Dear Parents, I hope everyone had an enjoyable Thanksgiving. Upon return from the Thanksgiving Holiday, anyone visiting the school building can feel the energy in the air as the Winter Holiday approaches. We here at the school will continue to work hard delivering a dy-namic curriculum, and will enjoy seeing the wonder in the eyes of the students during this busy—but very special--month.

Educational Trips For those who like to plan ahead, the PSSA testing dates for grades 3, 4, & 5 are as follows: -PSSA WRITING for Grade 5 February 12 – 15 -PSSA READ. & MATH for Grades 3, 4 & 5 March 12 – 16

Please note on page 32 of the CD Handbook/Calendar that no educational trips for students will be approved during PSSA testing dates.

Finally…Did You Know? -Our current enrollment stands at 634 students! -Over 92% of our parents participated in Parent/Teacher Conference Day! -Over 75% of our teaching staff holds advanced college degrees beyond a Bachelor’s degree! -The Winter Holiday break begins on December 23 and ends on January 2. All students should return—with a smile—on January 2, 2007!

Enjoy the break with your children. Safe travels for those who are leaving the area. Best wishes for a Happy New Year!

T. Toone- Paxtonia Elementary Principal

Next PTA Meeting February 5th @ 7PM…Free Child Care Provided

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...A NOTE FROM THE PRINCIPAL

Have you been looking for missing lunchboxes, sweaters, or jackets? Check the lost and found area located in the front lobby. The lost and found for Paxtonia will only hold items for ONE month!!! Once the month is over, the items that remain will be donated to those in need. Please be aware of this change. You may also want to inform your child or children of this new procedure.

Lost and Found Information

Thanks to all that attended the Novem-ber skating party. We had a great turn out and everyone had a fun time. Even Mr. Toone and his two youngest chil-dren were there to join in with the fes-tivities. We would also like to thank our skating party volunteers, Heather Boyer, Nicole Hoover, Dana Arm-bruster, Nancy Frist, and Shanna Miller. You really helped keep every-thing running smoothly and everyone safe. If you missed the party, mark your calendars now for the next roller skating party on March 18th.

Karen Bloom and Julie Marolf

Thank you to all the volunteers who helped at the sign in tables during American Education Week! Your help and time was appreciated very much! The In-School Volunteer Committee Thank you to Connie Burkholder for do-nating a digital camera for the teachers and PTA to use. The Historian Committee

Seasons Greetings to everyone!! I hope everyone had a wonderful, relaxing, and family enriching Thanksgiving! The time has arrived where everyone is running in so many different directions that sometimes we need to take a moment to enjoy our friends and family, and be thankful for all that we have.

Now that November has ended, the official start of the holiday season has begun along with all the excite-ment that surrounds it. To help your child out with their holiday shopping, the PTA will be hosting Santa’s Workshop on Friday evening, December 1st and Saturday morning the 2nd. Your child will enjoy “shopping” for his or her family’s holiday gifts, while parents enjoy a relaxing cup of coffee and a treat from the bake sale. If you want to get a jump start on shopping for the holiday season, come visit all the elves at Paxtonia during the workshop times.

I have to take time, at this point, to heed my own advice and appreciate all the hard efforts that members of our PTA contribute towards the success of our programs. The PTA provides so many ways to enrich out school and we certainly could not attempt to do so without all of the Paxtonia community members. We had another successful Book Fair this year which could not oc-curred without all the parent volunteers and committee members. Thank you to Susan Schraf, Linda Grissinger, Liane Petras and all our volunteers! The hard work and time contributed helped to bring books into your child’s classroom. I would also like to thank Lori Horst and Randa Ross for arranging all the parents to greet our guests who stopped in to visit during National Education week. The week long event that brought drug awareness to our students and allowed for family to visit was wonder-ful. Finally, if you didn’t get the chance to join in on the skating fun, maybe you’ll have the opportunity to join in the fun at the March skating party. Once again, I have to thank Karen Bloom and Julie Marlof for planning the skating party.

You want to be sure to check your calendars for all the dates for the winter activities that the PTA will be offering the students such as the Reflections Award ceremony, BINGO, After School Clubs, Science Night, and the PTA meeting. If you have a little extra time on your hands and are interested in helping at one of these events, please be sure to contact the Commit-tee Chair.

December 2006 ContactContactContact Page 2

Paxtonia International Days

2007 features China!!

We are still in search of volunteers. If you know someone who would like to help, please have them con-tact Monica Straub at 671-9096 or e-mail at strauby@comcast.net

CDABA Snack Bar Help Needed!

Snack bar volunteers are needed for the opening week-end of CDABA. If you are able to help ou, please contact Lisa McConnell at lisamcconnell1@comcast.net

December 2006 ContactContactContact Special Insert

Third Grade Azzato, Alyssa Bailey, Ryan

Burkhart, Emily Burkholder, Alexis

Devlin, Karrah Frist, Leanne

Gigliotti, Nicholas Horner, Riley

Johnson, Noah Kim, SunJu

Knapp, Taten Krampe, Emma

Lehman, Kaci Leisher, Ashley

Lydon, Madi Mellinger, Marco

Merlo, Serena Peterson, Bryanna

Purcell, Mark Schehr, Madison

Smith, Gabrielle Speck, Ashlee

Spinosa, Evan St.Clair, Zachary

Thompson, Evvie Zieber, Megan

Fourth Grade Chambers, Allison Dillman, Brooke

Evans, Samuel Jones, Victoria

Keen, Kirsten Kendle, Jace

Kijowski, Zachary Kumar, Ganesh

Lengel, Monica MacMillan,, Jonah

Morrow, Logan Nwokeji, Uchenna

Packheiser, Abigail Patel, Swati

Rapp, Sabrina Salvatore, Marina

Sherman, Adam Shiffler, Vivian

Suda, Amanda Syed, Abdullah

Vancena , Julie Whittle, Derek

Youngblood, Dealie

Fifth Grade Bonneau, Haley Buls, MacKenzie

Burkholder, Haley Cooney, Brett

Grubb, Jesse Herring, Andy

Hess, Alexis Hughes, Matthew

Imboden, Seth Krampe, Noah

Leisher, Kendra Martin, Christina

Melnichak, Madeline Miller, Allyson

Mitro, Dana Murdoch, Hunter

Neidig, Amanda Ruello, Max

Schaffer, Marissa Schraf, Ryan

Shaffner, Tristan Summers, Ashley

Thottakara, Arun Tkatch, Keri

Walak, Emily Wenrich, Gretchen

Third Grade Balel, Rohan Bannon, Cory Bennardo, Guy

Binley, Caroline Bloom, Nicholas Boltz, Jessica

Boyd, Maya Cheam, Kha-Ling Corrigan, Christopher

Decker, Justin Eck, Carter Eyster, Brooke

Givler, Bradley Gutshall, Ashley Hairston, Tyren

Hauf, Megan Henshaw, Tyler Hess, Ethan

Horst, Nathan Horst, Owen Huff, Wesley

Hynum, Madison Kane, Noah Kiner, Kassidy

Laban-King, Diondra Lowe, Jayne Martin, Christopher

Martin, Joey Mihalik, Chance Miller, Michaela

Mollah, Aliya Neti, Ahlad Nielson, Gary

Rhinehart, Nathaniel Roadcap, Vonda(Rene) Scheaffer, Ronnie

Schrum, Susie Simon, Erika Staub, Evan

Stevens, Josh Veli, Jonathan Wylie, Emily

Yost, Rebekah Youngblood, Armond

Fourth Grade Anderson, Sam A r m a s , Enrique Barnett, Shaun Behney,

Todd

Bergen, Alexis Bonomo, Noah Caviston, Nicole Cherry, Rachel

Cleaver, Ryan Collins, Danny Defebo, Chloe Defebo, Sydney

Delany, Colin Foltz, Justin Forgenie, Joshua Fuller, Julius

Grewal, Jorawar Hess, Jacqueline Hess, Olivia Ho, Kayla Hoffman, Allie

Houser, Meagan Jones, Bretany Kauffman, Autumn Kerschner, Jacob

Kreiger, Larissa Lingle, Betty Lopez, Mikaela McIntyre, Mia

Miller, Justyce Moyer, Tim Nelson, Anthony O’Connell, Grayson

Pickles, Charlotte Ray, Arnab Reynolds, Alyssa Rhoads, Renee

Shovlin, Michael Sinisi, David Snyder, Max Staver, A.J.

Torres, Eric Warner, Remi Zervanos, Austin

Zhmurkin, Daniel Zuvich, Tyler

Fifth Grade Adelstein, Matt Allen, Brenden Baer, Matt Barowski, Nick Beard, Roberta Brown, Tre C a p l a n , H a n n a h

Carter, Kristian

Cochran, Rob Crouse, Adam Davis, Brandon Davis, Jayneisha Dick, Andrew Ellis, Cody F r a n k , R a c h e l

Gundy, Taylor

Hairston, Maya Henshaw, Austin Herrell, Ashton Heter, Caitlyn Horst, Martina Kelly, Scott Kim, Jumee Kim, SunYi

December 2006 ContactContactContact Special Insert

Third Grade Barowski, Austin B o u d r e a u ,

Brady

Bradley, Kirsten Guzzo, Alek

Hershey, Nikolas Homrighausen, Robert

Huff Curry, Colton Joseph, Alisha

Nielsen, Hunter Parody, Nick

Ryazanov, Vlad Scarlett, Samaria

Shukri, Omar Smyre, Nicholas

Fourth Grade Bainbridge, Randi Bentzel, Courtney

Buffington, Sarah Carricato, Joseph

Carter, Kiana Collins, Harlee

Daniels, Tyler Fife, Karli

Green, Joshua Grimwood, Elizabeth

Myers, Deana Notestine, Nick

Owens, Jake Partenheimer, Matthew

Schraf, Eric Shappell, Ashley

Shutt, Katie Smith, Meghan

Smith, Monica Smith, Nate

Steiner, Tyler Wisner, Richard

Fifth Grade Armbruster, Pierce Brock, Matt Case, Jacob

Crouse, Morgan

Drake, Faith Engle, Katearie Feaser, Gabriella Forrester, Tayler

Glessner, Jake Gorse, Kendall Herman, Martyna Hicklin, Andrew

Homrighausen, Amanda Martinec, Augustus Myers, Chelsi Paris, Mikaela

Rittle, Daniel

Please make the following correc-tions to your Student Directory:

Change Horner, Grant to Hoover, Grant. Change the Witmer’s (Timmy and Stevie) phone number to 652-4034 and add their email address, thewit-mer5@comcast.net Please contact the school office with any changes, corrections or additions. Thank you.

A HUGE Thank You to all that made the Book Fair such a great success! With the help of everyone from Mr. Toone, librari-ans, teachers, custodians and parents, we were able to fill up those class room librar-ies. The children enjoyed visiting the Fair and I think the Parent Helpers had a lot of fun too. Remember to come and see us at the May Fair - our ever popular Buy One Get One event will be available. Linda Grissinger, Jamie Zuvich, Susan Schraf

This past month was a event filled month with all the PTA sponsored programs, National Education week, and Thanksgiving break. In be-tween that time, I had the opportunity to focus on classroom lessons centered on peer relations and friendship skills. I shared stories with students that promoted positive resolving techniques when con-fronted with conflicts. In these lessons, I modeled the concepts of ’life styles’, defined by psychologist Alfred Adler, because they describe the ways we approach social situations and problems. Taking, Ruling, and Avoiding reveal three ’life styles’ that discourage cooperation and positive problem solving. The fourth ’life style’, Social In-terest, encourages individuals to work cooperatively with others within their social com-munity. The students and I focused on handling the problem behavior of Taking in this series of lessons. Together, we also promoted Social Interest by learning positive social skills from stories each week. Some of the messages relayed in the lessons included tech-niques for handling individuals who infringe on personal space, learning to ask for things instead of taking, and respectful ways to let others know how we feel about a situation and what we would like for them to do to change their behavior. I enjoyed working with the second grade students on these positive social skills and strategies. I sent home some information on the strategies and activities that we cov-ered in class. I hope that you take a moment to review and reinforce these ideas with your child. Throughout the year I will revisit the classrooms and address the other two problem areas of Ruling and Avoiding.

Mrs. W. Merryman, M.Ed., NCC; School Counselor

Calling all 3rd, 4th, and 5th Graders! Math 24, Sudoko, Dodgeball...It's that time of year to start thinking about after-school clubs. When: Once a week on Thursdays Begin: January 11, 2007 for 6 weeks Time: 4:00 - 5:00 p.m. A catalog of club choices will be distributed the first week of December. So parents, check those backpacks! Clubs are assigned on a first come first serve basis. Therefore don’t delay in submitting your choices in right away. The committee also wanted to mention that, for the first time ever, the After-School Club has extended the program to 3rd graders. We hope to see you there! Mary Imboden, Susan Johnson, Karen Parody and Kim St. Clair Attention!!

Paxtonia parents and staff The BINGO committee is cur-rently seeking and accepting prize donations for both of the January BINGO’s events. Prize donations can be for any age group. If you, or someone you know owns a busi-ness/restaurant please ask them if they’re interested in donating a prize/s to our BINGO. For the last couple of years, the prize do-nations have contributed a large part of the success to these events. Contact Tina MacKenzie at 810-1963 if you have any questions or would like to contribute.

December 2006 ContactContactContact Page 3

BOOK FAIR KIDSTUFF BOOKS There are still some Kid-stuff books still available. They would make great Christmas gifts since they offer wonderful discounts from various lo-cal stores. If you are interested please use the order form that came home with your child the week after Thanksgiving break.

Cindy Gundy

Paxtonia PTA is now sponsoring a new collection drive to help our school. For more than 30 years, Campbell's Labels for Education program has awarded over $100 million in FREE merchandise to schools nationwide. America's longest running education program of its kind just got better by offering 5 points to-wards over 150 of your favorite Camp-bell's products. This makes it easier for Paxtonia Elementary to reach their col-lection goal of 20,000 points. Therefore, to kick-off this year's collection drive, Paxtonia Elementary is asking parents, teachers, and friends in the community to simply save proofs of purchase from participating Campbell products and send them to our schools collection box located in the main lobby. Visit www.labelsforeducation.com for a com-plete list of products and point values that can be redeemed for free educa-tional merchandise. So let's help Paxto-nia receive FREE merchandise, start collecting now!! Any questions please call Amy Lingle at 315-9039.

Collecting Programs

The following programs assist Paxtonia PTA to provide programs for the school. Unless specifically indicated, each has their own ap-propriate collection box located in the front lobby of the school. Please place the items in a plastic sealed bag before placing them in the collection boxes.

• Used Ink Cartridges Recycling

• BoxTop$ for Education • Old Cell Phones • Aluminum Can Tabs • Campbell’s Labels

• Nestle Water Bottle Labels

Santa's Workshop

Friday, December 2—6:30p.m. to 8:00p.m. and Saturday, December 3— 9:30a.m to 11:00a.m.

We are featuring "Pictures with Santa".

Lisa Tkatch, Cindy Gundy & Lisa McConnell

11 After School Clubs begin 15 NO SCHOOL— MLK Jr. 19 Bingo Night (K-2) 6-8PM 23-25 International Days 26 NO SCHOOL Kindergar-

ten ONLY—Conference Day

27 Bingo Night (3-5) 6-8PM 29 NO SCHOOL— Conferences for Elementary students

December

1 Santa’s Workshop 6:30-8:00 PM 2 Santa’s Workshop 9:30-11:00 AM 4 PTA Meeting - 7 PM 25-31 NO SCHOOL - Winter Break

January 1 No School—Winter Break

10 Reflections Awards Cele-bration Program 7PM

School Spirit Day is the last day of each month. Each grade has a con-test for the class show-ing the most spirit. Don’t forget to have your child show their school spirit!

December 2006 ContactContactContact Page 4

Help make our kids and Paxtonia healthy!! Simply drink Nestle Pure Life bottled water or Nestle Pure Life Fruit Flavored Water and save the labels. Turn

them into the school (box provided in the Paxtonia lobby) from now until May 31, 2007, to earn points for our school. The points will then be redeemed for great rewards, such as sports gear, fit-ness equipment, and perhaps even nu-tritional education speakers, and assem-blies. By participating, we are even en-tered in a $75,000 sweepstakes to win a playground! This is a new program for 2006-2007, it is easy to participate in, and can benefit us greatly. Please sup-port our school with Nestle Pure Life labels. For further information, please contact Anita Smith 717-540-0569 or Alicia Burkhart 717-671-1858 or visit www.goplaylabels.com. Thank you.