Instrument Petting Zoo

On Friday, a group of my gifted students performed a service project by doing an "Instrument Petting Zoo" with the PM PreK classes. The students brought their band instruments, played them for the little ones, told them a little about the instruments, and then let the kids try it out (with some help from the big kids!). Attached are a few pictures. Everyone had a great time and I was very proud of Sarah, Maddi, and Theresa for organizing it!

Elizabeth Gaughan, Gifted and ESL teacher

Blue Ridge 6th Graders Give Donation!

Before Christmas you may have seen hexagon shaped donation containers in local businesses. These were made in art class by sixth graders from Blue Ridge who where hoping to collect money to donate to Susquehanna County Interfaith. The sixth graders were Brandy Baker, Devin Donnelly, Grace Perera, Brooke Marvin, Lindsay Reinhart, John Calla, Bailey Shaw, Alex Degraw, Daniel Beesley, Nick Folk, Dulce Tobon-Montiel, Zack Visakay, Callie Wyatt, Mikhala Griemsmann, Allison Hewitt, Megan Houlihan, Autumn Brown, Logan Conrad, and Jordan Mann. The coins and bills collected are to be donated to aid in paying for heat for families in need in our community. All of the containers have been collected and the money counted. Thanks to the generous people and businesses in our area we raised $455.49. On behalf of Blue Ridge Sixth Grade art class we thank all of those who donated and the following businesses that participated: Burger King, Dobb's Country Kitchen, Green Gables, New Milford Hardware, Pump N Pantry, Lindsey's Hardware, People's National Bank, New Milford Market, First Glance, Stone's Trustworthy Hardware, and Armetta's in Gibson.

Character Education ~ January 19

Today's Character Education Message is:

Being truthful builds your own self-respect.

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

Rolly Miller
Kendra Millard

Kindergarten Artist in Residence is Back at BR for another year

Below is a picture of Mr. Theo (Artist in Residence Director) practicing with our kindergartners as they prepare for their performance on Thursday, January 27 at 6:00pm in the HS auditorium.

Rep. Sandra Major Visits Blue Ridge's PreKindergarten

A special visit was made to Mrs. Whitehead's prek classroom from Rep. Sandra Major. Rep. Major came to read to the children and to see what our day is like. Rep. Major was invited to our classroom to share with her the importance of making early childhood education available to all children and the importance of keeping the funding for the future. Rep. Major read two stories, The Mitten and Detective Dog and the Disappearing Doughnuts to the class. Rep. Major stayed and enjoyed our show and tell for the letter "Dd" (letter of the week) and the connection that was made to the book she read to us. The children enjoyed sharing our time with her and as a thank you we gave her a book we made for her We Are Pennsylvania's Promise for the Future. Our book was about what we want to be when we grow up.

We would like to thank Rep. Major for taking time out of her very busy schedule to come and visit our classroom and also to Stephnie Thornton for making all the arrangements for us.

Character Education ~ January 13

Today's Character Education Message is:

Trustworthiness is.........(written by Alyssa Johnson and Dylan Gleason)

• Important
• Trusting people
• Is a good thing
• Niceness
• Worthy of confidence
• Someone to depend on
• A friend you can keep secrets with

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

Josiah Smalley

Morgan Mansfield

Garrett Peters

Ben Bleck

Kendra Millard

Character Education ~ January 11

Today's Character Education Message is:

Honest mistakes happen to all of us.

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

Kaleb Folk
Rolly Miller

Character Education ~ January 6

Today's Character Education Message is:

When others see you tell the truth, they respect you more as a person.

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

Danielle Goff
Kendra Millard
Dylan Ross
Madison Martin
Taylor Holtzman
Nicholas Pallman
Katelyn Spencer

Character Education ~ January 5

Today's Character Education Message is:

Kindness and respect for others helps trust grow.

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

Harley Testa
Hunter Chase
Austin Galusha

Character Education ~ January 4

Today's Character Education Message is:

Trust must be earned by practicing good character traits.

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

Connor Gaughan

Character Education ~ January 3

The Pillar of Character for the month of January is TRUSTWORTHINESS.

Today's Character Education Message is:

Trustworthiness is being honest and telling the truth.

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

Issac Arzola
Megan McAndrew
John Miller

Penelope Penquin Visits PreK

The Pre-K students had a special visit from Penelope Penguin (Cindy Reynolds) the last day before Christmas break. She came and read stories to all the children about penguins and their wishes for Christmas. One penguin wanted to fly and another wanted to be different. Both penguins did get their wishes for Christmas and the children learned that it is okay to be different. Penelope also shared other books about penguins that the children can find at their local library. Penelope filled the students morning with many fun activities to help them learn about penguins, from singing songs to putting a flannel penguin together. Every child received a finger penguin puppet to help them remember their special day with Penelope. Everyone had a great time! We would all like to send a great big thank you Cindy (Penelope) and we hope you will come and visit our school again sometime soon.