Welcome Friends!
This blog site was created to share information and pictures throughout the 2010-2011 school year about the fabulous 5th graders at DCPV. We want our friends in Buckingham, England to see what we're up to in Oklahoma and also to tell us what's going on on their side of the Atlantic Ocean. Please feel free to comment and share stories with us this year. We look forward to sharing adventures with our new friends!
Thanksgiving Holiday Break (November 24-26, 2010)
Every year we take a break for our Thanksgiving holiday. Thanksgiving is a holiday that began in Autumn 1621: Pilgrims from England, who had moved to the 'New World' in 1620, celebrated their first successful harvest with the Wampanoag Natives. The Native Americans made a peace agreement with the Pilgrims who moved into their area and helped them to plant crops in their first year. The harvest celebration in October 1621 lasted for 3 days, with lots of food, stories, and games. The Pilgrims were thankful for their new friends, new lives in the new world, and a successful harvest. Today many people in the U.S. count that feast as our country's first Thanksgiving.
Thanksgiving did not become a traditional holiday until 1863 - President Abraham Lincoln officially made it the last Thursday of November. Then in 1941, the United States Congress made Thanksgiving a legal federal holiday to be celebrated on the fourth Thursday of November.
Veteran’s Day - History
Armistice Day officially became a holiday in the United States in 1926, and a national holiday 12 years later. On June 1, 1954, the name was changed to Veteran’s Day to honor all U.S. veterans.
In 1968, new legislation changed the national commemoration of Veterans Day to the fourth Monday in October. It soon became apparent, however, that November 11 was a date of historic significance to many Americans. (November 11 is the anniversary of the signing of the Armistice that ended World War I. Major hostilities of World War I were formally ended at the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month of 1918 with the German signing of the Armistice.) Therefore, in 1978 Congress returned the observance to its traditional date of November 11.
PV Honors Veterans - November 11, 2010
Every year we honor Veteran's in our school community with a ceremony. This year we had 2 guest speakers to come talk about the importance of honor and respect for all of our Veterans. Commander Robert Hayes, who has 2 daughters in Deer Creek (one here at Prairie Vale and one in the middle school) was our honored guest in the assembly. Our other honored guest was a Deer Creek dad, Colonel Barry Browning, who Skyped with us from his post in Baghdad, Iraq. Colonel Browning has been stationed in Iraq for over 6 months, and he told the students what he is doing to help protect our country. Our 5th grade students also sang two songs during the ceremony to honor the Veterans. Attached are a few pictures from the ceremony and also of our Veteran's Wall that we display. Every Veteran on our wall has/had a relationship with our current Prairie Vale students.
