Mrs. Costner's Class Blog

Meet Ivey Costner

2011-03-16T18:21:00.000-07:00

You all have been patiently awaiting these photos of Ivey Costner. I hope you enjoy them. She is growing like crazy and has already gained over 2 pounds. I miss all of you so very much and I think of you everyday. I know Mrs. Mashburn is taking great care of you and teaching you so many things. I promise I will come and visit in the beginning of April when everyone is healthy again and there is no more flu in the school.
Love,

Mrs. Costner

Meet a Very Special Teacher!

2011-01-31T13:55:00.000-08:00

Today we met Mrs. Cathy Green, Madison P.'s special guest. She is a teacher here at our school only a few doors down from our classroom. Mrs. Green moved here from the finger lake area of New York. She moved to the beach on a SAILBOAT! She traveled all the way from New York to Myrtle Beach using the Intercoastal Waterway. She shared her boat log and lots of photos of her trip. Mrs. Green loves to write and draw in her journals and she shared some of the art work she had created with us. We all want to do journal writing now! Mrs. Green also loves to vacation in Jamaica (and who wouldn't?) and she shared a great shell collection that she has from her many trips. Now we know our special neighbor Mrs. Green and we can thank Madison for a great interview!

Mrs. Danielle Ferris, Jayden's Special Guest

2011-01-23T15:00:00.000-08:00

Today we had the honor of spending the morning with Jayden's special guest. He invited his mom, Danielle Ferris. We were very lucky that we have already met Mrs. Danielle a few times because she has come to some of our class parties. Jayden's mom is from upstate New York and because it was so cold there she really loves to be on the beach now that she lives here. She told us about two jobs that she has had. The first job was a job she had while she was a student at Coastal Carolina University studying business finance. That job was Jayden's favorite job and it was working at Medieval Times. She was the princess there and she brought her crown that she wore and we all pretended that we were royalty too as we held it. Her current job is as a financial advisor for Edward Jones. We spent some time talking about what a financial advisor does and Mrs. Ferris also brought us coloring books about saving and spending. Jayden and his mom enjoy doing a lot of things together like reading, cooking, playing sports, going to the beach, and playing with their Boxer dog named Jazz. It was great getting to know you, Mrs. Ferris, and we can't wait to see you again soon!

The Cake Maker!

2011-01-23T14:55:00.000-08:00

Today we had the honor of meeting and getting to know Brylee's mom, Michelle Donovan. She is a baker and we had already had the pleasure of tasting her Frankenstein cake at Halloween and cupcakes at Brylee's birthday, but today we got to taste her beautiful peanut butter cake. Mrs. Donovan used to do taxes for people but now she makes cakes for people as a part time job and also for fun. Her dream job would be to have her own bakery and make cakes like they do on the TV show Cake Boss. Mrs. Donovan comes and eats lunch with us a lot and we have noticed that she always has a book with her when she comes. We learned today that is because she LOVES to read. She also enjoys spending as much time as she can with Brylee and her older sister Taylor. Mrs. Donovan may be one of the only true Myrtle Beach natives. She was born here and all her family is from Horry County. She is even a decendent of the Chicora Indians. Thank you for the delicious cake Mrs. Donovan! We look forward to the next holiday that we get to taste your delicious baking!

USC Gamecocks Rule!

2011-01-14T11:53:00.000-08:00

This week we also had a visit from several USC students who came to share their love of reading with us! We listened to 4 funny stories and we even got to meet Cocky the USC mascot. We each gave Cocky a high-five and everyone got a free book! We were thrilled to get aboard the USC reading express!

Magnet Field Trip

2011-01-14T11:51:00.000-08:00

On Wednesday we had a very fun visit from the Children's Museum of South Carolina. They did an in-school field trip with us. We learned all about magnets and we even got to use quite a few different magnets too! We learned about the force of magnets, kinds of magnets, what is attracted/not attracted to a magnet, and what happens when two magnets are put together. It was a great day!

Tiara and Diana testing to see if objects were attracted to the magnet.

Kaylan and Jammie sorting objects.

Jayden finding out that the light switch plate was attracted to the magnet.

Madison W. discovering the outside of the board was not attracted to the magnet.

Annette's Special Guest, Mr. Heriberto Ibarra

2011-01-10T12:38:00.000-08:00

I never knew the children could eat so many chips in one sitting until we met Mr. Ibarra! Annette's daddy is the manager of the El Cerro Grande restaurants here in Myrtle Beach. There are 5 locations of the restaurant but he mainly works at the Conway location. Mr. Ibarra was born in Mexico and his family had a farm where they grew things like corn, beans, limes, peaches, and oranges. He has 4 sisters and 1 brother and some of them live here in the US and some of them still live in Mexico. We really enjoyed hearing about some of the Mexican traditions like riding a horse on the Mexican Independence Day. The Ibarra family has a house in Mexico that they go live in when they are staying there. Heriberto came to the US when he was 17 years old and learned much of what he knows about restaurants from his uncle. He met Annette's mom when he was 15 years old and we enjoyed seeing pictures of their wedding and when Annette was born. Probably the thing we all liked the best was sampling the chips, salsa, and queso cheese dip that Mr. Ibarra made for our class. We ate, and ate, and ate! We would really like to take a trip to visit Mr. Ibarra at his restaurant in Conway if we can work it out! It would be fun for us to see how the whole restaurant works and we would love to eat more CHIPS!

Happy Holidays!

2010-12-29T04:40:00.000-08:00

I hope all of you have a very happy winter vacation. I know you will all be excited and ready to return to school in January! Here are a few photos for you to enjoy that were taken at our Santa's Workshop Holiday Party before our vacation. Thank you to everyone who was able to send in items and also to those of you who came to help us put together our ornaments. We had a great time!

Mr. Brekke (a Hearts' Stories Guest!), DJ, Madison W, and Jayden making cork reindeer.

Alayna's mommy, Mrs. Bailey, with Tiara and Marcus making reindeer ball ornaments.

Kyle, Ashleigh, and Hailey with Miss Kenney who is one of our Coastal Mentors.

Madison P, Caleb, Seslyn (and her step mommy Nicole), with Jayden's mom making scratch off ornaments.

Madison and Caleb showing off their great work!

Jammie, Diana, and Brylee making candy canes.

Miss Donghia, our very special intern from Coastal Carolina.

Millie and Nicky with Mrs. Clark a mentor from Coastal Carolina.

Alec showing off his gingerbread man magnet.

Alayna, Ethan, and Kaylan at the food table. We didn't have enough to eat as you can tell!

Mr. Brekke and Ethan. It always makes me so happy to have Dad volunteers!

Seslyn and her step-mommy Nicole.

Mrs. Jennifer LeFever, Alec's Special Guest

2010-12-29T04:26:00.000-08:00

Alec and Mrs. LeFever

We were a small group this day! I love the shirts though!

Great silly Christmas vacation faces!

What a special opportunity it was to meet Alec's special guest, Mrs. Jennifer LeFever. Mrs. LeFever has been a Hearts' Stories guest before 3 years ago and it was so wonderful to have a guest return and come and tell their story again. Alec's big sister, Isabella, was in a Hearts' Stories classroom when she was in 2nd grade and Mrs. LeFever was also her special guest. What a testament to Mrs. LeFever and the impact she is having on Alec's family and on all the children she meets. Mrs. LeFever is a horse rider who began showing in interest in horses from a very early age. She took her first riding lesson when she was 3 years old and now she is a trick rider and works at Double C Ranch. Mrs. LeFever worked for Dixie Stampede for 13 years and she also brings her horse Rosie to Carolina Opry for the Christmas Show. We got to see a very cool video of her showing some of the tricks she can do while she is riding a horse and we were very impressed! Most of the time now you can find Mrs. Le Fever working at Double C Ranch taking care of the horses and giving lessons to students. She also does a lot of work with the Fidelis Foundation which helps introduce kids to horses. For more information about this wonderful organization click here. I wish the weather had cooperated with us so we could have seen Mrs. Jennifer in action, but we all know where to find her at Double C!

Ashleigh's Special Guest, Miss Kendall

2010-12-29T04:15:00.000-08:00

On December 10th we had a fantastic interview with Miss Jessica Kendall who was Ashleigh's special guest. Miss Kendall works at Gymnastics Inc. where Ashleigh goes after school and also takes classes. She is an athletic trainer and helps all the cheerleaders, gymnasts, and dancers who go to Gymnastics Inc. Miss Kendall is originally from Maine and she grew up doing a lot of skiing. In fact, she was so good at Alpine Skiing that she attended the Jr. Olympics 9 times and even earned a gold medal. She ended up with a shoulder injury and couldn't continue skiing so she decided to go to college. She got her degree in Exercise and Sports Science and she also has a Master's Degree too! Before she worked at Gymnastics Inc she used to work with many professional football teams and players. Miss Kendall taught us how important it is for us to stretch before we exercise and she even lead us in some stretching. She also showed us how she wraps up injuries at Gymnastics Inc too! It was so great meeting Miss Kendall!

Ashleigh modeling a wrapped wrist.

Listening very carefully to Miss Kendall's instructions!

All of us stretching our muscles.

Miss Kendall being silly!

Seslyn's Pop-Pop, Mr. Johnny Vereen

2010-12-06T13:03:00.000-08:00

The class sitting on a bear surrounded by deer antlers.

The bear Mr. Vereen killed in Canada.

The turkey caller (that worked on calling the turkeys in our room too!)

Did Seslyn grow antlers?

Mr. Vereen teaching us about the color orange.

An antler filled group shot.

Silly faces!

Seslyn and her Pop-Pop!

I've never met a nicer hunter than Mr. Vereen. Today we had so much fun getting to know Seslyn's Pop-Pop. He is her mommy's daddy and he is from Conway. He grew up in Conway and started coon hunting with his own grandfather when he was only 6 years old. Mr. Vereen loves all kinds of hunting and fishing. He has hunting dogs that he uses when he goes hunting (both coon and squirrel dogs). He and Seslyn enjoy taking walks in the woods and looking for turtle shells. Mr. Vereen has always enjoyed working on and selling cars and now that he is retired he spends most of his time enjoying the outdoors. We all agreed that he has a great life filled with adventure. Probably the thing we enjoyed the most about this special guest was that he brought a real bear with him that we all got to sit on and touch. Mr. Vereen killed the bear with a bow and arrow during a trip to Canada and now he uses it as a rug. If you have some little hunter's in your house now, you know why!

Pajama Day

2010-12-06T12:55:00.000-08:00

I thought you might enjoy seeing all the kids in their PJ's. They were so cute. We had a fun day filled with The Polar Express and remembering the festivities of the season.

Team 100
Caleb, Ashleigh, Alec, and Madison P.

Team 200
Hailey, Kyle, Annette, DJ, and Diana

Team 500
Madilynn, Ethan, Marcus, Millie, and Kaylan

Team 400
Madison W., Jayden, Brylee, Jammie, and Alayna

Team 300
Nicky, Tiara, and Seslyn

Mrs. Costner's Special Guest, Mrs. Carolyn Ito

2010-11-26T15:27:00.000-08:00

Kaylan showing a stained glass boy that was Mrs. Ito's mothers.

Tuesday was a very special day for Mrs. Costner because she got to invite her special guest to come and spend the day with us. The class was so excited on Monday when I told them who would be coming the next day. My mom was able to come and spend a few hours with us and during that time the class interviewed her. Mrs. Ito is from Williamsburg, Virginia where she lives and enjoys retired life after spending 32 years in education. She has taught children and adults of all ages from preschool to college level. She spent quite a bit of time sharing some of her hobbies with us! My mom is a very talented quilter and she taught us all about the many tools that she uses while she is making a quilt. We also learned a little more about the 2 quilts she had made for our classroom and the manatee quilt she made for our school that is in the front hallway. Another one of her hobbies is making things out of stained glass. She taught us the difference between opaque, transparent, and beveled glass. She even gave us two beautiful glass pieces to hang in our classroom window. Mrs. Ito loves to travel and she loves chocolate and she brought gold chocolate coins from around the world for us to enjoy (which we did!). We were so interested in listening to her talk we didn't get to ask a lot of questions. Caleb did get to ask her if Mrs. Costner was naughty as a child and luckily Mrs. Ito didn't give away all of my secrets. It was a very special day for all of us!

DJ holding a piece of cut glass with copper around the outside.

A new quilt top that Mrs. Ito is working on.

Mrs. Ito showing a finished wall hanging quilt.

Nicky and a quilt ruler.

Mrs. Costner and her mom, Mrs. Ito

Happy Thanksgiving!

2010-11-26T15:10:00.000-08:00

Thank you for spending so much time creating your beautiful turkey projects! The children were so very proud of their work and were beaming as they shared their projects with the class. Each one was unique and I love that you used your projects to spend time together. I hope that you were also able to use them for your Thanksgiving table center piece. I have also included a picture of our Thanksgiving Friendship Soup. We had a messy (but exciting) time putting our soup together and watching it cook on Tuesday. We were also thrilled to eat it and we went around and said what things or people we were going to give thanks for on Thanksgiving. It was a special tradition that I always enjoy each year. Thank you for sending in your items for the soup.

Some of our family turkeys!

A few more . . .

And a few more . . .

All of our beautiful turkeys!

Thanksgiving Friendship Soup!

Meet Caleb's Special Guest Mr. Michael McDonough

2010-11-19T07:05:00.000-08:00

Caleb waiting for his dad to begin.

A CCU football that was signed by a favorite player.

Caleb and his daddy.

Saying "The Sun News" for our group shot.

Lots of silly faces!

Today we had the pleasure of meeting Mr. Michael McDonough. He was Caleb's special guest. Mr. McDonough is from Ohio and he lived in both Toledo and Troy. We found out that he is an identical twin and he also has a big brother too. All 3 of the boy in his family have the initials MD! Mr. McDonough's first job was picking corn at a farm and then he worked in a pet store which was good because he loves animals. He came to Coastal Carolina for college because he really likes being around the water and being outside. He has a Marine Science degree from Coastal and one of his favorite things to do is be out on the water in his boat. He also loves going fishing with his friends and with Caleb. Mr. McDonough works for our local newspaper, The Sun News. He works in the advertising department and works with local car dealerships making their ads. He and Caleb enjoy spending time together on the weekends and going to Coastal sporting events. He also loves to go camping at Edisto Beach. Since we have been talking about traditions and customs, Mr. McDonough shared that his family was from Hungary and that he can remember his grandmother making special cookies and decorations for the Christmas tree that were from Hungary. It was so much spending our morning with you Mr. McDonough!

Annette's Story about Mr. McDonough

Madison P.'s story about Mr. McDonough

Happy Thanksgiving!

2010-11-19T06:55:00.000-08:00

Today was our Thanksgiving lunch here at school! We were so excited to share our feast with our special friends and families. Here are a few photos from our lunch dates! My special thanks goes out to my photographer Hailey who walked around and took pictures so that I could eat my lunch!

Jayden and his mom.

DJ and his mom and dad.

Caleb, his mom, and his sister Ashton.

Kyle, his dad, and Memaw.

Kaylan and her mom.

Alec and his mom and dad.

Tiara and her mom.

Ashleigh and her mom.

Alayna and her mom.

Seslyn and her dad.

Millie and her dad.

Annette and her daddy.

Madison P. and her mom.

Nicky and her mom.

Diana, her cousin Eirck, and her aunt.

Good-Bye Miss D'Onghia

2010-11-19T06:45:00.000-08:00

Today we had to say good-bye to a good friend of ours. Her name was Miss D'Onghia and she was a student from Coastal Carolina University. She is a Junior there and she is studying to be a teacher! She has been coming to our classroom since school started every Thursday morning. We have really enjoyed having her and we will miss all the extra help she has been giving us! We made Miss D'Onghia special cards, a bouquet of flowers and we had a good-bye snack of some mini cupcakes! We do hope that she will come back to visit us soon!

Madison W.'s Special Guest, Miss Michelle Legate

2010-11-12T11:59:00.000-08:00

Ethan's Story about Miss Legate

Alec's story about Miss Legate (I wish this was darker and you could see it better!)

Today we met Madison W.'s special guest. Her name is Miss Michelle Legate and she is a scuba diver at Ripley's Aquarium. She knows Madison because Madison goes to an after school program there each day. Miss Legate was born in Kentucky and lived there for 18 years. She told us that her mom was a doctor and that she was home schooled! Miss Legate enjoyed living in Kentucky but she moved to Tenn. when she was finished with high school and got a job at the Ripley's in the Smoky Mountains. She worked there for a few years and then eventually was transferred here to the Ripley's at Broadway at the Beach. Miss Legate feeds the sharks and does the swim shows at the aquarium. She loves to play with the stingrays too! She brought in lobster shells that had been molted off and also lots of shark jaws for us to see! She told us her favorite animal at the aquarium was Gabby the sea turtle. We really liked learning about the cone shell which is the deadliest animal at the aquarium. We all decided that Miss Legate had a really cool job and that we would like to visit the aquarium more often. It was a great Hearts' Story!

Madison is ready for her guest to begin!

Miss Legate showing us the stick she uses when she dives in the shark tank!

Learning about a Sand Tiger Shark.

Caleb with a Mako Shark mouth.

Mrs. Costner holding a Hawaii Slipper Lobster shell.

Madison and Miss Legate

Which ones are the sharks?

We love silly shark faces!

WPDE Field Trip

2010-11-12T11:48:00.000-08:00

Marcus and Ashleigh on the bus!

Madison P. and Caleb sitting bottom to bottom and back ato back on the bus!

The gang ready for excitement!

Here we are entering the front door of the station.

Mr. Stack giving us a tour of the room where the important computers are and the director sits!

The news room and the new multi-million dollar cameras.

Millie's mom, Madison W.'s mom and Nicky's mom on the morning set.

Trying to get everyone in front of the green screen.

Do you think we like to see ourselves on TV?

This is what we were looking at!

The shot that got on the news!

Tiara and Ethan's invisible arms due to the green screen!

On Thursday we had so much fun visiting with Darren Stack the meteorologist with WPDE News 13. He gave us a tour of the news station and we got to try out the green screen where he does his weather report. We asked so many great questions and did our best to sit still and listen. After the station visit we headed to Riverfront Park in Conway for a picnic and a few minutes on the playground. It was a great day! We also were on the 6:00 and 7:00 news!

Tiara's Special Guest, Mr. Chris Vance

2010-11-05T12:42:00.000-07:00

Tiara before the interview began.

Mr. Vance's temperature gun that he uses to check delivery trucks.

Millie checking her temperature.

A safety sign Mr. Vance puts on broken electronic devices at Costco.

Mr. Vance's favorite "toy" from 1998 (the kids thought that was REALLY old!)

Tiara and her daddy.

This week we met Tiara's special guest. She invited her daddy, Mr. Chris Vance. Mr. Vance was originally from New Jersey although his parents were from NC and VA. He began working when he was only 16 years old. He could practically be a car mechanic because he spent a lot of time fixing cars and working in an auto supply parts store. Mr. Vance began working for Costco 15 years ago and his first job there was as a night time stocker. He has worked in lots of parts of the store but now he is the receiving manager. He has to go to work at 4 in the morning and meet the delivery trucks. One of the parts of his job that he shared with us that we really enjoyed was his temperature gun. He uses this to be sure all the food coming in on the trucks is a certain temperature. Mr. Vance also is the person who is in charge of all the forklifts and heavy machines at Costco. He showed us pictures of some of these machines and the batteries that they take which can be 2,000 lbs! Tiara's daddy works a lot but his favorite thing is to spend time with his family when he gets time off. We all can't wait to visit him at Costco now that we know where his office is!

Our group shot!

We love to make those silly faces!

Happy Halloween

2010-11-05T12:32:00.000-07:00

This is the great cake that Brylee's mom made for us!

Madilynn and her Oreo spider!

Caleb and Madison P. making pumpkins with pattern blocks.

Kyle and DJ enjoying the cake and drinks!

Jayden and Alayna playing candy corn addition bingo.

Kaylan and Marcus showing off their witch hat cookies!

We had so much fun celebrating Halloween. Thank you so much for all of the supplies that you all sent in and for the time that so many of you have so we could have 5 different Halloween stations in our classroom. The kids told me when it was all over that it was the best day in school they had ever had. I also wanted to thank you for all the Milky Ways you have sent my way. They are still my favorite candy bar and this is the one time in life I can indulge and eat them to my heart's content!

Mr. Steve Brekke, Ethan's Special Guest

2010-10-29T06:52:00.000-07:00

Today we had the pleasure of spending the morning with Ethan's dad, Mr. Steve Brekke. We were so lucky that he took time out of his day as the store manager at Food Lion to come and tell us his story. Mr. Brekke grew up in California and he moved to SC with his sister and two brothers when he was 15 years old. He went to Socastee High and was a Brave! Mr. Brekke met Ethan's mom, Amy, on the school bus when he was 15 and they have been married for 11 years. Ethan has one sister named Kayla who is 9 years old. Mr. Steve began working for Food Lion when he was 16 years old and he has been there now for 15 years. He has had all the jobs in the store from bagger to customer service manager all the way to store manager. We had a great time learning about all of his jobs and all of his responsibilities now as store manager. Mr. Brekke is a huge Gamecock Baseball fan and he has loved baseball for many years. He plays on a softball league now and he brought in two trophies that were bigger that many of us! Mr. Brekke also told us about the most exciting thing he has ever done in life and that was go sky diving with his brother Willy in North Carolina. He, like Kyle's dad, also enjoys running and he has even finished the Myrtle Beach Marathon! One of the most important messages Mr. Brekke left us with was that in life we should always do our personal best and try our hardest, even if that means we don't win in sports. It was great getting to know you Mr. Brekke! Maybe later this year when we are learning about Goods and Services in our community we can take a field trip to visit you at Food Lion!

Mr. Brekke's Myrtle Beach Marathon Award

Mr. Steve's sky diving certificate

Silly faces!

Our group shot!

Ethan and Marcus can't wait for the interview to begin.

Mr. Johnny Calder, Marcus Smith's Special Guest

2010-10-22T12:59:00.000-07:00

Yes, you read that right! Mr. Calder spent part of his morning today in our classroom. He was invited by Marcus as his special guest because both of his parents are working during the day. Mr. Calder did a great job sharing with us about his love of baseball. He showed us some special baseballs, baseball cards, and a signed baseball bat. He had things signed by Joe DiMaggio, Ted Williams, Sandy Cofax, Pete Rose, Reggie Jackson, Micky Mantle, Hank Aaron, and Cal Ripkin Jr. For you baseball fans out there I apologize for any misspellings of those great players names! Mr. Calder was taking a trip out west last summer with his family and he was able to attend the college world series and see his favorite baseball team the USC Gamecocks win the national championship. Mr. Calder told us about how the people in his family (his wife Janet, daughter Jennifer, son Jarrett, and son Joshua) all have the same initials JC. Mr. Calder grew up traveling around the United States because his dad was in the Marine Corps. His favorite place he lived was in Hawaii. He moved to Conway right around the time he was going into high school and he has been here ever since. He also shared with us a great family tradition that his family enjoys sharing. In his house they have a restaurant jar where everyone writes down their favorite 3 restaurants and then every Friday night they pull out one name from the jar and that is where they all go to eat dinner together. It was so much fun to get to know Mr. Calder as a real person and not just as a principal who stays in the office and we are so thankful that he took time out of his busy day to come and share his story with us!

Mr. Calder's signed baseball bat.

Learning about baseball cards that used to come in a tobacco box. This one is over 100 years old!

The poster Mr. Calder got at the College World Series when USC became National Champs!

The whole group with Mr. Calder!

Marcus and his special guest.

We love to make silly faces at Mrs. Costner's camera!

Our West Virginia Girl - Madilynn O'Brien

2010-10-22T12:46:00.000-07:00

Can you believe that we got another new student this week? This is Madilynn O'Brien and she moved here from West Virginia. Madilynn is a West Virginia Mountaineers football fan. She loves her family even though she is the oldest and has 3 younger brothers and sisters. Madilynn loves to dance and she used to tap dance. She also loves making things and going to church. After school or on the weekends you could find Madilynn playing with her brothers and sisters or her friends outside. Madilynn also loves hamburgers and going to McDonald's and Wendy's. We are so glad to have you here Madilynn and I am sure very soon our classroom will feel like home to you!

Kyle's Special Guest, Mr. Jim Powalie

2010-10-17T10:53:00.000-07:00

Today we had our interview with our very first special guest. We met Kyle's dad, Mr. Jim Powalie. Mr. Powalie was born in Ohio and he grew up enjoying the snow and boating on Lake Erie. He was very athletic in high school and participated in both wrestling and running. In fact, Mr. Powalie still runs today! Kyle's dad attended Coastal Carolina University when it was still a part of USC and that has made him a HUGE Gamecock fan. He even met Kyle's mom at CCU on his first day of school during his first class. Mr. Powalie has a boat and one of his favorite things to do on his boat is to teach Kyle and his brother Nick and their cousins how to water ski. Every year the family goes to the mountains to enjoy the snow and they like to take a vacation together in the summer time. Mr. Powalie works at The Marina Inn and makes sure that all of the guests in the 230 rooms are happy. He even shared with us some of the names of famous people who have stayed at his hotel. The boys and girls asked some great questions during our interview and I was very proud of them during our first interview!

Meet our new friend Alayna Bailey

2010-10-17T10:46:00.000-07:00

We have a new member of our class. Her name is Alayna and she came to us from Loris Elementary School. Alayna came to Forestbrook for Pre-K so lucky for her it is not a brand new place. We found out during our interview with Alayna that she LOVES her family. She shared pictures of her brother Alex and sister Alivia. Alayna enjoys spending time with her family on the weekends they like to go camping and after school she loves to play Hide and Seek and Tag. If you found Alayna with a book in her hand it would be a holiday themed book because those are her favorite. She also enjoys playing with her pets and her dolls. We were so lucky to get Alayna in our classroom and we are happy to be a room of 21 instead of 20!

Annual T-Shirt Sale

2010-09-27T15:29:00.000-07:00

This is the original painting made by Bobbie Holt the artist who designed our Hearts' Stories T-shirts!

Family and Community Celebration May 2010

Hearts' Stories T-Shirts are also a great gift to buy for your special guest to say Thank You for being your special guest!

Beautiful models wearing their Hearts' Stories T-shirts. You can even buy one for your little brothers or sisters.

Dear Parents,

As you know, your child is participating in a very special program this year called Hearts’ Stories. Starting very soon, members from the community, parents, grandparents and relatives will be invited by students to come into our classroom to be interviewed. These classroom interviews will be held once a week and we call these days “Hearts' Stories” days. We will wear special t-shirts to show our classroom community and pride in what we are doing! These t-shirts can be worn to school each week on the “Hearts’ Stories” day. Then, all of the children participating in this program at this school will wear their t-shirt to our big end of the year Hearts’ Stories Family and Community Celebration. In addition, it is always a joy to see past students in 3rd, 4th and even 5th grade in Hearts’ Stories shirts from when they were in second grade!

Look for a letter and order form that explains t-shirt sizes and prices coming home in your child's Beach folder this week. T-shirt orders will be due on October 8th, 2010. If you are currently unable to purchase a shirt for your child but would like for them to have one, please indicate that on the order form. If you are able to make a $10 donation for a child who may not be able to purchase a shirt, please indicate that on the order form. The sale of the t-shirts helps to purchase supplies needed for the program and also shows our amazing community being built through the Hearts’ Stories program!

Most sincerely,
Mrs. Costner

PS. Did you know that Hearts' Stories was incorporated into a State of South Carolina Non-Profit Organization three years ago to support teachers and their students in this wonderful program? We are able to support all classrooms doing Hearts' Stories by providing things like Steno Pads and Book Bindings due to the annual T-shirt sale!

We will be accepting Cash and also Checks made out to "Hearts' Stories"

($10) Youth Sizes Small -Large
($10) Adult Sizes Small- X-Large
($13) *Adult Plus Sizes XX-Large-XXX-Large

Last But Not Least Madison W.

2010-09-27T15:21:00.000-07:00

This is the most patient member of our class Madison Wilson! I say she is patient because she had to wait through 19 other interviews before it was finally her turn to sit in the rocking chair. Madison shared with us adventures from her recent trip to Dollywood where she rode her very first upside down roller coaster called The Tennessee Tornado. She showed us a picture of her best friend at home, her Morkie named Sophie. Madison loves to go to concerts! She has already been to five concerts including a Justin Bieber concert that had everyone ooohhing and aaahhhhing. On the weekends you might find Madison cheer leading with her best friends Loganne and Lilly. You might also find her playing soccer or playing with Sophie. Madison collects the Junie B. Jones books and she shared with us that her favorite Junie B. book is Junie B. Has a Peep in Her Pocket. Madison you were very patient to have to wait so long and it was worth waiting just to get to know you better!

Here is DJ

2010-09-27T15:15:00.000-07:00

This is DJ our future Zoo Keeper! DJ loves animals of all kinds. He especially loves his 2 horses Honey and Clue. He also has 3 dogs and 2 fish. He told us he loves to pretend he is a cowboy when he rides his horse Clue and he shoots all the bad guys. DJ brought his other pet for us to meet. His Zhu Zhu pet named Yahma that is black and white. DJ let us listen to his favorite singer Taio Cruz and we all jammed to the song Dynamite. On the weekends you might find DJ combing through the sand at the beach looking for shark teeth to add to his collection. After school you will find him playing baseball with this friends. We can't wait to hear more stories about your horses DJ!

Meet Tiara Vance

2010-09-27T15:11:00.000-07:00

Ladies and gentlemen this is Tiara Vance. Tiara loves being in the Brownies and she is in Troop 797. She loves to watch Wizards of Waverly Place and play with her sister Katlyn who is four years old. Tiara wants to be a doctor when she grows up and her favorite singer is Hannah Montana. If you want a special beaded necklace or bracelet made for a friend then Tiara is the person to get in touch with since she loves making these kinds of things. If Tiara could have any meal she wanted it would be spaghetti with potatoes and watermelon or she would be eating at Golden Corral. One last fact about Tiara is that she loves, loves, LOVES monkeys!

Meet Marcus Smith

2010-09-27T15:06:00.000-07:00

Meet our resident Pokemon expert. This is Marcus Smith and he loves to collect and play with his Pokemon cards. He also collects Silly Bands and even has a Silly Necklace of a man pointing. Marcus was born in New York and came to Forestbrook only last year. On the weekends Marcus loves to go to the skate park. You will also find him begging his dad to cook him Chicken Parmesan or to just bring him any food from the restaurant where he works called Travinia. You might find Marcus reading a Flat Stanley book or playing with his dogs if you catch him at home. It was great getting to know you Marcus!

Ashley our Super Gymnast!

2010-09-21T12:52:00.000-07:00

Everyone I would like for you to meet Ashleigh Sides, our gymnast. Ashleigh loves to spend all her free time doing gymnastics and she especially loves doing floor exercises. She, like many of the other girls in the room, has Bieber fever and brought in her poster from her room. We met another Zhu Zhu pet and his name was Chunk. Ashleigh enjoys going swimming and playing with her younger sister Madison and her cousin Anna Claire. If Ashleigh had a personal chef, they would be cooking her Hamburger Helper, yellow apples, and fudge bars. I can't wait to hear more about your success this year in gymnastics Ashleigh!

Hailey Raimondo our Future Vet!

2010-09-21T12:47:00.000-07:00

I'd like you all to meet our animal lover Hailey. She has so many pets it was hard to keep track of them all. First she talked about her two cats Tiger and Mister and then we learned about Nikita her Saint Bernard. We were really surprised when we saw pictures of her two unusual pets, her Sugar Gliders. On the weekends you would find Hailey playing with all of her pets, because that is her favorite thing to do. She also talked about her big family including her two sisters and 2 brothers. Hailey is in a bowling league and she love to go bowling on Saturdays. She showed us two awards she has gotten from bowling competitions she has been involved in. If Hailey was picking the meal she would be eating cube steak and apples. I think Hailey might be a vet when she grows up because she sure does know a lot about animals!

Meet the Gamecocks Biggest Fan! Kyle Powalie

2010-09-21T12:43:00.000-07:00

This is Kyle and he is a huge USC fan. He enjoys watching football but he loves Gamecock football the best. Kyle took a trip this summer to Washington, DC where he got a special snow globe that plays the National Anthem. He talked a lot about how much he enjoyed his trip with his family and visiting the Air and Space Museum. Kyle collects Silly Bands and has a collection of over 200 bracelets and rings. He and his dad have a special tradition of running together. Kyle says both his dad and his brother are faster than him, but he still likes running with them or riding his bike along side. If you ever see Kyle at his favorite restaurant it would be Ci Ci's Pizza and Kyle would be eating the macaroni pizza. It was great getting to know you Kyle and I hope USC has a winning season this year just for you.

Meet Madison P. Our Technology Queen

2010-09-21T04:22:00.000-07:00

This is Madison P. We have to call her Madison P. because we have two beautiful girls named Madison in our class and it is the only way we can tell each other apart. Madison is our technology queen. I call her this because she shared with us her special digital camera, her MP3 player, and her purple slip phone. We found out that she likes to take pictures when she travels sometimes with her dad and she just likes talking to her friends on her phone. Madison LOVES Wizards of Waverly Place and she also has some special state quarters that her grandpa's friend Mr. Charles gave to her. Madison, we know now who to call when we are having trouble with the computers in the classroom, our technology specialist.

Meet Our Future Army Recruit Caleb McDonough

2010-09-21T04:19:00.000-07:00

Today we met Caleb. We found out that Caleb's favorite thing to do is play with his Army men. He even wants to be in the Army when he grows up. He knew an awful lot about their gear and weapons. Caleb also enjoys camping, especially at a special location on Edisto Beach. Recently Caleb's dad taught him how to play Chess and he really did his best explaining the game to us. Caleb talked about how much he enjoys being with his two big sisters and how he is looking forward to becoming an uncle soon. Caleb loves all kinds of books and couldn't think of a favorite author because there are so many good books to choose from. It was so great getting to know you Caleb and we can't wait to hear more about your Army men adventures.

Introducing Seslyn Inman

2010-09-20T04:23:00.000-07:00

I'd like for you all to meet Seslyn Inman. Seslyn is a swimmer! She enjoys swimming at the beach, the pool or the water park. She also loves to dance and play the game Wii Just Dance. Her favorite singers are Hannah Montana and Justin Bieber. She brought in a special hand that her mom gave to her that is very special to her. She also loves to wear a special ice cream cone necklace that her grandma gave her. Seslyn's favorite color is pink and you might find her playing baseball in the afternoons. She also tells us that she loves to watch Spongebob and Icarly and her favorite animal is a snail. It was great meeting you Seslyn and I can't wait to see you dance this year!

Meet Annette Ibarra

2010-09-20T04:19:00.000-07:00

I'd like to introduce you to Annette Ibarra. She is a gymnast and dancer. Reading is also another one of Annette's favorite things to do. You might find Annette reading Patch the Puppy, Froggy books or any book by Eric Carle because those are her favorites. Annette loves to go to her parents restaurant called El Cerro Grande and eat the Queso dip and chips. She also has a very special purple giraffe stuffed animal that we met named Sunny. It was great meeting you Annette and we can't wait to hear about your next gymnastics or dance competition.

A Warm Welcome to Alec Hixenbaugh

2010-09-12T16:03:00.000-07:00

Did you know we have a future John Deere tractor driver in our classroom? Getting to know Alec was such a pleasure on Friday. I can't imagine living at Alec's house with all of his animals. He has 6 Hamsters, 2 Guinea Pigs, 9 fish, and 2 horse. In his spare time he enjoys being with his animals. Alec is also a soccer player and he is looking forward to his fall season on the Blast team. Alec also loves to play his Super Mario Brothers game on his DSI, which the children assured me was not as violent as it sounded. If Alec was picking the restaurant for his family, you would find him eating as many chicken nuggets as he could from McDonald's. Alec also likes to ride his skateboard or scooter or spend time with his big sister, Isabella. We had such a nice time getting to know you Alec and we can't wait to hear more stories about your animals.

Introducing Jayden Ferris

2010-09-12T15:58:00.000-07:00

Today we had a great time getting to know a future pro football player. Of course, I am talking about Jayden Ferris! We found out during Jayden's interview that he is a HUGE football fan. His favorite team is the Bengals. Here is a link to the team website, just for Jayden. We also discovered that Jayden is a Michael Jackson fan and we enjoyed listening to Man in the Mirror on Friday afternoon. Jayden enjoys reading Magic Tree House books and he also loves the color orange and strawberries. Jayden and Brylee have something in common. They both have Zhu Zhu pets that squeaked away in our classroom. It was so fantastic getting to know you Jayden and I look forward to hearing about your football season this fall as you become the best running back you can be!

Meet Nicky Farinas the World's Biggest Bieber Fan

2010-09-08T07:09:00.000-07:00

Today we had so much fun rocking out to Justin Bieber because Nicky is a HUGE fan! We found out that Nicky has an IPOD with Justin on it and she has his CD and she even wore a Bieber T-shirt today. I think I finally understand what Bieber fever is! Nicky also loves to play soccer and she shared a trophy with us from when she played on a soccer team. She showed us a picture of her brother Kevin and she showed us a special sister angel that her mom gave her. Nicky enjoys going to the water park, ocean and the pool. She likes eating vanilla ice cream and she also enjoys going to Broadway. Nicky it was such a treat to get to know you better today. I might even be catching that Bieber fever myself. :)

Our New Friend Millie!

2010-09-07T14:39:00.000-07:00

Today we met the second student in our class who was new to Forestbrook! Millie recently moved back to our area from living in Florida. When she lived in Myrtle Beach before she watched her big brother and big sister go through our school and she is so excited to finally be a part of the Panther family! Millie really enjoys being with her family and taking hiking or exploring trips. She shared with us some deer teeth and some Indian coins that she found on recent trips. We had a great time thinking of Elvis songs since Millie is a big Elvis fan and would love to visit Graceland someday. It was so much fun getting to know you better today Millie and I can't wait to hear about more of your adventures.

Let's Get to Know Brylee!

2010-09-03T06:58:00.000-07:00

Today we were so excited to meet Brylee. Miss Brylee was probably even more excited to have her special day than anyone so far! Brylee brought in a picture of her mommy when she was about to have Brylee as a baby and Mrs. Costner's eyes got very big knowing that was how big she could get someday! It was very clear that Brylee really loves being with her family since she talked about spending time with her dad at the beach and the dog park. She showed us a picture of her dog who is named after Pepe Le Pew (that is probably spelled wrong!). Brylee has Justin Bieber fever and she loves how cute he is and how he sings. We all loved watching and listening to her Zhu Zhu pet named Chicky. Brylee we all enjoyed getting to know you so much and we look forward to hearing all about your adventures with your mom, dad and Tyler very soon.

Meet Diana Cortes

2010-09-03T06:53:00.000-07:00

On Thursday this week we met Diana Cortes. Diana talked a lot about her mom's job at Medieval Times. She really likes going to Medieval Times and she has even been there 14 times! Diana went to Lakewood Elementary for Kindergarten and she brought a special magnet with her that had her picture from her year there. Diana also loves the TV show icarly and her favorite character on the show is Sam. She loves the color pink and eating spaghetti. Diana is a student after my own heart since she said her favorite thing do to is her homework :) She also said that when she grows up she wants to be a doctor. Diana it was so great getting to know you and we can't wait to hear more about your adventures at Medieval Times.

Meet Jammie Chestnut

2010-09-01T07:46:00.000-07:00

Today we met Jammie Chestnut. During his interview we found out that Jammie is looking forward to his next trip to Disney World. He really likes going to Animal Kingdom when he goes and he can't wait to get back there again. Jammie went to Magic Quest this summer and he showed us his wand and special book from his trip. He talked about solving quests and being a Magi. I think everyone wants to go to Magic Quest now! Jammie also shared his favorite DSI game called Harry Potter Lego, which he told us was a hard game to play. In his free time Jammie enjoys playing basketball and football with his friends and he is very interested in hunting now. It sounds like he needs to have a sleep over with Ethan one Saturday night! Jammie it was so great getting to know you and we can't wait to see your name on the honor roll just like it was in Georgia.

Meet Kaylan Brown

2010-09-01T07:42:00.000-07:00

Meet Kaylan Brown! Kaylan is brand new to Forestbrook this year. She comes to us from Greensboro, NC. Kaylan is an artist and she loves to color and draw. She enjoys all kinds of swimming from pools to water parks to the beach. In her free time Kaylan plays dress up and she has Silly Rings that she likes to put on. Kaylan is a new big sister to a 5 month old baby brother. We are so glad that you have come to Forestbrook Kaylan and we hope it feels like your new home soon!

Meet Ethan Brekke

2010-08-30T13:56:00.000-07:00

I'd like to introduce you to Ethan Brekke. Ethan was our first student interview. He spent a lot of time talking about how much he enjoys going hunting in his spare time with all the men from his family. He talked about hunting deer and how he killed his first deer when he was only 6 years old. He is excited that bow season will start soon so he can get back to his Saturday mornings with his Paw Paw. Ethan also talked about his family including his baby cousins and his sister Kayla. Ethan LOVES baseball and he has played for the Bees for the last two baseball seasons. He hopes to play baseball for the Gamecocks someday and then maybe play professional baseball for the Braves. It was great getting to know you Ethan!

Mrs. Costner's Interview

2010-08-29T13:48:00.000-07:00

Alec and Madison paying close attention to hear important details
to record in their notes!

Today we had our very first interview of the year. The children interviewed me and they did a fantastic job taking notes and listening attentively. Many of them had some very well thought out questions that I could tell they had spent time coming up with. The children learned that I love sea turtles. I also enjoy hiking, camping, kayaking, and sailing. They enjoyed seeing photos of me from when I was little and when I got married to Mr. Costner. They were even more excited to learn I was going to be having a baby in February. We will begin our first 5 student interviews this week. I am looking forward to getting to know each and every one of you.

Ashleigh, Kyle, and Ethan busy taking notes in their Steno pads.
They are already great little reporters.