Self-Control

Self-Control
What an appropriate character strength on which to focus at this time of year! Self-control is the ability to control your emotions and behaviors. You think before you act. People with this strength understand that through discipline and restraint, there are greater, long-term goals that they can accomplish. Admittedly, self-control is not one of my top strengths but definitely something upon which I can improve! For more about self-control, click here.

Holiday Concerts
What a beautiful job our orchestra, band, and chorus did at the holiday concerts last week! They sounded great at the afternoon assembly and sounded amazing at their evening concert at the high school! The band and orchestra also performed last Friday night at Destiny USA. We really are fortunate to have such wonderful music teachers, musicians, and supportive families! Thank you to Don Schuessler for pinch-hitting for Mrs. Causer!

Holiday Parties
Classroom parties will be held this Thursday at 2:15. Only those parents who have been contacted by the room parent and are on our list will be allowed in the building for the parties. We appreciate your understanding in this matter.

Report Cards
The first trimester report cards were sent home with the students last Friday. Please take the time to review this document with your child. Please pay close attention to the Characteristics of the Learner section. If you have any questions, please contact your child's teacher.

Calls for Commentary
Every year the West Genesee Central School District's Strategic Planning Team comes together to review our progress toward improvement and make recommendations for continued growth. One of the key pieces of feedback is gathered from our staff, students, and community. Please take a few minutes to complete this survey. We'd like to hear your opinions on our areas of strength and opportunities for growth. Thank you!

5th Grade Library Chalk Talk

Square1Art Fundraiser

If you purchased artwork from this year's fundraiser and were not able to pick it up last week, it is being held in the main office for you. Please let us know if you'd like us to send it home with your child.

SU Day!

Upcoming Dates

Tuesday, 12/17: Deck Your Neck DayWednesday, 12/18: School Spirit Day
Thursday, 12/19: Holiday Parties, 2:00; Holiday Attire Day
Friday, 12/20: Flannel and Fleece Friday
Monday, 12/23: Holiday Recess Begins
Monday, 1/6: School Resumes

I hope you all have a wonderful break with your families! If I don't see you before the break, have a Happy New Year!

- Lisa

Humility

Humility
Humility is the character strength focus of the week. Humility means you do not seek the spotlight; you let your actions speak for themselves. Humble people have an accurate (not underestimated) sense of their abilities and achievements. For a one-page overview from the Positivity Project on humility, click here.

Kindness was last week's character strength focus.

Community Giving
Thank you so much to those of you that were able to take a tag off of our giving tree and purchase an item or two for a local family. Please remember to bring in your wrapped gift, with the tag securely fastened on, to the school by this Friday. Thank you so much for your generosity!

Label Those Clothes!
This is the time of year when students tend to lose their boots, snow pants, gloves, etc. Please take a few minutes to clearly label your child's belongings. You will be glad that you did! Also, if you have any gently used snow pants, boots or gloves you'd like to donate to the school, we'd love to take them off of your hands!

Calls for Commentary
Please take a few minutes to respond the the District's Calls for Commentary. This annual survey helps our Strategic Planning Committee to identify the areas of the district that are cause for celebration and identify those areas where improvement is needed. Here is the link. Thank you for your time!

Kindergarten Registration
Believe it or not, kindergarten registration has begun for the 2020-2021 school year. These students will be the graduating class of 2033! Wow! Registration will begin on December 3, 2019 and will go until March 31, 2020 at the Central Registrar Office located at 300 Sanderson Drive, Camillus, NY 13031. For information about registering your student, go to the Registration Section of the website. Prior to coming in to register, you will need to make an appointment by clicking the appropriate link on the Registration web page or by calling the Central Registrar at (315) 487-4683.

Square One Art Fundraiser
If you purchased artwork from this year's fundraiser, please plan to pick it up this Friday between 3:00 and 4:00 in the library.

Spirit Week
We will be having Spirit Week the week before break. The days are as follows:
Monday, 12/16: Hat Day (antlers, sports, etc.)
Tuesday, 12/17: Deck your Neck (scarves, necklaces, etc.)
Wednesday, 12/18: School Spirit
Thursday, 12/19: Holiday Attire
Friday, 12/20: Flannel and Fleece Friday

Upcoming Events:
4th & 5th Grade Winter Concert, 12/12, 7:00, WGHS
Spirit Week, 12/16 - 12/20
Holiday Parties, 12/19, 2:00
Holiday Recess Begins, 12/23
School Resumes, 1/6

Enjoy the rest of the week!

- Lisa

Happy December!

Happy December!
I hope you all had a nice, relaxing, Thanksgiving! It's hard to believe there are less than three full weeks until the next holiday break!

Kindness
This week we are focusing on the character strength of kindness. Kind people think about the needs and feelings of other people, and then act to help those people. Kind people are selfless. For more about kindness, click here. Speaking of kindness, thank you to everyone that donated to our Thankfulness project! Our student council, in conjunction with the PTA, was able to provide eleven Thanksgiving dinners for East Hill families which were very much appreciated! Thank you also to everyone that was able to take a tag off of the tree in our lobby and purchase a gift for one of our families. We are so fortunate to live in such a generous community!

CODE
Yesterday Officer Brand visited East Hill for our second CODE (Community-Oriented Drug Education) assembly. She spoke on different topics at each grade level. You should have received a letter detailing the different topics. If you could follow-up on these discussions at home it would be very beneficial for our students!

Upcoming Events
12/5    Board of Education Meeting, 7:00, WGHS
12/12  4th & 5th Grade Concert, 7:00, WGHS
12/13  Report Cards Distributed
12/19  Holiday Parties, 2:15
12/23  Holiday Recess Begins
1/6      School Resumes

Have a great rest of the week!
- Lisa

Gratitude

Gratitude
According to Mike Erwin, co-founder of the Positivity Project, the benefits of this character strength are nearly endless. People who regularly practice gratitude, by taking time to notice and reflect upon the things they're thankful for, experience more positive emotions, feel more alive, sleep better, express more compassion and kindness, and even have stronger immune systems! Gratitude, which means being aware of and thankful for the good things that happen in our lives, shouldn't just be reserved for big occasions as there are hundreds of opportunities daily to express our thanks. It does take some training for most of us to allow this character strength to flourish, however. Sometimes being grateful means realizing how fortunate we are, but it also means expressing that appreciation through our words and actions. Thanksgiving is a perfect time of year to focus on gratitude. I certainly don't express it enough, but I am very grateful to be able to work in a place with such a caring staff, amazing students, and supportive families. For more information on gratitude, click here.

Open Forum with the Board of Education
The WGCSD Board of Education invites parents, staff, community members, and students to a community forum this Wednesday at 6:00 prior to the 7:00 board meeting. This is an opportunity to meet the Board and learn about their role.


Thanksgiving Meals!
Are you in need of a Thanksgiving meal for your family? Our student council, along with our PTA, are teaming up to provide several meals for East Hill families. The meals come with a turkey, rolls, pie, stuffing, canned vegetables, cranberries, etc. Please call me (487-4648), email me (lcraig@westgenesee.org), or stop in the office. If you aren't quite sure how to cook a turkey, here are the instructions (written by Ava, a kindergartner in Mrs. Ciciarelli's class):
How to Cook a Turkey
My daddy usually hunts the turkey. He goes to the farm with one of his friends that know how to hunt. I usually go to a friend's house so that I don't have to see the turkey. I don't like to see the turkey. We should buy the turkey at Wegman's instead of hunting it because Wegman's has a lot of stuff. My mommy helps daddy cook the turkey. They push the buttons on the oven for 10 minutes. When the oven beeps they take it out and put it on a tray in the middle of the table. We also put flowers on the table to decorate for dinner. They always put carrots on the table and sauce for the turkey to dunk in. My Grandma, Nona, Pap, and my Gigi all come to eat. For dessert we have ice cream and some cookies. Daddy does all the dishes because my brother and I tell him to.

Upcoming Dates
11/20     Open Forum with the BOE (6:00, WGHS)
11/25     Parent Conferences, Half-Day, 11:30 Dismissal
11/26     Parent Conferences, Half-Day, 11:30 Dismissal
11/27     Thanksgiving Recess Begins
12/2       School Resumes

Have a great rest of the week!

- Lisa

Happy November!

Happy November!
I realized I never sent this blog out last week so I apologize if this one is a bit lengthier than usual!

Positivity Project
Creativity was the character strength focus two weeks ago that was mentioned in my last blog. We had a pumpkin decorating contest among the different classrooms in the school. As part of PARP, each classroom was asked to decorate a pumpkin to look like a character from a book of their choice. Below are the top two winners as well as a couple of the runners up!

Primary Wing Winner (Mrs. Ciciarelli's Class)

Intermediate Wing Winner (Ms. Dattellas' Class)

Runner Up (Ms. Stevens' Class)

Runner Up (Mrs. Shewchuk's Class)

Last week's character strength focus was bravery. Mrs. McConnell was able to get several members of the Syracuse University Marching Band to come to East Hill to play for us and talk to the students about how bravery plays a role in their performance. It was a huge hit!

This week we return to the Other People Matter Mindset and will focus on "Knowing My Words and Actions Affect Others". According to Mike Erwin, the P2 co-founder, everything we do, say, text, tweet, snap or post can positively or negatively impact other people. We need to be mindful that every interaction we have with each other matters. We can strengthen our relationships with people every time we open our mouths, move our fingers, or move our thumbs. Ask your child about this concept!

Thank You Parents/Guardians!
Thank you to everyone that was able to come in and be a guest reader during PARP. It is so much appreciated by the students as well as the rest of our staff. Thank you also to everyone that volunteered to bring something in or help out at the Halloween classroom parties. We appreciated everyone's cooperation during the check-in process which ran very smoothly this year.

Spelling Bee
Congratulations to Chase, Raniah, Micah, Annabelle, and Charlie for doing such an amazing job representing East Hill in last Thursday's District Spelling Bee. Raniah was one of the top 12 finalists so she will be going on to the next level. Congratulations, and good luck Raniah!!

Thanksgiving Meals
You should have received information about our Thanksgiving Meal project that our 5th Grade Student Council, along with our PTA, is doing. We are looking to supply several East Hill families with a Thanksgiving meal. Please contact me (lcraig@westgenesee.org, or 487-4648) if you would like a Thankgiving meal. We'd love to help!

Upcoming Dates:
11/13    PTA Meeting, 6:30, Library
11/25    Parent Conferences, 11:30 Dismissal
11/26    Parent Conferences, 11:30 Dismissal
11/27    No School, Thanksgiving Break Begins
12/2      School Resumes

Have a great rest of the week! Stay warm!

- Lisa

Creativity!

Creativity
Creativity is the P2 character strength focus for this week. Creativity means you come up with new and original ways to think about and do things. For more information on creativity from the Positivity Project co-founders, click here. Here are two examples of students showing their creativity on crazy hair day from last week:

Guest Author
Speaking of creativity, thank you to the PTA for sponsoring our guest author, Troy Cummings, this year! He is the author and illustrator of several children's book. He gave a great presentation to our whole school last week. He read one of his books to us and also shared some new characters that he has come up with that will be appearing in future books. Third-grader Bobby was absolutely thrilled that he got the honor of introducing him to the school, and first grade artist Tommy got to help Mr. Cummings with one of his drawings. Mr. Cummings was impressed with the welcome he received in our school as well as the creative monster drawings that students had created at home.

PARP
Thank you to all of the moms, dads, grandparents, aunts, uncles, etc., who have been able to come in and be a guest reader during our two-week reading celebration! It is greatly appreciated by all!

Halloween Reminders
Halloween parties will be held in the classrooms this Thursday at 2:15. Only those parents who have been contacted by the room parent to volunteer in the classroom will be allowed in the building (at 2:00). Please understand that this is for safety's sake so we will be enforcing this rule. Costumes are optional again this year as there will not be a parade. Students should bring their (appropriate) costumes in a bag and not wear them to school. Thank you for your understanding.

Upcoming Dates
11/5     Half-Day, 11:30 Dismissal, Teacher Workshop Day
11/7     District Spelling Bee, CMS, 9:45
11/13   PTA Meeting, East Hill Library, 6:30
11/25 & 11/26     Parent Conferences, Half-Day, 11:30 Dismissal
11/27   Thanksgiving Break Begins!

Enjoy the rest of the week!

- Lisa

Being Present

Being Present
Last week during P2 time we focused on the first of five Other People Matter Mindset elements - being present and giving others our attention. As Mike Erwin said, "It's never been easier to be distracted from the person right in front of us." It is SO important to make sure that we are present with others. Ask you child what it means to be present, why it's so important, and how you can show you are present in a conversation.

Integrity
Integrity is doing the right thing when no one is watching. Integrity is this week's P2 focus. For more information on this character strength, click here!

Upcoming Dates
Our two-week PARP (Pick a Reading Partner) celebration kicked off this afternoon.  Our theme is "Reading is Spooktacular!" You will receive more information about this today. Thank you to the PTA for arranging for author Troy Cummings to visit East Hill. We are busy getting ready for his visit! Click here to see the song our students made!

Halloween
You should have received a letter about Halloween at the end of last week. Please make sure you read the letter thoroughly and let me know if you have any questions. We want everyone to be safe and have an enjoyable day!

Upcoming Dates
10/17     Family Night Book Fair, 5:30 - 7:30
10/21     Crazy Sock Day
10/22     Mismatch Day
10/23     Blue and Gold Day
10/24     Sports Day
10/25     Freaky Friday Hair Day and Wear Pink

Have a great rest of the week!

- Lisa