Special New Year Issue Volume 75, Issue 1

January, 2009

Special points of inter-

est:

• PTA Fundraiser Winners!

• Writing Club Fun

• Great Articles from our

Students and Staff!

• Other neat stuff...

I N S I D E T H I S I S S U E :

Brake’s Take 2

January Calendar 3

Movie Night Info 4

Students of the Month 5

Writing Club 6-7

News from the Grades 8-11

40,000 Challenge `12

B R I D G E B U G L E

“Bruno”

An Illinois Honor Roll of Schools “Academic Improvement Award” & “Spotlight School Award” Winner!

Achievement Award” Winner, an “Autonomous Management Performance School” (AMPS) and

A CPS “Rising Star” school, a “School of Distinction”, a CPS “Exemplary 83

Years

PTA Winter Fundraiser Champions!

First Place

Maxx Hunter

AM Kindergarten

Second Place

Alec Panagopolus

Room 203, Fifth Grade

Third Place

Jakub Rojek

Room 101, First Grade

The height of your ac-

complishments will

equal the depth of your

convictions. -William F. Scholavino Thank you

to all the students, families and staff members who supported the PTA

Winter Fundraiser!

Page 2 Volume 75, Issue 1

Do you have any

ideas, suggestions,

or comments on

ways to improve our

school and the ser-

vices that our chil-

dren receive? If so,

please call, write a

letter, or see me to

share your ideas.

Your input is greatly

appreciated.

Thank You!

Dr. Brake

Students/Teachers

Staff/Parents

Would you like to

have a poem, article,

short story, event, or

other item of interest

published in the

Bridge Bugle?

Submit your item to

Dr. Brake

on computer disk

(Microsoft Word format preferred)

no later than the third

week of the month for

publication in the next

month’s school news-

paper.

BRAKE ’S TAKE

January Non - Attendance Days for Stu dents

January Non-Attendance Days for Students

Monday, January 19th

Is a School Holiday

in Honor of

Rev. Dr.

Martin Luther King Jr.

No School

CPS Professional Development Day

Second Quarter Ends

Friday, January 23rd

No School for Students

Help Our

School Win

$100,000

U.S. Cellular is giving away $100,000 donations to 10 schools. Please

vote for our school by stopping into any U.S. Cellular Store and filling out a post

card. There is NO PURCHASE NECESSARY (must be 18 years or older to en-

ter)! All a person has to do to vote is walk into any U.S. Cellular retail store, ask

for a “Calling all Communities” postcard, fill it out, and drop it in the mail.

There is a U.S. Cellular store in the H.I.P.

The contest runs now through January 15th, and is not going to be pub-

lished in the paper or advertised anywhere. There is a real chance to win through

word of mouth and mobilizing people that believe in our school.

Thank You for Your Support!

Indicates day of non-attendance for students Indicates After-School Program day

Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat

1 2 3

4 5 6 7 8 9 Geography

Bee

10

11 12 8th Grade

Graduation

Pictures

13 14 15 16

Family

Movie

Night

Spelling

Bee

17

18 19

Dr. M.L. King

Holiday

No

School

20 21

LSC

NCLB PAC

Meetings

5:30 PM

22 Academic

Olympics

23 2nd Quarter Ends

Professional

Development

Day

No School

For Students

24

25 26 27 28

Report Card

Distribution

Day

29 30

Breakfast

of

Champions

31

January 2009 Happy New Year!

Winter Holiday—No School

Winter Book Fair This Week - Volunteers Needed!

Page 4 Volume 75, Issue 1

What: “Horton Hears a Who” When: Friday,

January 16th

From 6:00 PM—

Who: Bridge School Stu-

dents and Families only!

Students must be accompa-

nied by an adult parent or

guardian.

Where: Bridge Auditorium

Theater

How Much: Free! -Copyright Royalty Licensing fees paid to Movie Licensing USA-

Bridge

Family

Movie

Night*

*Family Movie

Night is held on

the third Friday

of every month.

Nina Dziamba

are selected for their

outstanding attendance,

academic performance,

and conduct.

Yasmeen Peralta Aleksandra Smyk Luz Vasquez

Alex Kaim Matthew Bozek Sabrina Villegas Allen Namrood

Bart Mendrala Kinga Butryn Agapefaith Alfaro Magdalena Naruszewicz

Jamilah Jibawi Samantha Alanis Ruben Garcia Daniel Delgado

Natalia Gorlicka Julia Troszczynsjka Tatiana Turcios Christopher Delgado

Dawid Babula Nelson Santana Jovanee Mejia Jenna Jurewicz

Ryan Harenberg Maciej Kalwajtys Natalia Chmiel

January

Students of the Month

Writing Club Pop Culture Did you know that the Chinese New Year is on February 7 2009? To keep away bad

luck, the Chinese dress in clothes that have dragons on them. They also wear a lot of

red. In addition, they build giant dragons to scare the bad spirits and bad luck away.

The giant dragon walks through the street during the parade. The parade also includes

floats, drummers, dancers and thousands of other people who participate. Well, that’s

the Chinese New Year for you.

by Tiffany and Kathy from Room 203

Want to get away for the holidays? We’ve got some great places for you. The best

places for the winter holidays are the Bahamas, Wisconsin Dells, Miami, Hawaii and

Europe. You’ll find some warm weather and relax in the sunshine the whole time. For

the best skiing, go to Devil’s Head in Wisconsin. The slopes are awesome; there’s easy

and difficult hills so there’s something for everyone.

by Tiffany, Kathy and Natalie from Room 202

Fun & Games Try to complete this Unscramble/Matching puzzle without looking at the answers first.

1. nurla yrae nwe

2. towncdoun

3. Manitrhtreknig bdya

4. tvfesitieis

5. pecials sumtosc

6. traidsnoit

7. tlucsrue

8. erlginosi

9. naaltion bboyh htonm

Answers: 1. Lunar New Year

2. countdown

3. Martin Luther King B-Day

4. festivities

5. special customs

6. traditions

7. cultures

8. religions

9. National Hobby Month by Dawid Babula from Room 211

Hi there! Have you heard about the game, Mario Kart for Wii? Well, it’s a classic Mario

Racing game. You get 32 courses/racetracks, many characters and much more. It also has great 3D graphics. There are no bugs and

a lot of secrets within the game. In this edition, you also can get motorcycles. This game is rated ***** (five stars). It’s available at

a store near you! Have fun!

by David Hruswicki from Room 202

Book Reviews

Maniac Magee: Maniac Magee is about a boy named Jeffrey Magee whose parents died

when he was three years old. His whole life changed after that and his name changed too. Maniac Magee became a legend and he

was cool. He could run so fast. Here is a

song that the girls would sing…Ma-niac, Ma-niac, he’s so cool, ma-niac, ma-niac, don’t

go to school, runs all night, runs all right, ma-niac, ma-niac, kissed a bull. It’s a funny book so I recommended it highly. The author

is Jerry Spinelli.

by Razan Deeb from Room 202

More Writing Club Sports The top 10 winter sports:

10. ice fishing 9. Alaskan dog sled races

8. luge 7. hockey

6. ice skating 5. tubing

4. snowboarding 3. skiing

2. sledding 1. ski jumping

Skiing is a great sport. The single hardest thing in skiing is to shift your weight and balance fully on the gliding ski. The best thing

to do is find a flat section of the trail or the back side of the west overlook loop and ski without poles. This will teach you balance

and proper technique. Most ski areas offer various levels of difficulty for beginner and advanced skiers. They also offer mini les-

sons so that you can learn how to use the tow rope, stop and fall properly without getting hurt. Try it….you’ll love it!

by Patric Hruswicki in Room 207 Our Bear’s quarterback, Kyle Orton, had an upper leg injury about two weeks ago. He was recently put into a game against the

Green Bay Packers. The Bears lost against the Packers 3 to 37. It wasn’t one of their better performances to say the least. Hopeful-

ly, they can finish the season strong. by Piotr Lesniak

Music Corner Oldies: The Beatles: Origin = Liverpool, England

Genre = Rock, pop

Member = John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison, Ringo

Starr

Favorite Song = Imagine

Bruce Springsteen: Birth name = Bruce Frederick Joseph Springsteen

Born = September 23 1949

Genre = Rock, folk

Occupations = singer, songwriter, musician

Contemporary music: Lady GaGa—Just Dance

Lyrics: Gonna be okay, dad a doo doot-n

Just dance, spin that record baby

Da da doo doot-n

Just dance, gonna be okay

D,d,d dance, dance, dance just j,j just dance

By Patricia Nur and Angela from Rooms 202 and 209

Advice Column Dear Jelly,

I know a girl who has a problem with her friend. Her friend keeps getting mad at her all the time and she’s tired of it.

JELLY: I think you should talk to her and ask her what’s been bothering her. If she doesn’t want to tell you then, maybe you should

find someone else to hang out with for awhile.

Dear Peanut,

I want to hang out with these popular kids but to hang out with them, I have to do something bad. If I don’t do it, they won’t let me

be in their group. What should I do?

PEANUT: Well, I think you should think about what you really want to do. Nobody can make you do something that you don’t

want to do. Maybe you should try to find a group that accepts you just like you are. Another suggestion is that maybe you could talk

to someone from the group and tell them how you feel. They might be understanding if you’re honest about it.

*SIXTH GRADE SCIENCE NEWS* The sixth grade classes have been busy this month with our astronomy unit. We’ve studied about black holes, gravity, the history of

important astronomers, rockets, technology in space and many other topics. We’ve done some interesting experiments and demon-

strations to understand the lessons such as the parachute for Einstein’s theory of curved space and time. We even designed an alien

according to the planet Ziligon’s

Kindergarten News

Kindergarten Winter HAPPY NEW YEAR & WELCOME BACK! We hope everyone had a wonderful and

relaxing Winter Break.

Student Treasures will be ordered this month. Do not miss out on getting a

copy of your child’s first chance of becoming a published author. You may order

more than one copy so that you may share this Treasure with family and friends. This month we look forward to learning about what New Years is all about and how oth-

er countries celebrate it, winter weather and winter animals, and why Dr. Martin Luther King

Jr. is so famous. We will also continue to focus on letters, sounds, writing, and math skills.

Reminder: Please send gym shoes in your child’s backpack when they are wearing win-

ter snow boots to school.

Enjoy the pictures below from our “Let it Snow” holiday show held before the winter break.

We hope this New Year brings peace and joy to all Bridge School families.

Mrs. Dotson & Mrs. Evangelista

First and Second Grade News Second Grade News

Learning All About Habitats Rooms 103 and 109 have been re-searching the major land and water habitats as part of their science and social studies unit. Each student researched their habitat finding the locations in the world. They learned about the animals and plants indica-tive to the habitat. Their culminating activi-ties were to construct a shoe box diorama, write an expository piece, and present the report to their classmates. The projects were amazing.

Where Will Your Reading Adventure Take You? In January and February, students from grades K-6 will participate in the Six Flags Six

Hour Reading Club. To take part in the Reading Club students must read for a total of six

hours. Upon returning their reading log to the teachers by February 11, 2009, students will

qualify for a free ticket to Six Flags theme park. Parents, please encourage your children to

read. Ms. Baron & Ms. Lewis

Third and Fourth Grade News CHRISTMAS

By: Jacub Habayeb, Room 214/4th

Oh, Christmas, oh Christmas

The best time of the year

I love the smell

Of the sweet baking apple pie.

I love the beautiful glow

Of the shining Christmas tree star.

I love the sounds

Of the Christmas carols.

I love the beautiful wrapped presents,

And most of all,

I love to open my favorite gifts!

Vertebrates Our class was learning about the different types of vertebrates.

We learned that there were five different groups of vertebrates.

We were told to write the names of the different types of ani-

mals on an index card. Then we drew the animal on another

index card. Then we wrote things that tell why that animal be-

longs in that group. When we had finished all five groups, we

put the cards on a piece of construction paper.

By: Yareli Flores, Room: 002

The Chicago Fire The president of the Chicago Historical Museum came to see us.

He brought pictures of the Chicago Fire. Did you know that the

sidewalks were made of wood and not cement? He also brought

artifacts that were used before the Chicago Fire and found after it.

We got to touch all kids of different things like a toy iron, a

smashed cup, pieces of glass that looked like a rock, and an old key.

All of us found it very interesting.

By: Ariana Zepeda, Room: 002

SOAP CARVINGS In class on December 12, 2008, we made soap carvings. We are learning about the early colonial times

in Social Studies. We used soap instead of wood because it was safer. Everybody was very creative. We had

some people do the bears, Hawaii, and other animals. It’s like we were made for the job!

-Isabelle Santiago, Room 202

Fifth and Sixth Grade News

Seventh and Eighth Grade News Wild Ride

On November 18th and 19th, the 8th graders created roller coasters using

what we learned during our study of forces and motion. We used Newton’s

three laws of motion to design our roller coasters.

Here are reactions about the roller coaster design activity from Room

206…“it was cool that we could communicate and work with our friends while

learning; I learned about Newton’s Laws a lot more during this activity; it was

fun to compete with the class to see who had the best roller coaster; it was

great because we were able to design our own roller coaster using what we

learned in class; it helped me learn about the laws of motion in an easier way;

it was cool seeing how different heights affected the marbles speed; it was neat

because this was something I had never done before; we designed, built and

testing the roller coasters by ourselves and we were able to be creative.”

Staying Afloat The 8th graders built different floating devises using aluminum

foil. The goal was to design and build a metal floating device that can

float for ten seconds and hold at least ten grams. We were able to de-

sign our floating devise anyway we wanted. We used our knowledge

about buoyant force and density to build our floating devises. At first,

we tested each boat with 10 grams. Then, we continued to test all the

boats until they sank. Some of the boats held more then 90 grams.

Some of the boats sunk after 72 grams. The great thing about this pro-

ject was how all the groups worked hard and worked together.

By: Jacob Jaraszoski, Room 206

Happy New Year

from the

Bridge School Family!

Straw Rockets In December, the 8th graders did a project on building straw

rockets. The purpose of this project was to determine how high a

straw rocket would shoot into the air. Every group shot and meas-

ured the height of the launched rocket. We tested elastic potential

energy and gravitational potential energy. It was cool because we

got to build our own rocket. We learned the more elastic potential

energy the higher the rocket goes (the more gravitational potential

energy). Some rockets had too much elastic potential energy that

the rocket ended up on the top of the lights. This project was excit-

ing and fun.

By: James Orlando and Jacob Jaroszeweki

Body Mapping

The 7th graders are learning about how the human body systems

all work together. We began with the digestive system. Instead of just

reading about it we did something called “body mapping”. We mapped

out the path of the entire digestive system. First, food travels from your

mouth to the esophagus. Then, the food enters the stomach. Next, the

digested food goes to the small intestines and that it where it is absorbed

into the bloodstream by the villi. Finally, the digested food nutrients go

to the cell to create energy so we can survive. It will be interesting to

see how the other body systems work with the digestive system.

By: Luigui Sobenes (Room 204)

The Great Chicago Fire On December 11, Gary Johnson the President of the Chicago Histo-

ry Museum and Owen Hurd the author of Chicago History for Kids talked

to the 8th grade class about the Chicago Fire. They explained what caused

the Chicago Fire and what happened during it. They showed us artifacts,

explained what they were and what they were used for. An example was a

bullhorn type artifact that was used to communicate during the fire. It was

very interesting to hear how it was back then in Chicago. We all wonder

how Chicago would be if the fire never happened. Would it be as great as

it is today?

By: Amal Ahmed and Selma Music (Room 206)

Cow Eyes On November 18th, the 7th graders dissected cow eyes. The students dissected the cow eye to

view the various structures and describe the functions of the eye. The students had various reactions

to this activity.

Here are a few interesting facts and reactions about the eye dissection from Room 204… “the

eye was rock hard; the coolest part was the lens and how it magnified everything; the black liquid

under the cornea called aqueous humor oozed out when we cut the cornea; it was easier than I thought

to dissect the eye; the gooey liquid was awesome and I found out that it is called vitreous humor; the

eye is gross and amazing at the same time and there is so much fat and muscle attached to the eye.” By: Room 204

More Seventh and Eighth Grade News

Special New Year Issue

Bridge Elementary School

3800 N. New England Avenue

Chicago, Illinois 60634

773-534-3718

http://www.bridge.cps.k12.il.us

Principal:

Dr. Christopher Brake

Assistant Principal:

Mrs. Margaret Taylor

LSC = Local School Council NCLB PAC = No Child Left Behind Parent Advisory Committee

PTA = Parent Teacher Association BAC = Bilingual Advisory Committee

LSC President:

Mr. Robert Walsh

Parent Representatives:

Mrs. Paula Guy

Mr. Pedro Hernandez

Mrs. Terry Ignatowski

Mrs. Lora Niewinski

Community Representatives:

Mrs. Yvonne Majewski

Mrs. Pat Walenga

Teacher Representatives:

Mrs. Catherine McGuire

Mrs. Joan Miarecki

Administration:

Dr. Christopher Brake

PTA President:

Mrs. Lora Niewinski

Vice-President:

Mrs. Susan Szajna

Secretary:

Mrs. Debbie Horowitz

Treasurer:

Mrs. Paula Guy

NCLB PAC

President:

Mr. Pedro Hernandez

Vice-President:

Mrs. Terry Ignatowski

Secretary:

Mrs. Yvonne Majewski

BAC President:

Mrs. Liliana Kacala

Vice-President: Mrs. Veronica Estrada

Secretary:

Mrs. Malgorzata Ludzik

Representative:

Mrs. Alejandra Romero

Alternate Representative: Mrs. Jolanta Lukasiak

40,000 Book Challenge

Room 107

Kindergarten

144

Year-to-Date

496

Room 102

1st Grade

263

Year-to-Date

1,215

Room 105

1st Grade

362

Year-to-Date

1,425

Room 101

1st/2nd Grade

296

Year-to-Date

954

Room 111

1st/2nd Grade

351

Year-to-Date

1,018

Room 300

2nd/4th Grade

45

Year-to-Date

134

Room 103

2nd Grade

710

Year-to-Date

1,883

Room 109

2nd Grade

412

Year-to-Date

1,490

Room 108

2nd/3rd Grade

196

Year-to-Date

755

Room 002

3rd Grade

25

Year-to-Date

260

Room 003

3rd Grade

129

Year-to-Date

384

Room 004

3rd Grade

70

Year-to-Date

245

Room 001

4th Grade

194

Year-to-Date

861

Room 214

4th Grade

384

Year-to-Date

822

Room 202

5th Grade

184

Year-to-Date

992

Room 203

5th Grade

201

Year-to-Date

794

Room 205

5th Grade

57

Year-to-Date

475

Room 207

6th Grade

115

Year-to-Date

442

Room 209

6th Grade

103

Year-to-Date

568

Room 211

6th Grade

65

Year-to-Date

264

Room 204

7th Grade

164

Year-to-Date

369

Room 208

7th Grade

84

Year-to-Date

367

Room 212

7th Grade

105

Year-to-Date

387

Room 106

8th Grade

56

Year-to-Date

185

Room 206

8th Grade

63

Year-to-Date

291

Room 210

8th Grade

45

Year-to-Date

173

Kiss a pig?

17,249