Afton Elementary School

November 2019 Newsletter

PRINCIPAL’S CORNER:

November is a busy month at Afton Elementary School. Please look for report cards (grades 1 through 5 only) in your child’s backpack on November 15, 2019. Also, please join us for Family Day on November 26th at 1:00 pm. This year’s theme is “Thankful, Grateful, Blessed”. I am thankful for all of you who share your most valuable possessions with us and have faith in us to be partners in your child’s education, safety, and well-being. I am grateful for all your support and blessed to be a part of this wonderful school community. I would like to wish all our Afton Central School Elementary families a Happy Thanksgiving and a wonderful start to the Holiday Season. AFTON PROUD! Tracy Caezza Elementary Principal/Director of Special Education 639-8234 tcaezza@aftoncsd.org

Make it a habit to tell people thank you. To express your appreciation, sincerely and without the expectation of anything in return. Truly appreciate those around you, and you’ll soon find many others around you. Truly appreciate life, and you’ll find that you have more of it.

- Ralph Marston

FAMILY DAY 2019:

Family Day will be held on Tuesday November 26, 2019 at 1:00 pm in the auditorium. This year’s theme will be

“Thankful, Grateful, Blessed” Please join us for this celebration.

STUDENT RECOGINITON

Knights of the Round Table Awards: Pre-Kindergarten- Ella Ford Kindergarten- Malakai Felton 1st Grade- Owen Rogers 2nd Grade- Michelle Golden 3rd Grade- Mia Spry 4th Grade- Madelyn Sweeney 5th Grade- Hailey Hatton

Great Effort Awards: Lenox Masse Devyn Decker

Gabriel Romero Zain Schneidau Hunter Brett Xavier Crisell

Ayden Olshefski Teagan O’Connor Finn McGraw Nash Ford

Nathaniel Padua, Jr. Aiden Masse Lucas Mills Hailey Hatton

Jenna Wilson

Safe Bus Rider Awards: Natalie Allweiler & Derrick Bell, Jr.

Outstanding Walker Awards: Amelia Lawrence & Roman Lucchese

Pre-Kindergarten NEWS submitted by Mrs. Ross The Pre-K classes had their first Wonderful Wednesday of the year on October 16. Wonderful Wednesday is an opportunity for the students to show some of the fun things that are being learned in the classroom. Students can invite an adult to join them for the hour of activities. This time the activities were centered on sorting, shapes, name recognition and cutting. They made candy corn, a fall picture and a name pumpkin. The children love sharing their classroom with their family and friends. Thank you to the guests who were able to join us. The next Wonderful Wednesday will be held in December.

Important Dates to Remember: Friday, Nov. 8 Veterans Day Breakfast – elementary cafeteria, 8 am Monday, Nov. 11 Veterans Day – No School Friday, Nov. 15 Grades 1-5: Report Cards sent home Tuesday, Nov. 26 Family Day – auditorium, 1 pm Wed., Nov. 27 – Fri., Nov. 29 Thanksgiving Recess Monday, Dec. 9 Winter Concert Please check this website for Sports Schedules: https://www.schedulegalaxy.com/schools/114

We are Movin’ and Groovin’

Ms. Karnyski is starting up yoga and dance groups this school year! During lunches, students have the opportunity to practice deep breathing, do some stretches, and jump around to a dance song. If looking for some ideas to do at home, GoNoodle is an excellent resource. Benefits to yoga and movement:

• Yoga poses have been shown to build muscle, increase flexibility, and develop balance.

• Yoga and movement tend to help reduce stress and anxiety.

• Specific movements help develop focus and concentration.

Games for Enrichment Submitted by Mrs. Gridley There are many fun games that provide family bonding time. When chosen carefully, these games can do wonders for educational enrichment as well. Mrs. Gridley recently brought two of these games to her 3rd grade STEM classes, for math review, reading (learning rules), and think/pair/share collaboration. The games were Tri-Ominos and Yahtzee. Students learned about strategy, decision making, and were introduced to the concept of probability. They did both mental math, and paper/pencil addition to tally scores. Best of all, they had FUN. Both games are available for less than $10 each on Amazon.com. For more game suggestions by age group, check out https://www.whatsupfagans.com/best-educational-board-games/

Thankfulness Wreaths (submitted by Ms. Brownell) I hope that everyone has had a great start to the school year! I just wanted to share an upcoming event in case anyone might be interested. Hospice of Chenango County is holding an event for all school-aged children. This event will involve making “thankfulness wreaths”. It will be an activity to create a wreath honoring loved ones who have passed away, as well as sharing how thankful they feel to have had them in their lives. This event will take place on November 20th at 5:30 p.m. at the Hospice of Chenango County office: 21 Hayes St. Norwich NY, 13815. If you are interested in attending, please register by calling: (607)-334-3556.

Second Grade NEWS submitted by Mrs. Scuorzo & Mrs. Umbra

Once again, the Second Grade is sponsoring a school wide food drive this year. The food collected will benefit our local food pantries. Donations of non-perishable and canned food items will be accepted from now until November 15th. Please send your items in with your students. You can also drop items off to Mrs. Schultheis in the elementary entrance office. The food drive teaches our students about caring as well as serving as a community service program for the Second Graders. Please donate if you can. Your donations are greatly appreciated. The Second Grade would also like to thank our Arts and Education fund for the contribution towards paying for our annual field trip to Animal Adventure. We have some neat animal artwork displayed in the hallway from our trip. Be sure to come visit our hallway animal displays.

BANANA SPLITS ALERT! submitted by Mrs. Wurtz Banana Splits groups will be starting soon!! Parent/Guardian permission slips have been sent home in Friday folders for all students in grades 1-5 who would like to participate. Groups will begin in November, so please get those signed forms back ASAP!! For those who may not know, Banana Splits groups are for children from “split” families. As a group, we discuss topics surrounding separation, divorce, and blended families (adoption, foster care, students living with grandparents, students with an incarcerated parent, etc.) to name a few. In group, we do many fun activities relating to feelings and family changes. This is one of the books we use in our first grade group: This group can be a tremendous source of support for children from “split” families. Many times adults get support and encouragement from their friends and families while kids struggle to find friends they can trust who understand what they’re going through. This group helps kids find the encouragement they need to get through a “split” even if the “split” happened many years ago. Please know that students are asked to keep their discussions confidential, yet they are encouraged to share their experiences and discussions with their parents/guardians. For more information or if you have any questions or concerns regarding this group, please contact Mrs. Wurtz at (607) 639-8209 or via email at MWurtz@aftoncsd.org. Also, if you would like your son/daughter to participate in this group but did not receive a permission form, please contact me so I can send a new home to you ASAP. Thank you!

Library NEWS submitted by Ms. McGraw Students in our primary grades are busy reading at home. The evidence is in all the pictures we have received and hung outside our library doors. If you have been in the building, we hope you had the chance to walk by and check them out. They will be up until Thanksgiving.