
Mrs. Vasquez and her 2nd grade class also partnered with Thrivent Financial to sponsor some students by shopping for them and wrapping gifts! Pictured is the whole class with their final gifts.


REMINDER: Tomorrow's dress-up theme is "Ugly Sweater!" Wear your tackiest and ugliest sweaters you have!


Our whole Rickard family would like to make a huge shoutout and thank you to our PTO that does so much for our school and students. We are so thankful for their constant support to make sure our students and staff are successful. From providing snacks to our treat trolley to sponsoring our Rickard Staff Holiday Scavenger Hunt to purchasing needed supplies for our classrooms, we can not thank them enough for their hard work and dedication to making Rickard a safe and positive school environment for all to come into. Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!


A message from the Director of Student Services and the Interim Superintendent.


Rickard's Kindergarten and 4th Grade classes worked together to decorate gingerbread houses on Tuesday. The students frosted and placed a multitude of decorations onto their houses and created wintry scenes complete with teddy graham snow angels and Santa's. And no gingerbread decorating would be complete without sneaking in a few treats to taste! 🍬🍭





The elves wanted more pictures posted from their night of shenanigans! Word has it that Mr. Klassen still hasn't unwrapped all his office supplies!

REMINDER: Tomorrow's dress-up theme is "Dashing Through the Snow!" Dress as one of Santa's reindeer!


All three second grade classes at Rickard Elementary have partnered with Thrivent Financial for many years. The combined monetary contributions between Thrivent and parents/families allow shopping for and wrapping of gifts for kids in our community! This year, we sponsored nine students! Yay! Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays! Pictured is Mrs. Larson's class learning how to wrap these gifts!





REMINDER: Tomorrow's dress-up theme is "Mad About Plaid!" Wear your favorite flannel shirt, pants, socks, etc.


An anonymous elf sent us some pictures of their busy night. It looks like they were up to some shenanigans involving Mr. Klassen and his office. Pictures of his face were plastered all over the school, and all of his office supplies were wrapped in holiday wrapping paper. An investigation is under way to determine which elves were involved! So far, there are no leads!





REMINDER: Friday, December 17 is the last day to hand in permission slips for Battle of the Books. No permission slips will be accepted after winter break! If you have any questions or would like to email your permission slip instead, please send it to maggie.lorenz@willistonschools.org. Thank you!



REMINDER: Tomorrow's dress-up theme is "Santa's Ho-Ho-Hoedown!" Dress in your favorite western-wear or cowgirl/cowboy hats to celebrate Texas-style!


REMINDER: Tomorrow's dress-up theme is "Christmas Vacation!" Wear Hawaiian shirts, sunglasses, etc. No swimming suits, please.


This week in library, our 2nd-4th graders were busy working with our Strawbees. Strawbees are a durable and sustainable STEM activity/tool that allows them to engineer and build various models. Students used an online, step-by-step video with their partner to collaboratively construct their final product. This week, we built a mechanical arm that could pick up a weighted present. Our objective was to take away the present from our Grinch, and deliver them to Ms. Lorenz or Ms. Michelson! The students learned and practiced essential skills such as collaboration, time management, and creative processing.





REMINDER: Tomorrow's dress-up theme is "Shine Bright Like a Light!" Light up your wardrobe with holiday lights, glitter, tinsel, light-up necklaces, etc.



Tomorrow's dress-up theme is "Jingle Bells!" Wear bells to make sure everybody knows where you are at!


Permission slips for Battle of the Books have officially started going home with students. Ms. Beck and Ms. Lynch's students received their permission slips yesterday. Mrs. Carnes and Ms. Mortenson's students will receive their permission slips today. Mrs. Lippert and Mrs. Dean's students will receive their permission slips tomorrow. Permission slips are due by December 17 before winter break. No permission slips will be accepted after winter break. If you need to email it, please send it to maggie.lorenz@willistonschools.org. Students will need to write their team name and team members on their slip. If students do not have a team, Ms. Michelson and Ms. Lorenz will help find a team for them! Thanks!



Tomorrow's dress-up theme is "Dream a Little Dream!" Wear school- appropriate pajamas and slippers!


After learning about the gingerbread man all week, Mrs. Carrier's Kindergarten class decorated their own cookies for the holidays! “Run Run As Fast as You Can, You Can’t Catch Me , I’m the Gingerbread Man!”





Tomorrow's dress-up theme for tomorrow is "Deck the Halls!" Wear your favorite holiday accessories, jewelry, necklaces, garland, hats, etc.
