Mertens' Classes Finishing Up Social, Emotional, and Mental Health Unit

That's right, we are moving on.  Remember, if you miss a day, be sure to check the course page through Moodle to see what new item(s) have been opened up.  Just a reminded that you can access the page from anywhere you have internet.  Follow this process:  Lindbergh District Home Page- Students drop down tab- Lindbergh Cloud- Login with the same username and password the students use everyday to sign in to the computers at school (all should know)- choose the orange "Moodle" block- For 7th Graders- scroll down to the "Sperreng" subsection- Choose "Health"- At the top choose "7th Grade Mertens Health".  For 8th Graders- scroll to High School- Choose "Health"- Chose the course with the label of just "Health" without a name attached to it.

As always, email me with any questions you may have!

Wag's Water World

This week started our first week in the pool this year. We will swim again next week and then two more weeks in March. Week one starts off with the deep end test and swim stroke development. We worked on 4 strokes (freestyle, backstroke, breaststroke and butterfly) so be sure to ask your child about it. Some students were excellent swimmers and so this was more of a practice time while others struggled so we scaled things back. We used kickboards, different techniques and other flotation devices to help kids out with their swimming development. We ended the week with a free swim day, kids always love the free swim days!!

Next week we will begin a graded water skills sheet. Skills on the sheet range from blowing bubbles to endurance swimming to water survival skills. Rest assured that all of these skills are done in a safe environment and are highly structured. Also, a student's inability to complete certain skills will not drastically alter their grade but I am looking for students to be able certain water movements. I have attached the water skills sheet so you can look over the skills we will be working on and you can ask any questions you may have.

Let me know if you have any other questions, comments or concerns and I will try to have pictures next week. Sorry for none this week, I get skittish having electronics near water since I dropped my phone in the pool back in my first year here :)

Go Flyers!!!

Skills Sheet

Coach Mertens Classes are in Health!!!

All of Coach Mertens classes are currently participating in our Health curriculum.  We will remain in these units until January 27th.  During this time, students are NOT expected to dress out, but they are still expected to complete their activity logs.  The only difference is that students may not count time spent in class towards their daily total.  For clarification on expectations, be sure to visit the "Activity Log" section of the blog.  Logs will continue to be due on Monday at the beginning of class.

Coach Wag's Archery Unit

This week Coach Wagenknecht's class was in their archery unit. They learned technique, safety and had some fun with various shooting games. We popped balloons, played high score and even had a version of H-O-R-S-E called D-E-E-R. It was very successful and the kids had a blast. Enjoy a ton of pictures below.

Go Flyers!!!

Archery in Coach Mertens Class

Students in Coach Mertens class participated in the archery unit recently.  They were taught good safety practices, technique, and how to adjust their form for improved consistency and accuracy.

Presentation from PFH

Coach Wagenknecht's classes were in the health room today with Mrs. Kelly from Preferred Family Health. The presentation topic was prescription drugs and heroin use. It was a powerful presentation with many, many, many questions on the topic. We also watched snipets of the documentary "Chasing the Dragon" (we were sure to cut out any vulgar language).

We encourage all parents to talk to their child about the presentation today and educate them on the dangers of prescription drugs and heroin. If you need further assistance, I would be more than happy to answer any questions.

One of the highlights today that you can enact right away is to lock up any and all prescription drugs in your house so that your kids cannot get to them without your knowledge. This even includes items like cough syrup and Nyquil.

I have attached a video from CNN about a Kirkwood teen who details his heroin journey if you would like to watch it.

Please talk to your children and let me know if you need any information or have questions.

Link to Video

PickleBall Champions

Congrats to our PickleBall champions for each hour. They competed in an intense tournament and came out on top!!!! Don't forget the pickleball quiz that is due next Friday November 4th!

2nd Hour: No-Namers

3rd Hour: Avatars

4th Hour: Titans

5th Hour: Lindbergh Hot Shots

6th Hour: Mexi

St. Louis Blues Street Team

Today Coach Wagenknecht's classes had a visit from the St. Louis Blues Street Team. They are a school/community outreach program with the goal of getting hockey into area schools. The street team went over some hockey basics (holding a stick, passing, shooting, etc.) then went into some street hockey games. It was a blast!!!

We had a bunch of students who did really well today and I would highly encourage you to check out some youth hockey programs in the area and get your kids involved!! You can contact me if you would like some more information.

Enjoy the pictures below!!!