Pelham Press Vol. 20,  No. 13    November 19, 2009 http://www.arps.org./pe/

vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv

Thursday, November 19                                                    `               MOVIE NIGHT, 6:30 PM,   UP

                                                                                                                Community Workshop:  6:30 – 8 PM, ARHS

                                                                                                                Middle School Parent Talk, 7 – 8:30 PM, ARMS

Friday, November 20                                                                          NO SCHOOL

Saturday, November 21                                                                     Family Concert at the Pelham Library, 10:30 PM

Monday, November 23                                                                       Principal Open Office Hour, 5 – 6 PM

Pelham School Committee, 6:15 PM

Wednesday,  November 25                                                               School dismissed at 1:20 PM, No homework club

            Thursday, November 26 and Friday, November 27                        NO SCHOOL

vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv

From the Principal: 

The importance of education is recognized in two ways this week.  First, November 15- 20 is the 88^th Annual American Education Week.  Distressed that 25 percent of the country's World War I draftees were illiterate and 9 percent were physically unfit, representatives of the National Education Association and the American Legion met in 1919 to seek ways to generate public support for education.  The first observance of American Education Week occurred December 4-10, 1921, with the NEA and American Legion as the cosponsors.  A year later, the then U.S. Office of Education joined the effort as a cosponsor, and the PTA followed in 1938.   Also, November 16-21 has been set aside as the nation's tenth annual International Education Week with the theme "Creating a Vision for a Better Future."  With your support, we strive to meet the challenges of our globally interconnected world by developing the skills and knowledge that students require for their futures in the 21st century.                                                                                                                                    Rena Moore

 

 

From the Nurse:  Hello. I am Paula Russell, aka “Nurse Paula”, the interim school nurse at Pelham School.  I have really enjoyed getting to know your children who give me a chance to laugh everyday, as well as keep me on my toes. During the past two months we have completed vision screening, attained 100% compliance for required immunizations, started weekly fluoride treatments, and have weathered a wave of H1N1 influenza. We have increased our hand washing and cleaning of classroom surfaces. One thing that would help our students in the coming months of colds and flu would be for each student to have their own LABELED reusable water bottle. If you have any questions or concerns, please contact me at 253-3595

 

 

Community Workshop:  Anxiety Disorder Symposium    Presented by Dr. Emily Gonzalez & Dr. Francis Kelly,  Thursday, November 19, 2009,  6:00 – 8:30 PM, Amherst High School Library

 

 

 

 

Drum Set for Sale. Pearl Export Series 5 piece, maroon with silver trim. Great for beginners and experienced players. Please call Lisa Chasan-Tabor   (Adina's mom - 3rd grade) at 586-7871.

 

 

 

Middle School Talk:  The Counselors at ARMS will be presenting an educational talk/discussion session for the benefit of parents of middle school students. The topic of the first talk will be on the social-emotional development in early adolescence and will be given on Thursday, November 19 from 7:00 to 8:30 pm in the Middle School Library. The material for discussion will include social skills, parenting, keeping students safe in cyberspace, typical development, etc. This is a great way to understand the metamorphosis taking place in your adolescent child and how to deal with it. If you would like specific items to be discussed, please send your request to the FSP Co-Chair, Rama Janaswamy (email doctor_jey2000@yahoo.com), and he will make sure to pass them on to the Counselors ahead of the talk. All parents and families, including those of prospective middle-schoolers, are welcome

 

 

Live Music:  The United Church of Pelham at 142 Amherst Road will host live music by Larry Kellogg on Saturday, November 21^st from 6  - 8 PM.  Admission is  $5.00.  Refresments available.   Any questions, please call 253-5863.

 

 

 

Pelham School Committee Update:  On November 23^rd at 6:15 PM in the Pelham Community Room, the Pelham School Committee will begin their review of the FY11 Pelham School Budget and the Pelham Principal Transition Process. 

 

 

TRICK OR TREAT FOR UNICEF

The money from “Trick or Treat for Unicef” is due. 

Please return your boxes and/or money to the Pelham School Office by Wednesday, November 23^rd.

 

Third Grade News

Meg Gallagher

 

            Thank you so much to all of the parent chaperones who came on our fieldtrip to Harvard Forest in Petersham.  The children were wonderful!  They truly enjoyed the award winning dioramas at the Museum and used fabulous concentration to look for tiny elements within the dioramas that earned points in a scavenger hunt.  We had the perfect day for the nature walk, and we enjoyed all the forest had to offer.

            I had one of those favorite teachers’ moments we live for the other day.   We needed to collect 1,000 of something for our math place value unit.  I was trying to make math class more meaningful and fun for the students, and I pondering over what to suggest for our collection.  The book Listen to the Wind The story of Dr. Greg &Three Cups of Tea was sitting on my desk.  Eureka!  I read the class the book and they immediately chose to collect 1,000 pennies for the Pennies for Peace Campaign (explained in this week’s Pelham Press).  The next day we counted 511 pennies and the following day we totaled 2,253.  The children’s excitement is infectious as we group the pennies by tens, collect ten stacks in cups, and then deposit 10 cups equaling 1000 pennies into our bucket!  We will continue this program until the winter break.

            I have another heart warming story to relate.  Earlier this year, we decided to join Scholastic’s program called Classrooms Care.  We put up a poster with 100 blanks symbols of books.  Each time a student completed reading a book, they colored in a symbol.  We just completed the 100 books.  This information is given to Scholastic.org.  The Manning brothers (the football players) have pledged to donate 1 million books to kids in need when 1 million books have been read across the country.  We added our 100 to that total which has exceeded its goal.  3,800,000 books have been read to date.  Well done students!

            We have completed our realistic fiction unit in reading.  Students are working on specific skills this week, and we will begin a unit on traditional literature on Monday.  We will immerse ourselves in folktales and myths, learning the elements that are usually found within them.

Students have completed writing a paper that focused on organization.  We have worked on creating an exciting or interesting lead, sequencing the paper in a logical order, and learning how to create a satisfying conclusion.  Our next unit of study in writing will concern adding voice to our pieces.

Our study of Mexico is progressing nicely.  Students have already learned much about the varied geography of this country.  They are presenting a power point presentation to their classmates this week about a particular region of the country.

 

 

 

 

              Up (2009)

 

                               PTO Family Movie Night

                             Thursday Nov 19^th  6:30

                             Pelham Gym/Cafeteria

 

                        Movie is Free, popcorn and baked goods for sale

 

                                   Bring pillows and blankets<![if !vml]><![endif]>

 

By tying thousands of balloons to his home, 78-year-old Carl Fredricksen sets out to fulfill his lifelong dream to see the wilds of South America. Right after lifting off, however, he learns he isn't alone on his journey, since Russell, a wilderness explorer 70 years his junior, has inadvertently become a stowaway on the trip.  

Rated PG for some mild action and peril.             http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1049413/

 

 

 

Fourth Grade Pelham Press

 

 

We've really built up a head of steam here in the fourth grade.  I can't tell you how pleased I am with each and every student's effort.

In writing, students have become very aware of how important capital letters, end punctuation, and sentence fluency are when presenting a finished piece of writing.   Throughout the process of writing, children have been taking time to use spelling references to ensure they turn in the best work possible.  We have completed a variety of writing activities where complete sentences and thorough, thoughtful answers are needed.

As we wrap up our Native American unit we will begin to explore the cultural exchange that took place as Europeans began arriving in the New World.  Each culture has its own way of life, but the intersection of these two groups of people created a new way of life that exists to this day.  Students are reading a variety of books that give them information about both lifestyles.  Some students are reading Sign of the Beaver, the story of Matt and Attean, two young men who share many aspects of their culture with one another. We have all read People of the Breaking Day, a book that provides a comprehensive overview of the Wampanoag's life in historic times. From games and recreation to leadership and political structures, this book has it all.  It is a wonderful documentation of early American life.

In mathematics we are concluding our investigation into story problems.   We will continue to look at these throughout the year, but I have been satisfied that the children can compose word problems and use a variety of strategies to solve them, including the use of diagrams, pictures, tables, and equations.  It is remarkable that students have so many strategies to solve word problems.  The essential idea is that students can picture the situation in their heads and map out a successful solution.  Make sure that you look at all the corrected work that is coming home to give you a better idea of the great work they are doing.  Our next unit will be geometry.  I have many manipulatives that will convey basic geometric concepts.  Tangrams, geoboards, power polygons and pattern blocks are all excellent ways to demonstrate the ideas we will be covering.

We continue to probe into the magnificent world of geography.  Understanding legends, keys, and symbols is central to comprehending what maps are telling us about our world.  Students have studied special maps that enable them to look at desert, plains, coastal, and mountain regions.  I was impressed by how much knowledge they brought with them from the earlier grades.  We will practice identifying the shape of each state and the characteristics of each region in the United States.  As an extension activity, students will begin memorizing capitals.

Our new science unit will be magnets.  We will do a series investigations that reveal many of the wondrous properties of magnetism.  Building on our understanding of electricity, we will construct electromagnets and study how an electric force affects a compass.                                                                                                      

 Tony Shaw

 

 

 

 

 

 

PTO Minutes,  November 9, 2009           7:00 p.m., Pelham Library Community Room

 

IN ATTENDANCE:  Rena Moore, Paul Lipman, Ruth Carolan, Diana Zahradnik, CherylNina Choquette, Elise Stromgren, Lynn Smith, Regis Paris, Gloria Bousquet, Shari Reydak, Lynn Hatch, Kathy Weillerstein, Tracy Farnham.

 

PTO President Ruth Carolan called the meeting to order at 7:06.

 

UPDATES:

Principal’s Report Rena Moore	An anouncement from the district about H1N1 vaccinations just came out tonight – a copy of a notice  about a vaccination clinic will come home tomorrow in back-packs.  After hitting a peak of 10% absences, we’re back down to 3-5%, just a little bit above normal.  4 of the 7 classes have perfect attendance so far.  Janet is out for the next two weeks, Pat and Rena ask that parents be clear about requests for change of dismissal plans, introduce yourself and explain who your child is…Rena also asks for assistance with getting out the Pelham Press – Thurs afternoon.  Janet has gone to see her first grandchild Colleen Janet.  The entire school has a field trip tomorrow, a one-man, (sold-out) circus-type show.
School Committee Report Kathy Weillerstein for Tracy Farnham	Kathy gives school committee update – things are looking scary for the budget.  Two things – Amherst will need an override, they are asking for a budget early so that a vote can get on the table.   Nov 19 school committee meeting either 5:30 or 7:00 p.m.  Dec meeting will not be 3rd, rather the 10th at 5:30.  Meeting will be in Pelham, place TBD.  There was discussion about Pelham”s viability and a comment from the finance committee was made that the school should be closed.  School Committee asked that alternatives be considered, rather than just saying we need to close the school   Finance committee requested a five-year plan from the school committee for how the town will support the school.  Dr Rodriguez was at the meeting, the school committee will get some numbers to start with from the financial committee.  Update on  regionalization discussions - initial research showed that there wasn’t a financial benefit to it, but now the focus has changed to see if there would be an educational benefit.  Parents could help by coming to school committee meetings, this provides support and more visibility.
Treasurer’s Report Lynn Smith	Lynn completed a spreadsheet to track expenses.  Rather than giving a balance each month, Lynn will track what is spent and made on each event.  Idea is to fundraise what we spend during the year and in addition to fundraise further to have enough money to fund special projects as they come up.

 

OLD BUSINESS:

Art Fundraiser	Diana suggests that the Original Works art fundraiser begin after the Gift Wrap “wraps” up.  $2335.75 gross, invoice was $1538.25 so our net was just under $800.  (Two more orders in the office not calculated in to this total.)  Prices went up from last year, we made approximately the same amount of profit.  Lynn explains that this was not easy this year, there were issues – Amy (chair) and students got very sick during the fundraiser timeline, the art work needed to be cut down (Amy ended up doing  this herself – we’re fortunate Amy is a professional artist).  We talked about alternatives to doing this rather than in Art class, for instance, Fort River School completes this project during the after school program.  Thank you Amy for your efforts on this fundraiser!
Deans Beans	Amy received 2 orders during October, she’ll put those in with November order.
Ice Cream Social-Cheryl	Cheryl will complete the folder/archive info.
Gift Wrap	Deposit $2827.80 ($45 was donations) profit was approximately $1100.00  Diana suggests starting it earlier, putting a letter in explaining the fundraiser and providing the deadline very clearly, giving more time for people to get out of school people (coworkers, etc).  Running it earlier will help with a Thanksgiving delivery, also Diana thinks we should do a basket in the spring fair with products from Genevieives.   On December 2 the products will be here to be distributed.   Thank you Diana, for your work on the Gift Wrap fundraiser.
Halloween Party	Diana explains we need a new dartboard , a big cork board would work.  Diana bought some pumpkins to store the prizes in.  Games are now stored in Diana’s barn, she got some storage containers to put the stuff in rather than the cardboard containers.  Diana says some of the materials are pretty old, the beanbag pumpkin was very beat up (wood) and Diana ended up throwing it away.  Laura set up the games last year for the Spring Fair, Diana will get in touch with her to see what can go, perhaps the UMass volunteers can assist in restoring/recreating stuff.  The apples hung from string were a hit.  We have quite a bit of leftover candy.  We’d talked about scaling the pizza back but we sold out, UMass volunteers were great.  Rena stays behind until about 8:00 until everyone has come back from Trick or Treating.  Mimi Carey would love a volunteer next year to come by and help her give out candy.
Big Y and S&S Fundraiser	Kristin wrote a great letter in the press to get parent participation.  She said she didn’t get much response from parents to volunteer to go to the supermarket and get folks to sign up.  Discussion about how we can get more families to sign up.  Suggestion made to make it a competition for the students, bring the list to work, get a parent to sign up at afterschool…Town Meeting, etc.  Perhaps we could bring the list and put it next to the sign out at afterschool.
Library Fundraiser Tracy Farnham	Tracy met with Adam about the fundraiser, letter just went out to Library patrons and he will talk to us after that if they still need help.  Library does have lists of books (should we want to have the fundraiser be “Buy a Book”) or we could do a general fund.
Mad Science Diana Zahradnik	Diana says this will start in February, $79 and she is working with the Library to run the program, rather than going through the school/PTO.  She has discussed this with Adam.  More details to come later.
Movie Night	November 19, the movie will be “Up.”  Rena plans to purchase the movie tomorrow, Lynn and Elise will help Cheryl make popcorn.  Showtime, 6:30.
Trip Scholarships for teachers and students Paul Lipman	Paul explains that the PTO has funded scholarships for field trips, $5-10 range for child or adult typically children that receive free or reduced price lunch.  PTO has expressed that we would fund the scholarships and teachers approached the PTO as they need funds.  Paul will let the teachers know that they should notify him when they need it.  Paul will request teachers to get a wish list together so that parents may provide a gift for the classroom rather than a gift for the teachers.

                               

ONGOING BUSINESS:

Square Dance, Road Race/Fun Run Tracy Farnham	Tracy thought these would not only be fun events to raise some money for the school, but community events as well.  Pelham Road Race might be fun to do, there are quite a few runners in Pelham.  A Pelham parent just recently organized a road race for the Kestrel Trust, could be a good contact for a Pelham Fun Run.
Dog Show Tracy Farnham	Bring your dog, more of a community event and for fun.  Dog Show would be in spring, we have a large playground to use.  Lynn H suggests a “citizen companion” workshop, teach children how to care for your dog and be a responsible dog owner.
Computer Club David Shanabrook	Ruth reported that David would like to start out without new software, using UMass volunteers, if possible.  There is a parent who will help him out as well.  UMass volunteers will not be ready to volunteer until at least mid-January.  He has drawing programs, Squeak for younger students and then a gaming program for the older ones, create their own games and then have them play each other’s.
Savings Makes Sense	Cheryl and Diana report this is going well, there seems to be fewer older students this year.
Pelham Sign	Not much to say except Karen is doing a great job, it looks good!
Snack Taxi	Diana has passed this fundraiser on to another parent, and samples can be seen in a glass case outside the gymnasium.  An order in will be sent in November.
Junior Achievement	Paul said there was some interest, people wanted to start it earlier in the year or January.
Valentine’s Dance	Tentatively planned for February 5.
Next Meeting	December 7 Monday 7:00 p.m.

 

MEETING ADJOURNED 9:05 p.m.

 

Meeting minutes respectfully submitted

Elise Stromgren, PTO secretary

 

moorer@arps.org

Back to Principal's Page

Back to Pelham Home Page