It is with great pleasure and anticipation that we travel "around the block" to Nan's corner of the educational world!

El Reno, Oklahoma is located about 30 miles west of Oklahoma City. We host a population of about 17,000 people. When you travel to downtown El Reno you are in for a treat. Downtown offers many opportunities for unique shopping that meets everyone's style. Bring your appetite and feast on the many choices of restaurants in the downtown area. If you are in the mood to purchase new candles for your home or business you can accomplish that in our very own candle factory. El Reno is located at the intersection of two state highways, nostalgic Route 66 and Highway 81 (otherwise known as the official Chisholm Trail).

El Reno can certainly be called a festival town. You will find music, parades, and great food for all throughout the year. We are known for our Onion Fried Burger Day Festival, which is held each year the first Saturday, in May. The festival is a tribute to the aromatic, unique burgers, which have been cooked daily in El Reno since the early 1900's. The "Big Burger" is the world's largest onion fried hamburger, weighing over 850 pounds. Festival- goers are treated to a free bite of the burger as long as it lasts. Three stages provide live entertainment for people of all ages. If you're an antique car buff then it will provide a treat for you as well with a classic car show.

The third Saturday in April allows you to travel back in time with our annual "89er's Day Celebration". This event portrays a time when life was simpler. You can enjoy living history reenactment, old time crafts, great homemade food and special entertainment. The fashion show featuring period clothing is something you don't want to miss. Admission is free.

If festivals aren't your cup of tea then visit Lake El Reno. It has 333 acres of open land and 300 acres that is used for water skiing, jet skiing, swimming, boating, and fishing. Lake El Reno is also home to our very own herd of buffalo, a remote control airplane field, and a motorcycle dirt track. A RV park is nestled behind the lake with electrical and water hook ups. It offers a peaceful place to relax and enjoy your vacation. The newest addition to Lake El Reno is an 18-hole golf course. P.B. Dye Jr designed it. Golfers from all over are enjoying playing golf on this new course.

Everybody loves a parade and so will you. Join us in downtown El Reno the first Thursday evening following Thanksgiving for our annual Christmas festivities. You can enjoy an old fashioned lit Christmas parade, trolley rides, carolers, barbershop quartets, and of course, Santa. Downtown stores are bustling with people out to enjoy the free treats they have to offer.

The El Reno Fire Fighters Open Rodeo has something for everyone. Events range from the dangerous bull riding to the fast and furious cowgirls barrel racing. Audience participation is important. Children can enjoy the calf scramble competition and those very brave adults can play "cowboy poker". Join us for two nights of Oklahoma family fun and entertainment on July 13th and 14th, 2001.

Please join us the first weekend in June for a "Small Town Weekend". This nostalgic car cruise will remind you of a time when poodle skirts and sock hops were the tops. Other events include the only legal burnout in the state, a 50's concert and a classic car show. When was the last time you saw an antique tractor show and pull? Well join us in El Reno on June 1, 2 and 3 and you can experience a time that used to be.

Take a journey back to the days of the cavalry and Indian scouts during the Fort Reno Tombstone Tales event. Hear stories about the excitement and tragedy of life on the prairie as told by historical reenactors in the Old Post Cemetery. Enjoy guided walks through the encampments and an entertaining and educational program provided by the famous, and not so famous, people buried at Fort Reno. Join us the last weekend in September for this award-winning event.

Lincoln Elementary houses students in grades Pre-K through fifth grade. Our Pre-K and our kindergarten do attend classes all day. Lincoln provides a unique opportunity for students and parents. We offer parents and students the choice of selecting a traditional calendar or a year round calendar. This has been a very successful program for our school. All this is housed in one building. We currently have 325 students enrolled.

Lincoln Elementary has a very caring and dedicated staff. We begin each year with a reading program called, "Books and Beyond." There is a new theme each year to our reading program. This year we have "Readers of the Pack" as our theme. Our staff gets very creative to provide students with a life long excitement of reading. This year we had 14 motorcycles roaring down the hall into our gym. The riders were all members of a local motorcycle club that promotes education. They certainly had our students excited. The program will conclude at the end of the year with a sock hop complete with a jukebox and 50's music. So naturally, we will all pull out the bobby sox and poodle skirts for this event.

New and exciting things are always going on at Lincoln. This year we underwent the process of applying for Blue Ribbon School status. This provided us the opportunity to look at our school in depth for the negative and positive. We were able to learn a great deal about our school throughout this process. We were notified that we were one of the seven finalists from Oklahoma being submitted to the national level. Even though we didn't make the cut at national level we are very honored to have been selected at the state level. Even though the process was very time consuming it was well worth the work. Every school should go through this process at one time or another.

Technology is an area that is addressed in our building as well. Every classroom is equipped with computers that are Internet accessible. Our Title I Computer Lab allows all students the opportunity to enhance their math and reading skills. Every classroom has Accelerated Reader and Star Reader Software installed on their computers as well. Students are given the opportunity to take the Accelerated Reader test after they have read their library books. Our district has their own web site with links to all of the schools individual web pages as well. Parents are kept informed of their child's progress with our new on line SchoolKey Program. Parents pay a small fee for this service, which allows them to check their own child's progress at any time. If you would like to visit our school web site the address is http://www.elreno.k12.ok.us/lincoln

School begins for all students at 8:10 in the morning with a student led assembly. Students lead the flag salute, read the lunch menu, as well as lead the student body in our school creed. This provides our students the opportunity to polish their public speaking skills. Throughout the day students participate in PE or Music, honor choir, gifted and talented program, as well as the curriculum in their individual classrooms.

Like most schools, Lincoln provides its own share of challenges, but I will admit I wouldn't trade teaching at Lincoln for anything. If you decide to visit the great state of Oklahoma and are anywhere near El Reno just drop me a line and come visit! I would enjoy showing you our wonderful community.
 

Nancy Salsman aka "nan" on T-Net
with Grandson, Tanner

Report: So. Calif. Four Blocks Gathering...
by Marti Plumtree

Hi Fellow Four Blockers,

I would like to update you on the happenings of the Southern Calif. 4 blocks gathering. As some of you know we met on Feb.24 at Eileen s lovely home. She was a gracious hostess and had made us some very delicious snacks. There were about 6 of us. Unfortunately, the rain grounded several people who planned on being there. We had a great time discussing guided reading the 4 blocks way, and some of the notes I had taken at leadership. It is so nice being with people who think alike and are trying to grow professionally. One of the nice things that came out of this gathering was how people are organizing their blocks and activities. Several of us have typed up the outlines of the activities that Pat has at the end of each chapter. Eileen came up with a great way of organizing it. She Velo bound it. It is so nice to be able to gather and discuss how we are doing and sometimes having to adapt the 4 blocks without losing the integrity of the framework. I have included some pictures of us as we carried on our discussions. The Particpants included Joie-sorry not sure of her districet, Leslie-Capostrano Unified, Michelle-Santa Ana-Unified, Eileen-Alta Loma Unified and Marti-Glendale Unified. Hope to see more of you at the April 20th gathering.

The Southern Calif. Four Blocks gatherers: