Today, we celebrated Read Across America in honor of Dr. Seuss’s birthday. We are grateful to all the guest readers that spent time with our students today sharing their love of reading. Thank you!
Rather than being a one-day observance, today marked the beginning of our month-long celebration of reading. Please check out this calendar of events and celebrate with us!
We have had many outstanding assemblies here at Stonybrook and, according to what many students expressed following the one that KEHSA provided for us on Thursday, that one may have been the best yet. The message was about Black History Month, and the presentation celebrated the contributions of African Americans to our nation’s history and culture. The mode of communication for this was a laser light show. Just hearing about it, one might wonder, “How did that work?” It worked exceptionally well!
The presenter began the show by explaining what a laser, or LASER (Light Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation), is, and by demonstrating how it works with a laser pointer. He then showed how the single point of light created by the laser beam could be used to make images by moving the dot quickly in a circular motion, thereby creating what appeared to be a circle of light (although, as it was explained, this is an illusion created by our brains because our eyes can’t track the dot as a single point when it moves that quickly). Then, the show began.
The content of the show was a fast-paced and interesting look through history at the contributions of African American musicians, authors, scientists, and other people whose work helped to shape our culture and society. The images coincided with a very eclectic soundtrack that included songs from early last century up through the present day. Students sang and clapped along, cheered at appropriate times, and were very engaged in the show. Many went out of their way to say how much they enjoyed it.
At the closing of each show, we discussed how amazing the visual aspect of the presentation was, but that it was also important to remember and celebrate the message: that is to say, we recognized the outstanding achievements and contributions of some influential and important Americans. I hope many of you have already heard about this assembly from your children. If not, I encourage you to see what they remember, especially about what we learned and the people we celebrated.
At the beginning of the school year, we held grade-level meetings to discuss the 6 Full Value behaviors, which are the framework for our character education program. They are:
BE HERE: listen attentively, give your full effort, be aware of those around you
BE SAFE: follow school rules, respect others’ space, keep hands to self, think before acting
BE HONEST: tell the truth, use kind words
COMMIT TO GOALS: figure out what you want to do, set a plan, follow through
LET GO AND MOVE ON: forgive mistakes, look toward the future instead of dwelling on the past
CARE FOR SELF AND OTHERS: help others, include others, treat others as you would like to be treated
These tenets cultivate a warm, healthy, and supportive atmosphere here at Stonybrook.
We held grade-level meetings again today because, now that we are just past the midpoint of the school year, we wanted to come together again to discuss principles that help make Stonybrook a place where our students want to be; where they feel welcome, valued, and ready to learn. This time, we focused on 3 big ideas (you can see the PowerPoint presentation we used as the basis for our discussion):
What is “joking around?”-Over the course of the year, we have seen instances where students get into conflicts, or are made to feel badly, when what one student interprets as “joking around” is received by another as something less benign and more hurtful. We spoke about the difference between joking around and teasing/making fun.
What is empathy?-We discussed the idea of “putting ourselves in others’ shoes,” and how this can help us to avoid or resolve conflict.
How can I resolve conflict?-We talked about the power of students’ words, and that they have tremendous power within themselves to resolve conflict. We also talked about the difference between “giving someone space,” which can be a healthy way to cool down before resolving a conflict, and “ignoring,” which can be a hurtful way to block someone out. We also talked about when it is appropriate to seek help from someone else in resolving a conflict.
These 3 ideas, which go hand-in-hand with the principles of Full Value, served to create valuable discussion today. The real value, however, will be in how these ideas play out as we move forward.
By now, you probably know that the Fun at Lunch program is well underway here at Stonybrook. Each week, students in grades 3, 4, and 5 have the opportunity to select from a variety of engaging and exciting activities, including science experiments, “Minute to Win It” challenges, games, crafts, and book clubs. It is a very enjoyable way to spend recess. The students are loving it!
This program works so well thanks to the help of our parent volunteers. The coordination, planning, resources, and facilitation of Fun at Lunch are all thanks to a very dedicated group of parents. Time is precious, and it’s not easy to find even an hour in the week for something new. The parents who have made Fun at Lunch possible have been very generous in finding the time. On behalf of the students and our school, we appreciate it!
Destination ImagiNation’s (DI’s) Instant Challenge Night is on the evening of Friday, January 27th, at 6:30 at Stonybrook School. For those of you who don’t know what DI is, it is an outstanding program that puts a premium on critical thinking and teamwork skills. Given a challenge and a set of materials, students work together to solve a problem. The solutions are always creative, and often surpass what we even might expect.
To learn more about DI, you can visit the Destination ImagiNation website, or you can join us for the event. It promises to be a great evening!
The week of January 16th is bookended by some noteworthy events:
Monday, January 16th-School is closed for students. Teachers will be here working on various professional development activities. I wish our students an enjoyable three-day weekend!
Friday, January 20th-KEHSA brings our students “Author Day.” We will be welcoming author Tom Birdseye, who will be speaking to our students at assemblies on Friday. This will be a great experience for our students, and we are grateful to KEHSA for providing it!
I hope that your New Year is off to a great start, and that you are well on your way to accomplishing whatever resolutions you have set out for yourself. If you are still searching for a goal for this year, I’d like to suggest one: consider having your child teach you one thing that he or she learned in school each day. This is a great way to stay updated about what your child is doing in school, and can also lead to some excellent conversations. You may even learn something new!
This time of year, many of us make New Year’s resolutions. It’s a great time to think about what we want want to achieve, and how we can get there.
The beauty of a time like this is that the story of 2012 has yet to be written, meaning that there is virtually limitless potential to what we can accomplish. We sometimes overlook our own power to influence our world, focusing instead on factors that we don’t control. As you look toward next year, choose a goal that really matters to you, and think about what you can do to make it a reality. I hope that when you reflect back a year from now, you find 2012 to have been your best year yet!
Congratulations to all of our band and choir students who participated in yesterday’s winter concerts. Both shows were very well done, which is a credit to the hard work and dedication of our students, the support of the parents, and the guidance and instruction from our band and choir directors.
It was also wonderful to see so many friends, neighbors, and family members join us. As I said at the show, the opportunity to perform is very rewarding for our students, and your presence made it a very special event. We hope you enjoyed the show!
Our Winter Concert takes place on Thursday evening, December 15th, at 6:30 PM. Our band and choir students have been preparing diligently for what promises to be an outstanding show! We hope you can join us.
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