By Lucas V. & Max L.
Hampton’s first blood drive happened on November 21, 2019. Parents and staff donated blood to help those in need.  
The blood drive was held in Hampton’s gym, which had Red Cross personnel who had set up their equipment. Parent volunteers met people at the door and helped people sign in.  They were also serving snacks and refreshments to the donors. 
The host of the blood drive and Hampton’s school nurse, Mrs. Chambers, told us that “Although it was successful, I would like there to be more donors.” said Mrs. Chambers. Even though twenty-four people tried to donate, only fifteen were able to donate blood.” 
If you’re unable to donate blood, here’s some ways you can help the Red Cross. One way to help the Red Cross is by spreading the word about the blood drive. You can spread the word by telling your community about it so there can be a higher chance that the Red Cross will get more applicable donors.   ​

                                                                             By Nick F., Vera S. & Sariyah G.
   Families were invited to the annual Hampton American Education Week November 18th through November 22nd .  People could get spirit wear, buy turkey grams, and donate to classes. They were welcomed with snacks, drinks and signup sheets when they walked into the lobby. Something that Mrs. Crossell, Hampton’s Assistant Principal, liked about American Ed week is “The grandparents could come in and see their grandchildren working in their classes and they could get a picture with their grandchildren.” Each grade level had a specific time that family members could come visit, but they also could come in at any time. The parents could see how the classes acted they could also see how their child acted and participated in their classes. At the end of the day parents could dismiss their children early. The last day of American Education Week students had off so the teachers could have conferences with their parents.   ​

​                                                                    By Hampton Herald Staff
​      Students and parents attended Hampton's first Minecraft-themed Math Night on Tuesday, November 12th from 6:15 to 7:30.
     When families arrived in the front lobby, they went to different stations, either primary or intermediate, to sign in and receive their tickets to pre-selected activities.  Students and parents chose which activity they wanted to attend first and then used their tickets to find the room number. Primary students worked independently for one station and with a parent for another station while intermediate students completed both stations independently while parents attended information sessions.
     One intermediate station focused on solving word problems. When students arrived, they received a packet of word problems to solve. Once students correctly answered five of their questions, they were able to move onto an additional set. Another intermediate station was styled like an escape room, where students had to work as a team to solve equations in order to escape the Emoji Pumpkin Patch.
During the intermediate parent presentation, Mr. Wade, a fourth-grade teacher, explained to parents why fourth-grade students use various strategies, like the area model and arrays, to solve multiplication problems.
     “I was trying to show the parents the power of visuals and models,” said Mr. Wade.  The fourth-grade math curriculum is heavily focused on place value and mental math strategies.  The students get lots of exposure to various strategies and practice mentally computing equations.   “You guys [fifth graders] can multiply in your heads better than most of us,” Mr. Wade said.
     Students seemed to enjoy participating in the stations at math night. Sara S., a fourth-grade student, enjoyed the variety of activities.
     “I did an escape room and I also did something where you went to different cards in the room and figured out the problems,” said Sara S.  “I liked that all the activities were different and each had something special about them.”
     Since this year’s math night was a success, hopefully there will be plans for another math night in the future.