A huge THANK YOU to the Hood Canal Lions Club for their generous $2,500 donation!
Their support is helping us restock our school food pantry to better serve families in need and replace robotics and STEM equipment in our library so students can keep exploring, building, and learning in exciting hands-on ways. We’re grateful for our community partners who make a real difference for our students every day!
We’re excited to welcome you to our upcoming Indian Parent Committee (IPC) meeting at Hood Canal School! This is a wonderful opportunity for families of Native students and anyone who serves or supports them to come together, share ideas, and strengthen our community.
This meeting we're pleased to welcome Sui-Lan Ho'okano who has been working with our staff and the Skokomish Tribe on the development of our Since Time Immemorial curriculum. She'll be sharing about the progress so far, discuss next steps, and answer your questions.
🗓 When: Wed., April 16 at 5:15PM
📍 Where: Hood Canal School Library
🍕 FREE pizza and childcare will be provided!
Feel free to invite other families and supporters to join us. We can’t wait to see you there!
You can also join us remotely! Join Zoom Meeting
https://us06web.zoom.us/j/82500230490
Meeting ID: 825 0023 0490
❓ Questions? Reach out to our Chair, Amber Hanson, at amber@skokomish.org.
Our 2nd grade reading group had some fun during reading time by rocking some stylish glasses (no lenses included!). The big question of the day: Do glasses make us smarter… or is it all the hard work we’ve been doing?
Spoiler alert: It’s definitely the hard work—though the glasses do make us look extra studious!
Here are some great photos from Hood Canal’s Kindergarten Earth Day clean-up project! 🌎✨ During their specialist time, Kindergarten students learned all about garbage, recycling, and how they can help care for the planet. They put that learning into action by cleaning up around the school campus and nearby trails. 🧹♻️ Along the way, they collected colorful (and cleanable) items for an upcoming recycling art project!
The Earth Day lessons were co-taught by Mr. Max, our art teacher, and Mrs. Lankford, our librarian—what an awesome team! 🎨📚
BOOTS Outdoor Ed Tackles the Skokomish South Fork! Despite nearly nonstop rain during their multi-day BOOTS trip, students stayed warm and dry thanks to new Gore-Tex and fleece gear ☔️🧥.
The river rose a couple of feet, leading to wet feet—but not dampened spirits! Students shared plenty of laughter, trail jokes, and deep conversations about the comforts of home—especially real beds and post-hike meals 🛏️.
The 10-mile round-trip hike with full packs pushed everyone to their limits. Each student reached the trailhead with a powerful sense of accomplishment and a bond built through challenge and teamwork ⛰️🎒. These were three “school days” none of them will ever forget.
Here are some snapshots from our amazing third quarter cooking class, taught by the wonderful Ms. Lankford! This quarter, students rolled up their sleeves and created some delicious dishes: lasagna, French crêpes, Belgian waffles, quesabirria, strawberry agua fresca, and English muffin pizzas! 🍝🧇🌮🍓
Before getting started in the kitchen, students completed their food handler’s course to earn their permits. They also learned about the cultural origins of each dish, cooked with supervision, wrote food reviews, and estimated food costs. So much learning—and tasting!
The class favorites this time? Quesabirria and strawberry agua fresca—yum! 🌟
Huge thanks to Ms. Lankford for leading this tasty adventure. Great job, student chefs! 👩🍳👨🍳
🐟 Salmon release success! 🐟 Our 3rd and 7th grade students had an unforgettable field trip releasing salmon they hatched right in their classrooms! It was a beautiful day filled with hands-on learning, thanks to the amazing coordination by Mr. Akiyama and engaging activities provided by the Hood Canal Salmon Enhancement Group.
Check out the photo with the trash bags—our students took time to help clean up the area while rotating through the stations. So proud of their efforts to care for our environment and local salmon habitat!
🌲🧤♻️
Big thanks to Hood Canal Food Bank for donating a some fresh fruits and veggies for our weekly food bag program! This week we had a little extra fruit—so some lucky students got to enjoy a fun (and healthy!) snack at school. We love our community partners!
#HoodCanalStrong #CommunitySupport #HealthyKids #ThankYou
📚🎉 Thank you, Hood Canal families, for helping make our Book Fair a huge success! With your amazing support, we reached $7,386.26 in sales! That means our library will receive $2,500–$3,000 to go toward new books, STEM materials, book covers, and more great resources for our students. 📖💡
A special shoutout to our amazing librarian Melanie Lankford and all the staff, volunteers, and families who helped with setup, shopping, cashiering, clean-up, and our Share the Fair donation fund. We couldn’t have done it without you!
Our bilingual students soared to new heights—literally! They had an incredible time at Sky Zone, where they got to practice their English skills in a fun, new environment as a reward for completing the WIDA—a rigorous annual state test for English learners which they must take in addition to all other state testing. It was a great opportunity to build friendships, boost confidence, and enjoy some high-flying fun together.
🎭✨ Our 5th graders have been hard at work this quarter in art class with Mr. Max! They began by exploring masks from different cultures around the world—studying their meanings, designs, and cultural significance. Inspired by what they learned, students designed and created their own unique masks using paper mâché. This was no small feat—it took months of careful sculpting, carving, and painting to bring their visions to life.
The final results were nothing short of incredible. Each mask reflected the vibrant spirit and creativity of this talented group of students! Now, they're taking their artistic skills even further. Students are designing personal artwork, carving it into linoleum blocks, and using them to create beautiful prints.
📸 Take a look at their journey below—these photos tell the story of dedication, creativity, and artistic growth!
Our TK and PK students had a sweet time with math! They sorted Lucky Charms marshmallows and graphed the results—mixing hands-on learning with a tasty treat. Way to make math magical!
Spring has sprung in Kindergarten! Our art teacher Mr. Max led a fun project with both K classes to welcome the season and try out some new materials.
They read “Nimby” by Jasper Tomkins and used sponges to paint blue skies ☁️, then explored fluid motion using pipettes and their breath to create branches with India ink. After reading Sakura’s “Cherry Blossoms” 🌸, they studied blossom shapes and used q-tips to paint five-petal flowers on their branches.
As you can see from the looks on their faces, they had a blast experimenting and made some beautiful art now on display in our K–2 hallway!
Looking for new clothes for your kids? Come shop our FREE 🛍️ new or gently used children’s clothing in the Commons during conferences! We’ve got items for kids of all ages —everything is sorted by size to make “shopping” quick and easy. Stop by and take what you need! 🧥👕👖👟
Lost & Found: Where lonely lunchboxes and jackets await reunion! While you’re here for conferences, take a minute to check out the lost & found in the commons. We’ve posted photos—see anything suspiciously like something your child “definitely didn’t lose”?
Come claim your stuff! 🧥🥪🧢 Unclaimed items will be donated to help other families in need.
“Words Matter” – A Powerful Lesson for Our 5th Graders
Our amazing counselor, Monica, led a meaningful lesson with our 5th graders this week all about the power of our words. She showed how words—once spoken—can be difficult to take back, even if we say we’re sorry.
Using toothpaste and toothpicks, students were challenged to squeeze the toothpaste out and then try to put it back in. Just like our words, it was nearly impossible to undo once it was out. The frustration and challenge made a big impact, and students were still reflecting on the lesson days later.
Thank you, Monica, for helping our students grow in kindness, empathy, and self-awareness!
Shoutout to our Junior Robotics Team! 🤖👏
Our young engineers did an amazing job designing, building, and testing their robots to complete challenges on the obstacle course! Their teamwork and problem-solving skills were evident as they worked together to refine their designs.
A big thank you to our Middle School Robotics Team for stepping up as mentors—providing guidance, support, and sharing their experience to help our Junior Robotics members succeed.
Check out these awesome robots and the incredible work our students put in!
Reminder: Conferences start tomorrow—sign up here: https://www.myconferencetime.com/hcs/ . While you're here, visit the Book Fair (details: https://tinyurl.com/39jyn2d9), and don’t forget to check the Lost & Found and grab free books in the Commons! See you soon!
Some of our students were able to attend the Skokomish College & Career Fair! They had a great experience as they explored local colleges, connected with work-related agencies, and discovered exciting employment opportunities in the community. A big thank you to the Skokomish Indian Tribe for hosting this valuable event!
Big congratulations to Grayson Harris, a Hood Canal 3rd grader, for his outstanding performance at the USA Gymnastics Washington State Men’s Finals in Everett!
Grayson delivered his best performance ever, earning:
🏆 1st Place on Pommel in his division!
🥉 4th Place All Around in his division!
💪 5th Place for ALL Level 5 gymnasts in Washington State—an incredible achievement, especially as the youngest competitor out of 50 athletes!
His team, Black Hills Gymnastics, also shined, taking 2nd Place in the team competition. Now, the top six scoring athletes—including Grayson and his teammate Wiley—are headed to Regionals in Minneapolis, MN in a few weeks to represent Washington State!
We are so proud of you, Grayson! Your hard work, dedication, and talent are inspiring! Go get ‘em at Regionals! 💙💛
