Excitement Abounds at East Hill!

Last Friday was full of excitement here at East Hill. Friday marked the opening of East Hill's brand new cafeteria! We are having a "soft" opening to make sure we have all of our ducks in a row. Our fifth graders were to the first to be able to eat in there, followed closely by our fourth graders. We should have everyone in by the end of the week. Our Shared Decision Making Committee has spent a good deal of time doing research and figuring out all of the logistics. There's a lot more to having a smoothly-running cafeteria than one would think!

4th & 5th Graders Enjoy Lunch in the Cafeteria

Equally exciting on Friday, I believe, was the culmination of our two-week PARP (Pick a Reading Partner) Reading Celebration. At the closing ceremony we had several special guests on hand: the Camillus Middle School Band (Directed by Mr. Dimmel, with Mr. Stachnik and Mrs. McConnell playing their instruments), Grace Craig, my daughter, who sang the National Anthem, the Fiction and Nonfiction candidates (played by Mr. Meaney and Mrs. Wolbert, respectfully), and, of course, the Secret Service (Mrs. Catalino, Mrs. Trivison, and Mrs. Klaben) were present to ensure the safety of our candidates.

Mr. Dimmel conducts the CMS Band

Grace Craig sings the National Anthem

The candidates, with Secret Service protection, eagerly await the results

The results of the election, which was held on Thursday, were revealed. Fiction took roughly 68% of the votes, while nonfiction took the remaining 32%. The candidates each gave their speeches where Fiction revealed that nonfiction is really his favorite, and Nonfiction did the same. They vowed to work together as we all need a balance of fiction and nonfiction in our lives to make us well-rounded readers. The day was capped off with the PTA providing "Parp-sicles" for the students in the new cafeteria. Many of us felt it was the best-themed reading celebration to date. Thank you again to the PTA for all of your help, to the many guest readers that came in to read, to the CMS band for playing at the ceremony, and to everyone else involved.

Kindergarteners cast their votes on Thursday

An excited kindergartener after casting his vote

Fiction giving his acceptance speech

Results of daily polls shown in tens frames 

Bulletin board indicating staff preferences

The Halloween parade will be held today out in the front circle at 2:00 as long as the weather permits. We will not have a parade if the weather doesn't allow for it. Please remember that only those parents who have been contacted by the room parents are to come into the building and into the classrooms. Everyone coming into the building needs to sign in at the main office as always.

This week's words of the day are fragile (M), perilous (T), plot (W), miraculously (Th), and immense (F).

Family BINGO night, which was tentatively scheduled for this Friday, has been postponed until the spring. Next Tuesday, 11/8, is a half-day with an 11:30 dismissal (11:20 parent pick-up.) Next Friday, 11/11, there is no school in honor of Veterans Day.

Our PTA, in conjunction with our Student Council, will again be providing Thanksgiving meals for families in need of some additional help at the holidays. Please let me know if we can help your family at this time.

Have a safe and happy Halloween and a great week!

- Lisa

Elect to Read!

Our two-week Pick a Reading Partner (PARP) Reading Celebration was kicked off this morning in style! Our theme this year is "Elect to Read" to coincide with the presidential election. An assembly was held for the school to promote the reading campaign. East Hill's two candidates are Fiction (played by Mr. Meaney) and Nonfiction (played by Mrs. Wolbert).

As you can see in the pictures below, the Secret Service (played by Mrs. Klaben, Mrs. Trivison, and Mrs. Catalino) came in before the candidates to make sure the area was secure. They stayed throughout the debate to ensure the safety of the candidates.

The candidates then entered the gym. They shook hands, kissed babies, and asked people to vote for them.

The debate then began. Questions were asked by moderator Leslie Holt (played by Mrs. Greer). These questions included:

What is fiction?
What is nonfiction?
What is your idea of the perfect library?
Why should we vote for you?

Candidates each took turns respectfully answering the questions. Over the next two weeks students will be encouraged to read each night, color in a bookmark, and report to their teacher in the morning whether they read fiction or nonfiction the previous night. The results of this daily poll will be depicted on a tens frame chart outside the gymnasium. A calendar is also being sent home today with election-related activities to do as a family. Next Thursday students will enter a voting booth to choose their favorite candidate (fiction or nonfiction) and the results will be revealed on Friday, 10/28 at the closing ceremony. Throughout the two weeks we will also have several guest readers reading to the different classrooms, thanks to our PTA. It's going to be awesome!


This Wednesday, 10/19, is Unity Day. Mrs. Rose has been visiting classrooms this past week to teach students about the purpose of this day, which is to show kindness, acceptance, and inclusion of all and stand together against bullying.

Last Friday we held the official opening of our new playground, complete with a time capsule burial. Among the contents of the time capsule are letters to future students from last year's Student Council, and items that this year's Student Council collected, including a newspaper, yearbook, current magazines, a Nike shoe, local restaurant menus, change, and pictures of a variety of things, including our new playground, current technology, teacher's cars, the school, and the current layout of the school. We had a beautiful day for the ceremony. Dr. Brown was on hand to say a few words to the school. Student Council members really enjoyed helping with the burial, as did Dr. Brown and I. (It was also hat day at East Hill as you will see.)

This week's words of the day are slither (M, 3rd), determination (T, 4th), transport (W, 5th), character (Th, K), and nutrition (F, 1st).

The Halloween Parade will take place in front of the school on 10/31 at 2:00 if the weather allows. If we have poor weather, the parade will be cancelled and parties will take place at 2:15. A letter will be coming home with more details about this day later this week.

Have a great week!

- Lisa

Happy October!

Once again September seemed to go by in a flash. We ended the month on a high note here at East Hill with our PTA's annual jogathon. The weather cooperated for the most part so all of the students were able to run their laps outside.

School Picture Day was yesterday. If your child was absent, they can have their photo taken on the make up day which is November 10, 2016. We will also have group photos and candids taken that day.

Please remember that there is no school on Monday due to Columbus Day. Other dates to remember this month are as follows:

10/17      PARP (Pick a Reading Partner) Two-Week Reading
              Celebration begins
10/18      PTA Meeting, East Hill Library, 6:30
10/19      Book Fair Family Night, 6:00
10/31      Halloween Parade, 2:00 (If there is inclement weather, the
              parade will not take place.)

Next week's words of the day are: symbolize (T, 5th), boasting (W, K), complicated (Th, 1st), and surrender (F, 3rd).

Have a great day!

- Lisa