Clinton Township Newsletter

1 3 M a r c h 2 0 1 4 Read Across America: At Spruce Run School, one of our primary areas of focus is learning to read and developing a love for reading. The month of March brings a special focus on reading in our school as we celebrate Dr. Seuss's birthday, and our students engage in special reading activities during "Read Across America" week. Classroom doors will be decorated with a Dr. Seuss reading theme, we will have a read-a-thon in school and we will even track our progress reading "across" our student-created America mural in our school. LET'S READ! STEM Lego Robotics Grant: At Spruce Run School, we are grateful to the Clinton Township Foundation for Educational Excellence for graciously funding a new and exciting STEM LEGO robotics project at our school! Mrs. Collett, our technology teacher, and Mrs. Sidbury, our enrich- ment teacher will share this program with the kindergarten and first grade students and teachers at Spruce Run School! LEGO ® Education WeDo provides open-ended lesson ideas that allows students to create original robotic devices. LEGO ® Education WeDo is a cross-curricular tool that enables students to learn, construct and then bring their models to life. The project will develop skills in technology, engineering, math and sci- ence (STEM). Students in first grade created a bird robot where they were able to program it to perform various functions such as movement and sound effects. We are looking forward to sharing more about this exciting project at SRS at an up- coming Board of Education Meeting! Thanks, again, CTFEE! s p R u c e R u n s c h o o L It's been a Research Sensation! Our students have been using their research skills to locate information on many assorted topics! Students have spent time in the library, on Chrome Books and using good old fashioned books to locate in- formation on American composers, Ancient Rome and Pompeii, as well an different animal species. A Performing Sensation! After an encore performance at Round Valley's All School Meet- ing, students have taken their show on the roads. They put the "Footsteps Worth Following" theme to music by creating their own lyrics and dance moves. These talents were shared with the com- munity at the February BOE meeting. Congratulations to sixth grader Michael Kochanowski, Round Valley School's Geog- raphy Bee Champion! Michael took the State test, which consisted of 70 very difficult questions. We are hoping for his qualification at the State level. Go Geography! R o u n D V a L L e y s c h o o L Healthy Kids Week: Staff and Students at PMG celebrated Healthy Kids Week during the beginning of February! The special area teachers, along with Mrs. DiLeo, the school nurse, worked together to coordinate a fun and motivating week for students. The first day was a jump start to the week with an all school morn- ing meeting that incorporated warm-up activities lead by Ms. Napoli, the Physical Education Teacher and an original rendition of "We Are, We Are Healthy" by Mr. Straley, the Music Teacher. During Healthy Kids Week, healthy food and snack choices were provided by the caf- eteria staff and Mrs. DiLeo made daily announce- ments highlighting healthy snack ideas. It was very exciting to welcome professionals from our community to educate our students on dental and physical health. Registered students received a dental screening by Zufall Health Center of Morristown and all students enjoyed a nutrition and yoga-based Zumba work- shop provided by the Hunterdon Health and Wellness Center on Friday. Fun with Reading: At PMG, we will cel- ebrate Dr. Seuss's birthday and Read Across America from March 3-7. Students will participate in a variety of activities throughout the week, including wearing a shirt with writing on it, reading together as a whole-school, listening to fun reading-themed morning announcements and many other classroom-based learning experiences. The week will end with a reading celebration in classrooms in which parents lead a reading craft and game. Winter Olympics Celebrated: On Febru- ary 12 students at PMG participated in the Annual Winter Olympics. Each grade level spent two hours of their day enjoying fun and challenging athletic events and showing their good teamwork and sportsmanship. The Olym- pics started with opening ceremonies where each classroom represented a country. Students shared in the Friendship Song and carrying of the flags and Olympic torch. Then, several competitions followed, such as speed skating, two man bobsled, ice hockey, curling and more. p a t R i c k m c g a h e R a n s c h o o L S I N O U R S C H O O L S : CTMS hosted a Poetry Slam workshop for area middle schools in early February. Students from the North Hunterdon/Voorhees sending districts were invited to bring poems to act out on stage for each other. Public speaking, dramatization and poem writing skills were all practiced and celebrated in this fun workshop, organized by Julie Bruen and Dan Hathaway of Bethlehem Township School District. Enrichment students involved in the Word Masters Challenge scored big, with national recognition in this analogy completion contest. Receiving perfect scores for the first round were Gabriella Pinto, Amanda Chisholm, Rachel Mead and Prajeet Sarker. Good job, team! CTMS students sponsored our fourth an- nual Relay for Life to benefit the American Cancer Society in February. This year we reached $100,000 in total funds raised in the fight against cancer thanks to our supportive and generous CTSD community. Thank you to all our donors, and to our sponsors, Country Griddle and ShopRIte. c L i n t o n t o w n s h i p m i D D L e s c h o o L

• Cover