It's time to celebrate our 25th year at Topeka Collegiate.  To keep the spirit going all school year long we have established a 25th Anniversary Celebration Calendar of 25 activities.  TCS students will get points for every activity they attend or in which they participate.

At the end of the first semester the lower and middle school classes with the most points  received pizza parties.  At the end of the second semester, the students in the classroom with the most points for the entire year will all receive movie passes.

At the end of the year each student will have a chance for every point he or she received to be in a drawing for a grand prize.  There will be a middle school winner and a lower school winner.  The grand prizes will be a $100 gift certificate at Best Buy, Barnes and Noble, Wal-Mart or Toys 'R' Us.

Your child's homeroom teacher will have a chart in the classroom to keep track of the students' participation.  If one of the activities is off-site please have your child remind his or her teacher to record it on the chart. 

Here is a list of the activities. Some dates are still to be established.

Back to School Picnic - 8/14

Raising of the 25th Anniversary Flag - 8/15

25th Anniversary Assembly - 9/7

Human number 25 Photo Shoot - 9/7

Chili Supper - 10/3

Run for a Reason - 10/13

Dress up for Halloween - 10/31

Buy a book at the Book Fair - 11/12-11/20

Dress up for Stucco Spirit Day - Jan.

Participate in making the classroom auction item - Jan.

Attend the History Day Fair - 2/5

Attend the Art Show

Participate in the Multi Cultural Event

Attend the 3rd Grade Form and Function Science Fair

Come to a Skating Party

Bingo Night

Participate in Day of the Child

Attend the Science Fair

Participate in Field Day

Attend a TCS Sporting Event

Perform Community Service (such as donating items or your time or participating in a class project)

Match the Staff and Faculty with their pictures from 1982

Dust your dancing shoes off for Disco Night - 3/8

Participate in decorating the Hallways for the Alumni Picnic - 4/25

Current Families and Alumni Picnic - 4/27

Some activities might be subject to change or cancellation.  We will keep you and your child updated.

The students, faculty, and staff at Topeka Collegiate School need your help. Flu season is upon us at TCS. There have been already been several cases of influenza, stomach virus, and strep throat.  If your child has nausea or vomiting, diarrhea, a temperature of 99.6 degrees or above, or been diagnosed with influenza, strep throat or pink eye, he/she should stay home until SYMPTOM-FREE (without Tylenol or Advil) or on appropriate antibiotics for at least 24 HOURS before returning to school. These illnesses are very contagious and put other students, faculty, and staff at risk.                                                                                                  

Remember to promote good hand washing to prevent the spread of these common illnesses.

Thank you for your help and your consideration.

Sally Buckland

Frontline aired this interesting look into our children's view of the online revolution.  You can view the entire program at the following link:

            http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/kidsonline/

In Growing Up Online, FRONTLINE takes viewers inside the very public private worlds that kids are creating online, raising important questions about how the Internet is transforming childhood. "The Internet and the digital world was something that belonged to adults, and now it's something that really is the province of teenagers," says C.J. Pascoe, a postdoctoral scholar with the University of California, Berkeley's Digital Youth Research project.

Carl Tillona

Student Council has voted to become involved with Project Topeka.  This is a community-wide program involving agencies like the United Way, Doorstep and "Let's Help!" to replenish the city's food banks. STUCO will be sponsoring several events to encourage our school community to participate in this campaign to address poverty and hunger in our own community.  To kick off this campaign, STUCO has offered to reduce the entry fee at The Valentine's Dance to $3.00 if students bring four nonperishable food items to the door.

On the other hand, small accomplishments should not be overlooked. The student who finally understands what it means to "show her work" on a math assignment or the student who proudly displays a C paper after so many Ds are examples of students who should be acknowledged.

Teach students to control their impulses. Middle grades students in particular have trouble keeping their mouths closed, counting to ten, keeping their hands away from other people and things, walking instead of running, and so forth.

All of this is part of the age, but this is also the time to begin teaching them how to control these behaviors, which are often the hallmark of the "entitled" adult. It's not enough to tell them not to do these things; they have to be instructed through role-plays, examples, practice, and problem solving.

Provide specific and nonjudgmental feedback. No one can do better on an assignment or change a behavior if he or she does not know how. Be as clear and detailed as possible. Try to be objective, rather than assign a value judgment to the activity or action. Make sure the student understands the feedback by getting him to rephrase or demonstrate what is required.

When parents or teachers do not set limits, expect accountability, and help students improve through direct guidance and assistance, students may grow into irresponsible adults. But when good teaching is taking place, students have a chance to make choices, master tasks, and enjoy being good citizens in the classroom. All of these activities build self-esteem. If they are happening in your classroom, good work!

During December, the second grade classes experienced a taste of the 1850's by visiting a one room schoolhouse at the Kansas Museum of History.  There, they wrote on real slates and learned how school was taught on the prairie.  For a few weeks, the students took on the identity of children ranging in age from 5-15 in the 1800's.  Points were awarded and taken away based on games played, extra credit earned, and simply because they were older or younger than the rest.  They ended their studies with a prairie day where the children introduced themselves, the teacher introduced their families, and each student recited a poem.  They sang songs and performed the Virginia Reel for an audience made up primarily of parents.  Pictured here are Edward B. and Annabel C. writing on the slates and Drew M. reciting his poem on Prairie Day.

On Saturday, February 2, 142 students from 20 schools descended upon Topeka Collegiate to play chess all day!  TCS chess club sponsor David McCoy organized Topeka Collegiate's 2^nd annual chess tournament. Our chess teams placed 2^nd in the K-3^rd section and 5^th in the elementary section. Individual results listed below:

TCS Results.

K-3 section

4th Leo P.

5th Kian F.

8th Malik B.

9th Bryce V.

12th Christopher G.

13th Karl L.

14th Jackson D.

21st Charlie L.A.

22nd Dalton V.

23rd Joe M.

24th Dario P.

26th Baker V.

27th Malcolm L.A.

2nd place as a team

Elementary section

11th Thomas K.

23rd Lang P.

25th Matt M.

29th Ryland E.

34th Jenna B.

35th Fed P.

5th as a team

Thanks to Dallas Bauer who graciously agreed to coach an After-School Adventure chess class and also to help coach the teams at various tournaments. Dallas also ran the concession stand which was available to the participants.