Principal’s Article

The end of the marking period is just a little over a week away as I am writing this article for the newsletter. I am

dismayed at the large number of students I am seeing in my office with more than five orange cards. This not only

means that students are neglecting homework and classwork assignments, but also neglecting to be responsible citi-

zens at Hepburn. We have demonstrated for and talked to the students in our responsibility and other assemblies the

importance of ―doing your job.‖ We all have jobs to do and whatever the job, we must do it to the best of our ability

and on time. Each time a student is referred to my office, I take time to talk to the student and ask ―why are you not

able to get your homework done?‖ Most often, the child will begin with telling me his or her after-school schedule

that does not involve a time for doing the homework, which by the way is curricular practice. Teachers do not as-

sign new skills for homework. Homework is drill and practice of curricular instruction given at school on the par-

ticular day or a previous day.

I am asking for your HELP as parents. PLEASE set aside a time that your child has for completing school work

each day. I know some days, due to activities and appointments, the schedule has to change. However, for the ma-

jority of the time, it is possible to establish a routine or schedule that can be followed on a regular basis. I am speak-

ing from experience and not a lofty administrative tower. My wife and I raised three children from infancy to adult-

hood. Our baby, as we fondly call him, is twenty-two years old and completing his BS in Business Administration

and Health care. Our daughter is finishing her master’s degree in education and our oldest son is an administrator of

his own facility for National Health Care. I do not tell you this to brag, but rather to encourage because we had the

same struggles as you have balancing schedules. Our children were involved in sports, clubs, musical groups,

church groups and more yet we always had a schedule that included quiet time for doing homework, reading, and

musical practice. The homework spot was the dining room table. We could easily monitor their work and see

whether or not they were on task in completing it. We had a set time. After school they played and destressed from

the day. While dinner was being prepared, they worked on homework or musical practice. If the work did not get

done prior to dinner, they finished after dinner.

PLEASE help your child to establish a routine to make him or her successful, not just this year, but in years to come.

I know you won’t believe this, but later your child will thank you for the discipline you provided in making him or

her successful! We need to work together as parent, teacher, and administrator to allow your child to reach his or

her greatest potential.

The FALCON

November 2011

I remember my last visit to Ellis Island in July of 2003. My wife and I had taken our children on the Ferry

from Liberty Park to the island. Many of my thoughts were the same that the author expresses inside the

jacket cover of this book. I stood and looked at names and wondered what their life must have felt like to

leave all that they knew and called home to come to a country he or she had never seen before. The only

belongings the person had was what would fit in a suitcase or even smaller, a bag. To be crowded into

masses of people, so tight one could hardly breathe, and then have men in uniforms yelling things you could

not understand because you did not speak the English language. I know I would have been frightened to the

point of shaking uncontrollably and be brought to tears from the shock of what was happening around me.

At Ellis Island, written by Louise Peacock and Illustrated by Walter Krudop expresses many of the same

thoughts I had when I first visited Ellis Island. It is about an imaginary girl named Sera, created by the au-

thor, in order to express the thoughts of what a young immigrant girl may have experienced and thought

coming to America, and landing at Ellis Island. All immigrants had to pass through Ellis Island in the early

years of the 20th century. Many people were sent back to the lands from which they came because they did

not meet the requirements to enter America. You can feel Sena’s pain as she shouts to the guard ―Back?

Back to Armenia? But they will kill me! I will be dead like you, Mama. I scream long, high, and turn to

run. The guard catches me. What happens to Sena? You will need to check out this new book in our library

collection. The pages include the story of Sena, thoughts of the author from her visit to Ellis Island, and ac-

tual quotes and stories of some of those who passed through the Great Hall. See you in the library!

Holiday Shop November 28- December 2

Children can enjoy shopping for loved

ones during their regular lunch time.

More information will be coming

home for your child to make a list of

whom they would like to purchase a

gift for.

PTO Monthly Meeting

The next PTO meeting will be on Thursday, De-cember 1st, 2011 at 6:30pm in the school Multi-Purpose room. All are welcome and encouraged to attend the meeting.

PTO WEBSITE As always, please check our website often for the latest information on what’s happening with the Hepburn-Lycoming PTO (wasd.org/hepburnles, then click on the PTO tab at the top).

PARENT-TEACHER

CONFERENCES

November 10 & 11

“No school for students”

Vendor Night

THINK SMART! THINK ENERGY! HOLIDAY SHOPPING AT HEPBURN-LYCOMING!

Is this a misprint? What do these two things have to do with each other? The simple answer is that your child

can shop for Christmas gifts while you are learning how to save money to pay for the gifts! That’s right! On

November 30, we will have representatives from the ―Think Smart! Think Energy!‖ PP&L program in our multi-

purpose room for this very informative presentation. You can bring your relatives, friends, neighbors, or any

acquaintance to the program. If we get 60 households registered, the school will receive a $1,000 educational

grant from PP&L. Also, each household will receive a free kit worth $20 that has new energy-saving light

bulbs, an energy-saving night light, and more. This will be a great program for you to learn how to save

money spent on electricity while your children can shop for family gifts at our PTO Holiday Shop. When your

children are finished shopping, there will be a table for them to wrap their purchases and created holiday cards

and nametags for their gifts. Thank you to Mrs. Bird, our Holiday Shop coordinator, for offering the shopping/

wrapping opportunity for our students. This will be a great evening for both parents and children. Sign up now

for this great educational presentation by calling Mrs. Bower at 494-1112. You will need to provide her with the

required information for each household such as names, address, phone number, e-mail, etc. You can help our

school and your children have fun at the same time. PLEASE CALL and make your reservation for Novem-

ber 30 at 6:30 p.m.

November 17th from 6:30pm – 9:00pm.

Vendor Night will be held just in time for holiday shopping! The PTO will be host-

ing our 2nd annual Vendor Night on in the school cafeteria/gymnasium.

We are still looking for vendors…if you sell crafts or any product, sign up for a table now- spaces are limited. 10’x10’ spaces

are $30.00, and you keep any proceeds from your sales. If you would like more information about being a vendor at this

year’s event, check out our information sheet and application at:

http://www.wasd.org/5118601027103714/lib/5118601027103714/Vendor_Night_Information_Sheet.pdf .

Silpada Usborne Books

Thirty One Gifts Princess House

Mary Kay Uppercase Gifts

Longaberger Lia Sophia

Beads by Stacey Crafts

Children’s Books Partylite

Scentsy

Some of the vendors that will be at the event this year are:

If you have any questions please contact one of the event coordinators:

Wendy Adams —wadams528@verizon.net—506-3973 / Rose-Marie Gross—rgross@mtb.com—220-8821

Hepburn Lycoming Elementary Artists will have work on

display in downtown Williamsport for November’s First

Friday celebration. We will have an opening reception at

Plankenhorn Stationery Supply Store from 6-8pm on No-

vember 4, 2011. Students with work in this show will

receive a letter prior to the 4th. All students, families, and

friends are welcome to stop in and enjoy the display

throughout the month of November during Plankenhorn’s

regular business hours. Hope to see you there! ---

Mrs. McDonough Varner

Student of the Month

September

Alexis McCollum

Emma Jamison

Adele Potrzebowski

Evan Whitford

Noah Cox

Myla Kelley

Cadence Kline

Owen Berry

Aaliyah DiMarco

Kaitlyn Utter

Iscah Rintelman

Sydney Hawk

Abby Gross

Marti Fisher

Caleb Bilbay

Morgan VanBuskirk

Jenna Whitford

Tommy Aversa

Desiree Aversa

Malachi Lower

Jeremy James

PLEASE

DO NOT DROP YOUR CHILD

at school prior to 8:45 a.m.

There is no supervision and

your child will need to wait

on the front porch.

Thanksgiving

Vacation

Please note that school will

be closed beginning on Thurs-

day, November 24th. Classes will

resume following the Thanksgiv-

ing vacation on Tuesday, Novem-

ber 29th.

KINDERGARTEN NEWS

Kindergarten visited Three Springs Farm in Morris, Pa on October 21. The staff had many fun activi-

ties planned for our children. The children were excited to take a hayride, pick a pumpkin, and learn

about chickens and horses. The staff also provided a great lunch, snack, and craft activity.

Thank you to the PTO for providing funding for our trip. The children, teachers, and grade parents

had a delightful learning experience. In our classrooms we were able to use this experience to enrich

our shared reading and interactive writing.

Walk At School Day-Hepburn students and staff completed a one mile walk at school on October 18

th. Check out the pictures of the

students enjoying their walk.

Gym-NEWS-ium

Students Being Active

Hepburn kids where given the option and information in gym class on how to take part in The Worldwide Day of Play. Any student who provided written information or photos that they took some time out of their day to play on Sep-tember 24th received a certificate and patch. Take a look at who partici-pated…

WAY TO GO!

The Jumping Jack Challenge took place during class on October 12thand 13th. 226 students successfully completed the challenge. Ask your child if they were able to complete 1 minute of Jumping Jacks without stopping. I was very

proud of all our students who gave this challenge their best try. GREAT SPORTS RELATED STORIES IN OUR LIBRARY

For students’ who have a reading level that falls between 3.1-3.7, I recom-mend checking out a book written by Jack Maddox. There are stories for both boys and girls and cover many different sports and activities our students en-joy.

Hepburn 4

th and 5

th Graders Are Earning Feet At Recess- If students walk 15 min-

utes or more during recess and have their walking card signed 5 different days they can earn charm foot/shoe. Look below to see the first group of students to earn a foot/shoe charm.

Gym-NEWS-ium

Below are procedures to know

during times of inclement

weather. Please take a few mo-

ments to familiarize yourself with

the information.

In the event of an emergency

school closing, delayed opening

of school, or early dismissal of stu-

dents, school officials will notify

the local radio and television sta-

tions of the changes. Information

will also be listed on the district

web page at www.wasd.org.

A one-hour delayed opening

means that students will start

school at 10:00 a.m., rather than

9:00 a.m. Busses will arrive for

the student one hour later than the

regular time and parents trans-

porting a student to school should

arrive one hour later than the

usual time. Students may not ar-

rive at the school at the regular

time when there is a delay. The

same process applies to instances

when a two hour delay occurs.

The student day will begin at

11:00 a.m. when there is a two

hour delay. The procedures for a

two hour delay are the same as a

one hour delay with the exception

that all times change by two hours

instead of one hour.

Please do not call the school,

radio or television stations to find

out the status of the inclement

weather situations. Review with

your child where he or she will go

in the event that a school closing,

early dismissal or delayed open-

ing occurs. Planning for these op-

tions will make it easier for all

family members when these situa-

tions arise.

A big THANK YOU to all of the families who were able to join us for Arts and Literacy Night at Hepburn Lycoming on

October 18, 2011. Together we have made over 30 pages that will be compiled and printed as a book. The sentences

are very creative and the illustrations that were collaged are outstanding! Our “Mouse Paint” mural is going to grow

over the next few weeks and we will post photos on the website when it has been completed. We are lucky to have the

support of Title 1, which made the night possible, and also the help from our community members at Lycoming College

who assisted us with the mural. Again, thank you Hepburn Lycoming! We look forward to the next parent involve-

ment event! --- Mrs. McDonough Varner

Jack Compton, first grade, works on his sentence, “I like school.”

Lycoming College Art and Education Majors add paper to the mural.

Hepburn-Lycoming

Elementary School

355 Route 973 East

Cogan Station, PA 17728

Ph: 494-1112

Fax: 494-0534

Visit us at our web site -

www.wasd.org

Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat

1/3 2/4 3/5

School Store

6:30-PTO Mtg.

4/1

School Store

5

6

Instrumental

Music Week

7/2 8/3 9/4 10

8:00-8:00

Parent-Teacher

Conferences

11

8:00-11:00

Parent-Teacher

Conferences

12

13 14/5 15/1 16/2 17/3

6:30-9:00

PTO Vendor

Night

18/4 19

20

Instrumental

Music Week

21/5 22/1 23/2 24

Thanksgiving

Break

NO SCHOOL

25

Thanksgiving

Break

NO SCHOOL

26

27 28

Thanksgiving

Break

NO SCHOOL

29/3

PTO Holiday Shop

30/4

PTO Holiday Shop

6:30-PTO Holiday

Shop-evening hours

6:30-”Think

Smart,Think Energy”-

Parent Presentation

1/5

PTO Holiday Shop

6:30-PTO Meeting

2/1

PTO Holiday Shop

November 2011

Mrs. Bower Secretary

Mrs. Grieco Nurse

Mrs. Colvin Health Room Tech

Dr. Williams Principal

Mrs. Phillips Counselor

Mrs. Null IST

Office Personnel NON-DISCRIMINATION POLICY

It is the policy of the Williamsport Area School District not to discriminate on the basis of race,

color, national origin, sex or handicap in its educational -vocational programs or employment as

required by Title IX. Section 504 and Title VI. For information regarding civil rights and

grievance procedures contact:

Director Human Resources

Williamsport Area School District

201 West Third Street

Williamsport, PA 17701

Ph: 327-5500, Ext. 3541