East Hill's Got Talent . . . sort of!

Talent Video
Here is this week's video - we hope you'll enjoy it! I'm sure your children will be surprised at some of the staff's many hidden talents!

Talent Show
Speaking of talent, East Hill's Fifth Grade Student Council met this Wednesday and we will be putting on a Fifth Grade Virtual Talent Show. Fifth graders are encouraged to submit a video showcasing their talent. We already have one submission - thanks, Noah! Information about the Talent Show can be found in the fifth grade teachers' Google Classrooms. Videos should be submitted by May 1st.

Missing School
This letter from a second grade student to her teacher was shared with me a couple of days ago and I just had to post it because it's so cute! (I did get permission!)

Education Fair
I'm so sorry that we were not able to hold our Education Fair in March. It's always my favorite event of the year! If students were able to complete their project, please send me a photo so I can share it on this blog. Here's one of the finished projects!

Need New Books?
Starting next Friday, May 1st (Yes - next Friday is May - can you believe it?), the PTA will be hosting a Virtual Book Fair through Scholastic. It will run for 14 days and will replace our traditional Spring Book Fair. Scholastic is offering free shipping on book only purchases totaling over $25.00. The books will be shipped to the students' homes. The link for the book fair will be posted in next week's blog. Thanks for your support!

Kindergarten Registration
Kindergarten registration for the 2020-2021 school year has been entended until May 15th. These students will be the graduating class of 2033! Wow! Registration takes place at the Central Registrar's 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.

West Genesee's Virtual Spirit Week
Here are some pictures from this week's Spirit Week, taken from the East Hill Facebook Page.

Movie Monday

Movie Monday

Travel Tuesday

Travel Tuesday

Travel Tuesday

Travel Tuesday

Thoughtful Thursday

I also borrowed the following picture from FB from last week:

Painting Donuts (rocks)

Hopefully today's weather will be be nice enough to get outside for Fresh Air Friday! Enjoy the weekend!

- Lisa

East Hill's Mid-April Update

Distance Learning
I hope you have been able to get into the swing of things and have been able to establish a workable routine/schedule at home. I'm still working on it, to be completely honest! The feedback we have been receiving continues to be mostly positive regarding the work that has been provided as well as the amount of time it takes to complete that work. As a reminder, students should still visit the online portal at westgenesee.org to access their library, PE, and P2 activities. I believe all issues with opening up the Positivity Project slides have been resolved. I know that some people/families continue to be a bit overwhelmed with everything and that is certainly understandable. Again, just do what you can do. Let the guilt go! As I suggested last week, if things are overwhelming, perhaps start with the literacy and math activities and do the rest when you can. I received this from Gretchen Rose, our school counselor, and felt it was applicable to include here in my weekly blog:

Virtual Spirit Week, #2
West Genesee will again be participating in a Virtual Spirit Week next week. Here is the flyer with more details. The week is as follows:
4/20   Movie Monday
4/21   Travel Tuesday
4/22   Warm-Up Wednesday
4/23   Thoughtful Thursday
4/24   Fresh Air Friday

Yearbook
The deadline for ordering yearbooks has been extended until April 29th. You can order online. Here is the link. The yearbook has been reorganized, adding hundreds of pictures capturing learning at home! If you have any questions, you can email them to EastHillBook@gmail.com.

Survey Says!
Two seniors at the high school, Hannah Craybas and Anna Cahalan, both East Hill graduates, have a favor to ask of our parents. They are members of the Odyssey Program. One of the components of the program is to produce a research-based project for a panel presentation. With the current COVID-19 situation they decided to explore how increased technology use is impacting the students in our community. If you could take a few minutes to complete this brief, nine-question survey, they would really appreciate it. Thanks!

Listening to your Mother
Why should you listen to your mother? East Hill staff members tell you why in this video!

Last week I made a mistake and didn't include Mrs. Bush's clip in the math video. Here it is!

Positivity Project
As I mentioned above, we have hopefully resolved all of the issues with opening up the P2 slides. Next week's character strength focus is Appreciation of Beauty and Excellence. While I do appreciate the beauty of the snow on the trees when I wake up in the morning, I think I would appreciate seeing and feeling the warmth of the sun instead! Enough already!

Pictures from Around School
The first two pictures Mrs. Holzwarth recently came across. They are of this year's 5th graders acting out The 3 Little Pigs in first grade! The rest are stolen from Facebook (again).

3 Little Pigs, 2016

Three Little Pigs, 2016

Archery

T-Shirt Creation

Astronomy Art

Don't forget to exercise!

Enjoy the weekend! Please contact me with questions, concerns, or, preferably, good news!!

- Lisa

Distance Learning . . . What Else?

Distance Learning

I hope you and your children have been able to get into a routine with the work that has been provided by the teachers. We continue to receive mostly positive feedback about the learning opportunities and activities. We've also received a few concerns about the workload (both too much and too little). Please remember that students should be spending roughly 15-20 minutes on math and literacy daily, with up to 30 minutes on literacy on the days they are asked to listen to a story. Students also have one "special" to complete each day, as each week one art, music and library activity are provided, as well as two PE activities. As we have mentioned before, our intent in providing these opportunities is to keep your child engaged and productive during their time away from school. Some students who receive instruction from a special education teacher or an instructional specialist will be asked to do a bit more, but we do not want to overwhelm students or families. Please just try to do what you can do. My suggestion would be to begin each day with the literacy and math activities, and then go from there. Speaking of math, the video below highlights some of the ways math is used by East Hill staff members. Please take a minute (or eleven, actually) to show it to your child!

Pictures from (Home) School
I continue to enjoy seeing pictures of students engaged in learning and exercise. Here are just a few that I saw on Facebook this week!

Virtual Morning Mile

Virtual Morning Mile

Virtual Morning Mile

Ken's Spring Flowers

Chalk Art

Toilet Paper Roll Art

Have a great rest of the day, a good weekend, and if you celebrate Easter . . .

- Lisa

Spring Break

Spring Break
As you are hopefully aware by now, Governor Cuomo issued a new Executive Order which states that school districts must continue plans for alternative instructional options (as well as distribution of food) and "continue to first use any vacation or snow days remaining". What this means for all of us is that we will no longer have Spring Break which was scheduled for next week. We will continue to provide remote instruction for all of our students.

I'm sure this news will bring mixed emotions for many of you; some families will likely be happy that an instructional plan will be provided for their children to keep them productive and engaged while others were likely looking forward to the break. It looks like we will all just need to continue to be flexible during these uncertain times!

Beginning next week your child will be directed to visit their teacher's Google Classroom for literacy and math activities; all other activities will be linked to the document on the portal. If you have any questions please contact your teacher directly, email me (lcraig@westgenesee.org), or call the office and leave a voicemail that will be automatically forwarded to me (315-487-4648).

Virtual Morning Mile
The monthly morning mile is still on - virtually! Anyone is welcome to join in on Tuesday morning at 8:30. You can walk, run, bike, skip, hop, etc. Any movement for one mile will work!

Staying Productive at Home

Several staff members put together this video to update the students as to what they have been doing to keep busy while school is no longer in session. It's a bit lengthy (15 minutes)! Sorry!

I have enjoyed seeing pictures of students and families staying busy with art projects, exercise, and adventures at home. Here are just a few from the past couple weeks that I found on Facebook.

Sleep Schedules
I just read this article titled, "School may be suspended, but sleep schedules shouldn't be" by Wendy Troxel. It's a good, short read and a good reminder for me to get my children in bed and away from their electronics at an appropriate hour!

Enjoy the weekend! Please feel free to contact me at any time with any questions, concerns, or, even better, good news to share! Keep your distance and wash your hands! (Aren't you tired of hearing that advice?)







- Lisa