Riverstone Blog » Community & Service

Art at the Bank on Thursday, February 2

ris_blog — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 01:32:16 +0000

Stop in at Western Capital Bank from 5:30 – 7:30 PM tomorrow to see some fantastic art created by Riverstone Middle and High School students. Music will be provided by Riverstone musicians as well. The address is 1750 W Front Street, Suite 150. Hope to see you there!

MLK, Jr. Day at the Idaho Foodbank

ris_blog — Sun, 22 Jan 2012 20:08:50 +0000

Riverstone students and families joined others at the Idaho Foodbank last Monday to “Feed the Dream” as part of the Martin Luther King, Jr. Day of Service. The 31 volunteers packed 1,119 refills that ultimately will be provided to 2,000 Idaho children through the Foodbank’s Backpack Program. Wow!

To see more photos and read more about the day, visit the Idaho Foodbank website.

Read the story in the Idaho Statesman here.

Thanks to Heather Webster for sharing her photos!

Riverstone Senior Honored by Distinguished Student Award

ris_blog — Fri, 06 Jan 2012 02:01:20 +0000

Congratulations to senior Davis G. for being honored as this week’s United Dairyman’s Distinguished Student! Davis was interviewed by KTVB Channel 7 anchor, Doug Petcash, and will appear in Thursday night’s 10 PM broadcast. The interview may be watched on Channel 7′s website within a day or two of the broadcast as well.

Since 2002, Idaho’s dairy farm families began recognizing well-rounded senior students who excel as leaders in academics, athletics, volunteerism and extracurricular activities. Each week throughout the school year, four students from each Idaho market (Southwestern, Eastern, North and South Central) are selected as “Distinguished Student Award” winners. Yearly, four students from the winners are selected as “DSA Students of the Year.” Weekly winners earn their schools a $100 scholarship and yearly winners’ schools receive a $5000 scholarship thanks to each student’s achievement.

To date, Idaho Dairy Farm Families have awarded over a half a million dollars to Idaho’s schools! Learn more by visiting the DSA website.

Family Reading Night at the Book Fair

ris_blog — Thu, 15 Dec 2011 16:37:57 +0000

The Parents’ Association combined efforts with the Book Fair team to create a one-of-a-kind Riverstone event, Family Reading Night, last week. Staff, parents, and students read their favorite books to guests of all ages who came in their jammies with pillows and blankets. As an extra activity, our Grade 2 spearheaded efforts to make bookmarks and collect books for the patients at St. Luke’s Children’s Hospital.

Thanks to the Parents’ Association and Book Fair team for working their magic and also to Heather Webster for the great photos!

Riverstone Annual Variety Show

ris_blog — Mon, 05 Dec 2011 04:55:00 +0000

Last Friday night offered families three events to enjoy in one fell swoop. Our Parents’ Association hosted a pizza dinner while families previewed the Scholastic Book Fair, both followed by our Annual Variety Show.

Showcasing our community’s talent and creativity, the Variety Show has become a Riverstone tradition. This year, we had first graders who wrote and performed, “Will You Be My Friend?” and fifth graders who wrote and performed, “This Is How You Otter.” We had dancers, musicians, thespians, comedians, and an international student who taught himself to use nunchucks from YouTube videos! Our Senior IB Music Class ended the show with an awesome rendition of “Train in Vain” by The Clash, causing spontaneous dancing to erupt on the sidelines.

The best part of the show, however, was the standing ovation for Music teacher, Alison Steven, who has made this whacky, zany, wonderful tradition one that Riverstone can call all its own.

R Tree: Reduce Reuse and Recycle

ris_blog — Wed, 23 Nov 2011 17:29:31 +0000

Be sure to look for Riverstone’s R Tree at the Saint Alphonsus Festival of Trees at the Boise Centre on the Grove. All the decorations were created by our students during an after school activity over the last few weeks. We were awarded first place in our category!

Many thanks to our student and parent team who worked on this gorgeous tree!! Proceeds from the event support the new Womens’ Mobile Wellness Clinic.

For more information about the Festival of Trees, including directions, hours, special events, and admissions, visit their website.

Rake Up Boise

ris_blog — Mon, 21 Nov 2011 19:47:19 +0000

Riverstone families and staff took part in one of Boise’s favorite annual events, Rake Up Boise, on Saturday, November 19. As you can see by the pictures, they had a great time while doing great things for our neighbors.

Thanks to Maggie L and Maryana T, our Grade 5 Student Council “Community and Service” leaders, for organizing the Riverstone team!

Empty Bowls at Riverstone

ris_blog — Thu, 17 Nov 2011 05:16:34 +0000

The Riverstone community came together today in support of our larger community and the Idaho Foodbank. Elementary School art teacher, Jay Nelson, encouraged his students that their art could make a difference in the lives of other people. And that was just the start…our Grade 5 “Community and Service” leaders from Student Council led the organization of our Empty Bowls inspired event, other students and art teachers made beautiful ceramic bowls, and our parents donated their best homemade soups. Adrienne Swain Smith spoke to students from preschool through grade 12 about the power of their contributions to change lives. Thanks to everyone who took part in the event and supported the Idaho Foodbank!

The food drive continues through Friday, November 18. Let’s fill up those barrels!

To learn more about the Idaho Foodbank, visit www.idahofoodbank.org.

A Tribute to Our Veterans

ris_blog — Fri, 11 Nov 2011 01:46:06 +0000

The Grade 1 students have been studying “Inventions” in our Unit of Inquiry, How We Organize Ourselves. After reading a book about the invention of the chocolate chip cookie in Ms. Nilsen’s class last week, one student raised his hand and asked, “Can we make chocolate chip cookies for the veterans?” The students were so excited to share what they had learned about inventions and to tell the veterans thank you for their service to our country!

To put their idea into action, on Monday, Ms. Nilsen’s class made enough chocolate chip cookie dough for 80 cookies. Mrs. Morgan’s class made pinwheel pencils. On Wednesday, the Grade 1 students visited the Veterans Home and shared cards, cookies, and pinwheel pencils with the veterans. The students read their cards, exchanged hugs, and expressed how grateful they are to the veterans for being so caring and great risk-takers. It was an experience that touched both the veterans and the students.

Our heartfelt thanks to our country’s veterans as we celebrate Veterans Day on Friday, November 11.

Annual Halloween Parade

ris_blog — Thu, 03 Nov 2011 04:38:47 +0000

It was one giant treat getting to see our Elementary students follow their traditional parade route around the school campus on Monday, while Middle and High School students gave them high fives and lots of encouragement. Now that’s a Happy Halloween!