Winter Swap and Take...For Thrifty Parents

It is so expensive to buy winter apparel for growing children each year!  I was fortunate my children were born after many cousins.  They have several aunts who passed along outgrown clothing and a grandmother whose favorite hobby is shopping.  She loved that things were passed along and used it as an excuse to shop at really nice stores so clothes would last through several grandchildren.  As a young mom, I always appreciated receiving costly winter coats, boots and snow pants.

Sweetsir students love to play in the snow at recess, but may only do so if they have all the winter gear listed in the "High Five Rule."  Therefore, for the first three weeks of November we will be having a special 'Swap and Take' table in the front lobby.  Everyone is welcome to participate!  If you like to save money and recycle, feel free to take something from the table.  If you have gently used winter coats, snow pants or boots to share, just leave them in the lobby.  Anything left over will be donated to a local charity over Thanksgiving Break.

High Five Rule:
Students may play in the snow at recess only if they have all of the following:
1) Winter Coat  2) Snow Pants  3) Boots  4)  Hat  5) Mittens or Gloves

Fall Fun

Mrs. Vienneau, our kitchen manager, decorated these cute pumpkins.  Children get a kick out of seeing Ernie & Bert in the school lunch line!



These two moms brewed up some fun!



THANK YOU PTO!

The October 21st Harvest Festival was a wonderful family event!  


Children had a blast jumping in the bouncy house, decorating cupcakes, eating cotton candy, playing lots of games and, if they were brave enough, walking through the Teacher's Haunted House. 

Pencils, Erasers & Notebooks Galore!

The PTO runs a school store during lunchtime twice a month (on the second and last Wednesday).  Many items are available for under a dollar, giving students the opportunity to practice consumer decision making and math skills.

 

Thank you to the many parent who volunteer their time! If you would like to join them, contact Sharon Bartholomew for more information.  As you can see from this picture of Sue Poor and her son, it is a fun event for both students and parents!

Power of Words and Actions

 I recently stumbled upon these two cute videos that made me think...

For the past several years, our district has focused professional development efforts on explicitly teaching students the 5 Habits of Learning: communication, collaboration, independence, thinking and creative exploration.  This first video highlights why explicitly teaching-  and encouraging- creativity is so important.

Derek Sivers also created this video, which has an important message about the power of our words and actions.  Just as harsh words can stay permanently in a person's heart, they may also stay permanently on the Internet.  It is so important for children, and adults, to realize when they write something on the Internet it is not easily erased- it becomes part of your "digital footprint." 

How Will We Keep Up?

"The Changing Media Landscape" is a thought provoking youtube video.  After watching the clip, I was surprised to discover it was produced several years ago- 2009!

This video really drives home how vitally important it is for students to develop digital literacy skills.  Due to budgetary cuts, this has been challenging for many schools.  Across our district, for example, all the elementary library media specialists and technology teachers have been eliminated.  In fact, the Pentucket School district has only two full time staff members responsible for maintaining all the computer equipment and technology database systems used in six school buildings and the business office.  (Fortunately, Jeanne Frasch and Craig Carlson are very dedicated and talented).  

At Sweetsir, faculty members have decided to make enhancing our knowledge and use of technology a school-wide goal this year.  Teachers are sharing resources and dedicating time to help each other further develop technology skills (i.e., blogging, skyping, creating video lessons, smart board lessons, assistive technologies and using social media professionally),  We are also collaborating to create livebinders to share technology resources. 

Heating Units and Bucket Fillers

The Sweetsir School is a bucket filling school!  (For more information about where this saying comes from, follow the tab above for the page with more detail).  Not only do we fill buckets with kindness; we also filled them with rain drops today.

The rain has been a great way to test out our new roof.  A number of buckets adorned our hallways today.  Not to worry... if you look closely at the picture, you will notice in the spot directly above the bucket there is partial duct work.  The rain trickled in the holes made in preparation for where pipes will be installed to connect our heating system to units on the roof.  This was not surprising since we are in the midst of construction.  Otherwise, the new roof held up great! 

Construction Update:  Good news, I saw several very large heating units being placed on the roof today.  Based on the information I am receiving, the heating project appears to be nearing completion.  In the past, the heat was not distributed well and temperatures varied from room to room.  I anticipate things will be much better.  However, as a mom who has worked in several different school buildings, my advice is to always dress children in layers.  I have one child who prefers teeshirts and another who wraps herself in a blanket.  Everyone has their own comfort level, so layers help adjust to individual needs.  Removable sweatshirts and sweaters are great during the winter months.  Thicker layers are especially helpful after weekends and vacations when it can take awhile for large buildlings to heat up. 

High Five:  Next time you go shopping for winter clothes.... remember the high five rule.  Students in grades k-2 go outside all winter long for recess.  If children have the following five articles they can play in the snow:  1) winter coat 2) snowpants 3) hat 4) boots 5) gloves.  It is a blast watching a playground full of children slide down snowbanks during recess.  I look forward to snapping photos and blogging about it in the near future.

Help Merrimac Win Fire Prevention Grant

As you can see from the posts below, the Merrimac Fire Department provides valuable Fire Safety and Prevention Programs for all four of our elementary schools.  Please help them receive grant funding to support this work.  Click on the link below to complete a 10 question quiz and help them earn $10,000!!!  The deadline is October 31, 2011.

http://www.befiresmart.com/merrimac-fire-department

Fire Prevention Assembly

On Thursday, October 5th, Merrimac Firefighters Michael McLeieer and Scott Maker visited the Sweetsir School to teach students in grades k-2 fire prevention safety tips.  Students learned the importance of having smoke alarms and knowing emergency exit routes.  In the event of a fire, they learned everyone must 'get out and stay out'.  In the picture above students are pointing up to where the 'bad air' goes.  Below, Jake the fire dog gets ready to demonstrate how to crawl under smoke.  

We are very fortunate to have access to such comprehensive fire prevention programs.  In addition to this assembly, the Merrimac Firefighters will be back later this year for a special program aimed at preschoolers.  On alternate years, they visit our school with the 'Escape Smoke Trailer'.  Students meet in the trailer, which is decorated to look like a room inside an actual house, and experience a simulated smoke exercise.   Children practice crawling under smoke and out an escape route.  This year, the Merrimac Fire Department brought the Escape Smoke Trailer to the other elementary schools within our district. Students at both the Bagnall School and Page School benefitted from the experience.

"Change Your Clocks; Change Your Batteries!"

A great way to remember to change your smoke alarm batteries is to do it twice a year 

when you change your clocks for day light savings.  

Mrs. Shea just bought new batteries for her home smoke alarms, you should too!