AATSP Poster Awards: In celebration of World Language month, fourth grade FLES students created beautiful posters! Each year, the AATSP (American Association of Teachers of Spanish and Portuguese) selects a theme which the students have to depict in their posters. This year's theme was celebrating diversity; Celebrando la diversidad: El español y el portugués!
Congratulations to West Side Principal, Ms. Alison Hazut, who collaborated on a book entitled Descriptive Inquiry in Teacher Practice, Cultivating Practical Wisdom to Create Democratic Schools. The book is a collection of essays written by school leaders who’ve employed Descriptive Inquiry as a processes to look deeply at the work of schools.
Mr. Anthony Paolano At the March Board of Education meeting, Mr. Anthony Paolano announced his plans to retire at the close of this school year. Mr. Paolano volunteered his time as a trustee on the Board for 21 years serving 7 terms beginning in 2000. (He served as president 4 times.) He has been a member of the community since 1990, where he lives with his wife Dorrie, and children Mark Anthony (class of 2009), Katie (class of 2012) and Lauren (class of 2016). He shared, “It has been a true honor and privilege to be a trustee of the CSH school district for over 20 years.
After nearly a year of not being able to visit the library due to the pandemic, students in third grade were the first to step back inside and choose their book selections in person. Small groups rotate in to learn coding via the KidOYO platform with Library Media Specialist, Ms. Erica Fraiberg, while others were excited to seek out books among the vast shelves of choice. Ms. Fraiberg shared, “I’m thrilled to have them back in the library!
Black History Month was created to honor and focus attention on the contributions of African Americans to the United States. Black History Month was officially declared in the 1940’s by President Gerald Ford; it is celebrated in February marking the date of Feb 1, 1865 with the 13th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution abolishing slavery.
West Side Art Kudos to the artists at West Side for their creations. Teacher, Ms. Andria McLaughlin, taught fourth graders about designing squares with concentric circles inspired by the renowned abstract painter, Wassily Kandinsky. Sixth graders worked on Stain Glass designs inspired by Tiffany, and third graders imagined cities inspired by Expressionist artist, Paul Klee, known for his abstract paintings. Beautiful!
Fifty Nifty States: Ms. Dopico and Ms. Thompson's third graders at West Side loved learning about all 50 states! Each student chose a state and researched many fun facts and data to share with classmates by presenting their findings. Did you know that West Virginia is nicknamed the mountain state, Utah has the best snow on earth, and Delaware is known as the first state.
Was it real or was it fiction? West Side second graders learned all about “Realistic Fiction” books which is a genre of stories that are made up but could very well happen in real life! These stories often take place in settings familiar to children, and these students accepted the challenge becoming authors and illustrators.
What I learned: Sixth graders at West Side from both Ms. Piña and Mr. Arloff’s class explored a variety of topics and wrote research-based papers to share with their classmates. Students came up with titles, introductions, presentation of data and discussion of their findings offering thoughtful perspectives on the issue at hand. Some of the topics included Pet abandonment, Bullying, Pollution and Girls Access to Education.
