5th Grade Forest Program: May 1, 2026

UPCOMING EVENTS AND REMINDERS

Thursday, May 7 - 5th graders have a half day of school due to the Tulip Time parade. Dismissal will be at 11:30. Due to the Tulip Time Kinderparade, there will be no afternoon transportation, including all shuttle services and Holland Public Schools transportation. Students who are NOT participating in the parade will need to find alternate transportation home.

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.

We are also looking for volunteers to help provide food items so the 5th grade can make a campfire lunch using their firebuilding skills! They will be building fires and roasting their own pizza filled Tonka Pies or tonka toasters or hobo pies or ... yummy goodness over the fire! Please take a look at the sign up if you are willing to help! Thanks!

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.

HEALTH LESSONS
5th graders will have 3 health lessons in late May. The first will be whole-class and focus on self-esteem. This includes what the world says is beautiful, what the Bible tells us is beautiful, and how we are made in God's image. The second and third lessons will be divided by gender as students are introduced to both how bodies change through puberty and the body systems involved in conception and pregnancy. Students benefit from conversations with their parents before and after these lessons.

MIDDLE SCHOOL VISIT

We had a great visit to the Middle School. We broke into smaller groups and received a tour of the building - seeing many of the classrooms we would be in next year. We listened to 6th grade teachers and students during our tour as they answered a number of questions we had about next year. We ended our visit with snacks and a new shirt!

We've made it to our newest PR celebration goal- Congratulations Pine Ridge!

We are planning a fun whole school picnic for May 8 from 11:30-12pm. We'd like to invite your child to bring a blanket/towel to sit on with friends. The school will provide spots to sit as well. Students will still be able to order pizza lunch from school or bring their own lunch from home, as usual.

As a special SURPRISE for students we'd like to offer a "dessert bar" at the end of the picnic and that's where we need your help. Monday, May 4 you will receive a sign up from the PR office if you'd be able and willing to help out with this. We are proud of our students! Thank you for your support and partnership this year as we celebrate our students.

Curriculum Highlights

BIBLE: We finished up our unit on Jesus' Resurrection and took our test. Our next unit focuses on Pentecost.

MATH: We continue to work on solving word problems that include whole numbers, decimals and fractions, using all four operations. Our unit test is coming up! 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 Thursday morning, 5/7.

We continued to practice our measuring skills and used those skills to determine the perimeter of shapes we created in the sand.

READING: We continue to read through our Historical Fiction Book Club books. We are working on how do we talk about our books while making sure everyone's voices and ideas are heard.