APRIL 10, 2015
Tuesday and Wednesday, April 14 and 15
Parent-Teacher Conferences – 1:05 Dismissal
Friday, April 17
All-School Assembly – 2:15 p.m.
Monday-Friday, April 20-24
Spring Vacation
Saturday, May 2
Annual Town Meeting
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LETTER FROM THE SCHOOL COMMITTEE
Your School Committee met this past Monday for a routine meeting. It was not routine in the sense that we bid farewell to Cheryl Bonica who is leaving the Committee as of this past Monday. The Committee extended its appreciation and gratitude to Cheryl for her service and contributions to the children of Leverett Elementary School.
With the arrival of spring and as the last snow melts it means that annual Town Meeting is just around the corner. This year Town Meeting is Saturday, May 2nd. The members of the School Committee urge you to make every effort to attend this year and participate in the discussion of the town’s finances. This is a particularly difficult year as I am sure many of you are already aware. In addition to votes on the budget and related items, it is also an opportunity for town residents to vote for town officers, including members of the School Committee. We urge you to attend Town Meeting and vote for your representatives to the School Committee. It is an important volunteer position that carries considerable responsibility and time commitment. Those who serve need your support. You can show that support by being present and casting your votes. Thank you.
Respectfully submitted,
Kip Fonsh, Chair
SPRING PARENT TEACHER CONFERENCES
Parent/Teacher conferences continue next week on April 14 and 15. Students in all grades will go home at 1:05 on each of those days. The only children who will be able to remain at school on conference days are the children who are enrolled in the Afterschool Program. If you do not yet have an appointment for a conference, please contact your child’s teacher. Thank you.
IN THE SCHOOLHOUSE
I spent some time this week in Bill Stewart’s classroom, where there is chart that shows his students’ changes in height over the course of the year. It is remarkable to see those inches adding on, though I am hardly surprised. In my days teaching fifth graders, a student goal always seemed to be that they would surpass my height by the end of the year, and very often they did!
In this first week of Parent Conferences, it is an opportunity to reflect on student growth in other ways. I know how hard the teachers work to prepare for conferences so that every parent gets a good picture of their child’s progress. While teachers keep me aware of how their children are doing, I am also able to make continual observations that give me “whole child” feedback. The children that I greet each morning are not the children who walked through the door in September. They are wiser, are worldlier, show increasing social confidence and competence and, yes, they are taller. There is a personal side to this as well, for when the school year started, I didn’t know these 135 children, and now they are almost my extended family. As the year has progressed, I have come to know children by watching them work and play, sharing conversations over breakfast or lunch, and chatting or sometimes playing games before school. In the next ten (!) weeks, I look forward to more of those conversations, and being able to reflect back over my entire first year at LES.
As we continue our work with resident poet Verandah Porche over the coming week, I’d like to close with a poem from one of our second graders. The second grade poetry is often found posted throughout the school, courtesy of the “Poetry Fairy.” This piece of writing, by Cedar Skinder, speaks so beautifully to the essence of the poetic craft!
-Margot Lacey
I have the
soul of all poems
blooming in my heart
bursting to get out
through both my heart
and hands,
scattering light
throughout the universe
and through the hearts
of the human beings.
PTO SPOTLIGHT ON…
James Owen
Grade 4
What are you looking forward to at LES?
The fourth grade field trip.
What do you like doing outside of school?
Playing soccer and being outdoors. Catching snakes in my backyard.
PTO News
• The PTO Ice Skate was last weekend. We hope everyone enjoyed it. We’re looking for feedback for next year’s event. If you’d like to tell us what you liked or what didn’t work for you, please email Jo-Ann at [email protected] Thanks to Catherine Brooks for helping to organize the bake sale table.
•Thank you to Ivy Mabius and Jai Fuller. They will be coordinating the Teacher Appreciation Lunch in May. Please contact one of us if you are interested in helping out.
LEVERETT PEACE COMMISSION NEWS
The Leverett Peace Commission is pleased to sponsor a Food Film Series. The next film in the series is Fed Up, on Thursday, April 23 and a film yet to be determined on Thursday, May 7th.
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COMMUNITY BULLETIN BOARD
(Items listed here are not school sponsored)
WILD HEARTED BOYS: Mentoring Tomorrow’s Conscientious, Caring and Courageous Men
Single-gender program encouraging boys ages 9-13 to explore, inquire, play, reflect and dialogue within the context of the natural world and all of the challenges and mysteries it presents. Led by mentors whose goal is to honor and foster the inner capabilities of each participant. Climbing, cave exploration, nature skills, paddling and other adventures await!
Full week session during April vacation, 9am to 4 pm. Drop off and pick up at Mill River Recreation area in Amherst. Contact Pandora at 413-253-4910; www.AdventureinAdventureOut.com - see tab titled Wild Hearted Programs.
Qigong with Dvora Esenstein will be offered on Mondays from 10:00 to 11:00 am beginning March 16th at the Sunderland Library, and on Tuesdays from 5:15 to 6:15 at the Leverett Library. Qigong is an ancient Chinese health care system integrating slow movements, breathing techniques and focused intention. It helps to calm your mind, improve your balance, and enhance your health. This class is suitable for all ages and ability levels. You may join this free class at any time. Dvora has been a Tai Chi and Qigong student for nearly 30 years, Her practice is focused on softness and centeredness.
April Vacation Week Weaving & Fiber Arts Explorations Class with Susan Loring-Wells at the Leverett Crafts & Arts Center, 13 Montague Road, Leverett, MA.
Dates: April 20-24, ~ Time: 9-3 pm ~ Ages: 10-14 ~ Cost: $250
Come and explore a world of endless possibilities of handweaving and fiber arts. Students will weave at least one project on a floor loom, try card weaving, tapestry weaving, felting, kumihimo, embroidery and band weaving.
Please email me if you are interested at: [email protected].
The Montague Reporter is seeking Leverett residents interested in reporting on local happenings. We will have an opening this spring in our regular selectboard and town hall coverage, and are also seeking feature contributors. The Reporter is a nonprofit weekly print newspaper that can offer small stipends for writing on assignment. Join a team of journalists, writers and artists producing news of, and for, the communities we live in. Contact [email protected] or call us at (413) 863-8666 for more information.
FOR SALE: From Hill House Farm in Leverett - goose eggs and 2015 maple syrup. Please call Portia at 548-9737.
Family Afternoon with Multi-Arts! Sunday, April 12, 1:30 p.m., at the Jones Library in Amherst. Open to children of all ages and their parents/caregivers. Come to this free, fun, and creative workshop. Titus Neijens will guide you and your child in the creation of 3D structures born from your imagination: cats, dogs, masks, airplanes, just to name a few. Spend the afternoon with us, and you’ll be sure to leave with a beautiful final product to take home, as well as ideas for many more projects to come. This program is supported in part by the Jones Library and by a grant from the Amherst Cultural Council, a local agency which is supported by the Massachusetts Cultural Council,
WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO HAVE A FRACKED GAS PIPELINE IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD? A Discussion led by Jim Cutler, Ashfield land owner whose land Kinder Morgan wants to take. Sunday, April 12, 2015 at the Leverett Town Hall
4 PM-5:30 PM
YOU WILL LEARN MORE ABOUT:
- KINDER MORGAN TAKING PRIVATE LAND BY EMINENT DOMAIN
- THE HIGHER CORPORATE TAXES THAT MAY BE IMPOSED ON ELECTRIC RATE PAYERS TO PAY FOR THE PIPELINE
- POTENTIAL GAS LEAKS INTO THE CONNECTICUT RIVER AND OUR WATER TABLE
- THE FRACKED GAS CHEMICALS THAT LEAK INTO OUR AIR FROM THE PIPELINE
- THAT THE GAS WILL BE PRIMARILY FOR EXPORT
