Happy New Year and Kung Hee Fat Choy! Welcome to 2019 and the Year of the Pig.
Did you know that the pig is the last animal of the Chinese Zodiac calendar? According to legend, a Chinese Emperor decided to host a race to determine which animals would make it into the Zodiac. In the middle of this important race, the pig got hungry, ate a feast and took a nap. Luckily, the pig woke up and reached the finish line, just in time to become the last animal named in the zodiac calendar. But does anyone really remember who finishes last — when you become one of the 12 animals honored for eternity?
You might ask, how is this relevant to RAP? For this month, only 522 students or 78.9% of the student body completed their RAP reports for the combined months of December/January. This meant that 140 out of 662 students did not complete their RAP reports. In 2017, we had a 92% RAP participation rate for the month of December/January. In 2018, we had a 91% participation rate among all students. It appears that for this past month’s RAP report, we are at an all-time low for participation rates.
Why does reading participation rates matter? School work gets progressively difficult; and the more your kids read, the better prepared they are to do well in school. But the best way to motivate your child to read, is to engage with them and ask them about their book project. Your child will not necessarily be graded on their RAP, but they will reap great rewards by participating and having fun while reading. Encourage them to have opinions and express their ideas creatively. You could make a family trip to the Salt Lake/Moanalua Public Library (which is conveniently open on Saturdays from 10 am – 3 pm) and check out their new books section. If your family is frequently stuck in traffic, you could borrow or download an audiobook and listen to it together in the car. Every book that is read counts. We have three more months of RAP reports to look forward to – let’s hit the ground running and read new books. There’s still time for the pig to finish the race!
But before you leave, please extend a hearty congratulations to the mighty students, parents and teachers of the following classes who had 100% participation for the month of December/January:
- PS/K: Room K1 (Mrs. Wong) , Room K4 (Mrs. Muraoka)
- Grade 1: Room A2 (Mrs. Goo), Room A3 (Mrs. Shiroma), Room A4 (Ms. Hazekamp)
- Grade 5: Room A6 (Mrs. Isaacs)
- Grade 6: Room P2 (Ms. Pontes), Room P3 (Mrs. Akau)
And honorable mentions go to:
- Grade 5: Room B6 (Ms. Salas) with 1 missed
- Grade 3: Room A9 (Mrs. Suehiro) with 2 missed
- Grade 4: Room B8 (Ms. Gamiao) and PS: Room K5 (Mrs. Garcia) with 3 missed
Last, but certainly not least – for the entire 1st semester (September – June), there were a total of five classes who had 100% participation!
- PS/K: K1 (Mrs. Wong), K4 (Mrs. Muraoka)
- Grade 1: A2 (Mrs. Goo), A3 (Mrs. Shiroma)
- Grade 5: A6 (Mrs. Isaacs)
Thank you all for your hard work! We look forward to reading your RAP reports at the end of this month!
