December PTO Notes

PTO NOTES & NEWS FOR DECEMBER 2011
The PTO gave out $3618.78 for our FALL GRANTS. Grants included: Flat screen TV's for the office to better monitor the doors, new e-readers and e-books for the library, new books for the library, recess equipment, sheet music for the chorus programs, and a portable induction cooktop for FEED in-class cooking activities.
We voted to spend $500 to help fund a speaker in March who will work with students, teachers and parents doing a BULLYING WORKSHOP.
WANTED: There is a 2 YEAR SCHOOL BOARD OPENING. This will replace Mary Catherine Jones who is not running for re-election. If interested you would need to file and have 30 signatures by January 30. You can get forms from the town clerk and can call Mary Catherine Jones (985-9882) if you have any questions.
Winton teacher, Lisa Phelps and middle school counselor, Rachel Petraska, organized a FACULTY FOOD DRIVE that provided Thanksgiving meals to over 20 Shelburne families.
HOLIDAY COAT DRIVE is still going. They are still in need of coats and any winter gear - boots, hats, gloves, etc.
The PTO HOLIDAY FAIR was a great success as always! There was some talk of making it shorter next year (currently it goes from 9:30-1:30). Let us know if you have any thoughts on that.
At the Holiday Fair the PTO did silent Auctions of a family membership to The Edge and a donated book which brought in $785 that will go to the Angel Fund.
The SKAT LEGO ROBOTICS class traveled to Dartmouth College in November to participate in a LEGO Robotics tournament.
VISITING TEACHER FROM CHINA, Tao ye has been working with K-8 classes sharing lessons on Chinese culture, language, calligraphy, art and even eye massage.
Thanks to the Teaching from Space Office at Johnson Space Center, Allan Miller has real ANTARCTIC METEORITES & MOON ROCKS that he has been sharing with students in all K-8 classes.
On November 28 when we all had off, SCS faculty participated in a PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT Day which included work on: curriculum mapping, defining goals for the School Action Plan, sharing curriculum work done over the summer and a meeting of the configuration committee.
On December 9 a team of 6 middle school teachers and our math and literacy coordinators attended a ONE DAY WORKSHOP ON BRAIN RESEARCH at Dartmouth College. They explored what recent neurophysiology discoveries mean in terms of designing our best classroom instruction.
MARK YOUR CALENDARS:
Friday, 12/16 - Middle school dance
Thursday, 1/5 @7:30p - Jazz/Pop and Show Choir Concert
Friday, 1/6 - Red Barn fundraiser begins
Thursday, 1/12 @ 7p - School budget forum
Thursday, 1/19 @ 7p - 4/5 Chorus concert
Friday, 1/20 @6p - PTO International Potluck Dinner
Monday, 1/30 @ 6:30p - Youth Risk Behavior Survey dialogue with Margo Austin

THANK YOUS TO:
Sharon Harkness, Wendy Hallock, Leslie Borrok and Courtney Tharpe for coordinating the wonderful Holiday Fair!
Kate Danforth for running the coat drive
Jan Thabault for organizing the holiday baskets
Everyone who helped on the grants committee
Everyone who helped and shopped at the Holiday Fair.

NEXT MEETING: Tuesday, January 12, 2012, 6:00pm
As always babysitting and pizza provided!

Story Bit: The Little Engine that Could

This week we read the story of The Little Engine that Could by Watty Piper. The children were introduced to the words dingy, bellowed, and persevere. A large part of our discussions about the book were around the topic of perseverance.

Chinese Numbers

Today we had the privilege of having a visiting teacher from China come to our classroom to teach us Chinese characters and pronunciations for numbers 1-10. She showed a slideshow of her home town. Thank you Tao!

Moon Rocks

This morning the kids had a special surprise presentation from Mr. Allan Miller, our SCS 6-8 Principal. He brought in some rocks that came from the Moon to show our inspiring scientists. He has connections to NASA and the rocks are on loan to SCS for a little while. How cool! The discussion that followed in the classroom raised some very important questions that our class jotted down. We will invite Mr. Miller back in to answer some more of their questions. I am very proud of their observations and wonders! Great scientific minds already!