Happy Holidays!

Oh the weather outside is, well, unbelievable! It’s hard to believe it’s the middle of December.

Yesterday our second and fourth graders were treated to a planetarium show from the OCM BOCES Science Center. Our second graders saw the “Day and Night” program while our fourth graders learned more about moon phases. If you have a second or fourth grader, make sure you ask them what they learned!

This is an exciting time of year for many families, and a stressful time of year for others. Thank you again to everyone who helped out many of our local families these past few weeks. Thank you also for your contributions to the Salvation Army Food Drive. We continue to accept donations of canned goods until next Tuesday. 

Two years ago I came across this column in the On Board journal put out by NYSSBA, the New York State School Boards Association. I meant to include it in my blog last year but forgot. It was written by Thomas Perillo, superintendent of the Greater Amsterdam School District. He begins the article by explaining that some of the gifts we can give the children in our lives will last longer than trendy boot's or this year's latest toy; they don't have to cost a penny. Here is an abbreviated version of the column:

10 Gifts to Give a Child This Holiday Season

1.       Gift #1 – A love of reading. Reading is one of the most effective and inexpensive ways to spend time with your children that will promote literacy and help them do better in school.

2.       Gift #2 – A desire to learn. Being excited about learning is different from studying to earn a grade or please teachers and parents. Passion for learning begins at home.

3.       Gift #3 – A chance to learn something new. Kids need opportunities to experience new things so they can find out what they enjoy, what they are good at and what inspires them.

4.       Gift #4 – A challenge to do well in school. Children who do well in school have more opportunities available to them – whether it’s a better paying job, a chance to continue their education or simply enhanced self-esteem that helps them believe they can achieve any goal they set.

5.       Gift #5 – Acknowledgement of their individuality. Children have different personalities, possess different strengths, develop differently and require different kinds of support to meet their individual needs.

6.       Gift #6 – Involvement in their education. Research shows that when families are involved in their children’s education, children earn higher grades and receive higher scores on tests, attend school more regularly, complete more homework, demonstrate attitudes and behaviors that are more positive, graduate from high school at higher rates, and are more likely to enroll in higher education than students with less involved families.

7.       Gift #7 – Encouragement. There is a saying that, “A child needs encouragement like a plant needs water.” Encouragement helps a child grow and flourish.

8.       Gift #8 – Affirmation. Children need for us to be supportive, but they also need us to tell them we care about and value them. They need to hear that we love them – no matter what.

9.       Gift #9 – Laughter. Laughter is one way to connect as a family. Share jokes, play games or watch a movie together. Laughter also makes us feel good, and who doesn’t want to feel good?

10.   Gift #10 – One-on-one time. Time is not something you can wrap in a box or put a bow on. It’s not something you can get back or take back. But the value of time spent with a child is immeasurable.

This week’s words of the day are dividend (M), synonym (T), antonym (W), pedestrian (Th), and comfortable (F). Next week’s words are equation (M), infer (T), and predict (W).

Holiday parties will take place next Tuesday at 2:15. There will be a full day of school on Wednesday.

I hope you have a safe and happy holiday and a Happy New Year!

-          Lisa

Compassion and Caring

Compassion and Caring are the character education traits for the month of December. East Hill students and families have shown compassion and caring in many ways these past couple of weeks. Thank you to everyone who took a tag off of the Community Giving Tree and purchased a gift for a family in need. Thank you also to those of you who are helping to fill the Salvation Army barrels.

Earlier this week the Camillus Elk's Lodge brought our third graders dictionaries. This is just one of the ways our local Elks demonstrate compassion and caring for our community.

Mr. & Mrs. Chesneski from the Camillus Elk's Lodge bring
dictionaries to East Hill third graders. 

This morning the fifth grade class taught the school about compassion and caring. They acted out the story, "The Giving Tree" by Shel Silverstein and talked about different ways they show compassion and caring as both safety patrol officers and peer partners.

Natalia and Chris act out "The Giving Tree." 

Students are learning to sign the school song. 

This past Monday our fourth and fifth graders put on a fantastic concert for the school during the day, and for their families at night. I think this winter concert was one of the best I've ever heard.

The fifth grade orchestra performs for East Hill.

The fifth grade band warming up.

Kayla and Emily singing their duet. 

This week's words of the day are divisor (M), summary (T), tradition (W), properties (Th), and considerate (F).

Have a great day!

- Lisa

Happy December!

I hope everyone enjoyed spending time with family over the Thanksgiving break. Thanks to the generosity of the East Hill community, we were able to provide Thanksgiving dinners to eleven very appreciative East Hill families. The fifth grade Student Council enjoyed working on this project in conjunction with our PTA.

We are continuing our canned food drive for the Salvation Army for the next two weeks. There are two big barrels in the lobby in which students can deposit canned goods, such as beans, tuna, evaporated milk, etc. Also in the lobby at this time you will find the PTA’s Community Giving Tree. Information was sent home with your child about Community Giving. If you are interested in helping to make the holiday a little easier for one of our local families, you can take a tag off of the tree and purchase the item listed on the tag. The PTA asks that the gifts are returned, wrapped, by December 8. The tag should be securely fastened to the gift. I am always amazed each year at how quickly the tags disappear as people are always so willing to help others in need.

In addition to the PTA’s Community Giving project this year, the Skaneateles Middle School Student Council is adopting two of our families and purchasing gifts for them. They are doing this courtesy of Todd’s Fund. According to the Todd’s Fund website, Christopher Todd Pitman grew up in Skaneateles. As a child, Todd’s warmth and radiance was coupled with a desire to succeed in every aspect of life. He was an ambitious hockey player, a gifted student, a steadfast friend and a loving brother and son.  On September 11, 2001, at the age of 30, Todd was at his desk in the World Trade Center and was unable to make it out of the building. In 2002, family and friends joined together to create an everlasting memory of Todd’s generosity and love of life.  The mission of Todd’s Fund is to provide hope and relief to children in need. We appreciate them thinking of East Hill at this time of year!

As many of you have seen, a fence has been erected around the old playground. It will be taken down soon. Ms. O’Keefe has taught the students many different group games they can play during recess, has put together a bucket of recess supplies for each wing, and has formed an area where students can walk or run laps. So, even without a playground, students will have plenty of chances to get in their fun and exercise.

Mark your calendar! East Hill’s fourth and fifth grade concert will be held at 7:00 p.m. December 8, 2015 at the High School. There will not be a PTA meeting this month. Holiday parties will be held on Tuesday, 12/21 at 2:15. We will have a full day of school on 12/23.

Fifth Grade Band Rehearsal

This week’s Words of the Day are quotient (M), symbol (T), compare (W), contrast (Th), and compassionate (F).

Have a great rest of the week!

-         -  Lisa

Math Night Tonight!

Please join us tonight for our K-5 Math Night. Teachers will be on hand to explain some of the strategies that your child is learning. Math Night is from 6:30 – 7:15 in the following rooms:

Kindergarten (Mrs. Cregan and Mrs. Bush) – Room 2

First Grade (Mrs. Wangsness) – Room 1

Second Grade (Mrs. Thome and Mrs. Wolbert) – Room 7

Third Grade (Mrs. Tynan) – Room 24

Fourth Grade (Mrs. McPeak) – Room 26

Fifth Grade (Mr. Meaney) – Room 28

Well, it’s almost Thanksgiving and that means it’s time for our kindergarteners to explain how a turkey is cooked. In case you need some advice, here are three different recipes:

Thank you to all of you who were able to contribute the Student Council/PTA Thankfulness Project. We are still accepting donations until this Wednesday. The primary classrooms were asked for a specific food donation while the intermediate rooms were asked to bring in a dollar or two if possible.

It’s time to order your East Hill Yearbook!  Orders are due by December 21, 2015 to get the Early Bird Special of $13.00 for a standard soft cover yearbook, or $18.00 for a standard hard cover yearbook. After December 21, the price with go up $2.00 for each yearbook, so order soon! December will be here before you know it. You can order online at www.ybpay.lifetouch.com. The yearbook ID code is 10705616.  You can see the variety of package deals on the flyers sent home earlier this month, or view them online. Contact Tonya Wilson, PTA Yearbook Advisor, with any questions at 440-4184.

Please remember that students are not allowed into the building until 9:00 a.m. as there is no supervision for them until that time. Students dropped off prior to 9:00 a.m. have to wait outside. The weather is getting colder so it would be appreciated if you not drop them off early. Students getting breakfast are allowed to enter the building at 8:50.

Parent teacher conferences are next Monday and Tuesday. Each day is a half day with an 11:30 dismissal. If you are unsure of your conference time, please contact the school. 

This week’s Words of the Day are product (M), gist (T), persuasive (W), adaptation (Th), and frustrated (F.) Our November PTA meeting is this Wednesday at 6:30 in the library. Please join us!

- Lisa

Happy November!

First of all, I'd like to thank all of the room parents and volunteers who helped to make our Halloween parties so much fun for all of our students. Shown below are just a few of the clever costumes that the students wore.

Last Wednesday five East Hill students represented our school at the annual District Spelling Bee. Nicolo Benenati, Ella Kemp, Avery Reina, Payton Voss, and Lilliana Corrigan (all shown below) earned the right to participate based on their written test results.They all did a fantastic job! Nicolo made it to the top twelve which means that he will move on to the next round. Good luck Nico!

Last Thursday our third graders presented a wonderful assembly on Thankfulness, which is the November character education trait. They reminded us that we all have so much for which to be thankful.

Speaking of thankfulness, our 5th Grade Student Council, in conjunction with our PTA, is working on a thankfulness project. Hopefully you received a half-sheet of paper last Friday explaining this project. The fifth graders explained it to each class after leading the classes in their Fit Friday routine. We are hoping to provide ten East Hill families with a Thanksgiving meal this year. Each class has either been assigned a food item or a dollar or two to donate. The student council will sort all of the food into meal boxes, and the PTA will shop for the turkeys, rolls, and pies. Families can take their meal home with them when they come for parent conferences. Thank you in advance for helping us out with this project. If we could help your family out with a Thanksgiving meal this year, please let me know. We would really love to help.

This week's words of the day are factor (M), fluency (T), democracy (Th), and angry (F.) Please remember that there is no school this Wednesday in honor of Veterans Day, and also remember that school picture retakes and group photos are this Friday. Lastly, if you have children in grades K-3 and are interested in learning more about the different math strategies that your child is learning, please join us next Monday night, November 16th, from 6:30 - 7:15. Have a nice week!

- Lisa

Happy Halloween!

We’ve been pretty busy these past two weeks at East Hill. We had our playground closing ceremony last Tuesday night which was very well attended. We are sad to see our playground go, but are excited about the new playground that will be installed in the spring.

Thanks to the PTA we were fortunate to have Eric Litwin, the best-selling author of the first four Pete the Cat books and author of the exciting new musical series, The Nuts and Groovy Joe, come to East Hill last Friday. The students really enjoyed his presentations. It was a great way to conclude our two week Pick a Reading Partner (PARP) Reading Celebration. Thank you also to the PTA for providing PARPsicles for the students once again. In addition, thank you to all of the guest readers who came to read to the students.

The Merry-Go-Round Youth Theater is scheduled for grade level assemblies again this year. This past Tuesday our fifth graders were treated to a performance titled, “Emelia.” What’s great about these performances is that the actors first spend a half hour in each classroom discussing the performance with the students prior to them actually seeing it. They will be here next week to perform a Longhouse performance for our fourth graders.

We also had our first of four grade-level CODE (Community Oriented Drug Education) assemblies. Officer Diane Brand does a wonderful job talking to our students about various, grade-appropriate topics, including bullying, stranger danger, and drug awareness. If you are interested in viewing any of the videos that were shown at the first assembly, you can find them on the West Genesee homepage (www.westgenesee.org). You will see “Code Videos” under District Links on the left side of the page.

We had our first Student Council meeting yesterday. The students were elected by their classmates as representatives for their room. The students brainstormed several things that they would like to accomplish this year. I look forward to seeing some of these things come to fruition.

This week’s words of the day were data, theme, variation, election, and curious. Next week’s words are multiplication (M), narrative (T), expository (W), nutrition (Th), and thankful (F).

I look forward to tomorrow’s Halloween Parade which will be held outside at 2:00, weather permitting. If we need to hold it inside I will make that call by 1:45 and send out an alert. Please read the letter that went home concerning costumes, treats, and who should and should not be in the classrooms. Only those parents who have been contacted by the room parent will be allowed in the classrooms. I appreciate your understanding as this is for the safety for all of our students.

Lastly, please remember that next Tuesday is a half day with an 11:30 dismissal. Have a happy and safe Halloween!

-          Lisa

I'm Back!!

I’m so happy to be back here at East Hill. It has been great re-connecting with students, staff, and several families these past two days. Thank you to all of you that sent cards and well-wishes my way. They were certainly appreciated! A huge thank you also goes out to the teachers and to Mrs. Williams for doing an excellent job holding down the fort in my absence.

I unfortunately missed some great events these past six weeks – the Ice Cream Social, Curriculum Night, Character Education Assemblies, and Jogathon to name a few, but fortunately we have several wonderful events coming up for which I fully intend to be present!

Mrs. Greco's class enjoying a snack after the jogathon.

Our PARP (Parents as Reading Partners) two-week Reading Celebration kicked off this past Tuesday. The teachers arranged for the Varsity football team to come and show one of their favorite children’s books during the kick-off ceremony. They then each read a book to our students in their classrooms after the ceremony.

We were also lucky to have (a limping) Terrel Hunt and Rony Charles, SU football players, join in on the ceremony. Terrel’s favorite childhood book was, “To Kill a Mockingbird” and Rony’s was, “Captain Underpants.” You should have received a packet about the two-week Reading Celebration earlier this week. The teachers have done a super job preparing for these two weeks of reading fun! A big thank you to the PTA for organizing our guest readers. The students really look forward to having guests in the classroom.

Rony Charles, Mrs. Craig, and Terrel Hunt

Next Tuesday Dr. Brown has invited the community to attend the East Hill Playground closing ceremony which will be held at 6:00 p.m. The October PTA meeting will be held after the ceremony at 7:00 p.m. Please join us!

The Halloween Parade will be at 2:00 on Friday, October 30^th. More information will be sent home regarding this day soon. In the meantime, when choosing a costume, please remember that no weapons or gory costumes are allowed as we do not want to scare our youngest students.

This year we are again doing the “Word of the Day” in an effort to increase students' appreciation and understanding of vocabulary. These words are announced in the morning and posted in the hallways. In the past we did a “Math Word of the Day.” This year’s words are taken from all content areas, as well as special areas. Previous words this year include: noun, verb, adjective, responsible, digit, author, illustrator, life cycle, anxious, addition, characters, setting, natural resources, excited, subtract, sentence, paragraph, environment, respectful, attribute, plot, sportsmanship, carnivore, and jealous. This week’s words are conflict, habitat, herbivore, and worried. Next week’s words are geometry (M), resolve (T), fitness (W), omnivore (Th), and ecstatic (F).

I look forward to seeing everyone soon!

-          Lisa

Another Year (Almost) Over

It's hard to believe that 2014-2015 is coming to a close. It seems to have been a whirlwind of a year. Our fifth graders will be graduating on Wednesday morning at 9:30. As I write this they are currently at CMS touring their new building. I want to say a special thank you to the PTA for all of your support this year. The students, the teachers, and I appreciate all that you do, from the Ice Cream Social in September, to Enrichment Day in January, to all of the field trips and supplies that you have generously given to the classrooms, and much, much more. A special thank you also goes out to Mrs. Wilson for the phenomenal job she has done with the yearbook. 

The students voted on the playground colors and equipment. They decided to go with the blue and yellow color scheme, and chose the Flywheel Spinner and the OmniSpin Spinner. We are not sure of the exact time frame for the new playground but I will keep you posted!

Thank you to the CMS band for coming to play with our fifth graders for our Flag Day Ceremony. We ended up having great weather for this annual event. 

Please remember that we will have an 11:30 dismissal this Tuesday and Wednesday and Wednesday is the last day of school. If you have a child moving up to CMS for the first time, please make sure you sign up to receive CMS notifications. Lastly, if you know of any incoming kindergarteners (or other students for that matter) please send them our way for registration.

Have a super summer!!

- Lisa

Assemblies and Field Trips and Engineering, Oh My!

This past week has been, without a doubt, one of the busiest that we’ve had all year! Last Monday our second graders went to Beaver Lake Nature Center. They learned about the various types of plants and species of animals that thrive around the lake. They especially loved learning about the carnivorous plants.

Some of Mrs. Thome's students at Beaver Lake.

On Tuesday we had our year end CODE assembly. Officer Brand presented awards to the fourth grade Internet Safety poster contest winners – Ella Kemp, Evan Quinn, and Ryan Till. We heard fifth graders Libby Vignogna, Joey Neimeier, and Patrick Linton read their winning, well-researched essays about why they plan to lead drug and alcohol free lives. We were fortunate to have Officer Grace, Chief Winn, and Dr. Brown in attendance as well.

Officer Brand announcing the Poster Contest winners.

On Wednesday our fifth graders met with CMS counselors to learn more about the middle school, and our third graders were treated to an “Around the World” Strings Quartet to showcase the different string instruments they can play in fourth grade.

On Thursday we held our annual Lemonade Serenade Volunteer Reception for all of the many people who donate their time to our school. The fifth Grade Battle of the Books took place Thursday afternoon.

Lemonade Serenade

Battle of the Books

On Friday our first graders went to the zoo while our fourth graders took a trip on the Erie Canal where they had the experience of going through an actual lock. Engineers from Lockheed Martin came to work with our fifth graders on designing a device to safely land an egg.

1st Graders in Mrs. Reina's class at the zoo.

Students collaborating to solve the egg-dropping dilemma.

4th Graders cruising the Erie Canal

Yesterday, our kindergarteners visited Fesko Farms in Skaneateles and our fifth graders went to Lourdes Camp to try out the Ropes Course. Our monthly character education assembly was presented by the first graders. This month’s character education trait is Cooperation.

Mrs. Augello's class at the Farm

5th Graders working together on the Ropes Course

1st Grade Cooperation Assembly

A HUGE thank you goes out to the PTA who was responsible for many of the events listed above. We appreciate all of your support. June will continue to be a busy month. I will send out another blog next week, but please remember that the last two days of school (June 23 and June 24) are half-days with an 11:30 dismissal. Fifth grade graduation will take place on the 24th at 11:30. Lastly, it is not too late to register for kindergarten. If you know of anyone with any incoming kindergarteners, please send them our way!  Enjoy the rest of the week.

-          Lisa