Sumner-Fredericksburg Schools

FES presented the skit "Shirley, the Short-Legged Reindeer" at the Cougar Way Assembly yesterday. The reindeer team made fun of Shirley because she had short legs and said she couldn't help pull Santa's sleigh. Santa was worried about the windy, icy weather on Christmas Eve, so Mrs. Claus called in the North Pole Dance Team to cheer him up. Their song was "ICE, ICE Baby" and just made him think of the icy weather. The reindeer team couldn't get the sleigh going on the ice, and then Santa saw Shirley speed-skating on the pond. He noticed her strong calf muscles and asked her to lead the sleigh. She said her legs might be short, but they are strong, and she pulled the sleigh. The skit ended with Santa singing "Shirley, the Short-Legged Reindeer." You can watch our skit at the following link:
https://youtu.be/csuHRil6Grg

Congratulations to Holden Woltzen, Lyndee Westin, Myla Strempke, and Emrick Strempke for achieving Math Wizard status at FES. When they reached the Math Wizard's castle, there was a letter informing them that the Math Wizard was on Christmas vacation already, so Santa Claus quizzed them on their math facts and presented them with the Math Wizard brag tag. Many other students were recognized for mastering addition, subtraction, and multiplication and added brag tags to their chains. FES is so proud of all of our students who are working extra hard on learning their math facts this year!

Durant students met their goal of earning 1,200 den points in the last month to earn Holiday Bingo. We played together in the gym today.

Durant 3rd and 4th Graders performed their Winter Music Program this morning. If you were unable to attend, we'll be back at the High School Auditorium at 5:30 p.m.

No School Today (Wednesday, 12/10/25) due to the winter weather. Stay safe, Cougars!

We'll be running a two-hour late start tomorrow (Wednesday, 12/10/25) due to the winter weather. No morning activities or AM 1/2 day preschool. Stay safe, Cougars!

One-hour early out for Sumner-Fredericksburg (12/9/25)! No evening activities. Be safe, Cougars!

We had our November ENCORE today to close out our short week. 3rd grade presented on respect. Students wrote their own scenarios and read them aloud. Our audience had to decide if they were respectful or disrespectful in the scenario. We also celebrated our November Super Cougars!

FES wishes all of our families and staff a very Happy Thanksgiving!

FES earned a Cougar Way Reward today. The Cougar Code said, "Bird Hunt." We didn't let the adverse weather conditions spoil our hunt! These tough hunters battled the wind to find 12 hidden turkeys on the playground with a 15 minute time limit. The 1st grade class, along with Ms. Njus, was the only class to find all 12 birds! They will receive an extra recess next week with Mrs. Hammond.

FES had its November Cougar Way Assembly. Mrs. Hammond talked about how we show respect to our coaches and teammates when we play sports. Aaron Fred, Jasmine Wayne, Remington Buchholtz, Krew Steege, and Aubrey Morse were recognized for mastering addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division. They gathered in front of the Math Wizard's castle where he quizzed them on math facts in order for them to prove that they were worthy to level-up to the Math Wizard status. He was impressed with their math skills, so he presented them with the most treasured and rare, Math Wizard brag tag. Students in 1st-4th grades were recognized for earning brag tags for addition, subtraction, and multiplication. The Math Wizard encouraged these students to keep working hard. The Lucky American winner was Addi Schmitt.

Mrs. O'Brien and Mr. Price's class had reading buddies last Friday. They created Thanksgiving placemats for the community dinner.

Congratulations to our Operation EDITH participants who had their names drawn for a ride to school on a fire truck and our poster winners. Many thanks to the SVFD Firefighters who got up early to get the kids to school!

A few more pages from the Durant students. They were all so good!

Students in Mrs. Sadler's Cougar Time group created a spin off of the Q is for Duck book to teach about Durant. They presented their alphabet book today. Do you know why L is for School? Check out some of the pages of our book!

Our students have been sharpening their minds with chess! Playing chess encourages critical thinking, strategy, and patience, all while strengthening problem-solving skills and focus. Each move challenges students to think ahead, anticipate outcomes, and make thoughtful decisions—skills that extend far beyond the chessboard! ♟️

Our students are gearing up for an exciting STEM challenge! They have been using Makey Makey boards, which are invention kits that let students turn everyday objects—like fruit, Play-Doh, or drawings—into touchpads that control a computer.

This hands-on activity is an awesome math extension that encourages creativity, problem-solving, and innovation as students apply their STEM skills in fun, interactive ways.

A huge thank-you to Jackie from Upham Memorial Library for letting us borrow the boards and to Jenna from ISU Extension and Outreach for running this amazing program with our students!

Sergeant 1st Class Justin Smith of the U.S. Army speaking to Mr. Meyer's third grade class about Veterans Day at Durant today. Thank you for your service and visiting us!

Durant Elementary students were greeted by some very special veterans as they came to school today. Thank you to all of the veterans who came this morning. Dillon Larson also spoke to the students about the reason behind Veterans Day, shared the contents of an MRE, and answered student questions. Many thanks to all of our veterans on this special day.

FES earned a Cougar Way Reward today. The code said, "Eat a turkey." Some students who don't like turkey were worried. They were relieved to find out that we were making a turkey out of an OREO cookie, candy corn, pretzel sticks, and white chocolate chips. Once the turkey was made, students enjoyed eating it!