Washington Elementary School

It's Not Just a Job, It's An Adventure. When you are a food day volunteer, you become a hero.

These second graders read Mercy Watson for extra credit and answered questions that prompted them to think about the book.

"A toast to my students, my darlings, my dears!
You have filled this classroom with a wonder all your own.
May your journey through books always lead you to magical places,
and may you always feel as warm inside as a piece of hot toast
with a great deal of butter on it!"

Maybe sometimes, when we thought Michelangelo was painting the Sistine Chapel, he was reading his favorite book?

In the eighth week of the Chess Club, Bobby Fischer defeated Garry Kasparov without having to go to Reykjavik. More than 40 of our students, from all grades, learned that "Every Pawn is a potential Queen."

Our own Frank family travelled to a small village outside Samaná, Dominican Republic, to provide free dental care to the local community (Mom = pediatric dentist; Dad = orthodontist). This year, they took Pierce and his younger brothers along too. They are literally Repairing the World.

Knitting (crocheting, needlepoint...) is another great way for kids to learn to focus and relax during a busy day (along with mindfulness and yoga).

Volunteer Abbie Signore is starting the children off with French spool knitting, a 400-year-old slow-stitching process that creates a knitted tube or rope.

One knitter remarked, "You learn that mistakes can be undone, or you can cover the mistake with a button...."

We use the phonics program, Fundations, in grades one, two, and three (and Kindergarten). This spring, we were given the opportunity to pilot Fundations in fourth grade. Last week, representatives from the company, along with language arts supervisor Liz Reilly, visited classes and interviewed teachers to gather feedback to improve the program ahead of its upcoming publication.

The first-ever fourth-grade wax museum was held last Wednesday evening in our auditorium. The dress rehearsal the day before for other classes helped them practice delivering their speeches, along with their costumes and tri-fold poster board. Every time a visitor dropped a quarter into their cup, the motionless historical character came to life. In the end, Madame Tussaud was left speechless. (Over $1000 was raised for the St. Joseph Social Service Center. That's a lot of quarters!)

March Madness! It's time for the First Grade Tournament of Books. Each week, students vote for their favorite book after listening to the contenders. Who will make it to the Final Four?

Fourth graders tackled two fun challenges: drawing a square with just three lines and building the tallest tower using only 10 pieces of paper and 10 inches of tape. They had to think creatively, work through frustration, and keep trying until they succeeded. Is there a better way to discover the value of perseverance and learn strategies to push through challenges without giving up?

What a Mess! First graders entered their classroom on Tuesday to find wanton destruction. Not only did the traps that were set all fail, but we were badly outsmarted. Furniture was overturned, everything was out of place, and pixie dust was everywhere. Even the bathroom was defaced. Those Leprechauns!

Two-time Caldecott-winning children's author Sophie Blackall spent the day with us last Thursday. She gave three presentations to all our students, regaled us with stories, pictures, and videos about her work and where her ideas come from, signed a lot of books, and even ate lunch with us.

The Westfield Rescue Squad was one of several groups that helped show our children how they can help their neighborhood at our Community Service Night last week.

"Our PTO is amazing! We are so lucky… It’s such a great treat whenever they pop in… And I think the kids really enjoy it as well… while also learning a wonderful lesson in kindness!" We found a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow.

We had so much fun these last two weeks, all reading the same book. Since "Big Foot and Little Foot" began their friendship using a toy sailboat, we all made our own. Each evening, we watched one of our teachers read a chapter from the book. On Friday, we gathered in the auditorium to read the last two chapters together. To be continued.....

Our fifth annual Multi-Cultural Festival was so much fun! More than twenty countries were represented by our community. Children had their passports stamped at each destination. Tasty treats and drinks made the day a culinary delight. We have such riches to share with each other.

We are making sailboats with our buddy classes to sail down Mossy Creek, just like Big Foot and Little Foot do (OK, not all of us have a river flowing down the middle of our bedrooms). This week, we will see if they can really sail. One School One Book.

Roosevelt Intermediate School's Eighth Grade Band played for us this week as part of our Music in Our School Month. They showed us some really big instruments and told us how much fun middle school band is. We love seeing our alumni make it to the big leagues.

Superior Court Judge Rosalba Comas read to our fourth graders this week as part of our March reading celebration. She also helped us understand better what a judge's job is like (including an amazing story about the case of the dog Taquito!).

We had a great Math and Science Fair after school last Thursday. Young and old alike learned about sensory bags, straw rockets, fingerprints, cup towers, robotics, chromatography, and risk versus reward.

Thank you to all the teachers and volunteers who helped, and to all the kids and families who participated.