COWLES MONTESSORI

Cowles Science Fair is December 6

All students will bring their projects to the gym before school. Viewing and judging will be throughout the day.

Grades 1-3 viewing: 5:00-6:00 pm

Grades 4-8 viewing: 6:15-7:15 pm

The monthly CMPG meeting has been moved to December 12. Free childcare is provided.

Craft items will be on display for sale in the Cowles gym on Friday, December 9 from 6:30-8:30 pm. Free childcare will be provided.

The annual Book Fair will be held in the lobby before school from 8:00-8:30 and after school from 3:15-4:45.

The Thanksgiving Holiday will begin after dismissal at 3:15 on Tuesday. All staff may leave after dismissal of students on Tuesday. There will be no school on November 23, 24, and 25. School will resume Monday, November 28. Please enjoy time with your families and safe travels to all.

The Cowles Auction and Potluck is our biggest event of the school year.  It’s
a fun night to meet other parents, teachers, and kids – all while helping out
Cowles! We have a live auction, a silent auction and a bake sale table, as well
as a wonderful array of dishes shared by everyone. This year we will have live
entertainment before the live auction begins, and more children’s activities to
really make it a night of fun for the whole family! Plus, every family
attending will have a chance to win an iPad 2, sponsored in part by Bankers
Trust of Windsor Heights!

Schedule for the night:

4:30  Bring food for the potluck and begin bidding on the Silent Auction

5:00 Eating and Live Entertainment begins

5:45 Live Auction and Kid’s Activities begin

7:15 First Silent Auction section closes

7:45 Second Silent Auction section closes

8:00 Giveaway winner(s) announced!

Please join us at the Des Moines Medical Education Building

Volunteers are needed during the morning of Oct. 31st to
help students prepare vegetable soup. Please ask your child’s teachers if they
are participating, if they would like volunteers, and if they need some
utensils for the day (bowls, aprons, cutting boards, crock pots, measuring
cups, spoons, knives and hand towels).

We will use a vegetable soup recipe adapted from Lois
Ehlert’s children’s book, Growing Vegetable Soup, using fresh produce found in
Iowa during late October. You can double or triple the recipe, depending on the
number of participants you will have, and how hungry they are! We’ll use
low-sodium vegetable juice, kindly donated by Windsor Heights Hy-Vee, as a soup
base. (Hy-Vee also donated disposable bowls and spoons, as well.) Turn crock
pot on “high” setting. Wash and slice up vegetables and add to crock pot (save
out broccoli, parsley and herbs for the last hour). The vegetables should be
cooked well enough after about 4-5 hours.

Healthy Harvest 2011

October is National Farm to School Month! Thanks to the
Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship (IDALS) for providing
Cowles with Farm to School funds to organize nutrition activities. Thank you to
the teachers, staff, parent volunteers at Cowles and local farmers who have
made Healthy Harvest a success for the past two years! This year Cowles will
celebrate the delicious, wholesome fall produce that is grown in Iowa with two
activities: 1) visiting the Des Moines Farmers Market on Oct. 29th; and 2)
making a wholesome vegetable soup (no nuts, wheat, meat, or dairy) in the
classroom on Oct. 31st.

Families are invited to meet at 8:30 a.m. Oct. 29th at
the Grinnell Heritage Farms booth (on south side of Court Ave. between 2nd and
3rd Streets) at the Downtown Des Moines Farmers Market. Rain or shine. We have
pre-ordered vegetables from farmers Melissa and Andrew Dunham, who harvested
our fresh, certified organic, Iowa-produced ingredients (like parsnips, beets,
broccoli, cabbage, kohlrabi, bell peppers, potatoes, carrots, beans, tomatoes,
cauliflower, onions, brussel sprouts, marjoram and parsley). Stay for free
entertainment and meet other farmers on your own. For information about parking
and other vendors, see http://desmoinesfarmersmarket.com/