A great time was had by all. They enjoyed their food in the library on a special poster placemat made by Mrs. Lajaunie from dust jackets of the nominated titles this year. They also got to order 1 of 6 selected titles from the Bluebonnet list next year. Orders were already placed and books should arrive soon, so that these Eagles can get a head start for next year, and then share the book with their classmates. Congratulations, readers, and for half of you, good luck on the campus battle on Thursday!

Unusual Reading Spot Contest

The Forest North Library walls are about to have a makeover. The pictures of the 10 winners from the Unusual Reading Spot contest will soon be displayed for all to enjoy. We had 26 AMAZING photo entries turned in last month. A panel of judges had the difficult job of selecting the 10 overall winners.

The winners were:
Pre-K- Nate
Kindergarten- Cole
1st grade- Reagan
3rd grade- Alex, Jacob, Raven & Graham
4th grade- Kaleeyse
5th grade- Tyler & Carolyn

Their pictures will be displayed in custom frames made by Mr. Fournier and painted by Ms. Bell and Forest North art students. All entries are currently displayed on the bulletin board outside of the library. Thank you to all of the entries and congratulations to our winners!
Keep Reading Eagles!

Thank you Forest North!

The library is thrilled to announce that Forest North Teacher of the Year and Paraprofessional of the Year were both won by our two person library staff. Mrs. Fournier and Mrs. Lajaunie are humbled by this honor and are especially happy to win as a team, because their teamwork is the secret to the library's success. We appreciate your support and thank you, staff and faculty, for believing in what we do! Keep reading, Eagles.

Forest North Bluebonnet party- Guest Blogger, Mrs. Lajaunie

The Forest North Library was bursting at the seams at the Bluebonnet Wii party last month. 118 students read enough Bluebonnet books to be eligible to vote for the 2011-2012 Bluebonnet Book Award winner. Students who attended the party enjoyed snacks, played the Wii, and were able to choose a free book and poster! Fun times were had by all. Ms. Moore and Mrs. Rataj won top honors for having their WHOLE class eligible to vote and attend the party. That is a lot of hard work and encouragement! Honorable mentions go to Mrs. McCollum, Mr. Helmlinger and Mrs. Albin for having 15 or more of their students attend the party. They, along with Ms. Moore and Mrs. Rataj earned a free lunch from Mrs. Fournier for their accomplishment. The top voted book at Forest North was Out Of My Mind, followed by Hallelujah Flight. Congratulations to The Strange Case of the Origami Yoda for being voted the winner of the 2011-2012 Bluebonnet Book Award.

Some students went beyond the required reading in order to reach other goals. For example, students who read 15 or more books are invited to the Bluebonnet VIP Breakfast and will recieve a $5 gift card to the Forest North Spring book fair. Students who read all 20 Bluebonnet books are invited to the VIP Breakfast, will recieve a $10 gift card to the book fair AND they get to participate in the campus-wide Battle of the Bluebonnets. The top five students from the Forest North battle on February 23rd will get to represent Forest North in the district battle next month! Fingers crossed that we bring home the RRISD Traveling Trophy.

Thanks to all of the 3rd-5th grade teachers and students for making this year's Bluebonnet season a HUGE success. Next year's list of Bluebonnet books is now available online, and Mrs. Fournier plans on offering 2 sessions of Camp Bluebonnet again this summer for students interested in a head start. Get reading, Eagles!