Ithaca South Elementary

We had a special visitor in kindergarten today. Mr. Gary Ester, a local bee keeper, came and talked to us about bees and honey. Students got to touch honeycomb, beeswax candles, and taste fresh honey off of a frame. Thank you Mr. Whitford for arranging this wonderful experience for kindergarten! 🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝

First Graders had a great trip to MSU today! Their first stop was lunch and ice cream at the Dairy Store. Then they walked over to the Butterfly Gardens where students got to plant a geranium flower plant, interact with live butterflies and look through telescopes at butterflies and other insects. Thank you PTO for funding the trip! 💛💙🐝

Last Friday we celebrated Grandparents/VIP day at South! It was wonderful to have so many happy, smiling faces in our hallways. Thank you to our staff, teachers, and families for making this such a special day!

Today Mr. Rayburn and Mrs. Vozar were 'pied' in the face! These students won the opportunity to pie them during the PTO Carnival earlier this month.

Thank you Jillian Stapleton and helpers for giving our kindergarten and DK students an opportunity to create a beautiful piece of art based off of the book, "Albert. Our students really enjoyed using different art tools as well as creating a gift for a family member! Thank you to our wonderful Ithaca PTO for funding supplies for this experience! 💙💛💙💛💙💛💙💛💙

There’s something extra special about the first friendly face you see each morning - and for our South Elementary students, that’s often their bus driver! 🚌💛 With big waves, warm smiles, and safe rides, our drivers help start and end each day with care. Thank you for being everyday heroes to our littlest Yellowjackets! 🐝💙 #JacketPride #BusDriverAppreciationDay

First graders read a story about a chicken using a hat to make a nest, and were then challenged to build their own hats that could hold eggs! We had lots of chuckles in the STEAM lab today!

We are thrilled to announce that two remarkable Ithaca educators have been recognized at SVSU! Mrs. Gulick received the prestigious title of "Hero in Education," while Ms. Sopocy was honored as an Outstanding Senior. Their commitment to empowering students and excellence in education inspires us all! Let's celebrate their achievements and their dedication

Thank you, Mr. Dylan Malek, Junior Achievement volunteer from Mercantile Bank, for joining Mrs. Gulick's class! Junior Achievement (JA) focuses on introducing students to basic concepts of work readiness, financial literacy, and entrepreneurship through the lens of a community. Students explored careers and learned about earning, taxes, and how money works within a community through five learning sessions.💲💰💵

Mrs. Whitford's Developmental Kindergarten students earned an ice cream sundae party for earning the most money at South during our Read-A-Thon! Great work, Junior Jackets!

First graders read the story Thunder Cake by Michigan author, Patricia Polacco. They celebrated by eating some delicious Thunder Cake made by Mrs. Melow! #EmpoweringExcellence

We got to go on an incredible field trip today to Desaegher Dairy Farms! This was one of the best experiences I have ever done with students. Students got to experience the whole farm riding in a wagon, a milking parlor, and the birthing barn. We even got to pet a baby calf and each student received a goodie bag! A special "thank you" to Mr. Ty Peet & Mrs. Lotte Peet for helping us arrange this experience for all of our Ithaca Kindergarten & DK Students! 🐄🐄🐄🐄🐄🐄🐄🐄🐄 💙💛💙💛💙💛💙💛💙

Congratulations, Kason and Owen! These two were our First Grade "Principals" this morning at South because they raised the most money in their grade level during our Read-A-Thon!

Students in Mrs. Gulick's 2nd grade class learned about the differences between tortoises and turtles. They used Wikki Stix to create either a turtle or a tortoise, paying attention to how they made the shell and legs of their animal. We also had Gwen Zimmer, a para at North Elementary, bring in real tortoises and a turtle, allowing students to see the differences in a real-life educational experience! 🐢💚

First graders read Logan's Greenhouse in STEAM and learned about all sorts of fruits and vegetables (radishes, leeks, Brussels sprouts, pears, etc). They were then challenged to build greenhouses complete with parent and offspring examples of each plant! It was a nice extension of the science work they've been doing in their classroom!

Our class was gifted a book from our dear friend, Mrs. Sue Meier! She and Megan Calderon wrote this book called," The Goodness Garden." It celebrates "Goodness Day" on March 14! We did read the book on that day, but we have since decided to do a kindness service project. We made placemats to give to our Ithaca Commission on Aging. We are having them give them to our homebound meal friends. These kiddos did an, awesome job making over 70 placemats! They are very excited to share kind words & art with everyone! 💙💛💙💛💙💛💙💛💙

Thank you for supporting our Read-a-Thon fundraiser this year. The month of March kept our students busy--they read over 8,000 chapters and books! And thanks to our incredible community, we raised over $17,000 to be used for field trips and experiences for elementary students.

We are proud to honor our March Students of the Month at South Elementary! Students were nominated based on the Positivity Project character trait "Love of Learning". Congratulations, Junior Jackets!

Yesterday, FFA members from Ithaca High School visited our 2nd graders. They shared a book and completed an activity with our students to help us celebrate Reading Month. Thanks for sharing 'Ag in the Classroom' with our Junior Jackets!

Please see this important note about our Stuffed Animal Sleepover and PJ day!