Mrs. Helpers' 2nd Graders putting on a Holiday Play

Blue Ridge Elementary’s Seasonal Sharing Parade

Blue Ridge Elementary School celebrated their annual Sharing Parade on Wednesday, December 16th. It is the 25th year for this seasonal program. During the month of December, students and teachers are busy collecting food items they bring in to share with others who may need a little lift during the holidays. This year’s Sharing Parade theme was friendship and the new theme song was titled “Be a friend”. The message was the importance of being a good friend – to listen and be there for others and to show them that you care. Teachers also work with their students to write sharing thoughts. Many students worked with a friend or friends to write their thoughts about friendship. The program consisted of many heartwarming songs about sharing, caring, and helping each other as well as wonderful sharing thoughts written and read by the students. It is a Sharing Parade tradition to ask an adult from the community to share a thought as well. Keeping in the theme of friendship, two highly respected community members and life long friends, Mr. Tom Chamberlain and Mr. Alan Wilmarth, shared their thoughts on what a good friend is to them.

Blue Ridge Elementary’s Sharing Parade was able to help 30 district families by providing festively wrapped boxes of food items which included a ham and 5 lb. bag of potatoes generously donated by the elementary PTO. The high school Pride Club and Toys-N-Tots, both spearheaded by Mrs. Kristen Hinkley, also donated gifts for each family.

Working together, Blue Ridge Elementary is able to provide hope and encouragement during the holiday season to our local families. In return, the students and faculty get a good feeling knowing that they have helped and were good friends to others.


Pictures:
Fifth grade classmates, Jessie Marvin, Kelsey Gentile, and Emma Glezen wrote an essay titled “Be a Friend”. The main idea of their essay was to be a friend means to help, care, and be there for each other.

Adult Sharing Thought presented by Mr. Alan Wilmarth and Mr. Tom Chamberlain

Third Grade classmates of Erin Houlihan and Olivia Martin spelling out the word “Friendship” to go along with the acrostic poem the girls wrote about friendship.

Benchmark Testing after the Holiday Break !

Grades 3-5 will be taking their math and reading benchmark tests from January 3-21, during their Library time. These tests are “specifically designed to help students master the content specified in the Pennsylvania Assessment Anchors. Study Island's focus on the Assessment Anchors enables students to improve their performance in all skill areas tested on the PSSA.” Benchmarks give homeroom teachers and the RtII teachers the ability to determine a students’ understanding of Pennsylvania Assessment Anchors. The students’ data is also used to identify those in need of intervention or enrichment in reading and/or math. They are a good predictor of how a student will score on their PSSA tests in the spring. Please note that these benchmark tests do not count towards report cards. Your child’s Study Island benchmark scores will be sent home at the beginning of February.

Please encourage your child to do their very best on the Study Island benchmark! For more information on Study Island benchmark tests, please visit…

www.studyisland.com and select Pennsylvania on the map.

Character Education ~ December 22

Today's Character Education Message is:

When you are responsible by having good manners and a kind attitude, adults notice and they are more willing to listen when you have something to say.

Congratulations to the following people for being awarded Character Counts Coupons:

Lauren Hegedus

Character Education ~ December 21

Today's Character Education Message is:

When you show a responsible attitude, most adults will trust you to do more on your own.

Congratulations to the following people for being awarded Character Counts Coupons:

Shelby Seamans

FUN Friday: Reindeer Day!

Mrs. Rhone’s and Mrs. Skal’s Kindergarten classes celebrated FUN Friday with a host of reindeer activities! The children had the opportunity to dress-up like Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer, get their hands/feet painted for a reindeer craft, paint reindeer ornaments, watch the movie, sing the song and make reindeer food. Reindeer food is sprinkled through the air as a special snack for Santa’s reindeer! The kindergarteners even had a special visit from their elementary principal, Mr. Button!

Character Education ~ December 20

Today's Character Education Message is:

Be responsible by always telling the truth.

Congratulations to the following people for being awarded Character Counts Coupons:

Samantha Price

Character Education ~ December 17

Today's Character Education Message is:

When you show a responsible attitude, most adults will trust you to do more on your own.

News from the Elementary Library Media Center


Did you know that the students in the Elementary school are reading e-books? We have purchased a subscription to Tumblebooks. TumbleBookLibrary is an online collection of TumbleBooks – animated, talking picture books which teach kids the joy of reading in a format they'll love. TumbleBooks are created by adding animation, sound, music and narration to existing picture books in order to produce an electronic picture book which you can read, or have read to you. The TumbleBookLibrary provides enrichment to students who are reading independently with a variety of high interest material. It also provides support to students who require skill building with a variety of exercises that can be matched with other areas of the curriculum.

To log on go to www.tumblebooklibrary.com and enter the Username: bres1 and Password: books. Students also know how to navigate to the page from the District's webpage www.brsd.org. If you have any questions please contact me at tenchjr@brsd.org or 465-3141 ext. 506

Mrs. Tench, Elementary Librarian

Character Education ~ December 15

Today's Character Education Message is:

Choose the clothes you plan to wear the next day before you go to bed.

Congratulations to the following people for being awarded Character Counts Coupons:

Kayla Whitney

Miss Swartwood's class Making Gingerbread Men Ornaments with Mrs. Hinkley's Family and Consumer Science Class

Character Education ~ December 13

Today's Character Education Message is:

Pack your book bag each night before you go to bed.

Congratulations to the following people for being awarded Character Counts Coupons:

Victor Armondi
Travis Hickling

Character Education ~ December 10

Today's Character Education Message is:

Be responsible by planning ahead.

Congratulations to the following people for being awarded Character Counts Coupons:

Josiah Smalley
LJ Upright
Mrs. Giangrieco

Character Education ~ December 9

Today's Character Education Message is:

Accept and be thankful for rules made for your protection.

Congratulations to the following people for being awarded Character Counts Coupons:

Jonathan Rosa
Dylan Ross

New Playground Coming to BRES!

BRES received a matching grant from GameTime (Bitting Rec. Company) to support a new playground to replace the current wooden structure. The new playground is expected to be installed for the start of the 2011-2012 school year.

Thanks goes to GameTime, BRSD, and BRSD PTO for their efforts to make this project happen.

Character Education ~ December 7

Today's Character Education Message is:

When you see someone being bullied by another student, tell an adult immediately so the bully can be stopped.

Congratulations to the following people for being awarded Character Counts Coupons:

Gabriella Broad

Character Education ~ December 6

Today's Character Education Message is:

Follow school and home rules quietly and responsibly.

Congratulations to the following people for being awarded Character Counts Coupons:

Rolly Miller
EJ Formosa

First Grade Receives PASR Grant

First grade teachers applied for a $300 grant given by PASR (Pennsylvania Association of School Retirees). Joan Peters and others from the organization awarded the teachers and students with the grant. After awarding the grant, Mrs. Peters read The Snowman Band to the first grade students. The grant will be used to buy trait books to enrich and incorporate into the new reading curriculum.

Character Education ~ December 2

Today's Character Education Message is:

Your responsible action, where a bully is concerned, may keep someone from being hurt

5th Grade Chorus Performing the "Nutcracker"

On December 2, 2010, stage of the Blue Ridge High School Theater was transformed into the Kingdom of Sweets as fifth grade chorus members performed a musical version of Tchaikovsky’s holiday classic, “The Nutcracker.” The musical follows a young girl named Marie whose nutcracker doll magically comes to life and guides her on a tour of the Kingdom of Sweets, where they are entertained by Sugar Plum Fairies, Russian Bakers, Arabian Dancers, Flowers, and many others.