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