5th Grade Forest Program: March 27, 2026

UPCOMING EVENTS AND REMINDERS

NO BLOG next week due to a shorten week. Enjoy your spring vacation and time with family!

UPCOMING DATES!

Wednesday, May 27 - Mrs. DeZwaan's Forest Program 5th Grade Showcase at Sassafras Ridge. Our Forest Program class of 5th graders will be spending the day at Sassafras Ridge. The day is meant to showcase their learning, celebrate and share stories from their experiences in the forest program, and enjoy a meal as a class. You are invited to join us for part of that day from 12:30 - 2:15.

Due to lack of parking and township requirements, we are asking that no more than 2 adults per student come out for the afternoon. Parents will need to park at Pine Ridge and load a bus to enjoy a ride out to Sassafras Ridge. The bus will be parked in the bus lane (south side of the building) and is scheduled to leave at 12:15. It will return to Pine Ridge around 2:30. Please plan on spending the entire time at Sassafras Ridge with your child.

In order to reserve enough buses for this event, please sign up by May 8.

As eager as students will be to share some of their survival skills and stories with you, I would love you to share a verse or short scripture passage with them. A verse that you would like them to highlight in their Bible and take with them. Parents who volunteer will have a spot along the trail at Sassafras Ridge, students will gather around you and you will have the opportunity to share a verse and why you are giving that verse to them. This is not meant to be anything more than reading the verse and taking a moment to speak into them. No more than a couple of minutes.

If you would like to share a verse, please sign up and include in the comments what verse you will be sharing by May 20.

Tuesday, June 2 - 5th Grade Celebration at Pine Ridge at 2:00. This will be our end of the year chapel celebrating our 5th graders.

Spring Forest Merch Sale: Now - April 12

Get ready for outdoor adventures with our latest Forest School gear! Our spring merchandise sale is now live. We’re offering performance shirts for both youth and adults to keep everyone cool and protected during sunny days outside. Plus, check out a few fresh colors and new additions to our lineup this season. Proceeds go directly to our Y5-2nd grade Forest Kids! Don’t miss out—shop now before the store closes on April 12!

Spring sports: If your child has a spring sport that changes how they will get home or leave Pine Ridge please be mindful of the policies around end of day. Students may not leave prior to 3:15pm without an adult signing them out. Students may not be released outside of the following approved ways; bus rider, staff kid walker, or car line pick up.

Lost & Found: The lost and found album is updated regularly. Please keep checking it out and having your child claim the things that belong to you! ITEMS WILL BE DONATED ON April 1st!

Curriculum Highlights

AUTHOR VISIT: We headed to Hope College and heard the author, Christina Soontornvat speak to a crowd of 600+ students in the Jack Miller Auditorium. She shared how she became an author, about her family and about her book A Wish in the Dark.

BIBLE: We continue to review the events leading up to Christ's death.

In Chapel groups this week our focus was on Matthew 28:1-10 and 3 cool things about Easter.

MATH: We continue to work on division with numbers that include decimals. Our unit test will be next week Wednesday. Look for a multiple choice math practice test coming home with your child. Students should complete the test, check it with the answer key found in the weekly parent email, and re-work any incorrect problems. This homework is due in class on Tuesday morning, 3/31.

READING: We began a book study with Tuck Everlasting. We are spending time reading both together and on our own, looking closely at characters, and similar themes within the books we've read.

SCIENCE: This week we looked at another piece of our Energy Pyramid ... the decomposers! We looked at soil (at different depths) discovering what makes up the soil at Sassafras Ridge and that grubs are super interesting (maybe even gross) under a microscope.

We also found decomposers at Sanctuary Woods in and around nurse logs (fallen logs that are decaying and become a nursery for new plant life). May we never lose our awe for how GREAT our God is!