The cast of April's spring musical performed a flash mob for Albany Elementary students as they loaded the buses after school last Friday.

The performers sang and danced to a number from the show to promote "Shrek the Musical" which took place over the weekend.

The musical was a rip-roaring success and the students and directors did a fantastic job!

See our Twitter or Instagram accounts (both @ISD745) to view a video of the performance!

On Tuesday, April 2nd, the Albany Adaptive Bowling Team traveled to Alexandria for a dual meet with the Alexandria Cardinals at the Garden Center Lanes. Our High School bowlers were Brandon Ainali, Amidy Beckes, Johanna Hamann, Sierra Kittleson, Blake Rajkowski, and Owen Weiss. The students had a great time competing and were treated to pizza afterwards. All of our bowlers competed in singles. Competing in doubles were Sierra Kittleson her partner Tristyan Gienger was absent; Blake Rajkowski and his partner Chase Rajkowski, Amidy Berckes and her partner Haley Kerfeld, and Brandon Ainali and his partner Owen Weiss. Albany will host the Alexandria team at the Albany Bowling Center on Tuesday, April 16th.

The 6th grade students finished up their Top 20 lessons with me the last week of school before winter break. On the last day of our lessons, the students created their own puzzle piece in which they drew, wrote, or did both to identify what they will take away from the Top 20 lessons. During our time in Top 20 together, the students learned a lot of valuable information on how to pursue personal growth throughout their lives through their thinking, learning, and communication. Whether it was discussing how to be a bucket filler, learning to be mindful of their non-verbals, to be an upstander, or learning how to shred away their worries, the 10 lessons were created around the emphasis of helping students become lifelong learners who pursue personal growth in the TLC areas.

In January, I began my social and emotional lessons in the 7th and 8th grade advisories. These lessons will help the students learn how to pursue personal growth from a social and emotional standpoint. The topic for January is learning how to manage stress with healthy coping strategies. This is a lifelong lesson and skill which will help students be able to identify healthy ways they can cope with stress, and figure out other healthy alternatives to utilize in the future. I look forward to working in the 7th and 8th grade advisories these next three months!