OES Holds Parent Community Week
    Parent Community Week was held November 16-20 at Oleai Elementary School. Parent Community Week was part of the celebration for Education Day.  Parents went to different workshops Monday through Thursday night. The presenters were Mrs. Manglona, Mr. Wabol, Mrs. Beltran, Mr. Lettinga, Mr. Priest, Ray Tebuteb, Rita Chargualaf, Ms. Lambert, Mr. Lim, Ms. Paulson and the OES Megaskills Parent Team and the OES Inclusion Team.  Parents registered at the PTSA meeting or through letters sent home with the students.  They learned about topics like Megaskills and HIV Awareness. On Friday there was a potluck to celebrate with the parents and staff.  The PTSA, OES Administration and office staff provided food for the potluck.
    Parents also volunteered to help out in the classrooms and around the campus. Some were teacher aides for a few hours or for the entire day.  OTher parents helped supervise in the cafeteria or outside on the playground or in the bus area.  About 60 parents volunteered during the week. We all hope that parent volunteering will be an ongoing program at OES.

OES Holds STUCO Elections
    Oleai Elementary School held its student council elections on September 24. All students registered in the school cafeteria or in the library before voting.  Staff members helped count all of the votes.  Judge Manglona came to swear in the new officers in a ceremony held on September 25.
    STUCO has been going on for six years at Oleai Elementary School.  This year's STUCO activities include putting the yearbook together, making and selling buttons, fundraising, and representing the school at island wide activities and workshops.  This year Ms. Paulson and Ms. Olopai are the adult leaders of STUCO.  School counselor Mrs. Guerrero says she enjoys helping the STUCO  because they are becoming leaders.  The names of the '98-99 STUCO members are: Governor:  Rosemarie Elameto, Lt. Governor:  Dina Marie Palacios, Mayor:  Tambra Reyes, Senators:  Jack Lizama, Marilou Gariguez, Lupe Kaipat, Congress: Maverick Saures (6th), Eloise Morales (5th), Trinaleen Guerrero (4th), Javian Lizama (3rd), Desiree Yamada (2nd), Regina Limes (1st), Sheralin Guerrero (K)

Walk for Life and Nutrition Program: Practicing Healthy Habits
    Twice a month, Oleai Elementary School students walk on the Saipan Beach Pathway.  OES Physical Education teacher Jim Priest says that walking strengthens the heart muscle and that a healthy heart lets you live longer.  Mr. Priest says that the SNAPP Program started the Walk for LIfe.  Mr. Priest says that to walk safely you need proper sports shoes, shorts and good posture.  Students also need to stay on the walkway, and to walk without running or pushing. Students have to walk with their classmates and teachers for safety reasons. Parents can also walk with us because it's healthy for them.
    Students are not supposed to eat junk food because it's the school's policy.  The first three ingredients of foods allowed at school cannot be sugar, syrup, salt or MSG.  If you break the rules, your food will be taken away by the teachers or by Mr. Lettinga.
    OES students are also participating in a fluoride program sponsored by the Department of Public Health's Dental Health Services. Public Health wanted to continue to assist the CNMI school children by providing dental services. Students take the fluoride pills so they can have healthy habits and lifestyles.  OES started the fluoride pill program in September when the students started taking the pills every day.  The idea came from the recently adopted School based Nutrition and Physical Activity Partnership under the food services, which showed that a lot of the CNMI children have a great number of cavities.

OES Holds First Quarter Report Card Day and Academic Fair
    Oleai's first quarter's report card day was on October 15 from 3:00 to 5:00 p.m.  THere were 500 students who received report cards for the first quarter. The grades at Oleai were figured according to these percentages:  40% for Daily Work, 20% for Homework, and 20% for quizzes and special projects. There were 70 students who made A Honor Roll, including 24 kinders. To get A Honor Roll, students had to earn all A's on their report cards. There were 104 students who made B Honor Roll. To get B Honor Roll, you had to earn all A's and B's.  145 students had perfect attendance for the first quarter. To get perfect attendance, students have to come to school on time (before 7:30) every morning. There were 365 (or about 73%) of report cards that were picked up that day.
    The first quarter's Academic Fair was held on Report Card Day in the OES library. Every grade level followed their theme for the first quarter when setting up their part of the fair. Student projects and writing samples were on display for the entire day. Each class visited the Academic Fair that day at their scheduled time. Mr. Huckins coordinated the event.

New Furniture and Classrooms at OES
    OES fifth and sixth graders are enjoying their new classrooms and furniture. More classrooms were built because there were more students and the enrollment keeps growing. THe new classrooms were finished in May of 1998.  They spent $370,000 for the new classrooms. There were 6 aircons that were needed for the new rooms. The PTSA ordered the aircons from World Mechanical Services. The PTSA paid half of the money and COngressman Heinz Hofschneider paid the other half.
    OES spent $25,000 for new furniture for the new classrooms. First the school pit it out for a bid. National Office SUpply won the bid and bought the new furniture for the school. OES also ordered books, TV's, VCR's, equipment, and listening centers. The old furniture is being used by the other grade levels.

OES Clubs are Fun for Students
    OES has thirteen clubs that students can join. This year we started clubs in October. The upper grade teachers started the clubs back in 1987.  If we are naughty we are sent to the office like when we are in our homerooms. When your club teacher is absent somebody from the office will take their place.   The 1998-99 Clubs at OES are listed on the Activities page.

PTSA Hosts Halloween Dance
    On October 30, the OES PTSA hosted a Halloween dance in our school cafeteria. Some parents helped decorate the cafeteria; Mts. Wabol and Mrs. Guerrero assisted the parents with the decorations. The PTSA managed and organized the dance. Ms. Paulson (one of the STUCO advisors) says that while the students were having fun, she helped the school counselor sell drinks and she even danced. She says that she is glad that the students had a great time and that they earned a lot of money for the school. Almost three hundred students came to the dance and the school earned almost $700.  The school is happy to have a Halloween dance because it gives them a chance to raise money while having a good time. The dance was three hours long and it ended about 9:00 p.m.